Sen. Olympia Snowe was recently observed on a local television news program bemoaning the cancellation of a second scallop season for Maine fishermen. According to Sen. Snowe, this was a purely arbitrary decision that would be very hurtful to Maine fishermen. No kidding!
There are whole villages in Nova Scotia who now subsist on welfare because of over-regulation of the fishing industry by the Canadian government. It now appears that our Maine fishermen are facing the same fate as more and more of them are unable to make payments on their vessels, let alone feed their families because of ever-increasing limitations on the number of days that they can spend at sea.
I wonder where Sen. Snowe has been for the last decade as our government has slowly, but surely been ursuping the freedom to earn a living here in the United States? She appears happy to engage in bi-partisanship with her Democratic pals in government as they and the unions and the bureaucrats continue to mount an assault on free enterprise in America with a barrage of legal and regulatory activity that has affected and will continue to contribute to the decline of our economy.
The government is now heavily engaged in overseeing the banking and automotive industries, overlooking the fact that it has been many of their meddling policies that have caused deterioration in those businesses. The so-called "stimulus bills" will provide the government with more opportunity to cause chaos in the construction and materials industries while moving to "help" cash-strapped state governments by providing pork-laden projects that supposedly will put the unemployed back to work.
America's economy is getting a much better boost from the precipitous drop in oil prices, which also is providing the added benefit of curtailing the activities of some of our more hostile adversaries such as Hugo Chavez, Valadimir Putin and the President of Iran
Can anyone seriously accept the premise that providing funding for infrastructure projects to be completed by a few favored government contractors somewhere far in the future (there really is no such thing as "shovel-ready projects") and benefiting mainly politicians and their cronies rather than improving the economic picture for the average citizen?
Or, how about House Speaker Pelosi insisting upon millions of dollars for "increased access to contraceptives" being included in the latest "stimulus" fiasco?
These boondoggles typify the concept of "central planning" (the ruinous belief that only the government can guide and manage economic activity). This philosophy, that the state must own the central role in controlling the economy, has proven a failure time and again if one evaluates the economic standing of the nations who have chosen this path.
Such policies require the transfer of funds from and denial of freedom to productive members of society, insisting that responsible individuals sacrifice so that the needs of the less responsible will be met.
"An economic recovery plan should help the private sector grow and create jobs, rather than expanding government at the expense of working families and small businesses" (from a recent letter sent by House Republican leaders to President Obama)
The explosion of trillions of dollars in deficit spending is only one of the byproducts of the uncontrolled expansion of government power.
Life under socialism also breeds poverty and oppression.
And it certainly won't do much for the livelihood and independence of Maine fishermen and their families. Just ask our northern neighbors in Nova Scotia.
4.7% January
4.8% February
5.0% March
4.7% April
5.4% May
5.3% June
5.5% July
5.5% August
5.6% September
5.7% October
6.3% November
7.0% December
The five states with the highest December unemployment rates were Michigan (10.6%), Rhode Island (10%), South Carolina (9.5%), California (9.3%) and Nevada (9.1%). The full list with a link to historical data can be seen at the US Department of Labor site.
Nationally, more than half a million jobs were lost in December.
And the official US unemployment figures do not tell the full story. Economists argue that the rate should be adjusted to include those who want a full-time job but who can only find a part-time job and include jobless workers who want a job but are not actively seeking employment or not searching through the bureaus that report unemployment. With that adjustment, the "real" US unemployment rate in October would have been 11% and 14% in December.
In November, the New England Economic Partnership projected that Maine's unemployment rate could be 8.7% by mid 2010. I make no prediction other than to note that 1) with today's jump, Maine is much closer to 8.7% than we were in October, and, 2) the Federal government did not foresee the rapid unemployment jump as recently as October.
Are these jobs coming back?
Bruce Springsteen sang in My Home Town: "... foreman says these jobs are going boys and they ain't coming back."
The reason many of the jobs can't come back to a state or even to the US is that once the work has been shifted elsewhere, it is very hard to shift the work back.
The second reason many jobs can't come back is that many are lost when the company closes down for good. When that happens, the company's machinery, inventory, etc is sold, often at fire sale prices, and again the work goes elsewhere in the US or overseas.
For example, the 28 year old Brewer auto parts manufacturer ZF Lemforder has announced that it will close next year and 127 will lose their jobs. Production of those auto parts, if ever needed, will be done elsewhere in the US or the world.
Let's assume the Maine economy turns around by December. Any company that went out of business cannot easily come back because the machinery and the plant, which may have been purchased years ago and is now completely paid for, is now gone. The hurdles to restart that or any new business are 1) to find financing, if possible, for plant, machinery, etc that then will cost much more, 2) to find and train a staff, and 3) to find a buyer for the product in an economy that has since shrunk.
This recession is different
This recession is different than all those recessions since the 30s. There are now many fewer good economic or business reasons for a company to be located in Maine, Michigan, Georgia, or even in the US. This has become a global economy with a global workforce.
For example, with a large part of Wal-mart's goods being made overseas, and with Americans being willing to pay the salaries of those overseas workers because the goods they produce are cheaper, the recession and the unemployment cannot be turned around by consumption of foreign goods.
Second, many economists believe there has been a paradigm shift over the last 8 months. Americans have started to fear for their economic well-being and have started to save when they can. Much of President Bush's stimulus rebate payments went directly into savings or went to pay down credit card debt. Americans have also started to save by cutting back on spending. 2008 holiday sales plummeted, resulting in the worst holiday sales period in decades. Apparently people were husbanding their money in case they lost their jobs.
Can spending on infrastructure turn this recession around?
It is a widely held belief that the infrastructure job programs of the Roosevelt era helped turn around the nation's unemployment problem and helped pull the US out of the depression. Forgotten is the fact that, by late 1936, economic indices were back at pre-depression levels while unemployment was still at 14%. Then in 1937, the economy tanked again and unemployment soared to 19%.
The US depression finally eased in 1940 with the massive government military spending and when the government subsidized the wages of workers in those industries. Thus, those industries were encouraged to hire and train even more workers and actually made a profit by doing so.
President Obama has pointed to President Eisenhower's construction of the interstate highway system in the 50s as an example of the way to turn around the economy and its unemployment problems.
What those touting infrastructure forget is that the building of the interstate system in the 50s was largely a shovel job. Millions of less unskilled workers were hired to do much of the work. For example, 2,000 people worked 23 months to extend the Maine turnpike 66 miles from Portland to Augusta in 1954/55.
In contrast, major infrastructure work, such as the rebuilding of the southbound portion of I-295 or the building of the Waldo-Hancock Bridge are accomplished by highly skilled workers in much smaller numbers using high technology machinery.
You simply cannot put the average unemployed worker behind a 50 ton paving machine. Even with extensive training, that now-trained person would stand in line behind 100s of workers with extensive construction and heavy machinery experience.
How do we get out of the recession?
The key to getting out of this recession before it turns into a depression is to put people into jobs that give them new skills and into jobs that will last. Construction jobs do not last. Construction jobs do not produce goods that others can buy. Companies that produce goods are the key to the turn around, and training people to occupy those jobs is part of the answer.
Technology infrastructure such as immediately running fiber (not cable or wire) to every part of Maine is a good first step. Massively upgrading Maine's cell networks, especially the GSM side, is a good second step since companies and employees need dependable communications across the entire state and not just along I-95 and the coast. We simply cannot depend on the GSM providers to do this given 1) their infighting and 2) the penalties the national carriers put on their own customers for extensively roaming on towers other than their own.
Finally, Maine needs to seriously consider creating a business tax free zone in southern Maine adjacent to I-95. It is true that arguments could be made for placing this zone in the County or Hancock/Washington, but the simple fact is that businesses will not haul raw material that deep into Maine, only to ship it out again. Such zones, if created in the County or Hancock/Washington, might be created with tax incentives favorable to attract businesses and work from Canada.
Finally, this recession simply CANNOT be turned around quickly. Careful thought must be put into what we want the nation (and Maine) to look like in 2010 or 2011, and we must do the spade work now, no matter how painful it may be, to get there from here.
The article on Lewiston is a small part of the printed magazine but it appeared much larger online. News of the story and links to Newsweek's Web site spread by e-mail and, by 5 p.m. Thursday, the day after it appeared online, 87 people had commented on the article. By contrast, a story on Pastor Rick Warren's prayer at President Barack Obama's inauguration drew 15 comments … Many of the comments about Lewiston seemed to come from city readers, discounting the facts of the article and sometimes insulting Somalis.
First published 1/22, 1:30 AM
Updated 1/23 3:30 PM
About 7 PM last night the New York Times tweeted: Caroline Kennedy had asked Governor David Paterson to withdraw her name from consideration for Hillary Clinton's Senate seat.
No further information was immediately offered and that is the beauty of twitter.com; news can be "moved across the wire" to normal people in the same way the AP moves news to the Press Herald and the New York Times.
Quoting unnamed sources, a subsequent NYT story said Kennedy was concerned with the health of her uncle, Senator Edward Kennedy, but various websites had suggested as early as Sunday that she was considering withdrawing because of poor public support.
Subsequently, denials of the story were made by people "close" to Kennedy and Paterson.
Finally, after midnight, the Times ran with Kennedy's offical announcement that she had, indeed, asked Governor Paterson to withdraw her name for "personal reasons."
Last week a Marist poll came out indicating that 40% of New York voters favored Mario Andrew Cuomo while 25% favored Kennedy. Kennedy's number's, in fact, had not changed from a Marist Poll a month ago when she was tied with Cuomo, while he increased from 25% to 40%.
A January 5 poll by Public Policy Polling revealed an even greater spread: 58% preferred Cuomo to 27% for Kennedy.
After the initial "WoW" factor of Kennedy's entering the nomination race, New Yorkers stepped back and asked themselves who *is* this women and what does she have to offer us. And then probably, does she think she has a right to this seat?
Their thoughts probably ran along the lines that "if an unknown fifty-one year old with Kennedy's resume had asked for the appointment, she would not have even made the news."
After her request for the appointment, Kennedy did follow in Hillary Clinton's foot steps and made forays into upstate New York which were well received. However, when Kennedy finally appeared before seasoned national journalists, Kennedy's grasp of important issues she would face was questioned and her repeated hesitations and halts were enumerated and parodied.
The question of entitlement
Although the founding fathers made every attempt to make certain that American could never devolve into a monarchy, we, the people, appear to have developed an entrenched fascination with aristocracy of every stripe.
Of course we can have had our fascination with the movie stars of the 30s to 60s, in politics with the Adams, the Roosevelts, the Bushes, Clintons, the Doles and of course the Kennedys.
But there would be no fascination without a sense of entitlement.
1) A Kennedy family member has been in the Senate for all but two of the last fifty six years. With Senator Edward Kennedy's time in the Senate perhaps coming to an end, maybe the family thought was that Caroline's appointment might bridge any gap.
The two year gap came between JFK's ascension to the Presidency and EMK's election. JFK's college roomate, Ben Smith II, was appointed to fill JFK's open seat; he stepped down two years later when EMK turned 30, the minimum age to become a US senator.
Perhaps the same sense of entitlement is happening with the appointment of Biden's chief of staff Edward Kaufman to Biden's vacated seat until a special election in 2010. At that time, Biden's son Beau should be back from Iraq and could run at the age of 31.
2) When running for election to the Senate, candidates are required to release a "10-part, publicly available report disclosing her financial assets, credit card debts, mortgages, book deals and the sources of any payments greater than $5,000 in the last three years." When asked by the NYT if she would release these records while under public consideration for nomination, Kennedy demurred, informing the NYT that the records would be released only *after* she was actually appointed.
3) Mayor Michael Bloomberg: "Caroline Kennedy is a very experienced woman. She has worked very hard for the city. I can just tell you that she has made an enormous difference in New York City. ****And clearly, being part of the Kennedy family, she has had lots of exposure. Her uncle has been one of the best senators that we have had in an awful long time.****"
4) From the early Thursday AM NYT article: "Ms. Kennedy believed that the job was hers if she would accept it, the person said, but aides to Mr. Paterson would not comment on whether that was true."
Update, Friday
1) Time reports that Ted Kennedy and his "camp" were quite upset that his niece's people floated the excuse for her withdrawal as being her concern with his health. EMK felt this sent a message he was on death's door.
2) CNN reported on Thursday that a source close to Paterson "had no intention of appointing Caroline Kennedy" and that "[t]he source told CNN that Paterson did not think Kennedy was 'ready for prime time,'" seemingly for the reasons I outlined above.
3) The New York Daily News suggested Kennedy's personal problem involved tax issues on a nanny, the same "oversight," if true, that derailed Zoe Baird's nomination to be US Attorney General in 1993.
4) In contrast, the New York Post stated that the personal problem might be a marriage issue. Vanity Fair dissected a rumor pushed on Gawker.com that Kennedy has a "close friendship" with New York Times Publisher Arthur Sulzberger.
5) CBS news reported that her reason for dropping out was ***not her uncle's health*** and noted cryptically that " the reason Kennedy dropped out of contention truly is personal, and is something that only she and her immediate family are aware of."
6) Finally, in a postmortem entitled "Senate bid by Caroline Kennedy started poorly, wobbled badly and finished in a chaotic mess," the Daily News noted a souce close to the Kennedy family said at the begging of her bid "… it's more of a family push than her own" and "When Kennedy finally had her formal sitdown with Paterson on Jan. 10 to discuss the job, her poll numbers were in free fall - and the writing was on the wall..."
Like a gazillion other people, my mom received one of those digital picture frames this year as a Christmas gift. Now, I have to admit that I had seen these things displayed in stores and instantly written them off as worthless junk. Why not just download the pics and view them on your PC, which already comes with a gigantic digital picture frame called a monitor? I've reconsidered my position, however, after seeing the results that a friend of mine achieved by scanning old family photos and creating a themed display. This is a very nice application, even if the digital frames themselves are ridiculously overpriced (Why should a 7" digital frame cost as much as a freaking 15" monitor?).
Since my mom's not too computer savvy (sorry, Mom), and since I already own a good flatbed scanner, I convinced her to grant me temporary custody of "The Album". As you might guess, The Album refers to a photo album. This particular tome weighs in at around 20 lbs. and contains every Moening family related daguerreotype, snapshot, Polaroid print, instamatic photo, etc, since the invention of the photographic medium. Needless to say, The Album is the most jealously guarded and prized possession of the collective Moening family. There are already some preliminary indications that The Album will be the subject of an ugly family dispute on that sad but inevitable day when Mom's estate is dispensed with. I suspect that many others have similar Albums in their own families.
In case you've never seen one of these digital frames, they consist simply of a small LCD screen combined with one or more ports for the storage media that contains the photos. The more expensive frames might accept a USB device, or even possess some built-in internal memory. However, the less expensive models - like the one my mom received - just have a port for an SD memory card that is the universal, on-board storage device for all digital cameras. Presumably, you use your digital camera to take pictures of the annual Christmas brawl, pop the SD card out of the camera, plug same into the back of the digital picture frame and - PRESTO - instant, sensational Christmas gift!
As some of you may have figured out by now, it was my intent to flout the theoretical digital picture frame data model. I didn't want to get NEW pictures OFF the SD card; I needed to get OLD pictures ON the card. "No problem", I thought to myself. "I'll just scan and save the photos, put a fresh card in the camera, plug it in to my PC, and copy the old photos to the card using the camera itself as card reader/writer".
Note to self: In the future, you've got to remember to TEST these bright ideas before you spend five hours scanning and cropping old pics, only to discover that your Canon camera is a proprietary device. It turns out that the software engineers over at Canon have decided to imbed tags in the header of any image created with a Canon PowerShot A560. If you download that image and edit it with any software other than Canon's, you're not going to be able to write that image back to the card. Ditto for any image that was created or edited with a non-Canon camera to begin with.
Now I'm going to have to go to Staples and spend 20 bucks on an SD card reader that I'll probably never use again. I'm guessing that there are several thousand Canon camera owners that had exactly the same idea as me and are finding themselves in a similar predicament. Nice job, Canon.
Our public tends to shower adulation on sports figures, actors and other celebrities and - mercifully - a very few politicians.
It is a true and refreshing wonder to witness something like, "The Miracle on the Hudson" and the emergence of a hero who exemplifies courage, competence and modesty.
Airline Captain Chelsey Sullenberg III is a true professional. He spent his life becoming as knowledgeable as he could about his profession, no doubt hoping that all of this accumulating expertise would never have to be utilized. When the time came, his actions raised the bar for those who would exhibit "grace under pressure" in the future.
Certainly, honorable mention goes to the remainder of his crew, the many "first responders" of New York City who continually train for such a potential disaster and whose quick reaction saved many lives and the crews and passengers of ferries who reacted so quickly and lent their assistance.
How can such selfless actions be adequately thanked?
Perhaps by remembering and recognizing that there are many admirable people among us and by extolling their accomplishments, rather than devoting slavish attention to those whose self-aggrandizing lifestyles are aided and abetted by an adoring media.
I don't offer admiration and respect that frequently, but Captain Sullenberger is very high up on my list.
Much has been made of tomorrow's inauguration as being one of a new generation...not only did soon-to-be President Obama bring in millions of disenfranchised and new voters, but he ran on a message of inclusion and not one of divisiveness or entitlement.
What will happen legislatively, of course remains to be seen, but there can be no doubt that this inauguration will be a technological first.
Inauguration technology firsts: the first inauguration carried by telegraph was in 1845; captured by a movie camera, 1897; on radio, 1925; the first carried on TV, 1949, on color TV, 1961; and tomorrow's inauguration is likely to be the first in which the event is planned to be shared instantly by tens of millions, perhaps hundreds of millions using social networking devices and sites.
Much has been made of the real possibility that the cell networks in D.C. might go down as the 2.5 million expected to be on the Mall and the millions more in D.C. attempt to voice, text and cam the event.
But little has been written about the fact that untold millions there are elsewhere are expecting to share their thoughts and emotions by tweeting the event on Twitter.com, and/or writing on social networks such as Facebook, Myspace, etc.
Even now, Twitter.com (where I am tweeting while I type) is slowing down and limiting activities, and an old time technology colleague who now works in the IT bowels of one of the social networking sites above says he is seeing an exponential increase in useage that, if it does not lessen, will GREATLY slow access tomorrow.
I sadly envisage millions on the Mall trying to text, cam or tweet, and being unable to do so, will repeatedly try, only to miss the raw and historic nature of the event.
Update 1/20 9 AM
My ex-colleague mentioned above says additional servers are online at his
social networking site; Twitter is running remarkably smoothly right now, at 11:45 AM, who knows, but at 9 AM they are prepared.
Industrial customers were disappointed by the PUC's ruling, which they say will do nothing to lower electricity costs. Maine ratepayers give $100 million a year more than they should to the regional grid operator, effectively subsidizing southern New England states, said Tony Buxton, a lawyer who represents the Industrial Energy Consumer Group … "Two commissioners have decided, effectively, that they're satisfied with the status quo," Buxton said. "They have set Maine on a course of begging, and so far, begging is costing Maine $100 million a year."
Published Thursday, January 14, 8:37 AM
Updated Friday, January 15, 9:30 AM
Now that Macworld is over, the news has been released that Apple devotees have known for months but have not wanted to acknowledge -- Steve Jobs is seriously ill.
Steve Jobs, the Chief Executive Officer of Apple, announced yesterday that he was leaving his position on a medical leave until at least June.
In December, Apple announced that Jobs would not make his customary keynote speech at Macworld Expo, the independent tradeshow/love fest that had been originally developed around the Mac computer. For at least a year, rumors abounded that Jobs was seriously ill as his weight had plummeted. At the June 2008 announcement of the 2nd generation IPhone, Jobs looked absolutely gaunt.
When the December announcement came that Jobs would not make the keynote speech at Macworld, Apple's stock dropped, and just before Macworld opened, Apple made a new announcement that Job's doctors (who presumably were the best and had been working on Jobs for years) suddenly found he suffered from a hormonal problem that caused the weight loss. Apple's stock rebounded.
The Apple's products -- the Mac line of computers, the IPod line and the IPhone -- have engendered a cult like following. I have to admit, I was a member of this cult. In 1984, I was led into a room at the University of Chicago with 10 other members of the staff of the Computation Center and told to sign a non disclosure statement by an Apple executive.
On the table in front of us was something covered with a silken cloth. After the forms where signed, and when the interminable pep talk was over, the cloth was removed and the original Mac was revealed. I was in love, and stayed in love with that funky square box until my latest one died on November 11 2006 (like someone quitting smoking, I know the date).
And the cult? When tech reviewers like David Pogue of the New York Times and Rob Pegoraro of the Washington Post have given less than stellar reviews to Apple products they have had their mail boxes filled by Apple lovers criticizing their objectivity.
So why is it big news that Jobs is taking medical leave now?
First, it is hard to believe that after losing so much weight for so long, Jobs' highly paid doctors only discovered his problems after the uproar following the Macworld announcement.
Apple's Board of Directors, which represents the interests of the shareholders, has a obligation to ensure that the "chief man" is able to do the job, or must to spend the sums necessary to ensure he is able to do so. Secondly, the Board has an obligation to insure that all important news regarding the health of the company is made public so the shareholders can act in their best interest.
In my opinion, Jobs did not JUST discover the reason for his illness, and he, and perhaps the Apple Board of Directors, have not been totally forthcoming with information about his health.
**** Why is all this important?
Jobs IS Apple. He has spearheaded every major change Apple has made since his return to the company in 1997. He has driven the rise in the market share of Mac computers; he drove the design of the IPod family and the IPhone.
His iconic personality led to the development of the Mac/IPod/IPhone cult which allows Apple to sell its products at a premium which some analysts believe is unwarranted.
Apple will go on without Jobs until June, but there is no clear successor -- his management style insured that -- and it is hard for a cult to transfer its loyalty.
Secondly, although Apple has many brilliant technical people, in my opinion, there is no visionary like Jobs who can imagine a need for a product, imagine a product to fill that need, and design such a perfect product that people will pay a premium for it.
In my opinion, Apple will go on, but I seriously wonder if there will there be another revolutionary product from Apple like the Mac computer, the IPod or the IPhone.
********
Update: Friday, January 15
I wrote my entry on Thursday morning; on Friday, the major media hopped on the band wagon:
The Washington Post published an article today detailing the responsibilities that the Board of Directors has regarding Jobs' health as I discussed. This responsibility was defined in a 1976 US Supreme Court ruling.
CNET, the technology website of CBS, published a long analysis Friday on how Apple supposedly got to the point where Jobs had to take medical leave. CNET professes to have inside information, but misses the crucial 1976 Supreme Court ruling that the Board bore the legal responsibility to reveal information regarding the company if "there is a substantial likelihood that a reasonable shareholder would consider it important."
Fortune published Friday online a damning analysis of the way in which the major media outlets (the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, CNBC) had reported on Jobs' illness in the past and includes a link to Wednesday's now infamous out of control interview that CNBC's Steve Goldman had with Newsweek's Dan Lyons (the "Fake Steve Jobs)
As it is early, I expect many more will hop on this band wagon during the day, (However, I suggest you use Google if you want to follow it. As I wrote this, Yahoo had none of these links.)
2009 brings to us a newly-elected (or reelected) Maine Legislature and also a new President of the United States.
This New Year also provides a multitude of challenges that demand the attention, careful examination and productive decision-making required to maintain and hopefully improve our Nation.
Locally, Maine is faced with declining operating revenues and the attendant hard choices necessary to continue to provide benefits and assistance to its residents. Considering the current economic woes, the question is no longer whether or not to reduce spending at the State and municipal levels but where to make the cuts.
Naturally, special interest groups are currently squeaking as loudly as possible, hoping for enough "grease" to keep their own wheels turning smoothly.
To Governor Baldacci's credit, he has publicly recognized the severity of the financial difficulties and has advanced a number of proposals designed to deal with revenue shortfalls. He is indeed providing leadership, no matter if one agrees with any or all of his plans. I personally would like to see a reduction in the number of highly-paid "administrative assistants" on the Governor's staff emerge as one of the plans to help balance the state budget. Leaders should share in times of hardship.
It is the responsibility of the Legislature to help construct, evaluate, fine-tune, approve and implement cost-reduction measures needed to comply with restrictions now imperative due to the decline in available funds. Unfortunately, leaders of this body have historically shown great reluctance to recognize financial limitations. They were elected to make the hard decisions required for the greater good, but frequently have preferred to pander rather than lead.
On a National level pandering has risen to an exalted art form, resulting in an absolute frenzy of squandering the taxpayers' money by rewarding incompetence and unethical behavior with numerous "bailouts" that have failed to improve America's economy. Indeed, we are treated to the spectacle of gigantic transfers of the public's money to lending institutions who have then refused to lend any portion of these funds to the people who supplied the money.
The incoming administration is pushing for even greater expenditures, designed to provide money to federal and local governments to spend on pork barrel projects that will drastically increase the national debt while doing little to improve the economy (exemplifying a growing tendency toward economic "central planning", which provides limited management capability but more government control).
Our President-elect provides little in the way of encouragement and hope in his speeches, instead insistently dwelling on the ruinous and dire consequences that are certain to occur unless we cede control of our lives to an all-encompassing government. Meanwhile, his nomination for Treasury Secretary is someone who failed to pay required income taxes in a timely fashion, for Attorney General an individual who oversaw some of the most infamous Clinton pardons and for CIA director a political hack who has no knowledge of intelligence operations or requirements.
President-elect Obama's imminent Washington festivities will reportedly cost $150 million dollars, more than three times the bill for the last presidential inauguration (which was roundly criticized for extravagance when the money could have been better applied to a host of National and world problems).
Leadership?
There may be glimmerings in Augusta, but on the National front there is not only a conspicuous absence of that particular commodity, but also a continuing dearth of common sense, ethics and service for the public good.
VASSALBORO (NEWS CENTER) -- A proposal to open a topless coffee shop in Vassalboro has been approved for permit by the town planning board. The board voted unanimously Tuesday night for Donald Crabtree's coffee shop, saying his application had everything it needed.
Why indeed, when so many politicians (the Clintons, the entire Illinois "political machine", numerous Senators and Congressmen from both parties - who actually construct the laws that they often ignore), celebrities, executives and citizens in general seem oblivious to the concept?
A government of law is distinguished from the "rule of man" (where a single person or a select group of persons can set or alter the rules of conduct at their discretion, i.e. monarchies, tyrannies or theocracies). All are equal in the eyes of the law, which is supreme over the acts of the government and the people.
"Adherence to the rule of law is what guides us in our everyday social and legal interactions, prevents anarchy, and holds us together as a people" (Frens).
One has only to review the long list of troubled nations in the world to understand that concept. The rule of law is one of the underpinnings of Western civilization and has provided historic stabilization in those countries that adhere to the principle.
A moral code is a must for any society to remain stabilized and participatory government is the means for determining the guidelines under which its citizens will live. This moral code is a product of discussion and agreement amongst its citizens (solidified by our political leaders in this representative republic). Once shaped into law, it needs to be followed. For those who disagree with stated principles, the process offers the opportunity to change the rules if the majority agrees to the need.
Consider the multitude of illegal offenses committed by these previously-mentioned politicians, executives and celebrities where no form of punishment has been administered. Does such avoidance encourage additional illicit behavior?
I have heard considerable outrage professed by members of the public against these transgressions. And yet, politicians are re-elected or appointed to positions of greater authority, celebrities (and some politicians) are adored and executives are rewarded for lack of competence and/or ethics.
Personally, I like the term, "Wrong". It will not stand by itself without explanation and justification and there will always be those who revile the user for imposing his or her "moral values" upon others. There is no imposition, however, simply a stating of personal opinion.
Now, if enough individuals combine to decide that something is "wrong" and convince their representatives to codify their interpretations into law, then indeed there is imposition involved.
I believe that there are many who subvert the rule of law by refusing to support the legal, ethical and moral principles that have been codified into the laws of America and that there are some who further damage our society through their antipathy toward selected ethical and philosophical traditions that bind us as a nation and as a people. Again, if someone feels that change is imperative, the system allows changes to be made if one works within its boundaries. The will of the majority provides the mortar binding together the building blocks of our nation.
Support the rule of law and demand that it be practiced and enforced. If you disagree with the rules, work within the system in a moral and ethical manner to effect changes, or risk further degeneration and potential destruction of our country
Mention the word "buffet", and many people think of an array of dull food that's sold by being cheap rather than any gourmet quality. Well, the Sunday buffet at The Cockeyed Gull on Peaks Island is always a an exciting gourmet treat, and also an incredible bargain.
Each Sunday Chun Ye and her staff create a buffet from a different country or region. She's from Korea, and it's not surprising that her Korean buffet is magnificant. But last night we were delighted with the South American dishes, and we're already looking forward to the Middle East meal next Sunday.
When it's not buffet not, the Gull is still a wonderful restaurant. And the view -- even (or especially) in Winter -- is unsurpassed.
For the buffet, you can take the 4:30 or 5:35 boat from Portland, returning on the 6:00 or 7:40. Note that the buffet is only a winter phenomenon. When tourist season begins prices do go up. But nobody's complaining. Local businesses need to survive, and the Cockeyed Gull is a wonderful gift to us in any season.
Stories about Israel's savage attacks on mostly civilian targets in Gaza are horrifying. Incredible pain is being inflicted upon civilians, in apparent retaliation for Hamas attacks on Israel.
As a Quaker pacifist, I don't subscribe to any calculus that allows one killing and not another, that identifies some wars as being "just", or any such. But I'm not blind the to disparity here. Hamas has lobbed projectiles at Israel, killing few. Israel has unleashed a massive and continued attack.
Put aside the morality. All reports I've heard indicate that the anger and resolve of Palestinians have only increased. The difficulty of a true peace settlement - that is clearly in Israel's interest - has increased. Israel's attacks have brought more suffering and less hope for all of us.
When will American jews, and the rest of our nation, get the courage to criticize such behavior from Israel? When will those Jewish ideals of justice and mercy be put into action?
The Bead Museum in Washington DC is closing. A museum colleague sent me the obituary today and I had mixed feelings. As a museum director I have deep empathy with the staff, volunteers, and supporters who are losing something important in their lives. As someone who worked in the cut-throat retail word for many years I just nodded my head. Of course the Bead Museum is closing. And many other cultural organizations are likely to shut down in the next several months, too.
The museum world is "over-stored" to use the retail parlance. Just as many people get the idea that opening up a store would be fun and easy (after all, shopping is so much fun, how hard could it be to pick out fun gift items for other people), it seems that anyone with a passion and a collection thinks it would be fun and easy to start a museum. All you need is a space and some stuff and a 501C3 designation and you are on your way!
Maine is not grossly overpopulated with museums as some other states are, but there are still more museums, historical societies, and non-profit arts groups than a small, poor state can support. We're all out there trying to raise money from the same foundations and donors and frankly, there may not be enough to go around this time.
In the retail world, when faced with the same scenario (too many outlets and not enough customers), stores sell off their inventory and close down. Sometimes two weak chains will merge, shed the excess and come out stronger in the end. Museums are different, though. The "inventory" is our shared cultural heritage # often priceless objects # donated with the intention of permanently preserving them in the public trust. A clearance sale isn't the answer. Mergers of cultural organizations seem like a good idea but often the outcome is two moderately weak partners ending up as one critically weak organization because the "assets" the weak partner brings are generally collections objects # those priceless things that are so expensive to keep.
Since I got into the museum field a decade ago I've found it interesting to compare and contrast the business models. For years I've wondered what would happen when all the museums and non-profits that have been sprouting like mushrooms over the years faced an economic collapse. I'm afraid I'm going to find out this year.
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