byte&chew

What a ^%$#%$^ speech!

Yesterday I was about half way through writing a post when I took a break and turned to my TV. I soon deleted what I had written, in order  to write this post and here’s why. When I turned my TV to C-SPAN there bigger than life was Donald Trump, he was giving a speech in New York. I have to admit that I became mesmerized by his speech, foul language and all. I now better understand why so many people believe we need him or someone like him as president. There he was calling the Chinese “bastards” and “son of bitches” while telling the audience how he would deal with those “fuckers”. After watching him for several minutes, I found myself getting animated and energized, I too wanted to “kick some ass” and turn things around in this country, I too was angry with the Obama soft spoken policies. Then it occurred to me, I had seen such a speech before, somewhere, the crowd cheered in approval and we all agreed that we had the right to “kick their ass”. Iran Mr. Trump said, will take control of the whole Middle East unless we stop them or wipe them out. As his rhetoric became more and more inflammatory, this feeling that I had seen this before, that this was a kind of déjà-vus of something I’d seen or read. Then it hit me, it was speeches made in the 30’s by Adolf Hitler while he was organizing the Third Reich in Germany. In Hitler’s case it wasn’t those “fu%$#@ Arabs”, it was the Jews. The Jews were at the root of Germany’s entire problems and they needed to be eliminated. Now I’m not saying that Donald Trump is Hitler or is the evil madman that Hitler was, but for the first time I understood why the people of Germany followed him and believed in his rhetoric. It’s exciting listening to someone using street language in depicting people or countries that seem to be making your life miserable and screwing up your country. Mr. Trump still using his colorful language told of how he would level the playing field with those “Chinese bastards”, I would impose a 25% tariff on all Chinese imports and if they complained I’d tell them I’ll bring it up to 50% if they don’t shut up. Of course nowhere in his speech did Mr. Trump talk about the consequences of his suggestions, but it felt good to hear that we were going to be “respected again by those bastards”. Also advocated was seizing the oil fields in Iraq, Saudi Arabia or anywhere else there’s oil. Now it’s just too easy to make Mr. Trump into boogie man and say that nobody takes him seriously, wrong! In some polls Mr. Trump is in first place as a Republican candidate for president. Now I don’t know about you, but that scares the hell out of me! I’m sure that there were people in Germany that at first thought that Hitler and the Nazi’s were not to be taken seriously, but as the effects of the Great Depression decimated the people and economy of Germany the rhetoric became more acceptable and the atrocities soon followed. My friends, the process of going from political rhetoric to insane behavior is a slippery and steep slope. If we can hear those things on TV from the mouth of someone like Donald Trump over the price of gas at $4.00/gal and 8% unemployment, what’s going to be said and done if/when it hits $6.00/gal and unemployment is 25%? If you think I’m exaggerating the situation, then I ask that you look at history and see what led to some of the worst atrocities known to man.

Duh.............

Today when I look at Berlin, I see several things I never thought I would ever see. First is the “empty” mill site, empty but for the recovery boiler and stack. Second, Downtown Main Street, an “empty” shell of its former self. Gone is JC Penney, Woolworth, Berlin Drug, City Drug, Guay & Drouin, Evans Department Store, Lionel Furniture, Berlin Furniture and the list goes on and on. The latest on the “empty list” is the new Federal Prison. What’s truly amazing about this latest entry into our “empty list” is the fact that it didn’t even have a chance to open its doors. I believe that most residents of Berlin are standing around in disbelief over the events surrounding the Federal Prison. With this post I wish to focus on the prison issue in order to use it as an example of a Federal Government gone amuck and of a political movement that is threatening each and every one of us. The reactionary Tea Party and its simplistic followers are in the process of dismantling the social and economic fabric of middle class America. I’m personally tired of listening to these dimwits yelling “jobs, jobs, jobs” while doing nothing to put us back on a path to actually create jobs and improve the economy. Their political campaign consisted of their false “jobs, jobs, jobs” rhetoric which is now being replaced with “cut, cut, cut” citing the size of the National Debt, again a simplistic conclusion. If in your everyday life you were confronted with a wage cut, would you stop eating? If in your everyday life you faced a massive debt, would you stop sending your kids to school? Would you instead study where your money is really going and, then prioritize those things you can do without and cut those out? I think so, but these non-thinking morons are suggesting cutting everything that makes the everyday life of the middle class Americans possible. The reason this is happening is because we no longer have a representative voice in government. The corporations have their lobbyists and the rich camouflage their personal agendas in their corporate political strategies.  Cut Social Security, cut Medicare, cut college grants, cut, cut, cut, but give tax breaks to the wealthiest 1% of Americans! The Berlin Federal Prison is caught-up in this insane political process where we throw the baby out with the wash water and we should be learning some important lessons from what we see. For one thing we shouldn’t expect intelligent decisions from those who can only reduce every issue to its lowest common denominator. Yes Sarah, we know Russia is near your house, but even if you can see Russia from there, it doesn’t mean you know anything about Russia! Yes the government is broke and yes we need to cut back on spending, but that doesn’t mean cutting things that keep people alive. What about the Pentagon, why are they off the hook? How many wars do we need? The cost of a few military jets and missiles would make Social Security solvent for the next two hundred years! What we see here in Berlin is going on all over the country and, if we don’t wake up to its reality, the life you and I enjoy will soon go the way of JC Penney and Woolworth. The Federal Prison is the canary in the coal mine and we should heed its message which doesn’t simplistically mean to blow up the mine. Beware of those that have simple answers to complex issues for they have no clue what they’re talking about.

A step in the right direction

Northern Pass Exploring Development
of Broadband Infrastructure in Northern New Hampshire

  

MANCHESTER, NH -- April 20, 2011 -- Representatives of The Northern Pass transmission project announced today that they are actively exploring the possibility of installing high capacity broadband technology as part of the direct current transmission project in northern New Hampshire.

"In our discussions with local residents and community leaders it is clear that the lack of a high capacity, reliable broadband system has been a major impediment to economic development efforts in northern New Hampshire and the loss of significant opportunities, such as IKEA opening a corporate operations facility in Colebrook," said Gary Long, President of Public Service of New Hampshire. "We are still in the process of review and discussion, but we believe there is an opportunity to utilize the Northern Pass project to facilitate a major fiber backbone to the economic centers of the region, including Lancaster, Groveton, Colebrook and Berlin."

Long said that the intention of The Northern Pass is not to provide telecom service, but to provide "backbone" fiber infrastructure, and partner with state and local telecom providers to facilitate enhanced service, reliability, and capacity to business and residential customers. A team of internal and external electric and telecom experts have been reviewing the potential of co-locating the direct current transmission equipment and broadband technology on the same structures, and identifying opportunities to partner with telecom companies. 

"The availability of broadband has become a major consideration in all aspects of business and the economy," said Long. "This is true not only for large operations centers, but for small businesses, area industries, such as tourism and lodging, and the provision of human services, including health care and education."

"The lack of communications capacity, as well as not having the security of redundant telecom systems, prevents major corporations from choosing to locate in northern New Hampshire," said Berlin Mayor Paul Grenier. "Berlin has lost out on major employers because we do not have the necessary broadband infrastructure to assure continued and stable operations of these major call centers and other business operations. The addition of greater broadband capacity through this electric transmission project would be a great benefit to the region."

Leveraging the Northern Pass project to provide additional broadband capacity to the North Country would contribute to the goals of the 2008 State of New Hampshire Broadband Action Plan by identifying new backhaul infrastructure to increase capacity and improve the redundancy of the core network infrastructure. Through the development of a robust network infrastructure that is fast, reliable, and redundant, this project can provide access for communities that otherwise would not be served in a way that will foster job creation and economic growth.

Energy terrorists

Since Berlin has become the talk of the State as the possible site for one of the largest biomass electric generating facility in the country and since most of the people who read this blog are here because of their interest in biomass and energy issues in general, I thought I would share some information about oil, black gold as some call it. I regularly read a blog devoted to oil,  www.theoildrum.com  where there’s enough information and opinions about oil to sink a tanker. What caught my eye over the weekend was a statement by the oil minister of Saudi Arabia who said that his country has enough oil both in supply and reserve to offset any crisis brought on by the turmoil in the rest of the Middle East. He then went on to say that the rise in prices is due mostly to “speculation, misinformation and the unjustified fear about the future supply and demand”. Now this is not the first time I hear or read about the role that “speculators” are playing in the fact that the price of gas is approaching $4.00/gal. A couple years ago Congress came close to tackling this issue, but as is often the case, Wall Street big oil money silenced/bought the debate and canned it. I think it’s good for us to think about this matter as we pull in to gas up our vehicle and notice that the price is up by say, another nickel since last time. I’m sure I’m not the only person that stands there and watches the dollar symbol rolling on the pump, anxious for the damn thing to snap and stop picking my pocket. I feel both helpless and angry knowing that I’m paying more for this damn fuel than it’s worth and, that the extra nickel I’m paying, is for gas that was already at the station when the price went up! As I already said, a couple years ago Congress held hearings about the issue and they had expert witnesses testify that, if speculators were not allowed to gamble with our fuel supplies, the price would drop by as much as 50%! I’m of the opinion that these speculators are economic terrorists! What was revealed at these hearings was that these crooks/gamblers/terrorists are buying oil futures without the capacity to accept delivery. Let me run that by you one more time. These speculators are allowed to buy millions of barrels of future oil ( which drives the price up) without they having any storage tanks or other means of accepting delivery, it’s all on paper! They are not in the oil business; they’re in the money business on Wall Street!  Now if you’re as upset at this as I am, take time and let your Senators and Congressmen know what you think about this rip-off scheme. Tell them that only those who are in the oil business and, have the capacity to accept/store what they’re buying be allowed to bid on oil futures. If we’re successful at stopping this abuse we’ll see the price of gas go tumbling down at the pump. Keep this in mind the next time you go fill-up, you could be paying $2.00/gal not $4.00 but for those speculators! (And you thought you were getting screwed by OPEC)

You'll be missed...............

I just learned that Larry Kelly the Executive Director of Tri-County CAP will soon be retiring. Larry’s retirement is another serious blow for the region. I’m confident that Tri-County CAP will find a qualified Director to head its organization, but what Berlin and the region will miss will be Larry’s connections to the outside world.  I believe that Larry’s relationships in Concord and Washington are irreplaceable. I’ve watched Larry at many public functions in the Berlin/Gorham area and he was at his best when speaking to the Governor, a US Senator or to any political dignitary. Larry brought millions of State and Federal dollars to the North Country, not only through the many programs that his organization administers, but in general by speaking-up for a variety of New Hampshire projects both private and public that needed support. My friends, those shoes will be hard to fill and I can’t imagine who will speak to the needs of our region more eloquently than Larry. The North Country owes a debt of gratitude to Larry Kelly and I wish him the best in his retirement. A heart felt “thank you” Mr. Kelly, for all you’ve done for the people and the communities of the North Country.