I went up to the town of Mendon today to speak to the Code Enforcement Officer/Building Inspector to ask about next Spring’s chickens.  While there, we got talking about other local people who have free range eggs for sale.  One of the places that I mentioned, the Code Officer, Tommy, said, “How about that place?  I don’t think they’ve mowed the front yard all year.”

I said, “Yeah, they’re being much more environmentally friendly than the rest of us.  I think it’s great.”

He said, “Tell that to some of the town board members.”

Apparently, one of our newest board members is unhappy with the “unkempt” look of it.  Hence, this post.  Searching through the Google-webs, I found a great article, by naturalist writer, Marcia Bonta:

Why this mania for mowed grass even in the country, even along little–used country roads, this love affair with neat and green?  Whatever the reason, the lawn culture is deeply embedded in the American psyche. All that wasted gas and oil is being used to keep nature at bay, as if nature were the enemy.  Yet neighbors even in the country complain if folks don’t keep their lawns cut

A place for everything and everything in it’s place, neat and clean,  scheduled and measured.  That’s our culture.  Is that why we like artificial stuff so much?  Take the human element out of it and you are less likely to have imperfection.

So, is this town board member aware that a green lawn, kept mowed short is an environmental dead zone?  If grass does not flower, then it attracts no pollinators and life cycles cannot be completed.   Btp wrote about this a couple of years ago.  Weed killers, fertilizers, turn our lawns into something unrecognizable to Mother Nature.

According to author Chris Bolgiano, in her article “Lawn Be Gone,”

As water drains from lawns it carries residues from seventy million pounds of pesticides every year, ten times more per acre than agricultural crops.  Sales of lawn care pesticides to Americans accounted for about a third of total world pesticide expenditures, in 1997…

That’s a frightening amount of chemicals, many of which are carcinogenic in animals, passing through our lawns and into our waterways.

Thankfully, I don’t see many ChemLawn trucks around anymore, but people continue to manicure their lawns, golf course style and it is lauded by the masses as beautiful.  Give me a meadow where I can keep my chickens.

Tommy says it’s ok.

Sept 14th is primary day in New York. both major parties have primaries.  On the GOP side there is to governors race on the Democratic side  - 5 people are vying for the Democratic Line for Attorney General.

Last night, there was  what passes for a candidate debate - (more like Q&A) .

So, who are you leaning towards?

I missed it due to other commitments - If you read the D&C write up the issues were Cigarette tax collection on Indian reservations and Burlington coat factory Mosque, Political corruption and property tax cap (the latter just a quick one line mention).

Both the D&C and WXXI have the full 1 hour debate on line.  Between now and the primary I’ll find the hour to watch it.

I wrote about the dumbing down of “Merica” two days ago.  NewLeftMedia has a video of interviews at the “Restoring Honor” rally, which illustrates my point.

just scary.

Please, somebody, get these people a mirror!

Well, yet another Democratic caucus idea dies a quiet death in the Monroe County Legislature.

It is simple - Local Development Corporations (LDCs) are created by the County Government.  They incur debt.  The current requirement by the county government to incur debt requires a 2/3 majority vote of the County Legislature.  So - what if the County Legislature requires a 2/3 majority to create a LDC?

Well, per the GOP - not so fast.  Ultimately the proposal died in GOP led committee.

You can read about it in the D&C but this was the key line

A Democratic analysis shows that LDCs created by Monroe County have taken on more than $350 million in debt.

So, we create debt, but work around our rules of a 2/3 majority because we use LDCs.  Seems like we don’t follow our own rules.

What do Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor Rally” and opening up the Mississippi Gulf Coast to fishing have in common?

They are both illustrations of the Great Dumbing Down of Merica.  We have entered the era of Dumb F***.  Take a look at this gem:

Beck put a heavy religious cast on nearly all his remarks, sounding at times like an evangelical preacher.

“Something beyond imagination is happening,” he said. “America today begins to turn back to God.”

Beck exhorted the crowd to “recognize your place to the creator. Realize that he is our king. He is the one who guides and directs our life and protects us.” He asked his audience to pray more. “I ask, not only if you would pray on your knees, but pray on your knees but with your door open for your children to see,” he said.

(noticeably absent from the proceedings was tele-evangelist Ernest Angley)

The leader of the knuckle-draggers

And this man, who has garnered a following of the white trash element of society (which is far larger than I could have imagined) has this educational history:

Beck was born in Everett, Washington and raised as a Roman Catholic. He obtained his first broadcast job as a disc-jockey for his hometown radio station at the age of 13 after winning a contest. When his mother died, Beck moved to Bellingham, where he attended high school. After graduation, he worked at radio stations in Provo, Utah, Washington D.C. and New Haven, Connecticut. Along the way, Beck struggled with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and substance abuse, and went through recovery in the mid 1990s. After marrying his wife Tania in 1999, and with the encouragement of his daughter, the couple joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“Duhhh, uhhh, I listen Glenn Beck, yup!  (Are those rug burns on your knuckles?)

Next, from Truthout, we learn that the coastal waters off of Mississippi have been opened to fishing and swimming.  The “all clear” alarm has sounded:

The State of Mississippi’s Department of Marine Resources (DMR) opened all of its territorial waters to fishing on August 6. This was done in coordination with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the US Food and Drug Administration, despite concerns from commercial fishermen in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida about the presence of oil and toxic dispersants from the BP oil disaster.

From the AP, August 20th:

WASHINGTON — A 22-mile-long invisible mist of oil is meandering far below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, where it will probably loiter for months or more, scientists reported Thursday in the first conclusive evidence of an underwater plume from the BP spill.

The most worrisome part is the slow pace at which the oil is breaking down in the cold, 40-degree water, making it a long-lasting but unseen threat to vulnerable marine life, experts said.

[snip]

The oil is at depths of 3,000 to 4,000 feet, far below the environment of the most popular Gulf fish like red snapper, tuna and mackerel. But it is not harmless. These depths are where small fish and crustaceans live. And one of the biggest migrations on Earth involves small fish that go from deep water to more shallow areas, taking nutrients from the ocean depths up to the large fish and mammals.

But, hey, let’s fish it anyway.  This is Merica!

Tuna, anybody?

As bus loads of people head down to the Glenn Beck rally in D.C. - on the anniversary and at the same place Martin Luther King gave his I have a dream speech - Jon Stewart is on vacation but was kind enough to proactively report on the rally.

It’s 10 mins long - the last min is simply precious.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino continues to be his own worst enemy. We already know he has a racist and sexist background, but not to disappoint, we now find out that last year he called Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver “the Anti-Christ or Hitler.” Nevermind that Silver led the charge for reparations for Holocaust survivors or that he probably had family that died in the Holocaust, it’s just plain wrong to call someone Hitler who you disagree with especially if they’re an Orthodox Jew. These comments that Paladino made have resurfaced recently as they were given in response to another Republican apologizing for comparing Silver to Hitler.

That didn’t stop Paladino from slinking back down into the sewer, where he spends most of his time, to start throwing some vile trash at a downstate Democrat. Via the Huffington Post:

Speaking before a crowd of more than 100 people who attended a public forum sponsored by the Niagara County Patriots at Frontier Fire Hall in the Town of Wheatfield, Paladino said he didn’t believe Erie County Executive Chris Collins should have apologized for remarks he made about state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver that some construed as anti-semetic. [...]

“If I could ever describe a person who would fit the bill of an Antichrist or a Hitler, this guy is it,” Paladino said. “I’m sure Chris had no — absolutely no — intention whatsoever of insulting the Jewish faith or the ethnic group or religion.”

Regardless of intent, calling anyone Hitler brings back very painful memories for many families across New York State, even if Carl’s family isn’t one of them. His campaign manager said that it was all the fault of the liberal media for “misquoting” something Paladino doesn’t remember saying and that, “Anyone who thinks that that makes [Silver] equivalent to Hitler or the anti Christ needs to have their head examined.”

Well, by his campaign’s own admission, it’s time to check Carl into the mental ward.

US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is holding a fundraiser for her erstwhile opponent in the Democratic primary, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney from Manhattan. You may recall last year that Maloney was making big waves about not getting tapped for the Senate after Hillary Clinton became Secretary of State. She eventually dropped out of the race.

From the New York Observer:

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand will host a fundraiser at Jean Georges next Tuesday to benefit Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney’s re-election campaign.

Maloney is-somewhat ironically-facing the most spirited primary challenge of her career, after spending much of last summer touting the value of intra-party competition when she was publicly eyeing Gillibrand’s Senate seat.

The two stood together in June to cheer the 9/11 health care bill, but it was hard to tell exactly how deep the goodwill actually ran.

It’s good to see old foes making friends — or at least pretending to be friends.

Since this subject has been receiving attention recently, I searched and found an article about the “Urban Poultry” movement.  The question had been raised about zoning and chickens.  It looks like, for the most part, that if no complaints are raised by the neighbors, it’s probably going to be ok.  Giving free range eggs to them would be a way of getting around any complaints they may initially have.

In case you’re wondering, it is legal for Rochester residents to keep chickens as long as they follow certain regulations and get a special license, which must be renewed annually. Roosters older than 4 months are not allowed because of the noise factor. In the 2007-08 fiscal year, there were 10 applications for such poultry licenses, notes City Clerk Daniel Karin.

“If the code is silent, then it is allowable. We would respond on a per complaint basis,” notes Brighton fire marshal Chris Roth.

I haven’t checked our local zoning codes yet, but there are plenty of chickens, including roosters > 4mo in the village of Honeoye Falls and lots of local people in the town of Mendon have the same.  The first step for me will be building a coop and putting up chicken wire.  I also have a friend who plans on loaning me his Chickens for Dummies book.  I will be absorbed in that as soon as I finish Ross Conrad’s Natural Beekeeping.

(Picture from beginningfarmers.org)

One step at a time…

Check out this paragraph from the Washington Post

Just 192 large egg companies own about 95 percent of laying hens in this country, down from 2,500 in 1987, according to United Egg Producers, an industry group. Most of those producers are concentrated in five states: Iowa, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania and California.

“I don’t think people have any idea when they see all these brand names in the stores that so many are coming from the same place,” said Patty Lovera, assistant director of Food and Water Watch, a food safety organization. “It raises the stakes — if one company is doing something wrong, it affects a lot of food.”

192 companies - 95% of the total output.  It would be interesting to see how exactly the market share breaks down for those companies.  Meat Packers - there is a small handful (like 5 or something) that pack the meat.

Pretty scary trend.

Just to build on Ladkiddo’s post - check out Sam Seder.  Now he is an acquired taste but I’ve been following these snips from his on line series - that’s Bullsh*t.  Listen to him make sense.

Oh btw the “Mosque” @ ground zero?  Well it isn’t quite at ground zero is it.  Then there is this map of mosques in NYC.  Maybe these should be moved too.  Out of NYC back to Mecca perhaps?

Personally Kathleen Parker makes sense -

We teach tolerance by being tolerant. We can’t insist that our freedom of speech allows us to draw cartoons or produce plays that Muslims find offensive and then demand that they be more sensitive to our feelings.

What exactly are we afraid of?

Listening to NPR last week I was tuned into a discussion about how the mosque within the relative vicinity of “Ground Zero” had become a rallying cry from the right, fueling their righteous indignation against those of us on the left who believe the constitution is more than just a piece of paper with which to wipe our asses.  I’m even disappointed with my usual hero, Howard Dean, in his reaction from Salon.com:

Certain things are disappointing and surprising even for the most hardened cynics.  Hearing Howard Dean — the former liberal standard-bearer — join Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin by saying the following is definitely one of them:

but as Stlo7 would ask, “Are we past the white knight thing yet?

So, Tom Degan, of “The Rant” fame has a piece up which is worth a read.

Here is what’s happening, boys and girls: In case it slipped your mind, there is an election coming up in November. In the last few months the Republican party has been in the process of imploding (and it’s been so much fun to watch, too!) As was predicted on this site over a year ago, the so-called “Tea Party” would end up being an albatross around their collective neck. Sure enough, the mindless extremism of these nitwits is starting to scare the hell out of that mysterious segment of the electorate who describe themselves as “moderate”. What to do? Find an issue - any issue - that will distract the people. After a desperate search that must have taken them weeks, they finally found that issue last week in - of all places - lower Manhattan.

THE MUSLIMS ARE COMING! THE MUSLIMS ARE COMING!

They grabbed this non-issue and ran with it. Then the corporate media (you shouldn’t be surprised) decided to play this story to death like Hotel California and Stairway To Heaven. And it worked like a charm. Very few of us are at present thinking about the utter mess that six years of Republican control of the executive and legislative branches of our government made of this country. Instead we’re wasting precious time thinking about a non-issue. Just for a moment let’s put our minds on the things that really matter:

He then goes on to list real issues.  That is, of course where the Republicans have no leg on which to stand.  Why we have allowed the president of the United States to be drawn into this non-sequitur is beyond me.  If Bloomberg and Lower Manhattan are ok with this, who are we to object?

I’m just sitting here, shaking my head.

I’m also liking Bloomberg more and more.

Knowing I will get grief for this, I’m putting my head out there, on the platter for those on both sides to take a shot at, but this must be addressed…

Andrew Cuomo is not opposed to hydrofracking in the Marcellus Shale.  Seems the crowned prince was visiting Ithaca last week and ran into (shudder!) constituents who had done research and knew the issue:

“We need to have [Cuomo] speak very clearly, very succinctly about what he wants to do about this immense challenge to his administration, if he gets elected,” said Water Yang of the advocacy group Toxic Targeting.

At stake is drinking water, not only along the state’s southern border, but also millions of taps in New York City, where water is pumped in from upstate.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is opposed to drilling in the watershed, and earlier this year won tough state regulations there.

As for the rest of the state, Cuomo is waiting for a final review. But critics’ charge that based on a preliminary examination, the document promises to be woefully inadequate.

What’s more, after protesters came out by the dozens, some were peeved Cuomo didn’t take questions from the podium.

“I suspect that’s because he didn’t want an embarrassing political moment,” said one environmental activist.

I, for one, will work against anyone who has the audacity to suggest that money trumps environment.  You can’t drink money. Having a big D next to your name on the ballot no longer holds sway with me.  I’m beginning to  believe that there is little difference between the big D and the big R.

What would you ask Andy?

By now you have heard of the egg recall and that is it likely to expand.  Really - like a half a billion eggs wasted isn’t enough.What kind of “farm” is able to produce a billion eggs - OK two “farms.”  I heard that expression on either the TV or radio news and got to wondering how the term “farm” applies. Perhaps Industrial Animal Farm would work better?

With the concentration of industrial farming remember these recalls?  Via the Christian Science Monitor.  But this isn’t Beef, or peanut butter or spinach but eggs.

Where do are Eggs come from?

By any historical measure, American egg production is efficient and comparatively safe. The current recall is the largest in memory, but involves only a small fraction of the 70 billion eggs produced annually, mostly by hens who spend their lives with six or seven others in cages the size of an open newspaper, their droppings carried away by one conveyer belt while the eggs are whisked off by another.

Modern egg farms take elaborate steps to keep germs out of barns. But the persistence of salmonella in eggs has been a major concern of health agencies.

The problem of salmonella on eggshells was largely solved in the 1970s, when regulations required the washing and inspection of eggs. In the 1980s, a more insidious threat was recognized: infected hens passing the pathogen to eggs still in formation.

One challenge is the size of farms and flocks today. A single barn may house more than 150,000 birds in tight proximity, allowing infections to spread quickly and widely.

So high concentration and disease can spread easily.  All for the sake of “cheap” food.  So you can read our take on the beef recall or a protest outside Wegmans over their egg farm practices (I believe they no longer have the farm).  You can make nice with Ladkiddo and get some eggs from her chickens next year.   All great things or you can simply become better aware of your surroundings and food sources and make different choices.

Like what choices?  Well, purchase from a local supplier - generally the farmers markets are a good place to start.  Purchase food that doesn’t travel thousands of miles to your table.

Tea party governor candidate Carl Paladino is back in the headlines with more crazy policy proposals. This time he is calling for welfare recipients to be “voluntarily” relocated to renovated prisons where they can get state public sector jobs and take personal hygiene courses.

From the Huffington Post:

Asked at the meeting how he would achieve those savings, Paladino laid out several plans that included converting underused state prisons into centers that would house welfare recipients. There, they would do work for the state – “military service, in some cases park service, in other cases public works service,” he said – while prison guards would be retrained to work as counselors.

“Instead of handing out the welfare checks, we’ll teach people how to earn their check. We’ll teach them personal hygiene … the personal things they don’t get when they come from dysfunctional homes,” Paladino said.

For a candidate who says that he is so dead set against anything resembling big government interference, this sure does smack of Big Brother making sure you brush your teeth at night while prison guards — excuse me, camp counselors, I mean — watch your every move.

I’d like to say that I am surprised by such a blatantly absurd proposal from the likely Republican nominee for governor of the state of New York, but I’m not. This is part of a pattern of ridiculous actions and statements on the part of Paladino, which if continued until November, will only help Cuomo in his already unassailable path to the governor’s mansion.