scrambling for the crumbs

The local newspaper ran a front page story today regarding the Cuomo administration's plans to close additional prisons in the state to deal with a budget shortfall of over 2 billion dollars.  As someone who has had extensive dealings with the North Country since the 1980s, I know how dependent the area has been on the prison industrial complex.  When news of the first prison to be located in the Malone area became known, there was a mad scramble among local residents for the good paying union jobs that would become available.  The local farms I was dealing with saw their best employees leaving in droves.  The result was the importation of Mexicans to do the jobs locals would no longer do for the pay being offered.   Now, it is looking like at least some of the many prisons in the area will be closing as jail populations dwindle in the post-carceral era.  Instead of insisting on job programs and retraining for the hundreds of employees whose careers are on the line, our representatives are in the unenviable position of advocating for the continued incarceration of fellow human beings so their constituents will continue to be employed. So, here we are again chasing jobs in a dehumanizing industry while plutocrats continue to enjoy a standard of living most of us can envision on the flip side of a lottery ticket.

Shiny objects

The 24 hour news cycle we are currently living in threatens to literally suck all the oxygen out of the room and the planet.  As we hurtle down the chute leading to the destruction of our habitat, every time it looks like the public may focus on the danger, along comes another shiny object to distract us.  The Wall, the new book by Andrew McCabe, Bernie Sanders announcing his candidacy.  The list goes on.  As a father and grandfather, I am left agonizing about the future my descendants are facing.  Meanwhile, I have to hope for another weather disaster to maintain the public's attention to the existential threat we face in the coming decades.  Waiting for the media to help in this regard is a fool's errand.  Unless the DC area or New York is hit with a scorchingly hot summer with temps regularly in the 100s for weeks on end, the media mob will continue to chase the next new thing.  And no, Bernie will not be our next president.

The billionaire conundrum

It seems billionaires come in all philosophies; from those who would seem to be leftists decrying their own wealth to those who would steal a nickel from a toddler to add to their stash.  Americans in general are bi-polar about wealth.  After all, the popularity of the mega million lotteries show that the vast majority of us would at least like to try living like we imagine the wealthy must live.  The contrast is most evident when we compare the philanthropy of Bill and Melinda Gates with the rapacious attitude of the Koch brothers.  The Gates Foundation which is also supported by Warren Buffet spends billions promoting healthcare around the world, but especially in the poorest countries.  As Dylan Matthews points out in Vox, even if the US government confiscated Gates' and Buffet's fortunes, we instinctively know it would not be spent on third world healthcare.  As Matthews points out, there are many inequality reducing plans being put forward by Democratic presidential candidates and none of them would do away with billionaires.  The best plans would probably make it harder to amass that kind of wealth and ensure a more just society, but the wealthy have always been with us and the questions that wealth vs. the common good raise will continue to bedevil our discourse.

Anoather 5 billion bricks for the Wall

Forgive the Pink Floyd reference, but with the tRump administration it always seems we are on the dark side of the moon!   So, Cheeto Jesus has declared a national emergency so he can "finish the wall".   Of course, he knows this is an exercise in futility.   Between Congress (meaning Nancy Pelosi) and thousands of landowners willing to fight the use of eminent domain in order to secure the land necessary for the wall, this action will wind up in the courts for years.  I'm guessing tRump knows this full well and is fine with it.  He will point to the litigation and tell his base he is fighting for their right to be bigoted racists.  The great part about this is he will be able to drag this political zombie out of the closet at every campaign rally and get the applause lines he craves, all the while assuring the mega donors for the party that they will continue to get their cheap illegal immigrant labor.  It's a win-win.

gunsmoke

As more and more smoking guns become apparent, even Marshal Matt Dillon would be hard-pressed to keep the peace in the Mueller investigation.   The latest turn in the saga of the tRump campaign's collusion with Russia happened in court where Judge Amy Berman agreed with prosecutors that Paul Manafort lied to nearly every alphabetized agency charged with investigating his ties to Ukrainian oligarchs and Russian intelligence agencies.  This looks especially bad in light of the meeting among Manafort, deputy campaign chairman Rick Gates and the ubiquitous Constantin Kilimnick who is tied to the GRU at a Cigar Bar in one of Jared Kushner's companies' buildings.  The smoke was and is certainly swirling.

Stormy weather

Well, Mother Nature followed up on her latest winter storm and dumped a total of nearly 11 inches on the North Country last night.  Thankfully temps were in the mid and upper 20s today with virtually no wind which made the cleanup easier than usual.  Most often storms like this are followed by arctic chill and windy conditions.  Needless to say that makes snowblowing and shoveling a nightmare.

Weathering the storm

It looks like the North Country is in for another winter storm.  Our little outpost could get up to 15 inches of snow with an interval of sleet during the night to make things more interesting.  I get tired of saying this, but I truly hate winter.   One of the freak anomalies associated with climate change is this corner of the world will actually have severe winter weather probably for at least the balance of my life here on earth as a result of the breakdown of the polar vortex which will allow arctic weather to drop into our latitude on a regular basis.  Ironically, this cold weather occurring over the northern US encourages politicians to downplay the disastrous impacts of climate change around the world.  After all, if you can have a snowball fight in D.C. in February, surely there is no urgency to deal with the "crisis" of global warming.  Tell that to an island dweller in the Marianas, whose house is invaded by the sea at every high tide.  Or closer to home where Miami Beach and New Orleans are one storm away from being uninhabitable.