Duhhhh…..on piloting the train with a bus

Before we begin, a simple, yet important question: what’s the difference between installing a Bus Stop sign, and announcing that a train will be coming to town, complete with a picture of a diesel locomotive?

If you don’t know the answer right up front, we’ll fill you in later.

At the moment, color Other Side truly embarrassed; we’re feeling completely clueless about the multi-modal transportation issues on the local agenda, and specifically, the train v. bus discussion we put forward in this post.  (Not to mention the tie in to the editorial testimony of Jackie Sartoris in The Ostrich a few weeks back.)

This became obvious last week, when on a casual run into town, we noticed three very sleek and classy looking buses parked on Maine Street Station premises.  They are operated by Concord Coach lines.

Here’s what the buses look like; note that some are equipped with WiFi internet service.

At first we surmised that our earlier suggestion had stimulated a pilot program to test the demand for ‘mass transit’ between Brunswick, Portland, and possibly Boston.  You know, as a prelude to committing tens of millions in “public investment” to establish rail service.

Then it dawned on us; commercial ‘mass transit’ options are already available, and have been for some years.  The new news is that the bus line now uses Maine Street Station as a depot & destination.

It would seem important then to look at schedules, fares, and connection flexibility to compare established bus service to proposed train service.

Trader Joe’s coming to Portland…

Maybe you’re already familiar with Trader Joe’s - “a unique grocery store.”  And if you are, there’s a 99.9% chance that you love the place, and have wanted one within your reach for years.  We’ve sure wanted one nearby.

If you aren’t, I’m here to tell you the likelihood you’ll love the place once you shop there is 99.9%.

And now we’re finally in luck.  Trader Joe’s will be opening soon in Portland on Marginal Way in a former health food store location whose name I can’t recall at the moment.  (Was it Royal River?) They are now hiring for the location.

We’ve been devoted TJ’s patrons since the late 60’s/early 70’s when they were established on the west coast.  They’ve come a long way since then, and every store they open is an immediate success.

I confess a personal interest – my son is “First Mate” at a store in Massachusetts.  It’s a fun business, and a great place to work.  It’s not a  huge place like Whole Foods with a fresh butcher department, but you will be pleasantly surprised by their variety of unique products and their prices.

We have numerous ‘staples of our existence’ that we purchase from them, including my favorite “Pound Plus” dark chocolate bars, of which I consume two squares virtually every day.  Others include their Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, cereals, etc.

If you like picking up interesting snacks and creative items for a party or buffet, you’ll get lots of inspiration.  We did an Italian party several months ago, and found a great selection to come up with an antipasto platter.

They have mostly private label stuff.  In those stores that carry wine, they have a huge, value priced selection, and they became nationally known as a big distributor of “2 buck Chuck.”  I’m virtually certain the Portland store won’t carry wine, but you never know.

All I can say is get ready.  To get a feel for TJ’s fun and irreverent atmosphere, go here.

And be sure to look at their “Fearless Flyer,” which is mentioned here: http://www.traderjoes.com/soapbox.asp.  It doesn’t look like you can sign up for one yet, because they are location dependent, but if you know a MA zip code, you can punch it in, and get the one for that area.

In what may be the most definitive indication of how meaningless the Poppycock’s lives are, let me just say that this is the most exciting news we’ve had in the area in a decade or more.

Technorati Tags: Trader Joe's,fun,Portland,foodies

Postscript: “Teacher, I don’t understand!”

As discussed in this article in the post by this name the other day, the Mayor of Washington, D.C. who hired Michelle Rhee to clean up the horrible mess in the city’s government schools was not looking good for re-election to his job in the election two days ago.

Well, the voters turned him out, and in all likelihood, Rhee and her robust and productive efforts to reform the school system will be out of there as well.

Once again, “it’s for the children” turns out to be nothing more than a shibboleth used by the schoolies to beat more money out of the citizenry to benefit the adults.

Tonight’s John Stossel show at 9pm on the Fox Business Network will be about the situation in our schools, and specifically the poor performance in the face of constantly increasing expenditures.

Should be a good watch.

Technorati Tags: Schools,reform

Teacher, I don’t understand!

Let’s begin this discussion with an item that I’m sure I’ve posted before. So what; I’m convinced that it’s perhaps the most telling expression of the problem we have in our government education system in the modern era (whatever that is.)  It will set the stage for what follows.

“When school children start paying union dues, that's when I'll start representing the interests of school children.”

Albert Shanker - President of the United Federation of Teachers [1964-1984] & the American Federation of Teachers [1974-1997]

Have you followed the recent news from New Jersey?  The new Governor there has asked the teachers’ union to agree to a one year salary freeze.  Not a salary reduction, a one year salary freeze.

The union response?  Not on your life.  He also asked that they contribute $15 a week to the cost of health care for their entire family.  The union response?  This is the "greatest assault on public education in the history of the state."

According to published reports, the discussion turned so toxic that there was “even an email where a county teachers union leader asked that their members "pray for the death of the governor."

Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., where the government school system has been a total catastrophe for decades, the reception to an admittedly tough but determined school chief, who has been turning things around, is to drive her and the mayor who hired her out of office. 

From published reports, it appears that protecting school employees, no matter how ineffective they might be, is a higher priority than a good education for the students, most of whom need all the help they can get, the unions be damned.

You can read the details here: D.C. Schools  You might not feel like reading the whole thing, so here’s the heart of the story:

Rhee's approach has forced people to confront choices and made those choices clear. In the education world, hard decisions are too often sidestepped with platitudes about consensus and common goals.

During the most recent contract negotiations, for instance, the teachers union sought to preserve tenure and seniority rules that were clearly not in the best interest of students. Rhee forced the issue, and in the end the rules were changed rather than papered over with half-measures. The result was a landmark contract.

The record on urban education reform makes plain that there is a fundamental choice between harmony among the various adult interests and rapid progress on school improvement.

Talk about counter-intuitive…talk about cognitive dissonance…talk about who comes first, the students or the teachers….  It seems pretty clear to this reporter.

Now to our local circumstances.  In a letter to The Ostrich on Friday, September 10th, by Bob Morrison, the following sentiments were expressed.  Bob, as best I can recall, is a former School Board member, a PhD, and claimed to be a holder of high office in the  national education bureaucracy.

Comment from “Committee to Elect…”

The message below was received as a comment, and for reasons I can’t determine, when I approved its posting, it was not appended to the selected post.  When I tried again to have it appended, I was unable to.

So in fairness to the one who submitted it, I am posting it here, as received:

Committee to Elect has left a new comment on your post "So that’s what ballots and elections are for!!":

In the spirit of providing opportunities for cognitive dissonance, mischief, and downright distortion of common sense, while at the same time allowing you to tell your elected officials what you think about things they have nothing to do with, or have no say about, you are cordially invited to a pair of legislative candidate forums to be held at our fair Town's public library on Monday, September 13, and Wednesday, September 15, at 7 o'clock in the pm. You will be obliged to sit through a few minutes of blather while the three candidates for District 66 Representative share their thoughts on various topics such as "Redeveloping the Base" and "Transportation," but you will then have your chance to declare your dislike of them and make rude comments about the fact that the current representative not only failed to obtain a majority of the registered voters in District 66 (surely a bar too high for any but the great Gerzofsky), but also failed to obtain even a majority of the votes cast in the election. I would like to close my comment by advising our esteemed editor that I am unable to post this as "anonymous coward," as is my wont, but was forced instead to select a named profile, which I have cleverly done to disguise my true identity.

Now, of course, a curious public wonders whether this comment means the “idiotic” rater has been drawn out, or this is the work of someone else?

The tension mounts.

Say it isn’t so, Angus!

Well, I almost spit my corned beef hash omelet across the table at Jen’s this morning.

Here I am, getting all excited about replacing my gas-guzzler truck, showing the inevitable signs of rust thanks to our local salt addiction, with an all electric car, for the reasons described in this post a few days ago.  No more carbon footprint, and all that.  And a blue ribbon from Al Gore, if anyone ever finds him again.

And then I see this “Maine Voices” item in today’s Portland newspaper, entitled:  “Electric cars have one besetting problem: the source of their fuel”

The author asserts:

And, while electric cars may reduce the consumption of gasoline, the electricity they burn is generated in Maine largely by burning natural gas. Just how does this represent a net reduction in carbon emissions?

What?  He’s kidding, right?  This can’t be!  They’re supposed to be clean running, ‘carbon neutral’ cars, aren’t they?

And then to make matters worse, we find out that our beloved local hero Angus is a protagonist in this story.

The high price of electricity in Maine can be traced to 1998, when then-Gov. Angus King signed into law new electric utility regulations that forced Maine's utility companies to abandon their generating facilities and instead buy electricity on wholesale markets.

Things only get more curious as you read along…..

Companies using natural gas to generate electricity have fuel costs of around 10 cents per kilowatt generated. Companies like King's that use wind to generate electricity have fuel costs of zero.  But, guess what? The regulations King signed into law stipulate that all producers get the same rate, regardless of their fuel costs.

What’s next?  A column claiming that back-in parking isn’t all it’s cracked up to be?

I do believe I’ll have that case of the vapors now.

Stella?  Stella!  Be a dear and get me a cold compress and a hot toddy, would you dear?

 

Technorati Tags: Carbon footprint,electric cars,wind power,utility costs,leg-pulling

So that’s what ballots and elections are for!!

Who’d have guessed that our democratic process of elections could provide so many opportunities for cognitive dissonance, mischief, and downright distortion of common sense.  At the same time they allow us to tell our elected officials what we think about things they have nothing to do with, or have no say about.  And to purposes we can’t comprehend.

Here’s some examples.

• In this state, election law has been so neutered and perverted that the simple act of asking for ID at the polling place can be interpreted as “voter intimidation.”
• The voter registration process, and maintenance of the resulting voter rolls, are so lacking in rigor and discipline that they are an embarrassment, if not a threat to election outcome integrity. 
• Selective compliance with residency law, which itself has been manipulated to the point of absurdity, is perfectly OK.  You’re supposed to get a Maine Driver’s License within 30 days of becoming a state resident.  But if you suggest registrars should ask to see your license as proof of residence, out come the intimidation claims again.  You’ll be registered as a resident on the thinnest of claims, including a simple signature affirming that you are one. 
• There is absolutely no follow up to see that you comply with other requirements of residency, like a Driver’s License, vehicle registration and excise tax payment to the town of your residence, and filing Maine Income Tax returns.

While these are largely generic issues, they are particularly applicable to Bowdoin College students, who frequently vote in large enough numbers in our elections to effect the outcome of local races for town officials, and even members of the state legislature.

• During the prior school year, editors of the Bowdoin College campus newspaper, The Orient, opined that it is entirely appropriate for students to vote in that locality where they “most feel like a resident,” and that it’s perfectly acceptable to change their registration from election to election based on where they would like to effect the outcomes.

I suppose if you’re used to getting your way, no matter what it means to others, that makes perfect sense.

And now, let me touch on the recent local event that stimulated this particular post.  It has to do with the proposal of two town councilors to place a “non-binding resolution” on the November ballot.

From the Forecaster on 9 September:

The proposal was: “We, the citizens of Brunswick, want our tax dollars spent on education, health, safety, environmental protection and the infrastructure of Brunswick, rather than on war in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan.”

Atwood ….. emphasized that the matter was “not about whether any of us agree with that statement; it’s about whether we are willing to give Brunswick residents a chance to tell us whether they agree with it or not.”

Ohm’s Laws, the wonder of electricity, and Poppycock

(Note: for the interested student, we’re attaching a bonus item at the end of our own essay.  Please give it a chance – we think you’ll find it just as enlightening as the commentary that follows.)

Most of you probably don’t know this, but just about everything you need to know about electricity is expressed in Ohm’s 3 Laws, which are:

V = IR; I = V/R; and R = V/I.

These laws are incredibly elegant in their natural simplicity, yet my parents had to invest thousands for me to learn, and more importantly, understand them.

I was reminded of this as I reread Jacquie Sartoris’ heartfelt plea about transportation and the environment in her recent commentary in The Ostrich, as mentioned in this post.

As I did, I began to empathize with her point of view.  I realized that electricity is the answer to all of her concerns, and to every one of our energy challenges as well.  And I’m ashamed of myself for not realizing it earlier.

Think about it; electricity is a miraculous and sustainable source of energy.  For example, if you purchase one of the new all-electric vehicles now entering the marketplace, you completely eliminate your carbon footprint, because the vehicle burns no fossil fuels. 

It only uses perfectly clean electricity.  Like your cell phone.  No one’s ever seen exhaust coming from it, or blamed you for ‘changing the climate’ by texting or blabbing away while you drive or shop.  Each night, you simply plug in your vehicle, and the next day, it’s ready to go, with no penalty to the environment.  Same thing with your cell phone.

I’m confident our ecological agent provocateur already owns one or two of these pristine vehicles.  I know if I was ever to see her motoring around town or heading to law school in a conventional fuel burning machine, I’d have a case of the vapors that could stop a train in its tracks.

Idiotic post, but “I’m afraid to comment”

In keeping with the invitation posted a few days ago, in which we encouraged those who rate posts as “idiotic” to give us their thinking via the comment feature, on an entirely anonymous basis, I tried something new a few moments ago.

I attempted to change the “idiotic” rating to “idiotic, but I’m afraid to comment.”  Unfortunately, the Blogger template can’t accommodate a rating of that length, at least with everything else I have going on.

So….attempts to draw in those who take issue with positions posted here will have to proceed by other means.  Perhaps those of you who know who the “idiotic” evaluators are can encourage them to participate in the discussion.

Assuming that’s not you, of course.

Technorati Tags: idiotic

Trains, part deux

You’ve probably noticed that our return to active posting has been a slow process, to say the least.

Which is why we’re grateful for an “offer we can’t refuse” to step up our pace, even if it takes away from snooze time in the well-worn Lazy-boy.

Notwithstanding cousin Earl sweeping through the area last night, with much needed moisture for our lawns and gardens, our local publications offered the ‘perfect storm,’ as it were, in their latest editions.

I refer to the Ostrich, and Maine Insights. Both items to be discussed exemplify the phenomena we discussed just a few days ago in this post.  In a word, completely missing the point, because seeing the point would make their argument irrelevant.

Yesterday, the former printed a lead commentary entitled ‘In praise of ‘rat holes’’ by erstwhile town councilor Jackie Sartoris.  (And here I thought we were supposed to call her Jacquie)

Ostensibly a response to Fred Blanchard’s analysis of the economic viability of Amtrak service to Brunswick, her offering quickly revealed itself as an archetypical feelings and emotion based tirade that the author became known for in her years as one of our elected ‘leaders.’  She mentioned his ‘calculations,’ and then scrupulously avoided addressing them in everything that followed.

Instead, she offered a near hysterical rant about the planet and children and everything but the facts attendant to the subject.  It was reminiscent of her high dudgeon over the “Fireman’s Prayer” monument at the Cooks Corner Substation.  Those of you who follow such things will remember that she publicly bemoaned the challenge of explaining such injustice to her daughter.

It’s probably a waste of time to comment further about her column.  Let’s just say that you have no idea how much we miss her presence on the town council.

Things came together, in that odd way they often do, as we read the article in Maine Insights while we gobbled our sandwich at the Big Top yesterday.  This publication is an offering from Ramona du Houx, the mother of our local member of the Maine Legislature, Alex Cornell du Houx.  It was formerly known as The Maine Democrat, not that there’s anything wrong with that.

In an article entitled All Aboard on page 6, Ms du Houx dabbled in analysis of the facts and economics associated with the extension of Amtrak to Brunswick.  The fact that Maine Insights is a clearly partisan, slobbering tribute to all things associated with the Democrat Party in Maine aside, even her fawning discussion of the issue is reason for concern.

Let me explain.  The article contains this passage:

So far the Downeaster is having our best year ever, with more than 474,000 riders and $6.7 million in revenues, to date.

My calculator says that means an average revenue of $14 per rider for folks traveling between Portland and Boston.  Wow; at that rate, recouping $50 million or so in front end costs, coupled with millions a year in recurring costs, should take….oops…the batteries just ran out in my calculator.

But don’t worry, things get better.  As demonstrated in this additional passage:

Patricia Quinn, executive director of NEPRA, says the expansion will boost ridership by another 36,000 passengers each year.

“This is just the beginning,” said Rep. Alexander Cornell du Houx. “Brunswick’s economy is already seeing new opportunities from this project.”

Hmmm….36,000 new passengers, at $14 a rider or less…well, you might just be looking at roughly $500,000 per year in new revenue.  In other words, if the optimistic projections come true, another half million dollars a year.

No wonder our former town councilor decided to avoid the facts and wax eloquent on environmental theology.

We’re open to cogent arguments on the economic value of extending Amtrak service to Brunswick.  And as soon as we see them, we’ll post them here on Other Side.

Until we do, we’ll hold to the position that this whole concept is founded more in fantasy than in reality.  And in political posturing.  LIke the grandiose pension and health care benefits promised by state and federal government.

Which means it seems like a big load of du Houx to us.

Technorati Tags: Maine,trains,Brunswick,Press,Democrats

A sincere invitation to our “idiotic” readers…

We take due note that from time to time our posts inspire a number of “idiotic” ratings.  Sometimes, they equal, or even exceed, the other rating choices.

We note this with puzzlement and more than a little frustration, however.  We never, ever, expected that what we offer would find universal acceptance, and in fact, just between you and me, we hope to provoke some dismay, disagreement, and doubt about our powers of deduction, discussion, disclosure and deliberation.

The purpose of this blog is admittedly to allow your humble correspondent an outlet for self-expression with none of the traditional limits of the “mainstream media.” We are possessed, however, of just enough naiveté and idealism to hope as well that it would be a place where ‘dialogue’ would take place, to the benefit of all who visit here, and all points of view.

And so we repeat our policy.  No matter your opinion of, or reaction to our offerings, you are invited to comment, as long as you remain civil.  In fact, we encourage you to do so.  Hopefully, we will all learn and benefit from a more thorough exploration of perspectives on the subjects we choose to address.

Most importantly, keep in mind that your comments posted via the “comment” option at the end of each post will remain anonymous, if that is your wish, not only to our readers, but also to our editorial staff.

In fact, most of the time, I’m not even sure who I am.

Imagine the pure delight in proving a pompous ass like Poppycock wrong or misguided, which is what you forego by not offering your thoughts.

So have at it; there’s no risk, and no down-side, unless you know something I don’t about how blogs work. 

Which is entirely possible, if not likely.

Technorati Tags: comments,dialogue

The ‘law of the infinite cornucopia’ and trains…..and more…

Somewhere in my casual reading of various sources and publications and documents in the last year or so, I came across “The Law of the Infinite Cornucopia.”

In a nutshell, here it is:

The Law of the Infinite Cornucopia, put forth by Polish philosopher Leszek Kołakowski suggests that for any given doctrine one wants to believe, there is never a shortage of arguments by which one can support it.

If your imagination is as fertile as mine, you should have no problem coming up with “proof” that this ‘Law’ is valid.  And you might look to the Ostrich as your best source for such evidence.

I think back, for example, to the ‘dialogue’ that took place on their pages when the issues of base closure and new school construction were fresh on the local agenda.  I remember reading letters on the op-ed page asserting that Brunswick would ‘continue to grow in spite of Base closure,’ even though we had not been growing at all, so ‘continuing’ was a non-sequitur. 

And that ‘young families’ would flock to the former Navy housing and overflow our school capacity.  We’ll let readers judge how that’s working out; as a frequent driver down McKeen, this reporter has his own view.

In recent weeks, we’ve had a local author suggest that the Federal Government could make ‘interest free’ loans of printed currency to revive the economy and end the ‘great recession.’  We don’t know where to begin with such bizarre (or should we say berserk) suggestions.

Today, however, we wish to touch briefly on the recent letters responding to Fred Blanchard’s published challenge to the fiscal wisdom of bringing ‘the train’ to Brunswick.

These letters challenged Blanchard’s thesis largely on the basis of incomplete analysis of the underlying costs of the alternative to trains, that mostly being cars.

We find two major problems with the arguments presented. 

The first is the argument that the infrastructure associated with auto travel is very costly, and should not be underestimated.  A reasonable point, except that the infrastructure is already in place and being maintained as a recurring expense. 

No-one that I know of is proposing that a new road be constructed between Portland and Brunswick and calling for an initial ‘investment’ of $40 million or more, independent of the sustaining costs of such a road.

In case the writers hadn’t noticed, we’re talking about ‘marginal’ or incremental costs to bring something into existence that doesn’t already exist, and what patronage levels would be required to make the ‘investment’ of your and my tax dollars pay off.

Secondly, the notion of ‘per capita’ costs seem to be lost on the writers as well.

The most recent writer argues that the cost of operating a train is a winner compared to the cost of operating a car every time.  Nice try, but that clearly assumes a full, or nearly full train.  Have you ever watched a Maine Eastern excursion train come through Brunswick with a head here and a head there in the windows?

The IRS ‘calculates’ the cost of operating a car independent of the number of people in it; those advocating MASS TRANSIT are working on a ‘per person’ basis, which pre-supposes a particular level of ridership.  And it’s not one person per train, I can assure you.

The same observations would apply to any ‘carbon footprint’ consideration.  I’m real sure the footprint left by a diesel engine far exceeds that of a car.  I don’t know where the per capita break even point is, but significant ridership is key.

Finally, the most recent writer asserts that he likes trains, as if that’s a sound economic argument for subsidizing them.

So do I.  And I like free car repairs as well, especially for retired people. 

Does that mean I should expect them to be financed by our public servants with your money?

You tell me.  I can’t wait until we see “Maine Street Station Auto Repair” being constructed downtown with the help of Federal and State ‘investment funds.’

If that doesn’t revive the economy, nothing will, right?

Technorati Tags: Brunswick,trains,economy,Maine