Wishing Upon A Star – a postscript.

It should be patently obvious that Side has lost a few mph on its fast ball over the summer months, and that a rigorous training plan is necessary to get us back in the game.  Ironically, we may remind you of the ‘Sox, but that proves you’re conditioned to accept major disappointment and then rise above it.

Wow….existential philosophizing and psycho-babble all in one paragraph.  We may have lost something off our fast ball, but our screwball is still working!

We realized post-posting that we should have embellished our essay with appropriate audio-visual content, and we hope you’ll excuse our tardiness in doing so.  Though late, the sentiments expressed in this clip are so germane to local attitudes and machinations that they still hit the target, whatever it might be.

There it is: Fantasyland on the Androscoggin.  (That IS the Androscoggin, isn’t it????)

The real point of this follow-up, however, is to bring up the issue of global warming and greenhouse gas emissions as they relate to bringing the train to Brunswick.  Brunswick and the surrounding area are privileged to be the home of many who would gladly give up their homes, their children, and their jobs if only it would result in one less milligram of CO2 being emitted into the atmosphere. 

It’s our version of “An Inconvenient Truth.”

Given local quasi-religious commitment to mitigating global ‘climate change,’ shouldn’t the comparison between huge diesel locomotives pulling railroad cars and conventional diesel powered buses (rubber tired, to be clear) be at the core of this planning, even though it’s a fait accompli because of overriding electro-political factors?

Here’s some info on the Concord Coach buses currently running between Brunswick and Portland:

Our bus model is a Prevost x345 which has 375 horsepower. We encourage you to go to the American Bus Association’s website (http://www.buses.org/) as they have emissions research and reports information.  They also have under the For Travelers tab on the right, The Green Choice which you may find as equally interesting.

Ride a Motorcoach -- The Greenest Approach

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Motorcoaches currently provide 206.6 passenger miles per gallon (MPG), more than double the second most fuel-efficient sector, commuter rail at 92.4 passenger MPG.

Transit buses achieve 31.4 passenger MPG, domestic air carriers achieve 44 passenger MPG, and single passenger automobiles achieve 27.2 passenger MPG. Each motorcoach has the potential of removing 55 autos from the highway. That's millions of cars not driven, saving fuel, cutting emissions and reducing congestion.

Click here to read a report from The Union of Concerned Scientists, which finds that travel by motorcoach is the greenest way to go.

Is there anyone out there who seriously wants to argue that running trains between Brunswick and Portland is more ‘earth-friendly’ and ‘climate-friendly’ than running buses?  We’re not sure exactly which engine model will be used in the trains coming to town, but as you can see here, they all are in the 3000hp to 4000hp range. 

We may be many years from our college engineering studies, but we’re pretty sure engines with thousands of horsepower burn a lot more fuel (and generate a lot more dreaded greenhouse gases) than engines with hundreds of horsepower.  While we drank a lot of refreshing liquids in our college days, we assure you it wasn’t kool-aid.

None of this matters, though, when you’re a train-zealot committed to arguing that laws of economics and physics don’t matter when it comes to OUR town.  The Brunswick Exception to said laws makes it all OK.

There’s a reason, or more accurately, multiple reasons that passenger trains have long since gone the way of the buggy whip, except in rare cases where public support justifies deep deficit operation.  And even that is usually on extremely busy operating corridors.

Portland to Brunswick?  Given the existence of bus service and all the other economic parameters, Side concludes that Amtrak service between the two points is the consequence of archetypical municipal-political-egomania.

This is a pervasive symptom of a plague infecting our nation, the most prevalent consequence of which is severe depletion of economic health.  There are a number of ways to catch this plague, but it’s most easily contracted when you consume pork, no matter the recipe.

On a related note, we are convinced that a buggy-whip mill could reinvigorate the local economy, and we’d like to refurbish Fort Andross to start one.  Does anyone have a connection that could get us a loan for $500 million or so to do so?  We’ll even put solar panels on top of the building!

Like we’ve said before, you can trust us on this; we’re not like the others.  And you know who they are.

At least you should.

By the way, if you don’t see any penguins strolling around town, you know who to blame.  It won’t be the polar bears, so don’t try selling us that crazy.  Polar bears haven’t been seen in Brunswick for years, ever since the icebergs in Coffin Pond melted.

 

Technorati Tags: Trains,global warming,kool-aid

Other Side News Alert: Fair Share Legal Theory pioneers in Brunswick, Maine

Dateline Washington, D.C. and Brunswick, Maine:

Public discourse in the United States has been dominated in recent weeks by rhetoric insisting that ‘the wealthy need to pay their fair share,’ whatever the hell that might be.  This political mandate has been embraced by those who believe that confiscating all earned income will go a long way towards reducing the annual federal deficit.

Responding to this imperative, various American billionaires, most prominently among them Warren Buffet, have gone public saying ‘Master, I have sinned. So let me pay more, more, more.’ Buffet has apparently been unable to find a way to pay more than the minimum his attorneys and accountants have determined he owes. 

His pleading rings hollow, however, given reports that he is in arrears by a mere billion or so in prior tax obligations.  No matter; we should all be shamed by his sincerity, humility, and integrity in taxation policy.

As anyone who studied advanced micro-economics in the third grade knows, the secret to financial success in our economically unjust society is to ‘find a need and fill it.’

For decades, thousands of tax attorneys have made billions minimizing tax exposure for their wealthy clients, ensuring that the nation accrues catastrophic deficits year after year.  Only recently has guilt such as that expressed by Buffet and others of his ilk been so publicly proclaimed.

Buffet, worth something like $30 billion, is reportedly an honorable and forthright businessman.  We are confident, though, that during his lengthy career as a wildly successful capitalist, Warren has spent millions and millions on lawyers charged with minimizing tax exposure for his business dealings.

If we are to believe his recent public posturing, Buffet and his humble compadres are sorely ashamed, and awash in guilt for selfish pre-occupation with their bottom line, even if they have been law abiding.  According to their lawyers, that is.

On a similar more personal note, we have witnessed numerous civic minded individuals testifying they ‘would gladly pay higher property taxes’ to avoid ‘cutting the school budget.’  We can’t name any, however, because every time we heard someone say that, we could never get them to give their name and contact info for follow up by town officials.

Then there’s the Ostrich, which has lectured us ad nauseum on paying more taxes, the cost of democracy, et cetera, et cetera, et chunkus hurlium.

In view of the foregoing, the miserable state of our economy, and our loss of the Naval Air Station and Brunswick Park & Gardens, we are pleased to make a bold step forward in turning things around.

Other Side enterprises proudly announces the creation of a new legal enterprise: ‘FairShare.com.’

While not a law firm, FairShare.com will provide affordable and reliable legal advice to capitalists, wealthy individuals and the otherwise more fortunate who are verklempt over their puny tax obligations.

Our mission is to become the ‘center of excellence’ for paying more, for paying what’s right, for paying your ‘fair share.’  And we intend to do it right here in Brunswick, where fair share is a way of life. 

Reflecting our commitment, we promise 72 hour turnaround in revising your tax returns (as far back as 10 years) to assuage your guilt, and to give you the satisfaction you deserve for paying more than the law requires.  Should we fail to meet this promise, we’ll gladly increase your obligation at no extra charge.

While overpaying is fraught with complexities, our expertise provides the confidence you seek in paying your fair share, or more if at all possible.  Your peace of mind is paramount in what we do, and we will strive to exceed your expectations in every regard.

At the moment, we’re looking for well known public figures to be our spokespersons on radio, TV, and internet ads.  We expect the talent pool to be overwhelming both in size and fervor. 

We also need qualified calculator operators; experience in multiplying, adding, and dividing is a plus, but is not required.  Candidates accepted for these challenging jobs can expect to find lucrative careers as cashiers and toll collectors in future years.

To kick off our practice with a bang, FairShare.com is offering the following introductory fees for our services:

• For Brunswick residents: 5% of your additional tax obligation.
• For non-Brunswick Maine residents, like Chellie Pingree, Donald Sussman, etc, 10% of your additional tax obligation.
• For non-Maine/non-Brunswick citizens, 15% of your added obligation, on which we will pay full income tax rates, unless we can find a tax attorney to get us off with less.

You can’t imagine how excited we are about this breakthrough in applied psycho-legal therapeutics, and how proud we are to put Brunswick on the map in this regard.

It’s the least we could do to see that you do the most you could do.

Technorati Tags: fair share,taxation

When you wish upon a star….

(Note: this post has been updated to correct the horribly miscalculated numbers for BP&G.  Apologies.)

Side doesn’t know how many of you remember the opening of the original Sunday Night Walt Disney Show, in which the singing of this theme set the stage for all things to follow, most notably the Disney belief in a purely magical existence.  We can remember watching it raptly, and especially with our kids.

It occurred to us that the modern day equivalent of Uncle Walt’s optimism, at least as it relates to matters of governance, is finding consultants who have inside connections to the stars.  We tried really hard to come up with some sort of rhyme that would make the case, but fell flat on our tuchus.  And so we are reduced to dry and meaningless narrative to make our case.

Which is one hell of a segue into what follows.  ‘Tortured’ comes to mind; but you’ve got to cut us some slack after months of absence.  Let’s see if we can make the connection.

It shouldn’t come as any surprise to regular readers that this correspondent and Herschel Sternlieb are on completely different ends of the ideological spectrum.

So it may surprise you that we think of Herschel as a kind, honorable, and most decent member of our community.  With one rare exception several years ago, Herschel is the only person who ever took the time to send us a personal note of thanks for something we wrote or said.  He is, to put it simply, a prince of a man.

Which is why we are confident that forsaking his dream of creating ‘Brunswick Park and Gardens’ on the former Brunswick Naval Air Station property is more difficult than you might think.  Herschel and his friends believed fervently that the concept was noble, workable, and economically viable.

One aspect of their fervor caught our attention, because it exemplifies the methodology (or should we say pathology?) for swaying public opinion, and more importantly, freeing up access to the public treasury.

The BP&G group claimed their development would draw 1 million visitors a year to Brunswick.  That number can be difficult to grasp, just as the notion of borrowing $1.5 trillion a year at the federal level can be.

So let’s see what we can do to make it meaningful.  Averaged over a year, 1 million visitors would amount to about 2,750 a day, every day of the year.  Which translates to about 114 per hour, 24/7/365.

in other words, if you stood outside the gates of the proposed gardens, you would see a car nearly every minute of every hour of every day all year long bringing two people to visit the site.  We’ll leave you to calculate how many visitors per hour would be necessary if they didn’t come 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 12 months a year to get to 1 million.  (Here’s a clue: if it were 8 hours a day, 6 days a week, 8 months a year, it would be 625 per hour, or more than 10 per minute.  Yikes times ten!)

There’s another way to appreciate what this number means.  We happened to watch a special recently that focused on the state of Virginia.  It talked about Colonial Williamsburg, a long established and very successful major public attraction.

They stated this destination draws ‘1 million visitors a year.’  Think for a moment about the historic relevance of Colonial Williamsburg as compared to what Brunswick Park and Gardens might be. 

Consider the location of, and concentrated east coast metropolitan population that Williamsburg draws upon compared to what Brunswick would have access to.

Given these specifics, we have no choice but to conclude that BP&G advocates were either living in a fantasy world (the Disney connection!), or more likely, had employed a consultant who knows that you make your money by telling people what they want to hear.

This phenomenon is all too pervasive in public discourse in the modern era.  We are convinced there is a ‘consultant industrial complex’ that exists to rationalize and lubricate the transfer of taxpayer funds to all manner of ‘investments’ and ‘public-private partnerships’ in the name of economic development, no matter how non-sensical they might be.

Here’s a couple of examples, in addition to the BP&G case. 

Remember several months ago when the MRRA publicized the possible sale of the ‘hotel property’ on the former Brunswick Naval Air Station?  As we recall, this property has something like 270 rooms. 

The MRRA, in a brief publicity flourish, claimed that a number of commercial entities were interested in operating the facility, and that ‘studies had shown’ that the property would generate  ‘50,000 room nights a year.’ 

That equates to booking nearly 140 rooms every night of the year.  Which would mean there is a huge unfulfilled demand for hotel rooms in the area.  Tell that to those operating established inns and motels in the region; tell them that demand exceeds supply by 140 rooms a night.

And then ask who paid for the consultants who came up with these numbers, and why the entire scenario evaporated in a matter of weeks.

Then there’s the Portland to Brunswick Amtrak extension.  “Studies predict” that the result will be 36,000 new visitors to Brunswick per  year.  Or 100 per day.

No matter that the bus that runs between the train station in Portland and Brunswick averages about 10 passengers per day.  And that the bus service can conveniently take you to Logan Airport to catch domestic and international flights, while the train can’t.

It must be the ‘romance of the rails’ that will attract customers to take a more expensive option with less flexibility.   There’s a model to build an economic expansion on!  And on which state and federal officials could justify, above and beyond that, a new ‘rubber tired bus service’ between Portland and Brunswick to pick up the slack.

Are you kidding?  Is there any wonder we’re going broke in public sector finances?

Now we read that Amtrak extension funding is at risk.  If you ask us, it should never have been authorized in the first place. 

Related reports talk of six trains per day.  We’ll assume that means three coming from Portland, and three going to Portland.  if you believe the predictions of 36,000 passengers per year coming to Brunswick, that means an average of 33 passengers per train.

Or less than one bus can hold.  How many cars will be on that train, and how many Amtrak employees, compared to the driver of one bus?  A bus service that already exists, by the way.

Hopefully, someone wiser than us will soon explain what it is about the passenger train that makes more sense than a bus that provides better service and better convenience for air travel connections.

And it better not be ‘romance,’ because if that’s the best they’ve got, they can kiss our tuchus.

Romantic as that sounds, it doesn’t count for squat in the grand scheme of things.

Technorati Tags: Amtrak,buses,Brunswick,consultants

Ho-hum; quiet little Brunswick

Things tend to be kind of quiet here in Brunswick, especially when certain esteemed media outlets are not publishing actively at the pace to which readers have become accustomed.

Fortunately, there are others who work hard to make sure that Brunswick isn’t too quiet!

Here’s a lovely and uplifting example; perhaps you’ll recognize someone you know, whether you want to admit it or not.  You might even submit a comment citing them for their activism.

Or, on the other hand, we might have nothing more than, in the historic words of Rev. Al Sharpton, a bunch of ‘white interlopers.’

Should you see someone walking into a bank behind you with a video camera in hand, you might want to turn around and head for the exit. 

Or another town, if that’s what it takes to avoid being profiled as an interloper by unprincipled media pundits.

Technorati Tags: Brunswick,democracy,moonbats

The Ostrich: Small-town minded, and then some

Fulfilling a promise, even if ‘we might be slow about it’

Nearly two years ago, when Other Side was a mere act of defiance, a trial balloon of sorts, and this correspondent was a ‘cub reporter,’ we reflected on the editorial ‘vigor’ of The Times Record, well before we created a nom de plume for it. 

We suggested they were a bit blasé when it came to investigating and reporting on matters of vital importance to the local area.  An area in which they were wont to characterize themselves as “award- winning” protectors of the public interest and “watchdogs” of government.

If you’d like to take a trip down memory lane, here are the directions:

On Sept 16, 2009, we posted ‘Color me clueless,’ which you can read here:

http://othersideofbrunswick.blogspot.com/2009/09/color-me-clueless.html

On the following day, Sept 17, 2009, we followed up with ‘Reflections on yesterday,’ which you can find here:

http://othersideofbrunswick.blogspot.com/2009/09/reflectionson-yesterday.html

OK, class; now that you’ve read the background material, we wish to point out that in the second item, we referenced an article in Brill’s Content, a now defunct periodical, in which the culture of our beloved local daily paper was examined in some detail. It was written by someone who did a brief stint as managing editor of the ‘media entity.’ 

The article was published in April of 2000, but we were unable to find a digital version that we could provide for your edification.  We did, however, promise to do what we could to find one.  And then we promptly forgot about it.

Recent events associated with what we now refer to as The Ostrich reminded us of our commitment, and so we humbly sought to fulfill it.  While we have not been able to recover a high quality digital version of the referenced article, thanks to a loyal reader, we do have something to provide.

You can find it here:

 http://www.scribd.com/doc/61610462/Article-Small-Town-Minded

While it is not of the highest image quality, if you make use of the zoom option at the bottom of the window, you should be able to read it.  And if you do, you will be in for quite a surprise.  You may well come to understand how and why the NOTWIUN finds itself on the horns of the dilemma it is now riding.

Reading the article should cause you to marvel over the influence of well known local grand high poobahs.  And you should then wonder about the ‘integrity’ of local governance, in all of its varied forms.

We know, naiveté, thy name is Side.  We just need to grow up; but what if we don’t accept that world view?

We also wonder whether “Scoop” Sample III, who now owns the  paper, was aware of this article before he bought the fine feathered bird.

Oh, and a point of order, as to this pronouncement by the current leadership:

While we might be slow about it,  The Times Record pays tens of thousands of dollars in property and business taxes annually to support local government. No other  newspaper or media entity does so.

Self-indulgent as we are, we think of Other Side as a ‘media entity.’ In which case, the above statement is false.  We pay thousands of dollars in property taxes annually to support local government, the same government currently providing services, without payment, to the bird. 

Now that we think of it, ‘flipping the bird’ takes on a whole new gravitas, well beyond your local paperboy tossing the rag at your porch.

That would be the bird whose head is not visible.  As a friend once said, “we can be petty.”  Especially when the circumstances cry out for it.

(Editor’s Note: we can’t wait to see if this post shatters the record held by ‘Vetting the vetter.’  it’s up to you!)

Technorati Tags: The Ostrich,the press,Brunswick,pomposity

Pure poppycock, Ostrich style

We don’t know if we’re watching the collapse of The Ostrich or not, but we certainly are getting a lesson in the self-deception that both it’s readers and the editors have practiced for years.

The tributes have been ‘pouring in’ for Jim McCarthy, the now departed former managing editor and more recently, opinion editor.

On Friday, John Rensenbrink, retired Bowdoin Prof, and founder, I believe, of the Maine Green Independent Party, offered his praises of McCarthy:

As a reporter, as managing editor, and as the editor of the editorial page, he has shown himself to be a person of great integrity, kindness, patience and insight. Jim has an intuitive feeling for justice and truth, and for relating to people in a manner that respects who they are.

No one will be surprised to hear that John and Jim are on the same wavelength, more or less, which is not in the same frequency spectrum as mine.  That said, there are some statements that should not be left unchallenged, and this is one of them.

We have written in recent months about McCarthy’s publishing of patently obvious wild claims in reader offerings, most likely because they agreed with his ideological bent.  We further reported how we caught him lying to us on having vetted the material.  It’s obvious to this writer that McCarthy only pulled out the wire brush when it was needed to challenge a position he didn’t care for.  Like some of ours.

This hardly speaks to integrity, if you’ll pardon the notion.

But that’s nothing new for The Ostrich.  Not too many years ago, a prior opinion editor accepted an award for an opinion piece she didn’t write, and when we called her on it, she accused us of nit-picking an award winning newspaper, in so many words.

So we say poppycock to you, Professor!

Moving on, how many times have you watched a professional sports team owner make a public appearance to claim that Joe Schlepp is our coach through thick or thin, only to fire the guy before the week is out?

I was reminded of that phenomenon when I read another piece in Friday’s edition, entitled “Hard truth.”  In it, Ostrich editors (or the publisher??) come clean, at least as they see it.

They are truly ashamed for being delinquent on their property taxes, as this humble apology shows:

While we might be slow about it,  The Times Record pays tens of thousands of dollars in property and business taxes annually to support local government. No other  newspaper or media entity does so.

As good journalists know, you should always be sincere, whether you mean it or not.  And a little pride in your humility only adds to the luster.

Overall, the item combines the obvious realities with a good measure of chest beating about their undamaged self-esteem.  I particularly liked the closing lines:

We’re in this together. We remain committed to serving the Mid-coast region to the full extent of our resources and abilities.

Memo to Ostrich editors: we take exception to the notion that ‘we’ are in this together.  You declined to extend our subscription without timely payment, even though as taxpayers we continued your full slate of municipal services without timely payment of your taxes.

The sentence following that is a case study in self-serving double-speak and ambiguity.

Well as they say, consider the source.

And poppycock again.

 

Technorati Tags: The Ostrich,Brunswick,taxes

Sad news about Frosty’s; an era ends

We just learned that the matriarch of the legendary Frosty’s Donut Shop, June Frost, passed away on July 11th.  We could be the last ones to find out; that’s often the way at Other Side.

June was 76, and they have been operating their shop since 1965.  That’s a very long time, and literally millions of tasty treats have passed through her hands on the way to regular and visiting customers.

June’s passing occurred after our most recent visit, but two days before we posted on a Frosty’s visit here.  We don’t know the circumstances of her passing, whether it was sudden or otherwise.  Either way, given the timing, our last post was anything but fortuitous, and for that we apologize.

We’ve spent many happy hours in Frosty’s, and brought home many a dozen, to the delight of all who shared in them.  Especially the grandkids.  We even brought some with us on trips to visit family in Cleveland, and they were a hit there.

June was an iconic presence at the shop, as everyone surely knows.  We send our sincere sympathies to her husband Bob and the rest of her family.  They have struggled with a variety of health related challenges in recent years, as regular customers know.

Reports are that the shop is closed down and on the market.  We will certainly miss the place, and numerous visitors will be disappointed as well.  The Frosty’s reputation spread far and wide; their donuts simply were the best.  Visitors often showed up while we were in the shop, saying how they made a point of looking for Frosty’s on their trip to the area.

It remains to be seen whether anyone else can summons up the devotion and commitment to give Frosty’s a second life.  We certainly hope so; it will take a lot to do so.  Here’s hoping someone with the requisite determination and stamina does so.  Code issues and the like could well complicate any plans.

It would sure make a lot of us happy, and it would be a fitting tribute to the Frosts.

Technorati Tags: Frosty's,Brunswick

There’s no hiding now….

We’ve been reporting on The Ostrich’s multi-year tax delinquencies to it’s home town for some months now.  To the best of our knowledge, there has been no reporting on it elsewhere.

Until this week, that is.  The current edition of The Forecaster has a lengthy front page article on the subject entitled “Newspaper’s tax woes….”  It’s one of the longest articles we’ve seen in this publication.

We’ve suggested you might want to minimize your cash exposure in any subscription arrangement with the local daily, as we have.  This article reinforces the idea, if you don’t mind us saying so.  And it does appear to suggest that the paper may not be ‘long lasting.’

Clearly, The Forecaster has nothing to lose and something to gain in this situation.  Still, the article is an in depth look at a number of problems at the paper, and also includes a listing of the town’s other ‘top’ tax delinquents, including George Schott, the investor who bought the Atrium Inn some years back, and recently purchased all the former Navy housing, both on and off base.

The reporter contacted a media ethics expert (no really, that’s what the article calls her!) at a journalism school in Florida.  Geez….did she have to go more than 1,000 miles just to find one?

The ethics expert said that unpaid taxes are a worrisome sign. She added:

"Journalism is supposed to help other people fulfill their civic role, and if you're not fulfilling your civic role – and paying taxes is part of that – you may lose a little bit of standing with the audience as you try and and inspire others to engage in holding government accountable,"

Gee, you think????  A little bit of standing??  Talk about treading lightly!  That pretty much tells us what modern day “media ethics” is all about, and the standards, if you can call them that, they apply.

Scold the locals about shared sacrifice, ooze sanctimony about your noble role as ‘government watchdog,’ demand that others pay their ‘fair share’ to bring about social justice, claim to have vetted clearly questionable claims when you haven’t, and then risk giving up a “little bit of standing” when you don’t pay your taxes like the rest of the working shlubs in town?

Perhaps the word “ethics” has been revised.  If so, would someone please send us the new meaning, so we can use it to guide our future efforts? 

And if we don’t pay our upcoming tax bill, will you only consider us to have given up an itsy bitsy teeny weeny bit of standing? 

If that’s all that’s at stake, reputation-wise, why would anyone pay their taxes on time?

Technorati Tags: The Ostrich,The Forecaster,property taxes,media ethics

Throwing sand at Sanders

In our most recent post, we mentioned that the Ostrich had endorsed a sky is falling assessment by Bernie Sanders, avowed socialist in the US Senate.

We came across an interesting item in the Wall Street Journal this week that applies directly to this position; it talks very succinctly of the history of the unsustainable entitlement state we have become, and that has us headed in an unsustainable death spiral.  According to Sanders and his ilk, including the erstwhile opinion editor at The Ostrich, cutting anything from our huge budgets, or even capping them, is akin to a vicious attack on the vast majority of the population.  In their view, we have no choice but to continue borrowing and printing money, no matter the consequences.  That whole ‘shared sacrifice’ thing.

If you want to see just how we have allowed things to get away from us, through undamped and runaway growth in obligations, read the article, which you can find here.

You’ll find these gems:

In inflation-adjusted dollars, Medicaid cost $4 billion in 1966, $41 billion in 1986 and $243 billion last year.

Yes, you read that right; that’s growth in inflation adjusted dollars.

According to the most recent government data, today some 50.5 million Americans are on Medicaid, 46.5 million are on Medicare, 52 million on Social Security, five million on SSI, 7.5 million on unemployment insurance, and 44.6 million on food stamps and other nutrition programs. Some 24 million get the earned-income tax credit, a cash income supplement.

By 2010 such payments to individuals were 66% of the federal budget, up from 28% in 1965. (See the second chart.) We now spend $2.1 trillion a year on these redistribution programs, and the 75 million baby boomers are only starting to retire.

There are two charts in the column that should hit you over the head like a 2x4 in portraying our road to financial ruin, brought to us compliments of the clamoring masses and election officials who buy the votes of the clamorers with our tax dollars.  Collectively, you can think of them as the free lunch crowd, where you pay for the lunches, whether you realize it or not.

We all know The Ostrich has always been fond of reader submissions that assert that defense spending is the root of all social and economic ‘injustice.’  Our local area is full of true believers in such wisdom.  Here’s a relevant quote from the subject article:

On Monday night Mr. Obama blamed President George W. Bush's "two wars" for the debt buildup. But national defense spending was 7.4% of GDP and 42.8% of outlays in 1965, and only 4.8% of GDP and 20.1% of federal outlays in 2010. Defense has not caused the debt crisis.

Those who can refute this claim are welcome to submit their arguments by way of comment, or with a guest submission.

And unlike ‘for-profit’ media in the area (at least at one time), we will vet any such offerings to the best of our ability, or tell you instead that we didn’t bother and let you decide what is true and what isn’t.

Technorati Tags: The Ostrich,debt crisis,entitlement state

Blogging immortality slips right through our fingers….The Ostrich gets away

And we have no one to blame but ourselves.  As we said in our most recent, yet long ago post, summer laziness was overtaking us in matters of editorial output, and in this case, it slapped us hard across our ample tukkis and denied us a chance for fame and fortune in our chosen pursuit.

The narrative below explains exactly what we mean; let the weeping begin.

The Ostrich puts its head in the Sand(ers)

A few days after returning from our trip, we went off to pre-pay our heating oil plan for the coming year.  This brought to mind the fiasco at Thibeault Energy in the past year, in which, as best we know, many customers lost most or all of their account credit balance at the time the company failed.  Not a pretty picture.

This is the risk of prepaying, which is how subscribing to The Ostrich works.  We had been in the habit of prepaying a year’s subscription, until a few months back when we decided we would not renew until the publication paid up on its delinquent property taxes.

Which means we have no financial exposure should the Ostrich suddenly go belly up, like Thibeault did.  Those of you staring at an invoice to renew your subscription might want to think twice before handing over more than a few weeks advance payment.  That way, you’re only wagering the bare minimum of cash that they can deliver.  Having lived for months without the paper, we can assure you that after a few days, you’ll discover that life goes on just fine.

A day or so after signing up for our oil, a friend asked why we hadn’t commented on the then recent item in which Ostrich editors endorsed the pronouncements of Senator Bernie Sanders, an admitted socialist in the US Congress.

Hypocrisy and sanctimony, thy name is Ostrich, and this item is a shining case study to make the point.  This tax delinquent media outlet preaches to us, the little people, about taxes.  Which leads to a conclusion that we might well be better off with no newspaper if the only choice is one with no editorial integrity (see previous posts) and a condescending attitude towards its readers.  As a reminder, our second nickname for the Ostrich is the NOTWIUN – newspaper of the willfully uninformed.

The Sanders item is loaded with the class warfare rhetoric of big government collectivists - those who believe that government should have no limits, and that its primary role is to redistribute income, and in the process, choose winners and losers, with all the well-known dangers that creates.  In doing so, the attitude formation industry, of which print media is part, joins in the slime-pit that is big government politics.

“Working people/families” are the heroes of the op-ed, and “wealthiest Americans” are the villains.  And with a 25% increase in federal spending in the last two years, the editors swallow Sanders demagoguery that considers any cuts against this baseline as cruel and inhuman, and certain to result in bodies in the street.

Working people/families is the euphemism usually applied to union members and government employees.  I don’t know about you, but we spent 38 years working, and we were neither.  And we don’t believe that the choices before us “largely line up against the interests of working families.”  In fact, we consider that driving our country jobless and bankrupt does just that.

We also believe the first law of economics cannot be repealed: resources are limited, and there are competing demands for access to them.  In other words, we don’t have unlimited resources, and we can never have enough to satisfy everyone’s demand for fairness.

As for those villainous wealthy Americans, they already carry the lions’ share of the tax burden in this country, to the point where half the population pays little or no income taxes.  Is that fair?

There we go, getting ready to jump off the rant cliff, and we had no intention of doing so, so we’ll cease the distraction here.

And move on to the editors’ closing sentiment (emphasis ours):

Sen. Sanders is exactly right: This is a “pivotal moment” in our country’s history. What’s required is a true “shared sacrifice” — one that includes the wealthiest Americans and most profitable corporations.

It’s what working families need and want.

That pretty much captures the overall theme of the editorial.  And It had been my intention from my first thinking on this post that I would close it with this passage:

“So The Ostrich wants us to make a ‘shared sacrifice?’  Here’s an idea: how about if they make their point by sacrificing an editor or two, and share the funds saved with the town by paying off their delinquent property tax bills?  It’s what Brunswick’s working and property tax paying families need and want.”

And now, the missed opportunity angle.  If we had completed this post, with the closing statement above, and published it say, no later than mid-last week, we would have set ourselves to look prescient at the very least, or influential, if we wanted to delude ourselves even further.  And in the process, scored a very large scoop for the uncompensated blogging community.

Why?  Well in case you didn’t already know, we’ll tell you why.  While in town yesterday, we ran across a discarded copy of Friday’s Ostrich, and what to our wondering eyes should appear, but a lead op-ed titled “Gone fishin’.”  In the item, Jim McCarthy, once managing editor, and more recently, opinion editor, says his farewells to readers, because ‘it’s time for me to do something different,’ and ironically, we couldn’t agree more.  We found this explanation to be, well, a bit ambiguous to say the least.

Said former editor is the primary reason this blog was created, and as readers know, we have had our share of run-ins with him.  While we are a charitable lot, it is our belief that the editorial policies of the Ostrich, particularly as expressed on the opinion page, have been a disservice to the community, and very likely a major contributing factor to the sharp decline in circulation figures.  So we’ll wish him well in future endeavors and leave it at that.

We have no idea whether this is simply a coincidental change in staff, or an indicator that fiscal matters continue to trend downward at The Ostrich, and we’ll soon see more indications of that.

Either way, it seems like a good reminder to minimize your subscription commitment to them, and a good reminder to us to get our collective publishing energies back on track.

And you can rest assured that your subscription remittals to us are safe; we’re not like all the others.

Technorati Tags: The Ostrich,blogging

Frosty’s flops, sad to say….

We’ve spent a number of years as a devotee of Frosty’s unique and delectable donuts, often visiting multiple times a week, sipping coffee and eating donuts while catching up on our reading.

Sadly, in recent years the shop has been so unpredictable and unreliable, that whether we wanted to or not, we were forced to wean ourselves from their offerings.  Hannaford’s donuts aren’t the best, but they are there whenever you want them, and there’s something to be said for that.

Upon returning from our recent trip, we noticed a sign in Frosty’s window saying ‘new hours – 4 to 1.’  This led us to believe that they had added new staff, since one of their biggest problems is that they have no bench.  If one of the family is under the weather (a very frequent occurrence in recent years), or a hired hand at the front counter says goodbye, the place is shuttered for days, if not weeks.  The best they had been able to do in recent months is be open to 11am, which eliminated any possibility that I would do my mid-day drop-in.

So, after dropping by Leo’s Barber Shop last week for my usual style cut, hair coloring, and facial, I thought I’d hike on over to ‘the Fro’ to check out their new M.O.  I got there a little after 12:30, which I figured gave me enough time to inhale a couple of fried treats and wash them down with a cup of Jamaican Me Crazy from Wicked Joe’s.

The sweet young lady behind the counter asked what I’d like; they had quite a selection for this late in the day.  She started to put my picks in a bag, and I said “no, I’ll have them here.”  She said “you know, we’re closing in 20 minutes.”  I still thought no problemo.

Then I noticed that the front counter looked like it had been rearranged to make more room for providing service.  It seemed strange, but I said “you do have coffee, don’t you?”  To which the young lass replied “no, I’ve already dumped then all and cleaned them out.”  It was then I realized the two rows of coffee air pots had simply vanished from the counter.

Which put me in a really crummy funk.  Apparently the new help believes that ‘closing at 1’ means she walks out the front door at the sound of one bell, and she does everything she can to make sure nothing delays her in that departure.

I wondered if Bob and June were aware of this rather unwelcoming approach to closing, especially compared to past years.  I suspected it had something to do with the rather large selection of items still available just prior to lock-up, which is the exact opposite of what I came to expect over the years.

Having no real option but to sit down, sans coffee, and eat my donuts, it then dawned on me that the musical background in the shop had changed.  Rather than the well-worn Jimmy Swaggart gospel music CDs, I was hearing some semi-modern genre of rock that I cannot identify, but which I’m sure is more appropriate to the tastes of the new counter help, rather than those of the owners.

Say what you want about Frosty’s atmosphere and unchanging tastes in music.  But when you can’t get coffee 20 minutes before closing, and then have to deal with music that might as well be from Mars, there’s no denying that the full Frosty’s experience is no longer available.

Which is a sad commentary on the little things in life.  The older we get, the more we realize that nothing lasts forever – not our parents, not our friends, not your favorite restaurants, not all those things that become part of the fabric of your life, whether you realize it or not.

But is it too much to ask that a couple of the best donuts ever and a cup of coffee just keep on keeping on?

Apparently it is, although we will make an attempt to get there earlier one of these days, when an owner is on premise to see what the place is like then.  Right after we down that nearby rubber tree plant.

Technorati Tags: simple pleasures,donuts,Frosty's

Italy & the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer…

Lately the phone has been ringing off the hook here at the editorial offices.  So much so that we’ve taken to not answering it.

The callers haven’t been readers wondering why we’ve been persona non publicato, or expressing gratitude for the lack of idiotic commentary.

Instead, it’s been a steady stream of fund-raisers and poll-takers, apparently attempting to make up for their inability to bother us while we were out of town recently.  It turns out we had inadvertently (I think) disabled the answering machine feature on our phone before we left.

Well anyway, the Poppycock’s recently enjoyed a 16 day trip to Italy.  We spent most of it in a medieval walled village in Tuscany, and the last two days in Rome, where we took two tours that were true ‘immersion’ experiences, with sauna like conditions thrown in.  Here are a couple of pictures to give you some idea of what we enjoyed.

The first is taken out of the front window of our apartment, showing some sort of min-festival parade taking place in the street below:

This next one is a view of the surrounding countryside from the other side of our apartment:

Such a trip, with no TV, no radio, and no newspapers to speak of, really distances you from the same old, same old.  And it is very difficult on several levels to adjust upon return.  That includes getting back in the loop and commenting on various goings on, as has been our habit for years now.

So in case you were concerned or wondering about us, fear not.  All is well, and we are well.  We are finding it a struggle, however, to work up much enthusiasm for getting ‘back in the loop’ and offering up our unsolicited essays.

Especially given the onslaught of real summer conditions.  Weeds looked like they had put in two months of growth in the two weeks we were gone, and various other summerizing chores need our attention.  We have family arriving tomorrow, and with that, the inevitable slide into what we hope will be a more carefree summer routine, in which we let our usual interests and more mundane pursuits slide. 

Summer is too short to mess up with obligations, real or imagined.  So while we have a few items lined up to take care of, we have no illusions that our publishing schedule will return to normal, whatever the hell that is, until summer is over, whatever the hell that means in Maine.

So now you  know the rest of the story.  But before we close this item, some tips and tidbits from our trip to Italy.

Tuscan Vino Rosso:  There is no such thing as bad red wine in the Tuscany region.  Everything we had, from about $6 a bottle on up, was wonderful.  You just can’t go wrong.

Rental Car GPS:  If you are going overseas, and plan on getting a GPS for your rental car, I strongly recommend you get it from Auto Europe, headquartered here in Portland.  They’ll rent you one independent of who you get the car from, although they are the best for that too.  You’ll save money on the GPS rental, and at least in our case, the lady in the machine spoke highway numbers, etc, in English, not Italian, which I have been told happens with other sources.

Currency Exchange:  Make sure you have sufficient Euro’s with you when you get there, and you might as well plan on getting an ATM card if you don’t have one.  I tried to buy some Euro’s here in town before we left, and got nowhere with three banks.  My own said they could order some for me, and have them in a few days.  The others wouldn’t even do that for non-customers.  I don’t know what the exchange rate would have been; there wasn’t time to wait for them to arrive.  AAA does have them on hand, but only in fixed packages costing $100 US or $250 US.  Their rate is terrible, but I’m glad I had some.  Rates at the airport are just as bad.  Once in Italy, a hike to several banks resulted in repeated refusals to change US $ to Euros, or to providing cash advances on our credit card.  In each case, a referral to another bank was given, with the same result.  Fortunately, our friends had an ATM card and helped us out.  The rate of exchange is most favorable that way.

Squash Blossoms:  Yup, you read that right.  If you’ve never had them, and we hadn’t, you’re missing out on a real treat.  We bought them at a local farmer’s market in our village, and prepared them by dipping in a simple, light batter (tempura like) and sautéing in a little olive oil until golden.  They are delicious….kind of like vegetable candy.  It may be the only way to get them around here is in your own garden.

Add these to the simple but wonderful food we had dining out, and the fabulous fresh pasta dishes we cooked, and the veal scallopini dishes we prepared, the fresh rustic fruit tarts, the desserts to die for, the fresh pesto, and ……….

There’s just too much to ever tell you about, and just the mere mention is driving me crazy.

So buongiorno, buongiorno, buongiorno.  At least for now.

Technorati Tags: Italy,squash blossoms,status