Where I'm From

Where I’m From

Bumpy bitter melon hangs from the vine,
Roses nod their red velvet heads
as I pluck beetles from scented petals
and tuck them into a glass jar.

I ride city busses and a subway with wooden seats;
Play in parks with lakes and cherry blossoms,
Shop in bakeries with onion rolls, miniature danish and knishes,
Walk through the museum and sit in the library, marble quiet cool and calm
while the streets outside rumble with rebellion.

There’s a raggedy yellow teddy bear sign at the corner auto repair shop.
Cardboard Coca Cola Santa’s hang from the ceiling of the corner store.
Speedy Alka Seltzer’s on TV, Good Humor men sell ice cream from bicycles and the Sinclair Dinosaur sign hangs at the gas station.
Pastel pink and lavender Thunderbirds park like butterflies on crowded streets.
The twelve o’clock whistle signals the end of Saturday cartoons and the TV shouts, “Out of the blue of the western sky, comes Sky King.”

“Lazy hazy crazy days of summer” and “Sukiyaki” play on the radio while
women at the lake with petaled organza kerchiefs covering their pink rollers
lie on blankets to tan, smothered in Coppertone.

We sing in the back seat of a blue and white Buick Special,
“Michael Row the Boat Ashore” and “Soldier Boy.”
“The M.T.A” and the” Merry Minuet” my bothers and sister,
mother and father on the long ride from Newark to Williamstown on Friday night
after taking rolls of wrapped coins to Vic’s candy store to
trade for bills so we can buy the gas to go.

During South Jersey summers before the casino’s come
we eat Sotanghan and Pancit,.
can peaches and pick blueberries.
Moths flutter around the back door light,
as we try to dance the tinikling without smashing our ankles between sticks of bamboo.
We sing with cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents
long into the night
while my uncle plays the guitar

We catch frogs in the swamp near
the ruins of an old scout camp in the woods,
Dig for blue mason jars
and bits of broken plates at a long abandoned dump
and find an inkwell
with a metal top. My sister still has it.

Back home in the city,
I play Double Dutch and clapping games.
Sing the Sanctus and Agnus Dei at mass,
but only boys are allowed in the choir.
Nuns who teach us everything we know at school,
in church just deck the altar with flowers
while the priests run the show.
My first phone number is Bigelow 3-7452
and the Pope’s is Et Cum Spiri 220.
Before Mr. Zip moved the mail I lived in Zone 8.

Abad’s, Acutanza’s, Balot’s, Carbonel’s,
Dimacali’s and Europa’s.
Leonen’s, Monsalud’s
Quilban’s, and Relova’s. Filipino family names
by way of the four Gallagher girls.

Potato pancakes and sugar cookies in the house
Where a WWI vet named George Sackmann sings
With tears in his eyes, “There’s a long, long trail a winding into the land of my dreams,”
with me on his knee. He takes me for walks to look for money
on the street. (we always find some.)

I read Taro Yashima’s Momo, the little girl who got rain boots and an umbrella
for her birthday and waited and waited for the rain to come
and when it did it was the first day she walked to school
without holding either her mother or her father’s hand.
Wanda Swoboda and the girl with only one dress to wear
to school but a hundred dresses wallpapering her bedroom walls.
Thomas Wolfe’s, “You Can’t Go Home Again”
no matter how many times you try (‘cause it isn’t there anymore)
and Tennessee Williams who understands
that human beings as fragile as we may seem
have an almost limitless capacity to endure pain and still live.
“Look,” he wrote, “'The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks!'

Policy Analysis of the National Environmental Policy Act















A. The National Environmental Policy Act
The first policy written in the United States to address environmental issues was the National Environmental Policy created by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 and the subsequent creation of the Environmental; Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970. B. The Purpose of the Policy
The act states in section 101 that Congress recognizes the impact of man’s activity especially population growth, urbanization, industrial expansion, resource exploitation and the importance of restoring and maintaining the environment. In section 102 it states that Congress authorizes that policies, regulations and public laws should use an interdisciplinary approach to identify and develop ways of ensuring that major actions that could significantly affect the quality of the environment should first detail the impact of the action, list any adverse affects, list alternatives, state the relationship between short term use and long term productivity, state any irreversible commitments of resources. (NEPA, 1969).
C. The History of the policy and the problems it addressed.
After World War II with the establishment of the nuclear and chemical age, the environment and people began to be exposed to new and deadly substances. The United States Government began dumping nuclear waste into the oceans in 1946. (Leopold, 2000). Oil companies that previously produced lubricants, gas and oil diversified into petrochemicals including chemical fertilizer. The American people became very aware of environmental issues. Because of the boom in home building in the suburbs, the expansion in the ownership of automobiles for transportation and the need to build superhighways to accommodate the cars, pollution became more visible and harder to ignore. (Dukakis, 1999). In addition to air and water pollution from smog and waste, Americans were made aware of the dangers of pesticides like dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) with the publication of Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring in 1962. The book generated a lot of interest from the public as well as opposition from the chemical industry. Carson did not call for the immediate banning of all pesticides. She pointed out the need for science to explore natural ways of controlling pests and increasing food production. (Graham, 1978) The chemical industry attacked Carson, which generated more publicity for her book, but although more people became aware of environmental issues and DDT was banned in the United States, pesticide production has increased from 124 million pounds in 1947 to 638 million pounds in 1960 to 1.4 billion pounds in 1985. Along with this, cancer rates are also increasing. (Epstein & Briggs, 1987) These facts are at the heart of the lack of effectiveness of the EPA. There is a constant struggle between those who profit from exploiting the environment and those who want to develop it sustainably. The chemical industry uses various tactics to hide the effects of chemicals on humans and the environment. They have hidden reports from the EPA, harassed, criticized and tried to discredit ecologists, epidemiologists and researchers who do not agree with them and they along with other industries that oppose government regulation have suppressed reports that expose practices that are harmful to the environment.
D. What are the benefits, eligibility criteria and the beneficiaries of the policy/program?
Everyone who lives and breathes in the world is experiencing the problem. Cancer rates are going up not just because people are getting older. Chemicals are in our food, air and water. The effect on our bodies and the environment even when they are documented and studied are often hidden from the public. The people who experience a problem may not even be aware of the origin of the problem Efforts to prove that one particular chemical causes a particular illness or disease have not been successful in the US. On the other hand many grassroots groups and organizations are aware of the issues and work very hard to inform the general public about unsafe environmental practices. NEPA is a federal act and the will to enforce it should come from the federal level. There is no way to stop what happens in one state from affecting the air and water supply of another state. I believe the precautionary principal adopted by some European countries is a good one. It would force chemical companies to do testing at their expense. This would force them to find the safest solution, not the short term cheapest solution for them which has the end result of being a very expensive solution for the public for health reasons as well as for environmental clean up. All of us living on the planet would be beneficiaries.
E. What level of government is responsible for its administration and financing?
The EPA and the PA DEP are funded and administered by the Federal and State Government with taxpayer dollars. This year’s federal budget proposes a cut of $1.49 billion from last year. (Restuccia, 2011) The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has had its budget cut over the past five years to 59% of what it was in 2000-2001. (Bauers, 2011)
F. Some of the issues and problems with implementation
Implementation is an issue for a number of reasons. The main reason is that the interests of industry usually come before the interests of the environment of the public. The chemical industry of which oil and gas is a part, experienced great growth after World War II mostly because of the development of synthetic organic petroleum based compounds like DDT and vinyl chloride based plastics like PVC and CPVC piping. (Herman, 2007) The side effects of these chemical-based products on people and the environment were not obvious at first. Because they were effective as pest control and relatively cheap they were widely sold and used. By the time scientists discovered the side effects a large network of interrelated industries was in place. Industries that required the chemicals, farmers now dependent on pesticides, scientists employed by the industry, and the agriculture departments of both state and the federal government allowed the grandfathering of the use of some products so business as usual could continue. In addition to this the burden of proof to link any chemical to any illness is on the public. In the early years after the passage of NEPA under the administration of William D. Ruckelshaus people and responsibilities were transferred from different departments to the EPA. Before reorganization, the registration of pesticides was regulated by the Department of Agriculture; the pesticide label review was regulated by the Department of the Interior; Air, Solid Waste, Radiological Health, Water Hygiene, and Pesticide Tolerance were regulated by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Transferring these responsibilities to the EPA enabled the agency to enact the Federal Environmental Pesticides Control Act (1972); Safety Standards for Farmworkers (1974); regulation of land use (1972); and significantly revise water pollution legislation (1972). Regarding the regulation of water pollution, the EPA changed the focus from the quality of water to restricting effluent discharge with the goal of reaching zero discharge. Thousands of rules and regulations were modified or enacted during this period. (Wismer, 1985)
During the oil crisis in 1973, the EPA and Congress modified the Clean Air Act to allow for more use of coal and eased automobile emissions standards to allow for greater fuel economy. Under the administration of Douglas M. Costle from 1977 to 1981, the major problem was chemical dumping at sites like Love Canal in Niagara Falls, New York. The Hooker Chemical Company owned and operated a municipal and industrial chemical dumpsite that was covered over with dirt and sold to the city for one dollar in 1953. Homes were built on the site, but in the late 1970’s after a hard rain drums of chemical began to surface and the chemical soup leached into yards, homes, playgrounds and the school. The entire community was evacuated. (Beck, 1979) In response to this in December 1980 the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) also known as the Superfund Act was passed. The act required oil and chemical companies to pay into a fund to clean up toxic waste sites. It expired in 1995. Pennsylvania has more than 100 Superfund sites, the second highest in the nation. There are also 1000 hazardous waste sites around the state. (Penn Environment, n.d.)
The Reagan Administration in an effort to relieve the burden that these regulations imposed on the business community appointed a task force headed by George H.W. Bush to review existing regulations and streamline the bureaucracy. Of 176 regulations, the task force revised or eliminated 76. They also added a new regulation. Executive Order 12291, issued February 17, 1981, states that any government agency proposing new regulations had to consider the cost benefit. Reagan also cut the EPA’s staff by 11% and its budget by 12%. By 1984, the EPA staff cuts totaled 29% and the budget was cut 44% from what it was in 1980. (Sandhu, 1988). H.R. 564 the Superfund reinvestment Act of 2009 has been introduced by Representative Earl Blumenauer D-OR but has not been passed. That bill would reinstate the Hazardous Superfund financing rate and the corporate environmental income tax until 2018. There are two related bills, the Superfund Polluter Pays Act introduced by Senator Bill Nelson D-FL and the Polluter Pays Restoration Act introduced by Frank Lautenberg, D-NJ. (Open Congress, n.d.). When laws are enforced, rather than protecting the environment, companies pay fines related to the violation if the violation is caught. In the case of hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale for example the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association reports 1614 violations by gas drillers in Pennsylvania alone since 2008. (Pennsylvania Land Trust Association, 2011) From 2005 through February 1, 2011 the total dollar amount of the fines imposed by the PA DEP was at least $2,106,318. The average fine however was $23,666 which is low enough for a company to pay without hurting their bottom line. (Hamill, 2011)
G. Is the program successful? Who says so?
The policy can be effective or not effective depending on the political climate and whether it favors business or the people. Currently the program is not successful. The public can be manipulated by industry misinformation and advertising. In the case of Rachel Carson, the public, the press and the President were all sympathetic to her message. Her book was published soon after the thalidomide scare when pregnant women who took the drug for morning sickness produced children with severe birth defects of the limbs. (National Toxicology Project, 2010) People were concerned with the effects of chemicals on humans and the environment. The New Yorker Magazine published an excerpt of the book and CBS aired a documentary on Carson and the book even though some of the sponsors dropped out of the show. Ten to fifteen million people watched the interview. In spite of this fact pesticide use on farms, for lawn care and in households has consistently grown. (Herman, 2007) Why and how can this be?
Part of the problem is that we use chemicals everyday in many ways. In addition to gasoline for our cars, we use soap, shampoo, cleaning products, weed killers, plant food, plastic food containers, diet foods, non-stick coatings, medicines and many other products. It’s difficult for us to believe that they are harmful if we buy them in supermarkets and bring them home. It’s almost impossible to imagine what life would be like without antibacterial soap or toothpaste. The chemical industry counts on this normalized acceptance of chemicals. Scientists who criticize a product or a policy do not always project the same physical appearance as corporate sponsors or newscasters. They may have a less polished appearance than an industry spokesperson. They may look like you or me. The information they impart may not fit into a sound bite between commercials. In addition to this, the chemical industry deliberately creates doubt and confusion about scientific findings when they do not align with industry policy. The term “junk science” is applied by the industry to environmentalists, researchers, critics of the industry and lawyers who sue on behalf of clients. According to Consumers Union the publisher of Consumer Reports, “the phrase "junk science" has been coined by those practicing public relations and lobbying activities on behalf of some companies in certain industries--particularly the plastics, chemical, biotechnology, and pesticide industries. While its coiners may have legitimate grounds for debate on some issues, the phrase has been used far too often to discredit honest public interest organizations and legitimate scientists who express concerns about consumer safety and environmental risks.” (Wagner, 1999). When the industry funds scientific research and experts, the media accepts them without criticism. Often there is little separation between what is still called independent media and chemical companies. The Washington Post has an executive of Johnson and Johnson on its board of directors as well as a few investment bankers. The Chicago Tribune has a CEO of a major pharmaceutical company, two insurance company executives, and one from an electric utility. All of these industries oppose government regulation. The same corporate culture and class consciousness applies to the advertising industry. According to Herman (2007), of the 100 largest national advertisers 31 are chemical companies. Auto companies use chemicals like oil and gas and are concerned with regulation of those goods. If you add the food industry and their relationship to chemicals, the print industry that produces toxic waste in paper production, you may not have a conspiracy, but you do have a business plan that does not include the health of people or the health of the planet. (Herman, 2007) These companies also depend on a short public memory. Although dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) was banned in the US and many other countries, there is a campaign endorsed by the World Health Organization to bring it back to “save African babies” from malaria. (Schaffer, 2006)
H. Identify gaps and unmet needs and solutions.
Where is the EPA in this picture? Severely under funded and subject to the agenda of several decades of Republican industry friendly rule, the EPA is portrayed as a part of big government thwarting the progress of industry. Unfortunately they have not been able to even regulate the majority of chemical substances they were tasked with in 1976. Seventy to seventy five percent of toxic chemicals in use have not been tested. In the case of Monsanto and Santogard, an anti-scorching chemical used in the rubber industry, the EPA found a report on the negative effects of the product that Monsanto did not give to them as the law required. Monsanto was fined $196,000 (by law the fine should have been 19.7 million) and asked if they had any more hidden reports. 164 were found. The company was fined $648,000 for those. Knowing that other chemical companies must have done the same thing, the EPA granted an amnesty to the industry with nominal fines for the next three years. The industry produced over 11,000 documents. (Herman, 2007) No business was thwarted by the EPA.
After the chemical accident in Bophal India in 1986, Congress passed the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act which directed chemical companies to inform the public of releases of 654 known chemicals into the environment. The disclosure showed that several billion pounds of toxic chemicals were spewed into the air each year. There was virtually no media coverage of the Toxic Release Inventory. Since then, twenty four states have passed “audit privilege laws” allowing companies to conduct their own audits and correct their own issues. (Herman, 2007) Knowing the history of the industry this does not seem like a good solution for people or the planet.
Albatross chicks die every year from eating tiny pieces of plastic that they mistake for food. While consumers are responsible for some of the plastics in the ocean, the small pellets from which plastics are made come from industrial waste. Fishing nets which once were made of plant fiber are now made of plastic adding to the problem. (Azzarello, M. & Van Fleet, E. 1987)
Proposed Solutions
In order to effect any real enforcement of this policy which proposes to protect the environment from the influences of human activity and restore and maintain it so man and nature can coexist in healthy and pleasing surroundings maximizing the use of the environment without harm while preserving it, maintaining diversity, expanding renewable resources and recycling depleted ones there will have to be some changes in the awareness and the will of the people of the country.
According to the Mt Sinai Medical Center “Over 4 billion pounds of toxic chemicals are released by industry into the nation's environment each year, including 72 million pounds of recognized carcinogens” and “of the top 20 chemicals discharged to the environment, nearly 75% are known or suspected to be toxic to the developing human brain.” The hospital has launched an environmental health education campaign in Queens, NY that includes a workshop on alternatives to plastic. (Mt. Sinai Medical Center, 2001)
J. Compare policy position with Social Work Speaks.
Social Works Speaks Environmental Policy quotes part of an op-ed article. The article begins by asking the question, “If everyone were mentally ill, how would we know whom to treat?” (1995, Berger). He calls our participation in harming the environment, “habitat destruction syndrome” and compares it to a mass mental illness. Berger states that although we are surrounded by information regarding the impact of environmental degradation over the past 50 years, as a society we do little about it. Because the changes are gradual and because we are not as conscious of nature due to our lack of contact with it, we don’t see this issue as a crisis. Because we are inundated with crisis messages through email and social networking sites from a myriad of organizations, we feel overwhelmed and unable to choose which issues we should prioritize or act on.
According to Social Work Speaks, social workers have a “professional obligation” to educate ourselves on environmental issues, to support enforcement of the EPA, to support the use of non-toxic products in schools and the general society and to support the regulation of chemicals through the EPA and other agencies. Social Work Speaks calls the environmental crisis a “major public policy issue that will influence all future human development.” It also goes on to say that there is a solution to the crisis if we act in a timely manner. The concerns of social workers go beyond concerns for the environment to include the health issues that people face including increased rates of cancer, respiratory issues and illnesses linked to the continued use of pesticides. Communities of color are especially vulnerable to be host to chemical plants and toxic waste dumps nationally and internationally. We may face opposition perhaps even in the form of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) suits that are filed against regular people who participate in public dialogue with government agencies in reacting to or reporting among other things, reporting environmental violations. (Potter, 2008)
The current economic crisis can also be a time of opportunity. For some of us, being laid off or underemployed can give us the chance to follow in the footsteps of our grandparents who had victory gardens and grow our own food. We can use more glass containers than plastic. We can walk more than drive. We can read more about the crisis and think more about what we can do about it. We can write to and call our legislators and the companies that produce offending products or packaging. We can go to local meetings of environmental groups. We can make our own cleaners from simple materials at home. We can use power strips and turn our appliances off when not in use. We can put tap water in the refrigerator instead of buying bottled water. We can use cloth bags when we shop. How many chemicals are essential to your daily life? How do you profit from their production and their use? Is your financial future tied to the debasement of the environment through stock ownership or a 401K? If so divest of these interests. These sound like small steps but any act, no matter how small helps to change us as individuals and our relationship with the larger world around us. It’s the first step to becoming politically active outside of the voting booth. Engagement is essential to our continued survival as a free people and to a sustainable planet.
I. Identify available agencies, services or programs available in your area or your hometown including addresses and telephone numbers.
DEP Northeast Regional Office Bethlehem
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701-1915 4530 Bath Pike
Business Hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Bethlehem, PA 18017
570-826-2511 (24 hours/day) Business Hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Regional Director: Michael Bedrin 610 861-2070

24 Hour area hotline 570-826-2511




















Azzarello, M. & Van Fleet, E. (1987, May 6) Marine birds and plastic pollution. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 37, 295 – 303. Retrieved from http://www.int- res.com/articles/meps/37/m037p295.pdf

Bauers, S. (2011, March 24). PA DEP Budget: halved in a decade. Philly.com. Retrieved from http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/PA-DEP-budget-has- dropped-.html

Beck. E. (1979, January). The Love canal tragedy. EPA Journal. Retrieved from: http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/lovecanal/01.htm

Berger, R. (1995, July) Habitat Destruction System. Social Work 40, 4, 441-443

Dukakis, M. (1996, November) Environmental politics in post-World War II America Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 18, 5-9

Epstein, S. & Briggs, S. (2007, June). If Rachel Carson Were Writing Today: Silent Spring in Retrospect. Environmental Law Reporter Vol. 17.

Graham Jr., F. (1978, November/December) Rachel Carson. EPA Journal. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/perspect/carson.htm
Hamill, S. (2011, April 17). What fines reveal about drilling in state. Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Retrieved from http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11107/1139961-503- 0.stm?cmpid=marcellusshale.xml
Herman, E. (2009, January 5). Corporate Sovereignty and (Junk) Science and Media. Z Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/11316515/Edward-S- Herman-Corporate-Sovereignty-and-Junk-Science-and-Media-3-Articles
Leopold, E. (May 2000). Seeing the Forest and the Trees:
The Politics of Rachel Carson The Monthly Review. 52 01 Retrieved from http://www.monthlyreview.org/500leopo.htm
Melchor, S. (2000, February 17.) European Commission approves precautionary principle guidelines .Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News. Retrieved from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-59578792/european-commission- approves-precautionary.html
National Association of Social Workers (NASW). (2006) Social Work Speaks: National association of social workers policy statements. environmental policy. Washington, DC: NASW Press

National Environmental Policy Act (1969). Retrieved from http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/nepa/nepaeqia.htm

National Environmental Policy Act. (1970, January 1) National Environmental Policy Act, Retrieved January 24, 2011, from
http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/nepa/nepaeqia.htm

National Toxicology Project (2010, November 12). Retrieved from http://cerhr.niehs.nih.gov/common/thalidomide.html

Open Congress (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111- s3164/show

Penn Environment. (n.d.) Cleaning up toxic waste sites. Retrieved from http://www.pennenvironment.org/healthy-communities/cleaning-up-toxic-waste- sites

Pennsylvania Land Trust Association (2011) Marcellus Shale drillers in PA amass 1614 violations since 2008. Retrieved from http://conserveland.org/violationsrpt

Potter, Lori. (2008, December). Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation Overview. Retrieved from http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/petition/topic.aspx?topic=slapp

Restuccia, A. (2011, April 12.) Spending bill cuts EPA funding, delists wolves, limits funding for Interior 'wild lands' policy. The Hill. Retrieved from http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/155425-spending-agreement-cuts- energy-and-water-programs-by-five-percent-from-fy2010-levels

Sandhu, J. (1988). The Environmental Protection Agency in the 1980s. Retrieved from http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/fenlewis/epa.htm

Schaffer, K. (December 2006) What’s behind the DDT comeback? Pesticides News No.74, page 4

Wagner, L. (1999, December) Consumers Union statement about consumer distorts. Consumers Union. Retrieved from http://www.consumersunion.org/products/distortsopi1299.htm

Wisman, P. (1985, November). EPA History (1970-1985). Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/epa/15b.htm

SinkPositiveTV_WMV V9.wmv

GASLAND Trailer 2010

Warning

I can feel it coming.

I hear it moving under the earth,
tremors so slight I’m not quite sure
they shook the earth under my feet.
There’s an odor in the summer air,
suddenly strong, as suddenly gone.

On the fringes of my world
the evil has overwhelmed the light.
Its thunderous step has stamped out all song.
Its blackness has eliminated all color
but the one that runs like water in the streets,
the one that soaks the earth
the one that obliterates the difference
in the color of the skin,
the difference in language,
the separate historical condition,
of each time and place.
The color of blood.
The color under which we will fight
the blackness of death.

The evil began so long ago
that it has no distinct beginning
in our consciousness.
It has always been with us
at times a whisper,
at times a shout.
Sometimes it is crushed for a while,
but the struggle against it
leaves the victor near death,
unable to nourish itself,
unable to flourish.

In the high places,
the struggle against it is barely noticeable
as people go about their lives
painting,
singing,
laughing.
working.
At times a great horror pierced through
the invisible wall.
People stop their individual noises and turn to watch.
They cry out in sorrow and give money for a while,
but soon it’s Christmas or summer or Halloween
and the happiness of children with the world at their fingertips
and bright futures before them takes precedence over the distant sorrow.

Within the high places
always there are those who fight the evil at its source,
but the blows they strike are toothpicks hurled at a Goliath,
an annoyance easily crushed by tricks and laws.
The fighters grow old and die and are born again
Battles ebb and low and ebb
as those who would be soldiers marry,
bear children work and live the everyday lives of the privileged,
lives of safety.

As the people in the outlands farm
increasingly smaller
more meager plots of soil
for more meager rations
the high places bloom with the products of the world.
Fruits and vegetables in many forms
From every corner of the world
are always available to those who can pay.

Then even in the high places,
the trouble begins to spread.
An entire population of those seen
only in the outlands begins to grow
within the cities of the high places.
Their eyes recede into their sockets.
Their bellies growl with hunger.
They sleep in the streets and
scavenge food and clothing.
They watch as the privileged drive by
in cars that cost more than two years wages
or walk by in sneakers that cost as much
as it would to feed a family of four for a month.


City buildings stand empty while hundreds of thousands are homeless.
Country fields lie fallow as farmers are driven from the land.
The net of safety we believed existed, has turned into a web.



During the years of prosperity
The people in the high places never asked
Where their coffee beans,
pineapples,
ginger,
tangerines,
teas,
raspberries came from.
On the part of the privileged
whose ancestors had fled poverty and persecution
there was no question,
no curiosity of life in the outlands.
No knowledge, no want of knowledge
for any world other than their own.

As world conditions worsened
the people of the high places
are seen as the enemy.
They are murdered
by desperate people who would die alone
or take one person with them
touching the people of the high places
with a fraction of the terror
and sorrow they live with all their lives.

Now, the armies of the world stand ready,
parading their weapons on land, sea and air.
Will this be the beginning of the end of the planet earth?

This year flew by. It's hard to believe I was laid off a year ago. All application material are in at Kutztown. I'm trying to find an on-line statistics class that does not have prerequisites. Hopefully I can take this over the summer. I also still have to take the GRE's. I think the Social Work thing is right for me.

I went for a 3 mile walk this morning. There's a mother duck with 11 babies in the rose garden pond. This morning they were all huddled together on one of the stepping stones that crosses the pond. Of course I didn't have my camera, but I'll go back later and see if I can get a good picture. Yesterday afternoon they were all swimming around and cheeping like crazy. They are just TOO cute. The park is really looking beautiful now. The path has been paved so I don't have to look down when I'm walking for fear of twisting my ankle on the irregular stones that used to be there.

Still doing Census work. It's nice to be out among different kinds of people again. For the past 16 years everyone I've worked with in the offices has been white.

I'm doing a lot of beading and I have some new material to work with too - dupioni silk ribbon, brass cages, smoky quartz and leather. I'm moving to a bigger booth at Cottage Crafters when my lease is up. I want to make some hanging things with glass and beads and bells. I'm going to call them Luminosities. You will be able to hang them outside or in a window as a sun catcher. I also might do some stained glass mosaic stuff. We'll see.

I haven't planted anything yet. It's been warm but I think I'll wait until after may 15 as usual. The lavender in the front yard looks beautiful this year. It's very full and springy looking. The peony, bleeding heart and alliums I moved from the back yard survived and look good. I have to take out some of the spiderwort though because it's getting out of control. The Stella D'Oro lilies are also nice and bushy.

I have this weird houseplant that I bought at Ikea a few years ago. I love it because it's very architectural. It's growing a new center branch and the branch is sweating a gooey clear substance. I wish I knew what kind of plant it was though. It's getting big but it has an odd footprint. Long hard green "branches" and as they grow they curve to one side or the other. The new "branch" comes from the middle of the plant.

Well that's all for now. I am really pissed off about the BP gusher and the drones, but right now I feel pretty good so I don't want to spoil it.

What's Wrong Here

Reading about and personally experiencing the current problem of unemployment in the US has made me realize that on the sixth day God did not create Adam and Eve the first two human beings, but Adam and Eve the first two human resources. It is a global issue that people are valued only if they can be exploited.

Workers in the US are the most productive in the world according to many sources, mostly due to working longer hours. As a reward for our efforts, many of us are now unemployed or under employed after working for 20-30 years. Many of us are too young to qualify for Medicare or Social Security, or as the song goes, “Too old to work and too young to die.” While official employment statistics put the unemployment rate at 10% it is actually closer to 20%. At the same time there are many needs that are not being met because private industry has no interest in rebuilding New Orleans, fixing a badly crumbling infrastructure of levees and bridges, adequately staffing the nation’s schools or rationally and adequately feeding and sheltering the nation’s people. The spread of “American Culture” around the world through Mc Donald’s and war has disrupted the lives of people in many other countries. These people are forced to emigrate legally and illegally to escape violence and poverty.

In any solution for the above issue that involves planning or government intervention the rabid cry of Socialism is heard loud and wide. When government interference takes the form of subsidies to industry including weapons manufacturers, deregulation, or allowing an American company to send jobs offshore or build factories in other countries, putting the burden of increased poverty on the government, no cry is heard. When companies in India and Africa take water from the ground while the people have to pay outrageous sums or when the World Bank imposes penalties on a country that are guaranteed to keep them impoverished forever everyone feels really bad and some movie stars adopt a child or two, but nothing is done to stop it.

For the problems abroad the solutions are:
• Stop supporting dictatorships, interfering in elections and the business of sovereign countries.
• Stop military aid to all countries in a civil war.
• In a court of law, try corporations who give aid and comfort as well as facilities to governments engaged in the murder of labor and human rights workers.
• Educate the American people on the real history of their country so they can be aware enough to object to these practices.

For the problems in the US, I propose the following:


Education
Public education should be federally funded. Teachers should be trained to find and enhance a child’s’ innate abilities and interests from an early age, communicating them to each subsequent teacher. The goal of education should be a well rounded, happy person who can be productive in an area that serves the needs of society while also being fulfilling to the individual.

Manufacturing
The car, while fun, has been one of the most destructive inventions ever made. Its destructive not only to the environment but to the social fabric to have everyone riding around I their own little bubble or more often than not, huge boat. Instead of bailing out GM and letting them decide what they would produce the government should have tied the bailout to lighter rail and mass transit. GM bought up and dismantled mass transit in many American cities, was given a very small fine when found guilty and circumvented environmental laws by producing SUV’s on truck bodies. The government should have seen this bailout as an opportunity for progress. More jobs would have been provided because transit workers would be needed and railroad workers would be needed to rework or rebuild abandoned rails all across the country.

Federal Prison Industries (Unicor) employed 18,972 “inmate workers” according to their 2009 annual report. They make everything from clothing and textiles to office furniture to electronics. They make many statements about improving peoples’ lives and teaching them skills while they are in prison. I believe that poverty is the main cause of crime and that most of the people in US prisons are poor people there for drug related, non-violent crimes. If they and their parents had decent paying productive jobs on the outside, they probably wouldn’t be in jail. Given the trend of runaway shops and jobs over the past 40 years they are not likely to get a decent job when they get out. While I think working is a good idea for everyone, work release to a decent paying job outside the prison walls along with education and counseling is what should be done.

We have a free source of energy that everyone has access to: the Sun. Many new solar panels have been developed including roof tiles that look just like normal roofing but have solar panels incorporated in them and super thin solar film. This industry should be eligible for research and capital equipment grants so they can produce as soon as possible a reasonably priced product. This industry would employ engineers, workers to assemble and install.

Businesses who locate out of the country should be taxed at a high rate.

Farming
Factory farming does not work, is inefficient and causes environmental and medical problems for the people of this country. The water crisis in the artificially fertile state of California and the outbreak of e-coli in corn fed beef are just two examples of this.
Food should be grown locally and organically. Experienced farmers could be hired to set up and run cooperative farms in every county. Workers of various abilities could be trained and hired to work while continuing their education in related fields. This would not only solve part of the unemployment problem but also stop pesticides from leaching into the water supply and cut down on the amount of plastic packaging and pollution from diesel fuel from the trucks that bring your lettuce from California. This will also help in efforts to stop a chemical company responsible for the manufacture of Agent Orange from creating pesticide laden, dead, seeds.



Building
The documentary “America Betrayed” documented that the problems with levees built by the Army Corp of Engineers does not stop with New Orleans and Katrina. Bridges and levees built to protect many cities across the country are in danger of collapsing. Given the current water crisis and what we now know about the problems with damming a river rebuilding in these areas might take the form of restoring then to their previous state in order for the land to be able to protect itself. In a country of this size this would be a massive public works project employing thousands of laborers as well as engineers and scientists.

Many beautiful and salvageable buildings in our inner cities are vacant while ticky tacky housing is built on farmland that could still be productive. Rehabbing takes more labor than putting up new housing but labor is in abundance now. Working with the farming community to stop rezoning of farmland for new construction would help to use all these resources in a more rational way.
Hire and train field agents to assist homeowners to refinance their mortgages at a fare rate. If a homeowner had paid 50% of the value of his or her home, forgive the balance owed.

There superfund sites in every state in the union. In addition to this there are many other polluted areas that need to be cleaned up and the pollution itself needs to stop. The EPA should hire enough field agents to be able to deal with these issues.


Social Life and Art
Since the 1950’s non-representational art has taken a front seat in our culture. Black painted tarpaulins titled “Thanatos”, white canvases titled, “Untitled”, and a slab of black countertop leaned up against a wall, also “Untitled.” (My suggestion for a title was “On Sale at Home Depot, Cheap) abound in contemporary art museums. Painters like Irving Norman, photographers like Milton Rogovin are not everyday names to most people. People are missing from contemporary art as if we are nothing. I recently saw an exhibit of WPA art in Washington and it was wonderful. Part of the devaluation of people is in raising art to a “higher” level. I believe that each of us has an artist in us but we are rarely given a chance for it to emerge. Art should surround us. It should be projected onto blank brick walls, performed in every public space on a regular basis. Instead of buying schlock institutions should display art made at home by their students, patients, workers. Art therapy should be a growing field. Although most Americans have not experienced the horrors of war as Judith Herman showed in her book “Trauma and Recovery,” many have been traumatized at a young age. In addition to this many of the new immigrants from the former Yugoslavia and the African continent have experienced horrors that my have to be suppressed as they get on with their lives. I think art can go along way in helping people overcome these experiences. The American Visionary Art Museum many times exhibits art by people who have been hurt in some way. A man who was mugged and beaten severely made art from matchsticks, a woman whose house burned down with some of her family in it painted on discarded doors; a woman whose childhood was marred by an abusive, alcoholic father makes tiny dresses out of scraps of fabric showing how resilient people are and how much is untapped within them.

I started this article by saying that American workers were the most productive in the world mostly because they work longer hours. It has been 100 years since workers fought for and won the right to an 8 hour day. “8 hours work, 8 hours rest, 8 hours for what we will,” was the cry of these workers. In 2010 people who still have jobs are working at least that much if not more. We are human beings. We are not here to serve industry nor to be chewed up and spit out when we re no longer necessary to them. We have a right to live and a need to work, but our work should be meaningful. We cannot be real participants in this democracy unless we have the time to read, speak and meet about our social problems. After 100 years of the 8 hour day we should have a 4 hour day with no reduction in pay.




How do we pay for this?

• Return the tax rate to pre-Reagan levels 70% for the top income levels.
• End the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and all interference in the internal politics of sovereign countries.
• Stop the research, production and purchase of drones and other weapons of mass destruction.
• Reinstate the Environmental Superfund contributions from polluting industries.
• Instate a Medical Superfund to fund Universal Health care. Industries such as coal, oil, pesticide manufactures should contribute since they cause a number of preventable illnesses. Also contributing should be the Pharmaceutical companies.
• Time phase the nationalization of the medical insurance companies. As long as the private insurance companies continue to operate tax them at a high rate.
• Stop all foreclosures. Cap credit card interest rates at 4% and allow people to restructure their debt.

These solutions may seem like pipe dreams and for the most part they are. Not because they are outrageous or unreasonable but because the power that stands in the way of solving the problems of poverty and ignorance is enormous. Every town, every state courts business. People say you need corporations to give you a job. These companies are not giving you job out of charity. They are making a profit from your labor. They are not necessary entities. People exist like all the other wonderful things on this planet. We need to learn to celebrate ourselves and use our talents, our abilities, our bodies and minds to make the world a better place, safe from the vampiric ravages of corporate entities.

Bush was handed the presidency twice - once by fraud in Florida and other places, once by the Supreme Court. Even though most people voted for both Gore and Kerry, they were not allowed to win. Somehow Obama was.

I'm beginning to think that that was part of the plan to keep people quiet in the face of the worst economic crisis since the '30's. If we had a Republican president people would have been down in Washington demonstrating against the bailouts, the foreclosures and the job losses. Because Obama is the first Black president people are cutting him slack that he doesn't deserve.

There are a lot of phone callers into the various shows on Sirius Left who express dismay over the lack of change that Obama promised to bring. When's the last time you believed what a politician said? Not too many years after you stopped believing in Santa Claus I'll bet. If you watched the DNC you heard Biden say we have to get out of Iraq and get into Afghanistan. That should have been no surprise. Obama is a Democrat, not a Socialist and what have they brought in last few presidencies - war, NAFTA, GATT, more job losses, continued environmental devastation, bankrupting of the public to subsidize industry and the wealthy. I vote Democratic because it's the lesser of two evils if Nader is not on the ballot.

Workers have never gotten anything from a politician. We human beings - as opposed to human resources - have fought for everything we have and we have to continue to do that in any way we can. The president doesn't run the country, the money that elected him does. How many more people have to suffer? Write letters, talk to people, go to Washington on March 20.