Bill Nemitz, Portland Press Herald, ME - Ahoy,
Governor LePage. Not sure if you can hear me over the wind and the
waves, but I can’t let another day pass without congratulating you on
that epiphany you had last week before a crowd of transportation
industry types:
You finally believe in global warming!
What’s
more, now that you’re an ocean-is-more-than-half-full kind of guy,
you’ve gone from denying that the Earth’s climate is rapidly changing to
embracing it as the second coming for Maine’s frozen economy.
“Everybody
looks at the negative effects of global warming, but with the ice
melting, the Northern Pass has opened up – the new sea traffic is going
across the north,” you told the Maine Transportation Conference. “So
maybe, instead of being at the end of the pipeline, we’re now at the
beginning of a new pipeline.”
No argument there, Big
Guy. The more those Arctic waters stay open, the more Maine’s deep-water
ports stand to benefit as jumping-off points for an endless parade of
not-so-slow boats to China.
But about this climate
change thing. For those of us Mainers who don’t happen to be
longshoremen, it’s a wee bit more complicated than a rising tide lifting
all supertanker....
Sunday, December 8
Saturday, December 7
Bringing Afghanistan to Franklin County
Harvard Political Review - Franklin
County in the mountains of western Maine has no multi-lane highways, no
real cities, nor any sizable towns. It has 30,000 residents, a
population density of 18 people per square mile, and a claim to fame as
the birthplace of the earmuff. Thanks to the Pentagon, by mid-2014 it
will also have a $658,000, military grade, mine-resistant assault
vehicle with a high-caliber turret mounted on its rooftop. Though
originally designed for highly trained soldiers in Kirkuk and Fallujah,
this particular vehicle is to be used by a 15-man sheriff’s department
in a tranquil, forested slice of northern New England.
...The experience of the diminutive Franklin County Sheriff’s Department, it turns out, is just the tip of the iceberg—part of the multi-billion dollar ‘Program 1033,’ overseen by the Law Enforcement Support Office.
The flow of weapons between the police and the military started under the Nixon administration, at the beginning of the so-called “war on drugs.” When the military had surplus materiel—and it always did—it would funnel it to federal and local law enforcement agencies. In 1998, what had been an informal policy was formalized, and LESO was founded in Fort Belvoir, Virginia with the sole purpose of streamlining these transactions.
According to National Journal, the agency had transferred $727 million of equipment during its first three years, including 253 aircraft, 7,856 M-16 rifles, and, the pièce-de-resistance, 181 grenade launchers (the article is unavailable online). By 2011, the agency was bragging in its annual newsletter that it had doled out $500 million worth of equipment in that year alone. As of now, 17,000 law enforcement agencies from all fifty states are among LESO’s grantees.
So what kinds of police departments receive this equipment? Seemingly, all that apply. The internal workings of LESO are opaque and poorly documented, partially because Defense is one of the few branches of the government that cannot produce auditable financial statements in accordance with federal law...
....Among the recipients was the lone sheriff of the 62-person Loving County, a townless, crimeless expanse of sagebrush with a population density of 0.1 people per square mile—about half that of the Northwest Arctic Borough in Alaska.
...The experience of the diminutive Franklin County Sheriff’s Department, it turns out, is just the tip of the iceberg—part of the multi-billion dollar ‘Program 1033,’ overseen by the Law Enforcement Support Office.
The flow of weapons between the police and the military started under the Nixon administration, at the beginning of the so-called “war on drugs.” When the military had surplus materiel—and it always did—it would funnel it to federal and local law enforcement agencies. In 1998, what had been an informal policy was formalized, and LESO was founded in Fort Belvoir, Virginia with the sole purpose of streamlining these transactions.
According to National Journal, the agency had transferred $727 million of equipment during its first three years, including 253 aircraft, 7,856 M-16 rifles, and, the pièce-de-resistance, 181 grenade launchers (the article is unavailable online). By 2011, the agency was bragging in its annual newsletter that it had doled out $500 million worth of equipment in that year alone. As of now, 17,000 law enforcement agencies from all fifty states are among LESO’s grantees.
So what kinds of police departments receive this equipment? Seemingly, all that apply. The internal workings of LESO are opaque and poorly documented, partially because Defense is one of the few branches of the government that cannot produce auditable financial statements in accordance with federal law...
....Among the recipients was the lone sheriff of the 62-person Loving County, a townless, crimeless expanse of sagebrush with a population density of 0.1 people per square mile—about half that of the Northwest Arctic Borough in Alaska.
Friday, December 6
Some Maine facts
From Pine Tree Watchdog
Number of years state government has been adding tax breaks for businesses to the Maine tax code: 50.
Number of detailed studies of the tax breaks: 0.
Number of Maine pharmacists in the past 10 years who were allowed by the state of keep their licenses despite a history of drug theft and abuse: 13.
Number that were caught stealing and abusing drugs again: 5.
Percentage of Portland voters who voted for Paul LePage for governor: 19.
Percentage of Albion voters who voted for LePage: 61.
Cost of report on recruiting foreign students to the University of Maine System: $363,028.
Number of pages in report: 39.
Percentage of first year’s tuition paid by recruited foreign students that the University system will give to the overseas recruiter: 80.
Number of pages in 2010 climate change report commissioned by Gov. John Baldacci: 72.
Number of pages in follow-up report issued by LePage administration: 2.
Sources: Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting stories available on pinetreewatch.org.
Number of years state government has been adding tax breaks for businesses to the Maine tax code: 50.
Number of detailed studies of the tax breaks: 0.
Number of Maine pharmacists in the past 10 years who were allowed by the state of keep their licenses despite a history of drug theft and abuse: 13.
Number that were caught stealing and abusing drugs again: 5.
Percentage of Portland voters who voted for Paul LePage for governor: 19.
Percentage of Albion voters who voted for LePage: 61.
Cost of report on recruiting foreign students to the University of Maine System: $363,028.
Number of pages in report: 39.
Percentage of first year’s tuition paid by recruited foreign students that the University system will give to the overseas recruiter: 80.
Number of pages in 2010 climate change report commissioned by Gov. John Baldacci: 72.
Number of pages in follow-up report issued by LePage administration: 2.
Sources: Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting stories available on pinetreewatch.org.
Down East notes
Press Herald - The four-story structure on Google’s barge in Portland Harbor will be one of three floating stores that the high-tech company plans to launch, according to documents obtained by a San Francisco newspaper. No one is talking about a Google Glass showroom opening here, but it would be an “intriguing” opportunity for the city, an official says. The so-called Google barges are expected to be moored at docks in San Francisco, New York City and Los Angeles in a project that will cost $35 million, according to internal budget documents for Turner Construction Co., which is working on the barge in San Francisco. Each barge will support a floating store for launching Google Glass, a wearable computer built into glasses-like frames that is now in development, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The story of Malaga Island
Bangor Daily News - Child labor in Maine has been regulated by state government since the mid-1800s and a key component of those regulations requires school superintendents to issue work permits for school-age children offered a job. Now the Department of Labor has proposed being the first contact for work permits during the summer months. Currently, applications are completed at a person’s local superintendent’s office. The initiative falls short of LePage’s stated desire to lower the legal working age to 12, but reprises previous unsuccessful attempts to make it easier for Mainers younger than 16 to earn a paycheck.
Regulators scrap shrimp season
Maine ranks highest in student debt
Maine Audubon says 84% of potential wind fields will do minimal damage to creatures
George Smith, Bangor Daily News - “New Hampshire’s moose population has declined by 3,100, which is more than 40 percent, since 1997. The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department has reduced the number of moose hunting permits by 60 percent in the last five years.” As New Hampshire goes, so goes Maine? That could be the sobering conclusion reached after reading the troubling new report, “Nowhere To Run – Big Game Wildlife in a Warming World,” published by the National Wildlife Federation. While Maine’s moose biologist Lee Kantar told the legislature’s Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee earlier this year that he doesn’t know nearly enough about the health of our state’s moose herd, we need only look to our neighbors in New Hampshire to see the future...The biggest problem seems to be changes in our climate. As the NWF reported, “New Hampshire’s moose are… being harmed by surging winter tick populations, associated with warmer winters.”
AG's office tells Augusta restaurant to stop charitable work
WCSH - Democrats and advocates for social service agencies in Portland are protesting the proposed new location for the Department of Health and Human Services in Cumberland County. The Governor's office says moving and consolidating the offices of DHHS and the Department of Labor in 2015 will save $14 million dollars, but opponents say the new building will be hard to access for the most needy. DHHS's current location is on Marginal Way in Portland, within walking distance of a number of other social services. The new location would be 4 miles away, on property next to the Portland Jetport. A Metro bus stops at the Jetport, but opponents of this move say it will take 40 minutes to ride each way from downtown and cost $3 round trip. That's advocates held a news conference, march and bus ride to call on the governor to reverse the decision. Senate President Justin Alfond (D-Portland) said, "I think this administration has shown over and over that they try to make services being delivered to Maine's most neediest harder... This administration has a war on the poor, and this is another prime example of it."
The story of Malaga Island
Bangor Daily News - Child labor in Maine has been regulated by state government since the mid-1800s and a key component of those regulations requires school superintendents to issue work permits for school-age children offered a job. Now the Department of Labor has proposed being the first contact for work permits during the summer months. Currently, applications are completed at a person’s local superintendent’s office. The initiative falls short of LePage’s stated desire to lower the legal working age to 12, but reprises previous unsuccessful attempts to make it easier for Mainers younger than 16 to earn a paycheck.
Regulators scrap shrimp season
Maine ranks highest in student debt
Maine Audubon says 84% of potential wind fields will do minimal damage to creatures
George Smith, Bangor Daily News - “New Hampshire’s moose population has declined by 3,100, which is more than 40 percent, since 1997. The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department has reduced the number of moose hunting permits by 60 percent in the last five years.” As New Hampshire goes, so goes Maine? That could be the sobering conclusion reached after reading the troubling new report, “Nowhere To Run – Big Game Wildlife in a Warming World,” published by the National Wildlife Federation. While Maine’s moose biologist Lee Kantar told the legislature’s Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee earlier this year that he doesn’t know nearly enough about the health of our state’s moose herd, we need only look to our neighbors in New Hampshire to see the future...The biggest problem seems to be changes in our climate. As the NWF reported, “New Hampshire’s moose are… being harmed by surging winter tick populations, associated with warmer winters.”
AG's office tells Augusta restaurant to stop charitable work
WCSH - Democrats and advocates for social service agencies in Portland are protesting the proposed new location for the Department of Health and Human Services in Cumberland County. The Governor's office says moving and consolidating the offices of DHHS and the Department of Labor in 2015 will save $14 million dollars, but opponents say the new building will be hard to access for the most needy. DHHS's current location is on Marginal Way in Portland, within walking distance of a number of other social services. The new location would be 4 miles away, on property next to the Portland Jetport. A Metro bus stops at the Jetport, but opponents of this move say it will take 40 minutes to ride each way from downtown and cost $3 round trip. That's advocates held a news conference, march and bus ride to call on the governor to reverse the decision. Senate President Justin Alfond (D-Portland) said, "I think this administration has shown over and over that they try to make services being delivered to Maine's most neediest harder... This administration has a war on the poor, and this is another prime example of it."
Saturday, November 30
Down East notes
Press Herald - The $1 million cranberry business in Maine, which 20 years ago was expected to be a boom commodity, is now a crop on which it’s hard to break even.
Sierra Club backs Michaud
Other Michaud backers: SEIU, AFL-CIO, USW, UAW, Maine Education Association, Bath Iron Works local of the International Assn of Machinists & Aerospace Workers, Teamsters Locak 340, and the Maine Association of Police and the Professional Fire Fighters.
Also: Independent Rep. Jeffrey Evangelos: "Why am I throwing my support to Michaud rather than fellow independent Eliot Cutler? Cutler’s successes have come on the wrong side of the economy at the expense of common people. His relationship as a director of a bankrupt mortgage company, Thornburg Mortgage, whose former top executives are facing allegations of fraud, and his employment and association with the Dallas-based international consultancy Akin Gump, where outsourcing jobs to China is part of the mission, disqualifies Cutler as a person who can lead Maine out of this serious recession Maine people are experiencing."
The guy in charge of the new futuristic destroyer now under construction in Bath is actually Captain Kirk
Sierra Club backs Michaud
Other Michaud backers: SEIU, AFL-CIO, USW, UAW, Maine Education Association, Bath Iron Works local of the International Assn of Machinists & Aerospace Workers, Teamsters Locak 340, and the Maine Association of Police and the Professional Fire Fighters.
Also: Independent Rep. Jeffrey Evangelos: "Why am I throwing my support to Michaud rather than fellow independent Eliot Cutler? Cutler’s successes have come on the wrong side of the economy at the expense of common people. His relationship as a director of a bankrupt mortgage company, Thornburg Mortgage, whose former top executives are facing allegations of fraud, and his employment and association with the Dallas-based international consultancy Akin Gump, where outsourcing jobs to China is part of the mission, disqualifies Cutler as a person who can lead Maine out of this serious recession Maine people are experiencing."
The guy in charge of the new futuristic destroyer now under construction in Bath is actually Captain Kirk
Monday, November 25
Down East notes
Get ready for this winter's storms with last year's WCSH promo
Press Herald - An average of one out of every 207 drivers in Maine will hit a deer – the greatest risk of any state in New England except Vermont, where the chance is one in 180, according to Rennaisance Insurance Alliance. The number of vehicle collisions with deer is 2,600 to 3,000 a year, a range that has remained steady since 2008. The chance increases in November, the mating season. In the last decade, 19 percent of the state’s deer collisions have occurred in November, according to the Maine Department of Transportation. The third week of November is usually when the number of deer collisions peaks.
Press Herald - An average of one out of every 207 drivers in Maine will hit a deer – the greatest risk of any state in New England except Vermont, where the chance is one in 180, according to Rennaisance Insurance Alliance. The number of vehicle collisions with deer is 2,600 to 3,000 a year, a range that has remained steady since 2008. The chance increases in November, the mating season. In the last decade, 19 percent of the state’s deer collisions have occurred in November, according to the Maine Department of Transportation. The third week of November is usually when the number of deer collisions peaks.
University of Maine and faculty union reach a tentative agreement
Big fire on Great Diamond Island
Sunday, November 24
LePage ranked 2nd worst governor by ethics group
Bangor Daily News - Maine’s Republican Gov. Paul LePage was ranked
among the 18 worst governors in the United States on Wednesday by a
Washington, D.C.-based government watchdog group.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington listed LePage as having the second worst record based on a list of criteria that included corruption, transparency, partisan politics, pressuring public officials, cronyism, self-enrichment, scandal and mismanagement.
LePage was denoted as a “ringmaster,” along with five others, while six others were dubbed “clowns” and six “sideshows” in the ranking.
Ranked in the top spot was Georgia’s Republican Gov. Nathan Deal. Sixteen of the governors on the list are Republicans; two, Democrats.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington listed LePage as having the second worst record based on a list of criteria that included corruption, transparency, partisan politics, pressuring public officials, cronyism, self-enrichment, scandal and mismanagement.
LePage was denoted as a “ringmaster,” along with five others, while six others were dubbed “clowns” and six “sideshows” in the ranking.
Ranked in the top spot was Georgia’s Republican Gov. Nathan Deal. Sixteen of the governors on the list are Republicans; two, Democrats.
Saturday, November 23
Down East Notes
RSU withdrawals
Unemployment lowest in five years
Sun Journal - Maine’s 2013 homeless count of 3,016 was 623 more than in 2012 — a 26 percent spike. Since 2007, the state’s homeless count has increased 14 percent. However, Maine also had the nation’s lowest rate of chronic homelessness in 2013. Six percent of the state’s homeless were chronically homeless, according to HUD
Somali farmers find a new home in Maine
Maine marijuana legalization bill fails
Give one to Angus King he voted to end the filibuster on nominations while Susan Collins voted to maintain it.
Friday, November 22
How did the Route 295 plane land so safely?
Buried in the Press Herald story: Chris Griffith said "The Cessna that Hejaji was flying, known as a two-seat trainer, is equipped with a “stall speed” that would have allowed him to fly at about 45 mph. Once the southbound drivers spotted him overhead and began to slow down, Hejaji would have picked an opening and landed, he said. The cars in front of Hejaji were probably going at highway speed and their drivers probably didn’t even notice him when he landed the plane."
Route 295 plane landing videos
Buried in the Press Herald story: Chris Griffith said "The Cessna that Hejaji was flying, known as a two-seat trainer, is equipped with a “stall speed” that would have allowed him to fly at about 45 mph. Once the southbound drivers spotted him overhead and began to slow down, Hejaji would have picked an opening and landed, he said. The cars in front of Hejaji were probably going at highway speed and their drivers probably didn’t even notice him when he landed the plane."
Route 295 plane landing videos
Thursday, November 21
Down East notes
Portland considering sheep instead of mowing
Press Herald -State Rep. Diane Russell is hoping that Portland voters’ decision this month to legalize the recreational use of marijuana will propel her third attempt to pass a bill allowing the sale and taxation of the drug statewide. But the group that petitioned for the new Portland ordinance – as well as marijuana caregivers, dispensary owners and youth drug prevention advocates –don’t want to see the Portland Democrat’s bill move forward.
“There’s no sense we have an emergency on our hands,” said David Marshall, a Portland city councilor and a leader in the local Green Party’s push to legalize pot in the city.
Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine, a trade association representing people who grow and provide medical marijuana, sent out a letter asking people to urge their legislators not to support the bill. “Time is needed to develop a good law that generates revenue for the state and benefits as many Maine people as possible,” it said.
Press Herald -State Rep. Diane Russell is hoping that Portland voters’ decision this month to legalize the recreational use of marijuana will propel her third attempt to pass a bill allowing the sale and taxation of the drug statewide. But the group that petitioned for the new Portland ordinance – as well as marijuana caregivers, dispensary owners and youth drug prevention advocates –don’t want to see the Portland Democrat’s bill move forward.
“There’s no sense we have an emergency on our hands,” said David Marshall, a Portland city councilor and a leader in the local Green Party’s push to legalize pot in the city.
Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine, a trade association representing people who grow and provide medical marijuana, sent out a letter asking people to urge their legislators not to support the bill. “Time is needed to develop a good law that generates revenue for the state and benefits as many Maine people as possible,” it said.
Tuesday, November 19
Planned Parenthood buffer zone approved
The Portland City Council voted unanimously Monday night to create a
buffer zone around the entrances of Planned Parenthood’s downtown
clinic, where abortions are performed two days a week, to allow patients
access to health care without harassment by anti-abortion protesters. The council enacted the 39-foot buffer zone as an emergency
measure, so it takes effect immediately, effectively pushing the
protesters across Congress Street from the clinic. “People can
still express their free speech with this buffer zone,” said City
Councilor Nicholas Mavodones Jr. “That’s not being taken away from
anyone.”
Saturday, November 16
The problem with moderate extremists
If you ask important
people in politics,
think tanks or the media where they stand politically, many will
say "in the center." A lot of these folks like the
center because it makes them sound reasonable and moderate. It
also allows them to call other people extremists or gadflies
or wishful thinkers for disagreeing with the conventional wisdom
of the moment. Some members of the American elite have made whole
careers of being measured and cautious. They like to write somber
columns asking pompous questions like "Can the Center Hold?"
What they really mean is: can they hold on to their power? But
even if you do find the center, it's not necessarily the best
place to be. My navigation instructor at Coast Guard Officer
Candidate School explained it well: "If you take a navigational
fix and it places you on one side of a rock and then you take
another fix and it places you on the other side of the rock --
don't split the difference." Unfortunately, it's a rule
not often followed in American politics. - Sam Smith
Fusion politics does work
As we mentioned recently in urging Maine Greens to endorse Michael Michaud, fusion politics
works. Seattle's newly elected Socialist city council member was
endorsed by the Seattle Green Party and 2012 Green presidential
candidate Jill Stein.
Friday, November 15
Down East Notes
 |
| Bucksport Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, ME |
School bus driver removed for having students put duct tape over their mouths
Loud church bell said to put inn sale on hold
Inside Maine's super max prison
Yesterday, in 1803, Author Jacob Abbott was born in Hallowell, Maine. Abbott wrote the first fictional series for children, introducing many of the key types & techniques of series books, popularizing the genre virtually single-handedly, and wrote some of the earliest American juveniles deserving of the term "children's literature"
Wednesday, November 13
Michaud & LePage too close to call
According to the Coastal Packet's moving average of recent polls, Michaud is only 4 points ahead of LePage. Of course, if Cutler wasn't the yellow stripe in the middle of the road, Michaud would be doing fine.
Down East Notes
Mainege- Eartha, the giant globe that is spinning inside the DeLorme headquarters just off 295 in Yarmouth, is the largest spinning to-scale globe in the world measuring 41 feet in diameter. If the Earth were actually 41 feet in diameter, that means that the International Space Station would only by about 15 inches from the surface. Our closest planetary neighbor, Mars, would be located 47 miles (as the crow flies) which would be the border of Warren and Waldoboro, or the border of Ogunquit and Cape Neddick, or squarely in Jay, Maine... Humans would only be 2(ish) microns tall. If you think we're merely ants under this scale, think again, we're actually the pores on an ant's body.
inn sale on hold because of sound of nearby church bell.
Maine sheet music
inn sale on hold because of sound of nearby church bell.
Maine sheet music
Tuesday, November 12
Editor launches Greens for Michaud: one member so far
Sam Smith - I've heard from a member of the Maine Green Independent Party steering committee that my suggestion that it endorse Michael Michaud conflicts with the committee's desire not to tell its 37,000 members what to do.
Which is a nice Greenish attitude, but not letting Paul LePage sneak back into office thanks to the moderate extremist Eliot Cutler taking votes from Michaud seems more important, so I'd like to tell the 37,000 Maine Greens what to do: vote for Michaud. As I pointed out in a previous article, there is a long history of third parties temporarily partnering with other parties. It was so successful that the big guys made it against the law in most states for a candidate to appear on the ballot under two parties.
But nothing stops individual third party members from crossing over with their ballot.And it would be a good thing to do in the governor's race.
In case there are any election officials reading this, Greens for Michaud is not a formal organization, just some people looking for others of a sane variety.
Which is a nice Greenish attitude, but not letting Paul LePage sneak back into office thanks to the moderate extremist Eliot Cutler taking votes from Michaud seems more important, so I'd like to tell the 37,000 Maine Greens what to do: vote for Michaud. As I pointed out in a previous article, there is a long history of third parties temporarily partnering with other parties. It was so successful that the big guys made it against the law in most states for a candidate to appear on the ballot under two parties.
But nothing stops individual third party members from crossing over with their ballot.And it would be a good thing to do in the governor's race.
In case there are any election officials reading this, Greens for Michaud is not a formal organization, just some people looking for others of a sane variety.
Monday, November 11
Nestle draining more countries' ground water
Sum of Us - Nestlé is draining developing countries’ groundwater to make its Pure Life bottled water, destroying countries’ natural resources before forcing its people to buy their own water back.
Now Nestlé is moving into Pakistan and sucking up the local water supply, rendering entire areas uninhabitable in order to sell mineral-enriched water to the upper class as a status symbol, while the poor watch wells run dry and their children fall ill.
In the small village of Bhati Dilwan, villagers have watched their water table sink hundreds of feet since Nestlé moved in. Children are getting sick from the foul-smelling sludge they’re forced to choke down. Meanwhile, Nestlé spends millions marketing “Pure Life” to wealthy Americans, Europeans, and Pakistanis who can afford to watch their kids grow up healthy. This scenario is played out again and again in countries around the globe. But this is where we say: enough!
At the World Water Forum in 2000, Nestlé led the way in fighting against defining access to water a universal right. Nestlé and other big corporations won out, and government officials around the globe officially downgraded water’s classification to a “need” instead, meaning it could be captured, commoditized, and exploited by major corporations without regard for local populations.
Now Nestlé is moving into Pakistan and sucking up the local water supply, rendering entire areas uninhabitable in order to sell mineral-enriched water to the upper class as a status symbol, while the poor watch wells run dry and their children fall ill.
In the small village of Bhati Dilwan, villagers have watched their water table sink hundreds of feet since Nestlé moved in. Children are getting sick from the foul-smelling sludge they’re forced to choke down. Meanwhile, Nestlé spends millions marketing “Pure Life” to wealthy Americans, Europeans, and Pakistanis who can afford to watch their kids grow up healthy. This scenario is played out again and again in countries around the globe. But this is where we say: enough!
At the World Water Forum in 2000, Nestlé led the way in fighting against defining access to water a universal right. Nestlé and other big corporations won out, and government officials around the globe officially downgraded water’s classification to a “need” instead, meaning it could be captured, commoditized, and exploited by major corporations without regard for local populations.
Saturday, November 9
A place to try out semi-fusion politics
Sam Smith – The Maine Green Independent Party could do itself
and the state a favor by having its steering committee endorse
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Michael Michaud. The latest poll has
Michaud only three points ahead of the reprehensible Republican governor
Paul LePage, thanks to another run by Eliot Cutler, an alleged
independent but actually deeply devoted to only one cause: himself. In
the last election Cutler was the yellow stripe in the middle of the road
that allowed LePage to win with far less than a majority.
It may seem strange to suggest such a cross endorsement but, in fact, there is a long history of this in American politics and – in formal fusion politics i.e. where a candidate can run on two or more party tickets – it was so successful that most states made it illegal. You can’t use it Maine.
But it’s still around, witness this recent story from the New London Day: “Democrats took six of the seven possible seats on the city’s Board of Education in the municipal elections Tuesday,.. . Green Party candidate Mirna Lis Martinez, who was cross-endorsed by the Republican Party, was also elected to the board.”
As one who helped create two third parties – the national Greens and the DC Statehood Party – I have frequently felt frustrated by the tendency of the Greens to treat themselves more as a religion – in which one’s own faith and virtue were foremost – than as another form of a movement whose success depended on how many you get to come your way. Both the Green and the DC Statehood parties were, after all, launched in part to provide political support to existing movements. It was not a church we were building but creating another tool for action.
It varies by locale. You’ll find Greens in Maine, for example, extremely involved in various issues ranging from gay rights to marijuana to saving a plaza in the center of Portland. This blend of the activist and the political has made the Maine Greens one of the most successful state Green parties, complete with over 37,000 registered voters.
An endorsement of Michaud would not only help garner some of these votes but might might embarrass some liberals now supporting Cutler to make a shift. And it would make the Green Party more significant in the state.
Nothing about this would require the Maine Greens to ever do such a thing again unless they had a good reason to. But just as the Red Sox didn’t win the World Series just by growing beards, so the Greens have to give as much attention to tactics as they do to symbolism and personal virtue.
It may seem strange to suggest such a cross endorsement but, in fact, there is a long history of this in American politics and – in formal fusion politics i.e. where a candidate can run on two or more party tickets – it was so successful that most states made it illegal. You can’t use it Maine.
But it’s still around, witness this recent story from the New London Day: “Democrats took six of the seven possible seats on the city’s Board of Education in the municipal elections Tuesday,.. . Green Party candidate Mirna Lis Martinez, who was cross-endorsed by the Republican Party, was also elected to the board.”
As one who helped create two third parties – the national Greens and the DC Statehood Party – I have frequently felt frustrated by the tendency of the Greens to treat themselves more as a religion – in which one’s own faith and virtue were foremost – than as another form of a movement whose success depended on how many you get to come your way. Both the Green and the DC Statehood parties were, after all, launched in part to provide political support to existing movements. It was not a church we were building but creating another tool for action.
It varies by locale. You’ll find Greens in Maine, for example, extremely involved in various issues ranging from gay rights to marijuana to saving a plaza in the center of Portland. This blend of the activist and the political has made the Maine Greens one of the most successful state Green parties, complete with over 37,000 registered voters.
An endorsement of Michaud would not only help garner some of these votes but might might embarrass some liberals now supporting Cutler to make a shift. And it would make the Green Party more significant in the state.
Nothing about this would require the Maine Greens to ever do such a thing again unless they had a good reason to. But just as the Red Sox didn’t win the World Series just by growing beards, so the Greens have to give as much attention to tactics as they do to symbolism and personal virtue.
SOME HISTORY OF FUSION POLITICS
Wikipedia – The cause of electoral fusion suffered a major
setback in 1997, when the U.S. Supreme Court decided by 6-3 in Timmons
v. Twin Cities Area New Party that fusion is not a constitutionally
protected civil right…
By 1907 the practice had been banned in 18 states; today, fusion as conventionally practiced remains legal in only eight states, namely:
Connecticut
Delaware
Idaho
Mississippi
New York
Oregon
South Carolina
Vermont
Connecticut
Delaware
Idaho
Mississippi
New York
Oregon
South Carolina
Vermont
The Liberal Party was founded in 1944 by George Counts as an
alternative to the American Labor Party, which had been formed earlier
as a vehicle for leftists uncomfortable with the Democratic Party to
support Franklin D. Roosevelt. Despite enjoying some successes, the
American Labor Party was tarred by the perceived influence of communists
in its organization, which led David Dubinsky of the International
Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union, Alex Rose of the Hat, Cap and Millinery
Workers, theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, and Ben Davidson to leave in order
to found the Liberal Party as an explicitly anti-communist alternative.
In the 1944 elections, both the American Labor and Liberal parties supported Roosevelt for President, but by 1948 the two parties diverged, with the Liberals nominating Harry S. Truman and the American Labor Party nominating Progressive Party candidate Henry Wallace.
In the 1944 elections, both the American Labor and Liberal parties supported Roosevelt for President, but by 1948 the two parties diverged, with the Liberals nominating Harry S. Truman and the American Labor Party nominating Progressive Party candidate Henry Wallace.
At their founding, the Liberal Party had conceived a plan to become a
national party, with former Republican presidential candidate Wendell
Willkie as its national leader and candidate for Mayor of New York City
in 1945. However, Willkie’s unexpected death later in 1944 left the
Liberals without any truly national figures to lead the party.
The Liberal Party was one of several minor parties that fulfill a role almost unique to New York State politics. New York law allows electoral fusion – a candidate can be the nominee of multiple parties and aggregate the votes received on all the different ballot lines. Several other states allow fusion, but only in New York is it commonly practiced. In fact, since each party is listed with its own line on New York ballots, multiple nominations mean that a candidate’s name can be listed several times on the ballot.
While the Liberal Party generally endorsed Democratic candidates, this was not always the case. The Liberal Party supported Republicans such as John Lindsay and Rudy Giuliani for mayor of New York and Jacob Javits and Charles Goodell for U.S. Senator, and independents such as John B. Anderson for president. In 1969, Lindsay, the incumbent Republican Mayor of New York City, lost his own party’s primary but was reelected on the Liberal Party line alone, bringing along ‘on his coat-tails’ enough Liberal candidates for City Council to replace the Republicans as the Minority Party in City government. In 1977, after Mario Cuomo lost the Democratic nomination for mayor of New York to Ed Koch, the Liberal Party endorsed Cuomo, who proceeded to again lose narrowly in the general election.
The Liberal Party was one of several minor parties that fulfill a role almost unique to New York State politics. New York law allows electoral fusion – a candidate can be the nominee of multiple parties and aggregate the votes received on all the different ballot lines. Several other states allow fusion, but only in New York is it commonly practiced. In fact, since each party is listed with its own line on New York ballots, multiple nominations mean that a candidate’s name can be listed several times on the ballot.
While the Liberal Party generally endorsed Democratic candidates, this was not always the case. The Liberal Party supported Republicans such as John Lindsay and Rudy Giuliani for mayor of New York and Jacob Javits and Charles Goodell for U.S. Senator, and independents such as John B. Anderson for president. In 1969, Lindsay, the incumbent Republican Mayor of New York City, lost his own party’s primary but was reelected on the Liberal Party line alone, bringing along ‘on his coat-tails’ enough Liberal candidates for City Council to replace the Republicans as the Minority Party in City government. In 1977, after Mario Cuomo lost the Democratic nomination for mayor of New York to Ed Koch, the Liberal Party endorsed Cuomo, who proceeded to again lose narrowly in the general election.
Jerry Gershenhorn -
Because [late 19th century] North Carolinian Populists realized that
they had little chance to defeat the Democrats on their own, they
concocted a plan to fuse, or join, with the Republicans, who enjoyed
strong backing from African American voters. The Republican Party had
been the party of Abraham Lincoln, the party that had supported the
13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the United States Constitution, which
abolished slavery, and recognized the citizenship and voting rights of
African Americans. Under the fusion strategy, Republicans and Populists
would place all their support behind either a Populist or a Republican
candidate depending on which one offered the best chance to defeat the
Democrats. While the Populists and Republicans did not always agree,
they did have common interests in supporting policies that aided
farmers, supported public education, and guaranteed more democratic
elections.
This fusion strategy achieved great success in North Carolina’s 1894 and 1896 elections. For the first time in two decades Democratic control of the state Assembly was overturned in 1894 as the Fusionists won control of both houses…. Once in office, the Fusionists passed legislation friendly to farmers and to the masses, both black and white. They restored the Alliance charters to engage in four cooperative business. They capped interest rates at 6%. They cut taxes on farmers and increased tax rates on railroads and other corporations. Governor Russell acted to nullify the lease of the North Carolina Railroad to private interests. The legislature increased educational opportunities for the masses by increasing funding for public schools, normal schools, colleges, and teacher training. Charities and prisons also received more funding.
Fusionist government increased the number of African American public officials in the state. In 1894, a total of five African Americans were elected to the state’s General Assembly. While few blacks were elected to the General Assembly, many became local public officials. In fact, over 1000 black officials served in public office in North Carolina during the Fusion era, as magistrates, deputy sheriffs, and county commissioners.
But the Democrats would not accept this participatory democracy, and conspired to topple Fusionist political control of the state…. Following the 1898 election, the Democrats moved to destroy the possibility of future challenges to their dominance in the state. In 1899, they passed Jim Crow laws segregating trains and steamboats, intended to stigmatize blacks and give whites a feeling of superiority
Scott Shields, Direct Democracy, 2005 -
The Maine legislature held a hearing earlier this year on a bill that
would bring New York-style fusion to the state. There’s interest in
fusion, explains State Representative Hannah Pingree of North Haven, who
introduced the bill, because the Green Party has repeatedly spoiled
races for Democrats, siphoning off enough votes to let Republicans win.
Democrats control the Statehouse, but by a slim margin. As she works to
acquaint her colleagues with fusion, Pingree also has to acknowledge
that the benefits may not flow just to Democrats. “People look at this
as a way to promote the left, but it also could be a way for
conservatives to advance as well,” she notes
This fusion strategy achieved great success in North Carolina’s 1894 and 1896 elections. For the first time in two decades Democratic control of the state Assembly was overturned in 1894 as the Fusionists won control of both houses…. Once in office, the Fusionists passed legislation friendly to farmers and to the masses, both black and white. They restored the Alliance charters to engage in four cooperative business. They capped interest rates at 6%. They cut taxes on farmers and increased tax rates on railroads and other corporations. Governor Russell acted to nullify the lease of the North Carolina Railroad to private interests. The legislature increased educational opportunities for the masses by increasing funding for public schools, normal schools, colleges, and teacher training. Charities and prisons also received more funding.
Fusionist government increased the number of African American public officials in the state. In 1894, a total of five African Americans were elected to the state’s General Assembly. While few blacks were elected to the General Assembly, many became local public officials. In fact, over 1000 black officials served in public office in North Carolina during the Fusion era, as magistrates, deputy sheriffs, and county commissioners.
But the Democrats would not accept this participatory democracy, and conspired to topple Fusionist political control of the state…. Following the 1898 election, the Democrats moved to destroy the possibility of future challenges to their dominance in the state. In 1899, they passed Jim Crow laws segregating trains and steamboats, intended to stigmatize blacks and give whites a feeling of superiority
What does the Portland pot vote mean?
Portland Press Herald - On Tuesday, voters overwhelmingly supported legalized marijuana, but the city says that vote will have no practical affect, since state and federal prohibition laws supersede local ordinances. The city posted a “Frequently-Asked-Questions” page on its website to reiterate that interpretation, and answer other questions raised by the vote.
The Portland Green Independent Committee, meanwhile, issued a press release Friday calling on the city to respect the local ordinance, which was approved by 67 percent of voters. The Greens, which collected more than 2,500 signatures to put the measure to voters, said they will meet with city officials to discuss enforcement and education measures.
“The vote on Tuesday was a clear indication that Portland residents want our police force to stop punishing adult marijuana users,” said Tom MacMillan, chair of the Portland Green Independent Committee. “Portland officials must be accountable to the will of the people.”
The ordinance, which takes effect Dec. 6, would allow adults over the age of 21 to possess and use up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and paraphernalia for recreational purposes. Marijuana cannot be used in public under the ordinance, and it is still illegal to buy or sell marijuana.
On Thursday, Portland Mayor Michael Brennan said the city would not try to block the new ordinance from taking effect despite the conflict with state and federal prohibition laws.
The city website says the citizen-initiated ordinance cannot be changed or amended until it’s been in effect for five years. After that, City Council can change the ordinance after holding a public hearing.
The city re-enforces the fact that police can still issue civil summonses for possession that carry fines between $350 to $1,000, or even arrest people under certain circumstances.
The city also compares the city ordinance to state and federal laws -- all of which are in conflict with one another.
Portland Police Chief Michael Sauschuck has said officers will continue to use discretion and good judgment when enforcing state marijuana laws.
From July 2012 to July 2013, police issued 54 summonses for marijuana possession. During the previous year, 68 summonses were issued.
Just Say Now - The measure won 67.3 percent yes to 32.7 percent no. The obvious next question is what might this result tell us about opinions across the entire state.
Portland contains a large number of voters, but the city is noticeably more progressive than the rest of the Maine. Probably the most useful point of comparison in order to estimate how the results this week might translate statewide is to look at the 2009 election. It featured ballot Question 5, which legalized medical marijuana dispensaries and expanded the number of medical conditions that qualified for medical marijuana. It was also a marijuana reform issue on an odd year ballot.
Support for Question 5 was 16.5 points higher in Portland than it was the in rest of Maine. Assuming Portland is 16.5 points more supportive of legalization than the rest of the state, Maine could theoretically have approved legalization by 50.8 percent if it was on the ballot statewide on Tuesday.
It should be remembered that turnout in these odd year elections tend to skew significant older. High profile elections normally get a much bigger youth turnout which helps marijuana initiatives perform noticeably better.
PPP polled the state back in August and found that 48 percent of Maine voters in general thought marijuana should be legal, while only 39 percent thought it should be illegal. That is nearly identical to the level of support for the idea of marijuana legalization PPP found in Colorado a year before voters easily approved Amendment 64.
The Portland Green Independent Committee, meanwhile, issued a press release Friday calling on the city to respect the local ordinance, which was approved by 67 percent of voters. The Greens, which collected more than 2,500 signatures to put the measure to voters, said they will meet with city officials to discuss enforcement and education measures.
“The vote on Tuesday was a clear indication that Portland residents want our police force to stop punishing adult marijuana users,” said Tom MacMillan, chair of the Portland Green Independent Committee. “Portland officials must be accountable to the will of the people.”
The ordinance, which takes effect Dec. 6, would allow adults over the age of 21 to possess and use up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and paraphernalia for recreational purposes. Marijuana cannot be used in public under the ordinance, and it is still illegal to buy or sell marijuana.
On Thursday, Portland Mayor Michael Brennan said the city would not try to block the new ordinance from taking effect despite the conflict with state and federal prohibition laws.
The city website says the citizen-initiated ordinance cannot be changed or amended until it’s been in effect for five years. After that, City Council can change the ordinance after holding a public hearing.
The city re-enforces the fact that police can still issue civil summonses for possession that carry fines between $350 to $1,000, or even arrest people under certain circumstances.
The city also compares the city ordinance to state and federal laws -- all of which are in conflict with one another.
Portland Police Chief Michael Sauschuck has said officers will continue to use discretion and good judgment when enforcing state marijuana laws.
From July 2012 to July 2013, police issued 54 summonses for marijuana possession. During the previous year, 68 summonses were issued.
Just Say Now - The measure won 67.3 percent yes to 32.7 percent no. The obvious next question is what might this result tell us about opinions across the entire state.
Portland contains a large number of voters, but the city is noticeably more progressive than the rest of the Maine. Probably the most useful point of comparison in order to estimate how the results this week might translate statewide is to look at the 2009 election. It featured ballot Question 5, which legalized medical marijuana dispensaries and expanded the number of medical conditions that qualified for medical marijuana. It was also a marijuana reform issue on an odd year ballot.
Support for Question 5 was 16.5 points higher in Portland than it was the in rest of Maine. Assuming Portland is 16.5 points more supportive of legalization than the rest of the state, Maine could theoretically have approved legalization by 50.8 percent if it was on the ballot statewide on Tuesday.
It should be remembered that turnout in these odd year elections tend to skew significant older. High profile elections normally get a much bigger youth turnout which helps marijuana initiatives perform noticeably better.
PPP polled the state back in August and found that 48 percent of Maine voters in general thought marijuana should be legal, while only 39 percent thought it should be illegal. That is nearly identical to the level of support for the idea of marijuana legalization PPP found in Colorado a year before voters easily approved Amendment 64.
Thursday, November 7
Addiction to flawed systems outside of Washington
Sam Smith
A day after I wrote about Obama’s hat trick of failures – Obamacare, NSA and Common Core - I went to vote in my Maine town of 7,000 on, among other things, a couple of bond issues affecting our school system.
It was the second time this year we had to vote on the matter. Because of the anger over the defeat of the first vote, the original issue had been divided in two – general expansion of school facilities and a proposed new track and field. The first one won narrowly this week and the second was defeated. Our town supported both, the other two villages opposed both.
Which wouldn’t be all that surprising were it not for the fact that the winning bond may never be activated because in December we have to go back to the polls to decide whether we want to stay in a “regional school unit” with two adjoining towns. If the answer is no, then the expansion will be dead because there will be less students.
If I have you a bit confused, join the club.
Regional school units were created in 2008 by the administration of a Democratic state government under Governor Baldacci. The deal was you either went along or you lost a lot of state money. Like the Obama administration, the Maine government thought it knew what was best for the schools. And if you didn’t agree, you paid a penalty.
But at the local level, the math didn’t always work out right. As Wikipedia reports, the town of Brewer “faced an annual loss of $244,000 in state subsidies for rejecting the consolidation plan, but potentially a loss of $2.74 million in increased salaries over the first 3 years if it had been approved.”
Still, 74 RSU plans were approved including in my town, which thus became the high school host for the other two villages. These villages, with more poverty than our town, did not like the new track or even an expansion that was truly necessary because of the students they had added.
As with Obamacare and Common Core, such issues were not considered in the master plan.
Governor Baldacci is long gone and come December I’ve got to figure out how to vote on this mess. And just this week five other towns voted to pull out of their RSUs.
Another collapse of abstract systems we were told would save our specific butts.
The problem with such systems is that they are a paper versions of reality that ignore various varieties of the latter until it’s too late. They tend to ignore true economics, variations in culture, local politics and anything that can’t be measured.
Which is why things like history, civics, music – just to name a few – are disappearing from the public school system. No corporation has come up with a standardized test for them.
I actually saw this coming a long time ago. Before they had RSUs, they created School Administrative Districts. I would watch school buses go by with signs on them like “SAD 25” and ask myself, what decent teacher would want their kids riding on a bus labeled “SAD.”
And now it really is sad.
A day after I wrote about Obama’s hat trick of failures – Obamacare, NSA and Common Core - I went to vote in my Maine town of 7,000 on, among other things, a couple of bond issues affecting our school system.
It was the second time this year we had to vote on the matter. Because of the anger over the defeat of the first vote, the original issue had been divided in two – general expansion of school facilities and a proposed new track and field. The first one won narrowly this week and the second was defeated. Our town supported both, the other two villages opposed both.
Which wouldn’t be all that surprising were it not for the fact that the winning bond may never be activated because in December we have to go back to the polls to decide whether we want to stay in a “regional school unit” with two adjoining towns. If the answer is no, then the expansion will be dead because there will be less students.
If I have you a bit confused, join the club.
Regional school units were created in 2008 by the administration of a Democratic state government under Governor Baldacci. The deal was you either went along or you lost a lot of state money. Like the Obama administration, the Maine government thought it knew what was best for the schools. And if you didn’t agree, you paid a penalty.
But at the local level, the math didn’t always work out right. As Wikipedia reports, the town of Brewer “faced an annual loss of $244,000 in state subsidies for rejecting the consolidation plan, but potentially a loss of $2.74 million in increased salaries over the first 3 years if it had been approved.”
Still, 74 RSU plans were approved including in my town, which thus became the high school host for the other two villages. These villages, with more poverty than our town, did not like the new track or even an expansion that was truly necessary because of the students they had added.
As with Obamacare and Common Core, such issues were not considered in the master plan.
Governor Baldacci is long gone and come December I’ve got to figure out how to vote on this mess. And just this week five other towns voted to pull out of their RSUs.
Another collapse of abstract systems we were told would save our specific butts.
The problem with such systems is that they are a paper versions of reality that ignore various varieties of the latter until it’s too late. They tend to ignore true economics, variations in culture, local politics and anything that can’t be measured.
Which is why things like history, civics, music – just to name a few – are disappearing from the public school system. No corporation has come up with a standardized test for them.
I actually saw this coming a long time ago. Before they had RSUs, they created School Administrative Districts. I would watch school buses go by with signs on them like “SAD 25” and ask myself, what decent teacher would want their kids riding on a bus labeled “SAD.”
And now it really is sad.
Down East Notes
Bangor Daily News - Maine has slowed its spending on health care for prisoners over the past decade but remains one of the highest spenders in the country, according to a study conducted by two national nonprofit organizations. The report, “ Managing Prison Health Care Spending,” was released Tuesday by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The $6,740 average spent per inmate by Maine was the sixth highest of the 44 states examined as part of the study.
Greens Ann Trevorrow won a seat on the Portland school board and Josh Plourde a seat on the Bangor city council.
More info on UM's offshore wind power project
FEMA issues new flood zone maps, raising threat of increased insurance costs
Greens Ann Trevorrow won a seat on the Portland school board and Josh Plourde a seat on the Bangor city council.
More info on UM's offshore wind power project
FEMA issues new flood zone maps, raising threat of increased insurance costs
Wednesday, November 6
Police chief to ignore Portland pot referendum
Portland Press Herald, ME - Portland
became the first city on the East Coast to legalize marijuana as voters
overwhelmingly passed an ordinance Tuesday allowing adults to possess
small amounts of the drug. click image to enlarge
The ordinance legalizes possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana by adults age 21 and older within city limits. It does not legalize the sale or purchase of marijuana, but allows anyone 21 or older to “engage in activities for the purposes of ascertaining the possession of marijuana and paraphernalia.”
It prohibits recreational use of marijuana in public spaces, on school grounds or on transportation infrastructure, and lets landlords prohibit tenants from using marijuana on their property.
Police Chief Michael Sauschuck has said that, regardless of Tuesday’s vote, officers will continue to enforce state law, which says possessing as much as 2.5 ounces of marijuana can lead to a civil summons and fines of $350 to $1,000. Furnishing, selling or packaging the drug for sale can bring criminal charges.
The ordinance legalizes possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana by adults age 21 and older within city limits. It does not legalize the sale or purchase of marijuana, but allows anyone 21 or older to “engage in activities for the purposes of ascertaining the possession of marijuana and paraphernalia.”
It prohibits recreational use of marijuana in public spaces, on school grounds or on transportation infrastructure, and lets landlords prohibit tenants from using marijuana on their property.
Police Chief Michael Sauschuck has said that, regardless of Tuesday’s vote, officers will continue to enforce state law, which says possessing as much as 2.5 ounces of marijuana can lead to a civil summons and fines of $350 to $1,000. Furnishing, selling or packaging the drug for sale can bring criminal charges.
Pipeline operators narrowly win South Portland ballot fight
Think Progress - South
Portland, Maine residents narrowly defeated a ballot initiative that
would have prevented the Portland-Montreal pipeline operators from
building a facility allowing them to use their 70 year-old, 236-mile
line to ship tar sands from Canada for export. As of Wednesday morning,
the town’s website showed opponents of the Waterfront Protection
Ordinance defeated it by 192 of over 8,700 votes cast.
Protect South Portland, the organization that developed and promoted the referendum, had felt the vote would be close, but their headquarters fell silent when the initial returns were read. The grassroots campaign that began with 4,000 signatures to get the measure on the ballot and ended with over 12,000 doorbells rung in a massive effort to boost turnout was undone by a coalition of oil companies and affiliates who outspent them nearly six to one, investing over $600,000 in this campaign including a $150,000 boost from the American Petroleum Institute.
The company pled its case to voters by insisting that if the ordinance passed, it would be shut down — a proposition local law professor Dave Owen called “a false assumption.” Outgoing mayor Tom Blake, who won his race to maintain a seat on the city council, pulled no punches. “We lost to an industry that I’m ashamed of,” he said. “The money they spent; the lies they told.”
Mayor Blake went on to say that at a special meeting tonight, the council would consider a 180-day moratorium banning new construction on the piers. He expected its unanimous approval, and said all his fellow council members would support a more narrowly crafted measure to “keep tar sands out of South Portland.”
Protect South Portland, the organization that developed and promoted the referendum, had felt the vote would be close, but their headquarters fell silent when the initial returns were read. The grassroots campaign that began with 4,000 signatures to get the measure on the ballot and ended with over 12,000 doorbells rung in a massive effort to boost turnout was undone by a coalition of oil companies and affiliates who outspent them nearly six to one, investing over $600,000 in this campaign including a $150,000 boost from the American Petroleum Institute.
The company pled its case to voters by insisting that if the ordinance passed, it would be shut down — a proposition local law professor Dave Owen called “a false assumption.” Outgoing mayor Tom Blake, who won his race to maintain a seat on the city council, pulled no punches. “We lost to an industry that I’m ashamed of,” he said. “The money they spent; the lies they told.”
Mayor Blake went on to say that at a special meeting tonight, the council would consider a 180-day moratorium banning new construction on the piers. He expected its unanimous approval, and said all his fellow council members would support a more narrowly crafted measure to “keep tar sands out of South Portland.”
Tuesday, November 5
Getting a college degree in Maine state prison
Kennebec Journal, ME - The ceremony resembled most graduations, with marching students, university administration in colorful regalia and commencement speeches lauding the graduates for their accomplishments.
But unlike other graduations, the 13 men accepting their diplomas didn’t leave with their friends and family. Instead, the men returned to their cells and their friends and family left through sets of doors that slid shut behind them.
It was the third University of Maine at Augusta graduation held at Maine State Prison as part of a college education program funded by philanthropist Doris Buffett, sister of billionaire investor Warren Buffett.
Buffett, who attended the ceremony in Warren on Monday, said her organization, the Sunshine Lady Foundation, has spent nearly $1 million in the last seven years paying for inmates to take college classes at the prison.
This year, 14 inmates graduated with degrees from UMA — eight with associate degrees in liberal studies and six bachelor of arts in liberal studies — and 13 attended the ceremony.
Of the 14 graduates, 13 graduated with honors.
Buffett said she started the program, which is also run in eight other states, to have a positive impact people’s lives. But the success of keeping the graduates from returning to prison surprised her.
None of the inmates that have graduated from any of the programs have gone back to prison, according to Buffett. That includes Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York, which has offered a college education program to its inmates for more than a decade.
Nationally, the percentage of inmates who later return to prison is around 43 percent, according to a 2011 study from the Pew Center on the States.
But unlike other graduations, the 13 men accepting their diplomas didn’t leave with their friends and family. Instead, the men returned to their cells and their friends and family left through sets of doors that slid shut behind them.
It was the third University of Maine at Augusta graduation held at Maine State Prison as part of a college education program funded by philanthropist Doris Buffett, sister of billionaire investor Warren Buffett.
Buffett, who attended the ceremony in Warren on Monday, said her organization, the Sunshine Lady Foundation, has spent nearly $1 million in the last seven years paying for inmates to take college classes at the prison.
This year, 14 inmates graduated with degrees from UMA — eight with associate degrees in liberal studies and six bachelor of arts in liberal studies — and 13 attended the ceremony.
Of the 14 graduates, 13 graduated with honors.
Buffett said she started the program, which is also run in eight other states, to have a positive impact people’s lives. But the success of keeping the graduates from returning to prison surprised her.
None of the inmates that have graduated from any of the programs have gone back to prison, according to Buffett. That includes Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York, which has offered a college education program to its inmates for more than a decade.
Nationally, the percentage of inmates who later return to prison is around 43 percent, according to a 2011 study from the Pew Center on the States.
Monday, November 4
13 year old DJ draws listeners, musicians
Working Waterfront, Southwest Harbor, Maine – Two years after Miles Schuman started an internet-radio program in a playroom at his mother's home, "The Shoe" is en route to syndication on FM airwaves and is attracting attention from sponsors.
Schuman became interested in talk radio in 2010 through his mother's friend, a radio host. He discovered a website called BlogTalkRadio that allows users to create their own shows. Schuman settled in with his school laptop and a headset microphone, and started broadcasting about topics of interest to him.
Upcoming shows, which livestream on Sundays at noon (blogtalkradio.com/theshoe) and can be heard afterward through the archive, are expected to reveal details about Tom Kiefer's comeback as the lead singer of the glam metal band Cinderella.
Michaud comes out as gay
Michael Michaud on being gay
Agree to Disagree - I thank Mike for helping me find a lot more courage today. But this decision is also politically smart.
Smart because his cards are now on the table. No innuendo or rumor about his sexuality can now harm him. In a campaign that will be this competitive, innuendo and rumor can quickly become narrative. It doesn’t mean a smear campaign won’t happen, but now the issue has been defined by Michaud, and not his opponents.
Smart because polls now show that almost 80% of Maine people believe that passing gay marriage a year ago has had no negative impact on their lives. If 80% now see equal marriage as non-intrusive, I feel confident that close to that percentage will feel the same about voting for a gay Governor. And the 20% that don’t, I expect would never have voted for Mike in the first place.
Smart because the chance for Maine to become the first state in history to elect an out Governor will unite the Democrats in a way we have rarely seen. Mike was already as good a Democratic candidate as one could hope for, but, let’s be honest, he’s not the most exciting on the stump. This creates that excitement.
Smart because of the power of Equality Maine. I have the honor of serving on their board and while I am not speaking on behalf of the organization, I expect that Michaud coming out becomes a game changer. As an organization dedicated to moving equality forward for LGBT Mainers, I imagine, and again this is just my opinion, there’s a good chance that they will now put their full political weight behind Michaud even though independent candidate Eliot Cutler is excellent on LGBT issues. And from money to ground troops to passion; no one matches the political power of EqualityMaine.
Smart because if Michaud was worried about raising money, those worries are over. From every corner of Maine to every corner of the country, money will now flow in a way he could never duplicate by simply being the Democratic nominee.
All of this is not to say that there won’t be drawbacks to this decision. Of course there will. Homophobia is real in Maine and while the opposition may not be able to be overt in their attacks, they will try to use code to harm Mike. In 1996, when I ran the campaign for Dale McCormick (Maine’s first out woman to run for federal office), the undercurrent was everywhere. Photos of ‘traditional’ families, slogans about ‘protecting’ children, and hate groups distributing flyers in the middle of the night all permeated the campaign.
Agree to Disagree - I thank Mike for helping me find a lot more courage today. But this decision is also politically smart.
Smart because his cards are now on the table. No innuendo or rumor about his sexuality can now harm him. In a campaign that will be this competitive, innuendo and rumor can quickly become narrative. It doesn’t mean a smear campaign won’t happen, but now the issue has been defined by Michaud, and not his opponents.
Smart because polls now show that almost 80% of Maine people believe that passing gay marriage a year ago has had no negative impact on their lives. If 80% now see equal marriage as non-intrusive, I feel confident that close to that percentage will feel the same about voting for a gay Governor. And the 20% that don’t, I expect would never have voted for Mike in the first place.
Smart because the chance for Maine to become the first state in history to elect an out Governor will unite the Democrats in a way we have rarely seen. Mike was already as good a Democratic candidate as one could hope for, but, let’s be honest, he’s not the most exciting on the stump. This creates that excitement.
Smart because of the power of Equality Maine. I have the honor of serving on their board and while I am not speaking on behalf of the organization, I expect that Michaud coming out becomes a game changer. As an organization dedicated to moving equality forward for LGBT Mainers, I imagine, and again this is just my opinion, there’s a good chance that they will now put their full political weight behind Michaud even though independent candidate Eliot Cutler is excellent on LGBT issues. And from money to ground troops to passion; no one matches the political power of EqualityMaine.
Smart because if Michaud was worried about raising money, those worries are over. From every corner of Maine to every corner of the country, money will now flow in a way he could never duplicate by simply being the Democratic nominee.
All of this is not to say that there won’t be drawbacks to this decision. Of course there will. Homophobia is real in Maine and while the opposition may not be able to be overt in their attacks, they will try to use code to harm Mike. In 1996, when I ran the campaign for Dale McCormick (Maine’s first out woman to run for federal office), the undercurrent was everywhere. Photos of ‘traditional’ families, slogans about ‘protecting’ children, and hate groups distributing flyers in the middle of the night all permeated the campaign.
Sunday, November 3
Down East Notes
Bangor Daily News - Maine has slowed its spending on health care for prisoners over the past decade but remains one of the highest spenders in the country, according to a study conducted by two national nonprofit organizations. The report, “ Managing Prison Health Care Spending,” was released Tuesday by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Maine spent nearly $14 million on correctional health care costs in 2008, which amounted to 14 percent of every dollar spent on the prison system. The $6,740 average spent per inmate by Maine was the sixth highest of the 44 states examined as part of the study.
How Maine towns stack up in the voting booth
Retail sales showing strength
How Maine towns stack up in the voting booth
Retail sales showing strength
Today in Maine history
1755 -- Penobscot Indians are
declared to be "enemies, rebels & traitors" to His Majesty, &
bounties are offered to colonists for scalps: £40 British pounds for a
male, £20 for females, & male children under 12. Girls under 12
were apparently worthless.- Daily Bleed
Saturday, November 2
Down East Notes
WCSH - Petitions for signatures to block the sale of Portland's Congress Square Park will not be issued until next week at the earliest. Superior Court Justice Humphrey has issued a temporary stay requested by the City of Portland filed in favor of the Friends of Congress Square on Thursday.
Press Herald - Here’s the latest leading theory about those mystery barges in Portland and San Fransisco: They’re party boats for launching Google Glass, the Internet giant’s computerized eyewear. ... Speculation about the purpose of the barges had focused largely on Google’s patented plans to build floating data centers, which would use ocean water to cool massive computer servers that store and process data. But new evidence indicates the barges will be towed to large coastal cities, where wealthy customers will be invited aboard for exclusive looks at Google Glass. The wearable computer, still under development, would enable people to communicate with the Internet via voice commands.
Nineteen percent of Maine is on food stamps, making it the tenth highest state for food stamp use. This includes 94,000 children.
Press Herald - Here’s the latest leading theory about those mystery barges in Portland and San Fransisco: They’re party boats for launching Google Glass, the Internet giant’s computerized eyewear. ... Speculation about the purpose of the barges had focused largely on Google’s patented plans to build floating data centers, which would use ocean water to cool massive computer servers that store and process data. But new evidence indicates the barges will be towed to large coastal cities, where wealthy customers will be invited aboard for exclusive looks at Google Glass. The wearable computer, still under development, would enable people to communicate with the Internet via voice commands.
Nineteen percent of Maine is on food stamps, making it the tenth highest state for food stamp use. This includes 94,000 children.
Today in history
1837 -- US: Someone in Winslow, Maine didn't like Mr. Wood; his tombstone reads:
In Memory of Beza Wood
Departed this life
Nov. 2, 1837
Aged 45 yrs.
Here lies one Wood
Enclosed in wood
One Wood
Within another.
The outer wood
Is very good:
We cannot praise
The other.
Friday, November 1
ACLU: Banning peaceful panhandling is unconstitutional
The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan today sent letters to 84 municipalities across the state notifying them that anti-begging ordinances on their books are unconstitutional and should be repealed. The ordinances are nearly identical to the Michigan law struck down in August by the Court of Appeals for unconstitutionally preventing peaceful panhandling in all public places.
"Anti-begging laws that punish that most vulnerable segment of our society are not only harsh, they are unconstitutional," said Dan Korobkin, ACLU of Michigan staff attorney. "No one should be thrown in jail or subjected to a fine for holding up a sign or simply asking for spare change. In the wake of the appeals court decision, we're putting these cities and townships on notice that it's time they repeal their unconstitutional ordinances. Our municipalities cannot and should not use the force of law to silence the voices of innocent people who rely on charity to survive."
The letters are a result of a comprehensive review of anti-begging ordinances across the state conducted by the ACLU of Michigan. While the exact language of the ordinances at issue varies, they each prohibit peaceful panhandling in all public places.
In 2011, the ACLU of Michigan filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of two Grand Rapids residents who had been repeatedly arrested or ticketed by police for violating the state's ban on begging. One year later, Judge Robert J. Jonker of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan ruled that the state's ban on panhandling was an unconstitutional infringement on their free speech.
After Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette appealed that ruling, a three-judge panel on the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed the lower court's decision.
While it is true that courts have upheld "aggressive begging" ordinances that are narrowly tailored to protect the public from actual harm and still allow peaceful panhandling in public places, the cities and townships receiving letters from the ACLU of Michigan fall short of that requirement.
As noted in the letters sent by the ACLU, Judge Jonker specifically ruled that: "Nothing prohibits the government from regulating directly the conduct the government identifies as problematic. The government can and does prohibit fraud, assault, and trespass. But what the government cannot do without violating the First Amendment is categorically prohibit the speech and expressive elements that may sometimes be associated with the harmful conduct; it must protect the speech and expression, and focus narrowly and directly on the conduct it seeks to prohibit."
In 2011, the ACLU of Michigan sent a similar letter to the City of Royal Oak indicating that the city's broadly worded ordinance prohibiting peaceful panhandling on public sidewalks was unconstitutional. In response, Royal Oak repealed the ordinance and replaced it with one that only prohibited what it clearly defined as "aggressive panhandling."
"Anti-begging laws that punish that most vulnerable segment of our society are not only harsh, they are unconstitutional," said Dan Korobkin, ACLU of Michigan staff attorney. "No one should be thrown in jail or subjected to a fine for holding up a sign or simply asking for spare change. In the wake of the appeals court decision, we're putting these cities and townships on notice that it's time they repeal their unconstitutional ordinances. Our municipalities cannot and should not use the force of law to silence the voices of innocent people who rely on charity to survive."
The letters are a result of a comprehensive review of anti-begging ordinances across the state conducted by the ACLU of Michigan. While the exact language of the ordinances at issue varies, they each prohibit peaceful panhandling in all public places.
In 2011, the ACLU of Michigan filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of two Grand Rapids residents who had been repeatedly arrested or ticketed by police for violating the state's ban on begging. One year later, Judge Robert J. Jonker of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan ruled that the state's ban on panhandling was an unconstitutional infringement on their free speech.
After Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette appealed that ruling, a three-judge panel on the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed the lower court's decision.
While it is true that courts have upheld "aggressive begging" ordinances that are narrowly tailored to protect the public from actual harm and still allow peaceful panhandling in public places, the cities and townships receiving letters from the ACLU of Michigan fall short of that requirement.
As noted in the letters sent by the ACLU, Judge Jonker specifically ruled that: "Nothing prohibits the government from regulating directly the conduct the government identifies as problematic. The government can and does prohibit fraud, assault, and trespass. But what the government cannot do without violating the First Amendment is categorically prohibit the speech and expressive elements that may sometimes be associated with the harmful conduct; it must protect the speech and expression, and focus narrowly and directly on the conduct it seeks to prohibit."
In 2011, the ACLU of Michigan sent a similar letter to the City of Royal Oak indicating that the city's broadly worded ordinance prohibiting peaceful panhandling on public sidewalks was unconstitutional. In response, Royal Oak repealed the ordinance and replaced it with one that only prohibited what it clearly defined as "aggressive panhandling."
Man charged with drunk driving on lawn mower
WGME - A man in Kennebunk is facing drunk driving charges after allegedly
using his riding lawnmower to make a beer run. While some may think this
is funny, it is no laughing matter in the eyes of the law. He is charged with OUI and operating after suspension. On Tuesday, police say he drove his riding lawn mower from his
Mill street home, down Alfred road, to this Cummings Market about a mile
away....The store manager at Cummings Market says Caulder tried to buy
beer, but the employees wouldn't sell to him because he appeared to be
intoxicated...Under Maine law, a riding mower is considered a motor vehicle.
Thursday, October 31
Judge rules for protesters of Congress Plaza development
Press
Herald - A judge ruled Thursday that the city of Portland was not justified when it blocked a group of residents from petitioning to increase protection for Congress Square Plaza and other urban open spaces. click image to enlargeFrank Turek says Friends of Congress Square Park will start collecting signatures right away in an effort to stop the sale of Congress Square Plaza, in background.
The city plans to appeal, so it remains unclear whether Portland voters will get a say in the future of the plaza at Congress and High streets. The City Council decided last month to sell part of Congress Square Plaza to a developer.
Superior Court Justice Joyce Wheeler ordered the city to issue petition papers to the Friends of Congress Square Park by 3 p.m. Friday so the group can begin collecting signatures calling for a new land-protection ordinance that could reverse the council’s controversial decision.
Frank Turek, president of the group, said he is happy with the ruling, especially because the group will be able to collect voters’ signatures at the polls during Tuesday’s elections.
“We’ve already organized a bunch of petitioners, so we’ll be out on the streets over the weekend if we can and we will be at the polls,” Turek said.
The group needs at least 1,500 valid signatures to put the ordinance change to voters.
The city said Thursday afternoon that it will appeal the ruling.
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