Austerity, but not for everyone

Pinch me, I must be dreaming. At 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 29, our brain-dead school board met in Lake Huntington. They gave no opportunity for public comment and then voted to give Sullivan West Superintendent, Alan Derry, a 2.5-percent raise. My husband, Shawn Colin Bailey Sr., was the only one to vote “no” to this insanity. It is obvious we have a superintendent who is focused on nothing more than building his retirement package and a board who’s willing to help him pad it.

Sullivan takes the lead

Way to go, Sullivan County, for taking the lead in New York State.

Someone had to feel the breeze first about the awesome potentials for wind power. The wind industry is in a position to provide the United States with an inexhaustible source of clean energy at an affordable price. With no emissions, hazardous waste or ecosystem damage, wind and other renewable sources are the only environmentally friendly energy solutions.

There are enormous economic benefits to developing the wind industry. The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) estimates that wind installations worldwide will total more than 75,000 megawatts over the next decade, and more than $75 billion worth of business profits. If the U.S. could capture a 25 percent share of the global wind market through the year 2013, thousands of new jobs would be created and the profits would reinvigorate the manufacturing industry. Wind farms can also revitalize the economy of rural communities, providing steady income through lease or royalty payments to farmers and other landowners.

We must continue to support the development of the wind industry by allowing producers unlimited access to the power grid and by subsidizing the production of wind energy as we currently do for the fossil fuel industry. In addition, we must call upon our government to meet 20 percent of our energy needs with renewable energy by 2020.

Setting the bar low

Tusten’s town supervisor has presided over the closing of the town’s only school. On his watch, my partner and I decided not to invest over $5 million in the town due to what we found to be heavy-handed zoning enforcement and overzealous and unpredictable code enforcement. He has voiced no opinion about Peck’s boycotting a local newspaper. Given all this, I would say that with this low bar set for success and promise it’s easy to see how disasters like Sullivan West occur repeatedly throughout the county.

Character education

As Harmony Project 2005 begins the Compassion phase of its character awareness campaign, we would like to take this opportunity to thank the communities of the Upper Delaware River Valley for their enthusiastic response to the campaign’s first phase, “Respect: Think It! Live It!”

The Harmony Project is a program developed to campaign for continued character development and awareness in our community. The creators of the project believe that character development begins in the cradle and never ends. Every action we take as human beings teaches those we influence about character. One of the most important things for us to understand is that we all are powerful role models, all of the time, in whatever endeavors we undertake. By campaigning for respect, compassion, acceptance and gratitude we call attention to the fact that every member of our community has a responsibility and a role in creating the level of civility and quality of life that exists within our community.

Support from newspapers, radio stations, businesses, various community groups, and many individuals fuel our energy as we prepare for the Acceptance and Gratitude phases of our campaign. The extraordinary generosity of time, talent, and finances from the varied segments of our community encourages this grassroots attempt to create a better world.

After a presentation at the Fallsdale Meadows Personal Care Home, resident Alma Hames wrote the following poem, as her contribution to us:

THE HARMONY PROJECT

This world is really not my home,

I am just passing through,

Something that I can do.

I can respect my fellow man,

As I journey to and fro,

As I hear his tales of woe.

That are too hard for him to handle,

And when things are dark and dreary,

I can always light a candle.

I can accept him as he truly is,

And let him know how much I care.

I can be a friend and neighbor,

When he needs me, I’ll be there.

And then I can be grateful,

That I was put on this earth,

To help those all around me,

To have a life of worth.

If we all pitch in and do our best,

To make this world a better nest,

You will see folks going places,

With permanent smiles upon their faces.

The creators of Harmony Project 2005,

Tyler Hill, P.A.

Speaking up for peace

Many of us would agree that peaceful outcomes and non-violent resolution to conflict is the preferred way for any community attempting civility. And yet there is a difference between passively stating that we prefer an outcome, and pursuing such outcomes with the same diligence as we pursue the more destructive alternatives. Perhaps when we view peace as an impossible objective, we are rationalizing inaction by rendering the goal implausible.

Support for a Department of Peace is a vote of confidence in the idea that we can transform a narrow view of policy into a stance that truly matches the intellectual and creative abilities of Americans to solve problems and pursue diplomacy. It is a challenge to each of us to work toward creative outcomes that do not immediately place others in harm’s way. We need to know that there are voices that can advise effectively not only on matters of war, but on ways of resolving the conditions that steer us towards violent solutions. Let’s not let others determine what is possible, particularly if they gain and profit from perpetuating the status quo.

My 229th birthday

Good morning America. In celebrating my birthday, I thank you once again during this time of strife. You have stood through thick and thin to keep me free. You have given of yourselves, without distinction of race or creed, to bring forth equality to all men, women and children. You, my people, have fed and clothed not only those who live within my borders, but also millions of others abroad. You have defended the fiber of my existence, the Constitution of the United States. I call to you, the living, always to remember our patriots, past and present, who have kept me free so that I too may always honor them with you.

This July 4th, I am bleeding. My people are again pouring forth their blood in the name of democracy. Some say it is a just war while others say it is unjust. You are a good people and I am proud to have you live in my embrace to go forth and give of yourselves even in this dilemma. Please support my gallant warriors even if there is a disagreement about the war.

You are a nation of the people, by the people, and for the people and you will resolve any disagreement by exercising your rights as stated in my charters to you, the Bill of Rights and the Constitution of the United States of America. Please don’t forget these two parchments or allow them to be watered down by some who want to take away your individual rights in the name of something that may sound honorable but really is not. “Holy” men worldwide have proven that holiness can be a cloak for self-aggrandizement.

I want my people to be freed. I want all laws that take away my citizen’s constitutional rights and privileges, whether enacted by Congress or by a Presidential Executive Order, to be rescinded now! My people shall be allowed to speak without fear of imprisonment even if some in the government do not like it.

Signed: The United States of America