Ice Skating
Sykesville, Maryland has laid down a plastic sheet, covered it with water, let it freeze... and now lots of happy kids are learning to ice skate. Some of my best memories for the Winter.. are related to ice skating at the Buttonwood Pond in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
I was a poor kid, so my first skates were old fashioned tie-ons. Very hard to skate in them, but it's all I had at the time. However, soon, my Uncle Allen let me have his old skates. A little large for me, but ok. After lots of falls, I learned to do pretty well. But not, of course, as good as my Uncle Allen, who could do lots of tricks on the ice. He was good!
My high school gym teacher was another great ice skater. Mr. Kelly could execute a perfect figure 8.
And... man... was it cold at the skating pond. Luckily, they had a blazing fire always going in the warming house fireplace. This was where you kept warm and also got acquainted with pretty girls. I was very shy, so I met very few.
Question: Why can't other Carroll County jurisdiction follow Sykesville's lead and lay down a large plastic sheet that could be covered with water and frozen. The kids would love it.
Unfortunately, because of Global Warming, there are not that many days where the temperature is low enough to form thick enough ice. The good thing about plastic sheets, is that it doesn't take much water to freeze them over.
More on our Crazy World!
Charles Lewis, the founder of the Center for Public Integrity and author of a book about -presidential deception.. was quoted in the New York Times: "We've never seen anything this bizarre in our lifetimes, where up is down and down is up and everything is in question and nothing is real."
The Brits
I just listened to the British Parliamentarians discussing (yelling) Mr. Trump's latest moves. Even those who defended the U. S. partnership with the U.K., thought that the latest action of our President was ill-conceived and mean spirited. His action has set back International Relations by many years. Some of the M.P.s called Ms May... "the Great Appeaser", based on her action in the latest US/UK meeting.
Goodbye Government Employees!
The US House passed a funding package that reinstates the Holman Rule that gives legislators the power to reduce the salary of certain federal employee to $1. This, in effect, fires them.
Patricia J. Williams, writing in the Nation magazine for February 6/13, 2017.. says: "As the Trump Administration gathers the names of those who believe in abortion rights or global warming or equal pay for women or aid to African nations, it is not unreasonable to fear a coming wave of ex-post-facto punishment, including salary retrenchments that might disable ... bureaus like the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, ... the Social Security Administration,... The Public Broadcasting system, the National Institutes of Health, the Kennedy Center, and the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American Art and Culture."
But there may be a Future
Calvin Trillin has a new poem about the so-called "Trump Era"
"Americans stressed by the thought
Of rule by this ignorant phony
May take some small comfort in this:
Italians survived Berlusconi"
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Organizations that may be aligned against President Trump on Constitutional Matters
(according to the Nation Magazine)
If Mr. Trump continues to act irrationally these organizations will try to keep him from doing too much harm.
PEN .. worldwide association of poets, editors and novelists
City of Asylum .. Pittsburgh-based organization that provides sanctuary to endangered writers
Alexia Foundation... Funds and champions social-justice photojournalism
Girls Write Now... Mentoring program for high-school girls
Global Parliament of Mayors
Local Progress.. Advancing public policy
Cities for Action... support for immigrants
ACLU
CCR (Center for Constitutional Rights)
NAACP
Planned Parenthood
Public Citizen
Rootstrikers.. targets banks, corporations, super PACs, and other influence seekers.
May Day.us... fights corruption in government
Committee to Protect Journalists
Center for Investigative Reporting
Center for Public Integrity
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