Wisdom from the Woods VII

Wisdom from the Woods is an occasional column that outlines a complex issue.

Today's picture is of a single stone cairn that originated from Native American burial rituals. Throughout New England, these heaps of stones were placed in strategic locations. It is strongly believed that the placement of these stones was to honor the dead. Oral traditions relating to the practice seem to have been lost, but there is documentation from the early settlement period that indicates that these sites were burial sites or actually sites to honor the departed. At the center of most authentic cairns is usually found a single piece of quartz. Click on the picture to expand it and you can view the quartz. This cairn is one of hundreds discovered at this particular site. To learn more about the stone cairns click here; but please, if you ever find a site do not disturb it as it should still be considered sacred.

Today I'm thinking about Cuba. Having been alive during the Bay of Pigs invasion and being frightened by the possibility of nuclear war with the Soviet Union because of their Cuban missile program, I've thought a lot about Cuba over the years. Barack Obama is seeking a new beginning with this rouge state. Cuba has a long way to go when you talk about civil rights. Is Barack Obama walking into a mine field here? Certainly John Kennedy did. I guess that you have to start somewhere; after all, our world is too small to ignore a nation or nations that could help us stabilize our economy here.

How could Cuba do that you ask? One product and one word; sugar cane and ethanol. The United States has stood idly by while a South American country, Brazil, has lead the world in sustainable energy. Brazil is home to the world's first sustainable bio-fuels economy. Their innovation with flex fuel cars and dedication to become the worlds leader in the production of Ethanol renders them free of Arab oil. Can you imagine a day when the United States could tell the Arab nations, we don't want your oil; we don't need your oil? That day would be comparable to Neil Armstrong setting foot on the Moon.

Cuba could become the most important trading partner with the U.S. if we could find a way to thaw the relationship. I think that this is what Obama is thinking about. You see, we have very little land that supports the growing of sugar cane. Brazil, Cuba and India are among the world leaders in the production of sugar cane. These countries have the climate and suitable ecosystems for sustaining long term production. The United States fumbles around with the production of ethanol from corn, but using corn is highly inefficient. Sugar cane is estimated to be 10 times more efficient for producing ethanol than corn.

While Obama's step towards thawing relations with Cuba is a small step, it does sound like the Cuban regime wants to come to the table and open discussion. I think we need to strike at the opportunity; but be careful, there could be some treacherous turns in the road ahead. Regardless of our immediate future with Cuba, the U.S. needs to become the leader in alternative fuels. For once; I guess you can say that we have to follow the leader, Brazil.

tomtoak

Wisdom from the Woods III

Wisdom from the Woods is an occasional column that outlines complex issues.

Welcome to spring. This picture was taken the day before the vernal equinox. Yesterday's sunrise was shrouded in clouds. I can only imagine what was going on at this ledge 500 years ago.

Before I get to today's comment, I want to just call to every one's attention some of the links on the left side of the blog. I've added a number of links that I think are worthwhile checking out. The Sarah Palin, Katie Couric interview is well worth the half hour it takes to watch. I know a lot of people probably saw the Tina Fey version, but the original is just as funny or sad or scary or troubling or all these things rolled into one.

Additionally, the link to the "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" masterpiece, "Kingdom Come" is available to view. The song is a gut wrenching story of the aftermath of 911; so be prepared, most people cry when they hear it for the first time. Notice the Republican in the audience that refuses to clap at the end. What the hell was up with that guy? The Sarah Palin turkey pardon was added when a friend requested it. The Barack Obama speech on Lincoln's birthday is quite historic and worth watching. Keith Olbermann's special comment on divisive politics being anti-American is worth the time. Finally, the Bill Maher video just reinforces a lot of points I make in this blog.

On the ledge today, I just happened to be thinking about where this country would be if John McCain had been elected. I don't think that Sarah Palin would be the greatest concern. I know, that's hard to accept, but she would only become the greatest concern if McCain became ill. The greatest fear that I have would be the access to the President of Phil Gramm, former Republican Senator from Texas. Phil Gramm's legacy may very well approach the infamy of Herbert Hoover's. I don't think I could point to another person still living that has done more to screw up this nation and hurt so many people along the way.

Phil Gramm was a top economic advisor to John McCain and would have played a huge role in a McCain presidency. That man would most likely be Treasury Secretary today. Talk about economic meltdown. Remember what Gramm was saying during the election? How about this quote; "You've heard about mental depression, this is a mental recession"? Who could forget this classic; "We sort of become a nation of whiners. You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline?" What the hell would have become of the country if this troll was calling the shots?

Phil Gramm led the charge for deregulating Wall Street. Mother Jones magazine refers to him as "Foreclosure Phil". Bank deregulation is front and center in today's financial meltdown and Gramm was holding all of the best seats. I suppose to be fair, Washington is not one person, but Gramm has to be first in line. Let's not forget that it's a family affair with this troubling personality. Gramm's wife, Wendy Gramm was front and center for the fall of Enron and the Gramm's both profited mightily from the Enron disaster. Wendy sat on the Board of Directors for Enron and served as the board's treasurer. She was a great deregulator in her own right. Heck, Enron was just an exhibition game for Phil Gramm. He was getting ready for the really big meltdown. When it came, he couldn't see it. He could never see beyond ideology which is his greatest fault.

Just a scary thought from the ledge today. Thank God the American people are smart enough to turn this nation in a new direction. I hope that Phil Gramm will now fade into the sagebrush of Texas. I don't think he could do much harm there.

tomtoak

Wisdom from the Woods II

Wisdom from the Woods is an occasional column that outlines complex issues.

I'm in the woods again today as you can see. The rock in the picture is an artifact from Native American ceremonies. I have a dozen of these specimens on my property. The ledge on which this rock sits is perfectly aligned with the rising sun. I've read that the purpose behind lifting the rocks and chalking them as you see here was to allow easy access for rocking the boulders back and forth on the ledge. The sound created was an integral component of the ceremony and could be heard from miles away.

Today I'm thinking about corporate culture and how it contrasts with public sector employment. Having served in the public sector, I'm very sensitive towards criticism, especially when that criticism is unfounded. Today, we are finally seeing for the first time in recent memory, the corporate culture in this country being attacked. There are hundreds of protesters outside of AIG headquarters as I write.

It's funny that our society only seems to care about these things when it perceives that tax dollars are being squandered. Exxon-Mobil can tax us to death and nobody seems to care. Whether the money is coming through the government to the corporation or whether the money leaves our hands directly and goes to the corporation seems like an insignificant difference. AIG is changing the way citizens think of big business.

I worked hard in the public sector for years. Some years I managed to bring an additional hundreds of thousands of dollars to my state for projects that helped everyone. When I was successful, I got no bonus. I never wanted a bonus. My vocation to perform at my job was driven by the vision of a secure future and a wish to do the right thing. That secure future was spelled out in advance to me through the public employee pension system. This is the future that I wanted. Public employment works for the benefit of everyone, but it will only function efficiently as long as employees are provided for.

The corporate culture of annual bonuses, layoffs and huge severance packages is fine if that is what you bought into. I'll never understand bonuses for poor performance, and that is exactly what we are seeing at AIG.

I know many young people today who are making more money than their school teachers that may have been in the profession for 30 years. That's OK; I have no problem with that. It's always been that way. Those school teachers in 90% of the cases that I am familiar with did a great job. There were no bonuses; just good people doing their job. Hopefully, it was a job that they loved. The concern that I have today is the drive to take the future away from our school teachers and long term public employees. You can argue all you want that the public sector needs to be more like the private sector. I think not; just look at AIG. I can imagine what newspapers will be saying on the day that government starts handing out bonuses. Do you want your government to be run like that? I don't!

tomtoak

Wisdom from the Woods

Wisdom from the Woods will be an occasional column that outlines some complex issues.

Why the woods? Why not! In the woods we can all gather our thoughts and gain new perspective. I've learned a lot about myself every time I head for the forest. I know I'm not alone and I know that mankind has used the natural world to refocus on the artificial world around us. I'm lucky to have a very special spot in my own back yard. The ledge on my property has not only been a source of inspiration for me, it's been an inspiration for others for many centuries.

In future posts I'll share new photos of this unique natural feature that archaeologists have told me is quite significant. Native Americans used this site to celebrate the change of seasons. The evidence of past ceremonial activity is striking.

Why am I here today? I can't figure out for the life of me where $15 trillion in U.S. wealth went to almost overnight. That's $50 thousand for each man, woman and child in America. That's not far from reality when I look at my own situation. It's almost as if we have been all living one giant Ponzi scheme, and Bernie Madoff was a minor player.

If $15 trillion disappeared from the economy, why does anyone question the need for government to infuse a few trillion in an effort to recover? We all criticize government when the answer is, print new money. Where was the criticism when the great private sector in this Nation was busy creating phony wealth. You know what, nobody cared because people had a sense that they were all getting rich. The greed caught up with all of us.

Let's lend the government some support here and understand that infusing some money into the system is a necessary step to move us forward again. My only fear is that the government is not going far enough because of false Republican impressions regarding economic recovery. I'll head to the ledge whenever I can't seem to figure things out. While I don't have all the answers, I've found that nature has established that balance to move forward each season. We all need to establish that balance ourselves. The economy needs to establish that balance.

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