Finding Ulysses

Bo Lipari addressed a group of us at the Fire Hall last night. He has an amazing amount of energy and a complete grasp of the complex issues surrounding voting integrity. There’s good news and bad news. I’ll give you the bad news first.

NY State is still being threatened by the Department of Justice. We accepted 50 million to upgrade our equipment according to the Help America Vote Act. The DOJ might sue and take their money back (chump change, right?) The decision on which kinds of machines to buy, is currently in the hands of County Election Commissioners, the majority of which favor Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting machines. Bo refers to this technology as a failed experiment. We are also being threatened by legislation at the federal level which would attempt to take some of the choices away from the states and give it to the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) The commissioners are appointed by the president.

The good news is that Bo’s group, New Yorkers for Verified Voting, has had considerable success in Albany in getting legislators, and New York State Board of Elections Commissioners, to seriously consider the vastly superior system - Paper Ballots with Optical Scanners (PBOS). If he can convince the Commissioners not to certify the DRE’s then when the County Commissioners finally are allowed to pick machines, they will be limited to the PBOS systems.

More good news - There is a chance, that we might convince the powers that be in Albany, to build their own voting machines from off the shelf parts, and have state employees write the code. Bo said that this was done by the state of Oklahoma 14 years ago, and worked well there.

I don’t understand why we allow our elections to be run on equipment purchased from, and maintained by, and secret code owned by private corporations. Private corporations always have, as there primary motivation, profit. In fact, a corporate manager can be sued or fired for ignoring his fiduciary responsibilities to maximize shareholder profit. Profit should not enter into decisions affecting the running of our elections.

If you missed the talk last night you can learn more at NYVV.org You can sign up to get email updates, and most importantly you can contribute inorder to keep Bo going to Albany and fighting for our rights.

This Friday 8/24, at 7:00pm at the Trumansburg Fire Hall, Bo Lipari, Executive Director of New Yorkers for Verified Voting will fill us in on the status of voting machine legislation in New York. Bo, and the good folks at NYVV.ORG have been working tirelessly so that we might have transparent, accurate, and verifiable elections. Our fundamental right to free and fair elections is in jeopardy. Join us.

There are some really spectacular outdoor recreation opportunities in the Ulysses area, and this weekend was no exception. Saturday, I enjoyed the annual “Hector for the Heck of It” group volleyball-hiking-picnicing-campfiresinging-camping extravaganza in the nearby National Forest on Saturday– marred only by former T-burg resident John Rogers having to leave to rescue his son, who had a bicycle malfunction while coming in from the Spencer/Van Etten area. On Sunday, I volunteered to help host the Local Farms tour, which began with a big breakfast of local foods at the Cayuga Nature Center, followed by farm visits at several local farms. I was stationed at Glenhaven Farm on Sirrine Rd., where the winetasting will continue to be available, but, alas, the blueberry picking is now officially over for the season, after today’s last chance. Picking was not as easy as earlier in the season, but, the weather was very conducive, and lots and lots of berrypickers came through with buckets full of berries, and children with blue fingers and tongues, and big smiles. The planned bicycle-tour of the farms on the farm trail was, unfortunately, canceled, as not enough people signed up for it…

…but, there were certainly lots of bicyclists out enjoying the countryside and the cooler weather on Sunday. We passed several on Perry City Rd., and, as is typical for a Sunday this time of year, there were also cars parked along DuBois Rd., their owners enjoying biking the nice, flat road with the peek-a-boo views of the lake….

All very pleasant, indeed. When we were driving down to Taughannock State Park in the evening, to enjoy our typical BBQ-and-swim (tonight’s menu: local lamb chops, local organic sweet corn and beans, local organic Yukon Gold potatoes– a freebie from a Cornell researcher– and local wine)…. we had the sobering experience of seeing the down side of all that blissful enjoying of the countryside. We arrived on the scene along Rt. 89 just after one of three bicyclists riding together had been hit by a car. While his fellow riders both had bike helmets on, there was no helmet visible on the stricken rider, who was being covered in blankets to prevent shock while waiting for the first-responders to arrive. A woman in the car that hit him was totally flipping out. Later, as we were swimming at the beach, the Medivac helicopter landed in the big field where the Saturday concerts are held, and the EMT and Volunteer firefighter crew tranferred him from the ambulance, and the helicopter took off again, heading South. Sure hope he is going to be ok. Moral of the story: enjoy the countryside, it is wonderful…. but, take your cell phone so you can call a friend or relative if your bike breaks down or your bike tour gets cancelled, wear your bike helmet every time, and, especially on Rt. 89, which is narrow, curvy, and full of over-relaxedand-under-attentive-on-vacation drivers, take care to ride single file, and keep to the right-hand side of the road.

OOPS! Update– looks like the guy hit by the car on Rt. 89 was actually walking, not biking– that explains seeing no bike helmet. I had assumed that the helmeted bicyclists taking excellent care of him before first responders arrived were his friends, by their attentive and caring actions. I guess they were just first on the scene, knew first aid, and got the situation in hand.

One of the things that I love about living in Trumansburg is the way that I’ll often find my attention pulled back here even as I am looking for information on what seem to be completely unrelated matters. I had that experience yesterday, as I was scanning through information on human evolution and came upon the Becoming Human web site.

Becoming Human provides an online documentary about human evolution by the Institute of Human Origins, run by Donald Johansen, famous for his team’s discovery of the australopithecine fossil commonly known as Lucy. A part of the documentary that focuses on the anatomical structures of human ancestors features John Gurche, talking about the importance of working on fine details of soft-tissue reconstructions based on fossilized structures, in order to allow people who see the reconstructions to gain a holistic sense of the creature being represented.

John Gurche is living in Trumansburg now, working at the Paleontological Research Institution. John has good reason to be proud of his career, and we can be proud to be the sort of community that attracts many people of his caliber.

All that aside, I encourage you, especially if you’ve got kids of a sufficient age, to sit down and take a look at the Becoming Human online documentary. At a time when many fundamentalist religious groups, and even some presidential candidates, are trying to undermine education in the concepts of biological evolution, it’s good to have resources like these to provide a more reasoned cultural counterweight.

I was putting up a sign to advertise the September 24th Village Board meeting on impeachment at the Save-A-Lot. An old guy was watching me. He chuckled, and said “That ain’t gonna happen. Not that it shouldn’t. Bush is the worst president ever.”

It’s very easy to predict that good things won’t happen. That’s a pretty good bet on a lot of issues at this point in time. But it’s also rather irresponsible. As citizens, we should work to make good things happen, even if it requires a bit more effort than predicting failure.

The Nixon tapes proved that the threat of impeachment was a critical factor in Nixon’s deciding to begin the ending of the Vietnam War.

Preparing the articles of impeachment against Nixon also put Congress on the offensive, which is something our current Congress desperately needs.

Please visit http://trumansburgimpeachment.blogspot.com/

If you were out-and-about this past weekend, you might have noticed a bit of additional traffic. Or, maybe you had trouble getting a table at your favorite Finger Lakes eatery, or a campsite or hotel room for guests. The sporty amongst us all know what was going on, but, if you are (like me) entirely out of the loop when it comes to sports news, you might appreciate learning what the cause was: we had the first experience of “NASCAR in the Next County.” And it was, according to the wineries, fruitstand operators, and restauranteurs I have discussed it with, a VERY good thing for the local tourist economy.

Now, promoting tourism development is always a thing about which reasonable people can disagree– like the GrassRoots Festival, an annual NASCAR race will bring a huge cash infusion, along with a number of new visitors who may learn to love the area, but, also, crowded conditions, and people who look and act as if they don’t know where they are going. For the record, we drove through Watkins Glen twice over the weekend, and did not confront a traffic jam either time. Unless you count the 18-wheeler blocking both lanes of Rt. 14 in Dundee because he tried to do a U-turn and ran out of gas– but, that is just professional lapse, not tourism congestion. Heck, more NASCAR tourists might even result in a gas station on that side of the lake, and keep the truckers from getting in embarrassing predicaments.

I’m an unabashed booster of Finger Lakes tourism myself, and was entirely overjoyed to learn that we locals who feel that way are getting a little help promoting the idea– from the Governor, no less! Check out this story for details: http://www.stargazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070813/NEWS01/708130326/1001/News

A waterfront hotel in Watkins? Could be a good thing if it was done well, but, it might raise the prices on those $3 movies at the local theater… and/or help us keep some steady tennants in the storefronts on T-burg’s Main St. Well worth considering– congrats to the Schuyler County planning and development crew, and their Chamber, for having a Big One on the line down on the waterfront.

Did you all read the article titled “Zoning of Auble Lot To Change” subtitled “Over 257 people will be added to village population”?

If you read the article it doesn’t sound like any decision has been reached at all. Who writes the titles? Does that person know more than the author, Stacey Silliman? Shouldn’t they, like, talk?

There’s another public hearing 8/15, according to Stacey. How does the Finding Ulysses readership feel about annexation?

Governor Spitzer gave a really interesting speech at the Chattaqua Institute with the title “The Need for Both Passion and Humility in Politics.” I really enjoyed reading it. Although the media coverage seemed to dwell on the relationship of the speech to the soap opera personal battle between the Governor and Senator Bruno, the speech itself was actually on much more universal themes. In particular, I think that it has some very good and thought-provoking points for our local elected officials here in Ulysses, so, am posting the link in hopes that some of them (sitting and aspiring) may take the time to read and reflect on their own practice of politics, headed into the “silly season.”

It is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eliot-spitzer/the-need-for-both-passion_b_59546.html

News from the library: Next in its 2007 speaker series, “The Creative Muse: Our Local Artists and Artisans Speak Out,” the Ulysses Philomathic Library welcomes dancer and teacher Durga Bor to talk about and demonstrate the art she has pursued for many years Eastern India’s colorful and mystical Odissi dance.

Bor studied Indian dance in California and Colorado before traveling to India to study with Odissi masters Kelucharn Mohapatra and Gangadhar Pradhan. She has taught dance at Cornell and at Hobart and William Smith College, and has produced many concerts of the work of visiting Indian dancers, as well as performing her own interpretations of classical Indian works.

The talk is scheduled for Thursday, August 16th at 7:30 p.m. in the library’s Melvin Community Room. The library is located at 74 East Main Street in Trumansburg. There is no charge for the event, and as always, refreshments will be served.

I’ve been taking some time away from Finding Ulysses recently, for a lot of reasons, including a heavy workload, the end of my son’s school year, and… oh, I’ve just been tired.

Over the weekend, however, an important event took place that needs to be written about. It has to do with national politics, but it’s a local issue because our member of the U.S. House of Representatives was part of the story.

Late Saturday evening, the House of Representatives approved a bill that gives Alberto Gonzales unprecedented power to launch spy programs without any real accountability to the courts or to Congress. The bill, which was also approved by the Senate and has already been signed into law by President Bush, allows for the government to set up spy operations to listen to our telephone calls and read our emails - without anything at all like a search warrant.

On a superficial level, the spy program is restricted to phone calls and emails that are to or from someone outside the United States. However, the program is set up in such a way that such restriction cannot be guaranteed.

Only two Bush political appointees, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte (correction - John Michael McConnell), will have the ability to control the spy operations. Gonzales and McConnell now have the power to start spy operations on nothing more than their “oral instructions”. Certification of the spy operations is voluntary under the new law, and guess who the law says would certify the spy operations: Alberto Gonzales and John Michael McConnell.

There is a provision for the spy operations to be checked for compliance with the law… by Alberto Gonzales and John Michael McConnell. Also, a report on the spy activities under the new law will be made to Congress… by Alberto Gonzales and John Michael McConnell. They will only tell Congress what they want to tell Congress, and the rest of the information about the spy activities will be sealed and held secret… by Alberto Gonzales and John Michael McConnell.

The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution reads, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

The new law, ironically entitled the Protect America Act, clearly violates two provisions of this constitutional amendment. First, the law gives Gonzales and McConnell the ability to conduct searches without “particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized” in the course of that search. Second, by giving Alberto Gonzales and John Michael McConnell the power to start spy operations with nothing more than a verbal order, the constitutional requirement for an “oath or affirmation” based upon probable cause to support a warrant is completely ignored.

Under the new law, Alberto Gonzales has the power to order any person - you, me, or an employee at the Ontario and Trumansburg Telephone Company - to take part in a spy operation against American citizens, providing whatever support is requested. If the person given that order by Alberto Gonzales refuses to take part in the spying, or tells anyone about the spy operation, that person can be thrown into prison.

This law was passed into law over this weekend in spite of the fact that U.S. intelligence agencies have informed the President this summer that there is no specific, credible threat of terrorist attack against a target within the United States.

Here’s where Trumansburg and Ulysses comes in: We are represented in Congress by Representative Michael Arcuri. I am pleased to report that when the rotten Protect America Act came up for a vote on Saturday night, Congressman Arcuri voted against it. 41 other Democrats in the House of Representatives were not so brave, and Mike Arcuri could have easily joined them, but he chose instead to do the right thing.

Those who read this blog know that, last year, I was very skeptical of Michael Arcuri. I didn’t like his secretive way of campaigning, and his support for the Military Commissions Act was a profound disappointment to me. I did not believe that Arcuri would be a trustworthy member of the House of Representatives.

I’m happy to say that I was wrong.

Congressman Arcuri has rescinded his support for the Military Commissions Act, signing on as a co-sponsor to legislation that would effectively overturn that infamous law. Now, with Arcuri’s opposition to the Protect America Act, I am seeing that Mike Arcuri has shown quite a bit more backbone than I thought he possessed.

Keep up the good work, Mr. Arcuri, and thank you.