As new accusers of nominated Supreme Court Judge, Brett Kavanaugh reveal themselves, I am blown away at the critics of their stories, primarily Republicans. But, first, let me back up.
Assault is assault. It's a criminal act of someone in power physically overpowering another individual as part of an act of malicious intent. The degree to which one is injured is irrelevant. The state of toxicity of the victim is irrelevant. The fact that the accused assailant was once a victim themselves is irrelevant. The fact is that someone is being wronged, and someone else is doing the deed.
With the first accuser of Kavanaugh, her credibility was immediately called into question. How can someone remember the details of something that happened so long ago? Why wasn't it pursued then? In my experience, high school is easy to remember, especially the negative. When I was a senior, I was working on an independent art study with two classmates, a black male classmate and a white female classmate. We were outside using a spray adhesive on an art project we were working on together when underclassmen who were black decided to harass us, question us, and ultimately spit on our art project. The fact that they were black is important, because my words to them after seeing them ruin our art were harsh: "instead of wasting my time in school walking the halls, I'm trying to get an education and have a future instead of deep frying chicken for a living." It was then that one of the three boys punched me in the jaw, and another punched me in the back of my head, before running off. Long story short, we got the teacher and I was able to identify one of my attackers for the vice principal who was overseeing the resolution to the altercation. He then told my mom and dad that I provoked the boys, and was to blame. The attackers weren't expelled and only one of the three received a suspension. And that was that. To the school, I was almost as guilty as the ones throwing the punches. It's true that I chose my words poorly, as referencing fried chicken could be interpreted as a racist slur. I admit that there were months when I questioned myself and the words I used. Why didn't I say "flipping burgers?" Regardless, I remember it all in vivid detail. That was in 1993, 25 years ago.
I'm sure that the words I used are different than the exact quote I've identified above. But, I remember the teacher and the fact that it was an independent study, the fact that one of the kids who hit me was an extremely light-skinned black boy, that the project was a play on the Beatles song "Blackbird" and that it was a book which incorporated pop-ups and spray painted feathers, and I can recall the doors we used to leave the High School to use the adhesive and the location of the art teacher's classroom...and its layout, and the fact that we had jazz playing in the background while we worked...
And to that point, these women who are coming forward can also recall a similar level of detail. It's possible. What's more, it's likely. And, they're not coming forward without risking anything. Yes, ultimately, the Democratic party is using their stories as a blunt physical instrument for stopping the nomination of an extremely conservative judge who has views of women that are not modern or scientifically accurate. You can argue with me on that point, however, the testimony of these women is inarguable. It is their truths and accusations...ones that, at the very least, require far more consideration than politics is allowing. I understand that once this nomination goes through, or doesn't, the casualties in this political fight will be these women. They get nothing from this process. They get to be used and bludgeoned by our bi-polar political system, and then left to fend for themselves amid accusations, death threats, and the potential for being sued themselves for libel.
There is no winning for these women. They will get nothing, and that has to make you think: why would they come forward with these allegations? How can we trust their words? It's simple, the events in the past that are now coming to light hold a special and very negative meaning for these women. This has impacted their entire lives since either witnessing debauchery at the hand of Kavanaugh, or being a victim his advances. It's not enough to point fingers at the Democrats accusing them of political motivations. That's why they were elected, to be political, same as the Republicans who are trying to get this done before the midterms.
It's true that there have been several nationally publicized sexual assault accusations that were proven to be fabricated. However, the number of forcible rape cases is on the rise in the United States. Since 2013 when it was 23.5 cases per 100,000, the number of cases has risen to 30.7 rapes per 100,000 people. That translates to over 99,000 cases in 2017. So, before you become political judge, jury and executioner yourself based on news headlines, take into account that not only are the accusations plausible, but they're likely.
Check these statistics from the National Sexual Violence Resource Center and let's give due deference to these women's accusations for a man who may be presiding over cases pertaining to sexual assault and women's rights over the course of a lifetime appointment.
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
Forgive Me
I have mixed emotions about the "celebration" of the Jewish holidays/Holydays. Mostly, this stems from my inability to rationalize organized religion. At its most intense, our fates and actions are either being controlled or judged (or both) by an ever-present deity or deities. In some religions, free will is wistful and wishful thinking. Your actions are merely an extension of the divine. What happens to you is predetermined. You are but players on the stage of life, acting out perfectly scripted roles.
In the most strict sense of Judaism, the Talmud (Jewish book of law) says that on Rosh Hashana, God inscribes everyone's name into one of three books. The righteous go into the Book of Life, the evil go into the Book of Death, and those in-between have judgment suspended until Yom Kippur. You best attone for your sins that God then writes your fate into the correct book.
Some liberal observations:
No one is 100% good or 100% evil;
Plenty of good people die which flies in the face of a literal interpretation;
By the same virtue, plenty of bad people survive to do horrendous things;
From a scientific vantage point, natural systems are both orderly and, at times, chaotic. Humans, being a part of nature, are no different, and our ability to correctly predict human actions, based on precedent, is immensely difficult if not impossible. Sometimes, the signs are there, whether we see them or not (Stoneman Douglas), and other times, we are caught completely unaware (Las Vegas).
"Sometimes the lights are shining on me, other times I can barely see."
My values, shaped by a Jewish upbringing, but firmly grounded in science, makes me continuously question the self-righteous actions performed by humans in the name of religion. I am no Zionist, and the recent nationalist actions of Israel make me sick, especially the bulldozing of settlements of HUMAN BEINGS in the West Bank. Similarly, it should be obvious that I have no love for the white-supremacist-accepting millionaire, Donald Trump. I don't believe the man is intentionally racist. I do believe that the man doesn't understand anyone without his ethnic and cultural background, and has no interest in trying to. Do I understand that Jewish people in the 1940s were targeted for eradication? Yes. Do I also understand that Israel was established to ensure that a permanent place was available for an outcast people? Yes. Do I also understand that Trump's enthusiasm for Israel may be based on his understanding that a monotheistic society/nation-state with a single dominant religion is possible and it fuels his desire to move the United States in that direction through walls and tariffs and travel bans, etc.? Did you know that "In God We Trust" was added to paper currency in 1957 to perpetuate the lies of McCarthyism? Did you also know that "under god" was added to the pledge at the same time for the same nationalistic reason?
While Trump's intentions may be pure conjecture on my part, the uncertainty of human actions makes this a difficult time to live with pure convictions. By that, I mean, we (everyone) need to relax our strict definitions of religious edict. We need to be more understanding that there's more than one way to achieve a goal, and that even the smartest of us can't solve our collective problems. Whether this is your holiday or not, take this week to look past the religious veneer of your neighbors. Until we stop caring whether someone has humbled themselves before an invisible god, or attended religious services at Yom Kippur, Easter or Christmas, or fasted during Ramadan, we are doomed to continue the divisiveness born from our collective ignorance. Because, ultimately, the message of all religions is the same: don't be a jerk, and if you were successful at not being a jerk today, then try again tomorrow, and make sure to thank the people who enrich your lives the most. The actions of your goodness speak the loudest, regardless of your upbringing, or your cultural habits, but it takes courage.
"If we had any nerve at all, if we had any real balls as a society, or whatever you need, whatever quality you need, real character, we would make an effort to really address the wrongs in this society, righteously." Jerry Garcia
While my "J" may be different than yours in "WWJD," their logic about humanity frequently overlapped. Because, as Buddha says "No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path."
In the most strict sense of Judaism, the Talmud (Jewish book of law) says that on Rosh Hashana, God inscribes everyone's name into one of three books. The righteous go into the Book of Life, the evil go into the Book of Death, and those in-between have judgment suspended until Yom Kippur. You best attone for your sins that God then writes your fate into the correct book.
Some liberal observations:
No one is 100% good or 100% evil;
Plenty of good people die which flies in the face of a literal interpretation;
By the same virtue, plenty of bad people survive to do horrendous things;
From a scientific vantage point, natural systems are both orderly and, at times, chaotic. Humans, being a part of nature, are no different, and our ability to correctly predict human actions, based on precedent, is immensely difficult if not impossible. Sometimes, the signs are there, whether we see them or not (Stoneman Douglas), and other times, we are caught completely unaware (Las Vegas).
"Sometimes the lights are shining on me, other times I can barely see."
My values, shaped by a Jewish upbringing, but firmly grounded in science, makes me continuously question the self-righteous actions performed by humans in the name of religion. I am no Zionist, and the recent nationalist actions of Israel make me sick, especially the bulldozing of settlements of HUMAN BEINGS in the West Bank. Similarly, it should be obvious that I have no love for the white-supremacist-accepting millionaire, Donald Trump. I don't believe the man is intentionally racist. I do believe that the man doesn't understand anyone without his ethnic and cultural background, and has no interest in trying to. Do I understand that Jewish people in the 1940s were targeted for eradication? Yes. Do I also understand that Israel was established to ensure that a permanent place was available for an outcast people? Yes. Do I also understand that Trump's enthusiasm for Israel may be based on his understanding that a monotheistic society/nation-state with a single dominant religion is possible and it fuels his desire to move the United States in that direction through walls and tariffs and travel bans, etc.? Did you know that "In God We Trust" was added to paper currency in 1957 to perpetuate the lies of McCarthyism? Did you also know that "under god" was added to the pledge at the same time for the same nationalistic reason?
While Trump's intentions may be pure conjecture on my part, the uncertainty of human actions makes this a difficult time to live with pure convictions. By that, I mean, we (everyone) need to relax our strict definitions of religious edict. We need to be more understanding that there's more than one way to achieve a goal, and that even the smartest of us can't solve our collective problems. Whether this is your holiday or not, take this week to look past the religious veneer of your neighbors. Until we stop caring whether someone has humbled themselves before an invisible god, or attended religious services at Yom Kippur, Easter or Christmas, or fasted during Ramadan, we are doomed to continue the divisiveness born from our collective ignorance. Because, ultimately, the message of all religions is the same: don't be a jerk, and if you were successful at not being a jerk today, then try again tomorrow, and make sure to thank the people who enrich your lives the most. The actions of your goodness speak the loudest, regardless of your upbringing, or your cultural habits, but it takes courage.
"If we had any nerve at all, if we had any real balls as a society, or whatever you need, whatever quality you need, real character, we would make an effort to really address the wrongs in this society, righteously." Jerry Garcia
While my "J" may be different than yours in "WWJD," their logic about humanity frequently overlapped. Because, as Buddha says "No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path."
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
The Shakedown
This Labor Day weekend was extremely busy, but also satisfying in several ways: Labor Day tradition (grilling) and familiar outcomes (Phish, music, ramen) spoke the loudest.
As happens every school year, my wife was deep in preparing both our family and her classroom for the first week of school. Quite typically this involves several days in the classroom at the end of the summer even before she officially reports for those no-children, in-service days her contract requires. There's a lot that goes on in that classroom before she's been blessed with around 20 children she'll be required to raise until June of 2019.
Before I get on with my own thoughts, my wife, and her colleagues across the United States will be your child's teacher, therapist, nutritionist, physical trainer, mentor, and, in worst-case scenarios, the first line of defense/first responder whenever something may go wrong for the next 9+ months. And, while her benefits package rivals the more generous ones in corporate America, her salary for someone who has their masters degree, several certifications, and 30 additional credits, is less than half of the take-home of those private industry execs who also have 20 exemplary years at their profession, not to mention that she's working for the same employer. So, add the characteristics of "undying dedication" and "loyalty" to her resume, traits that are deteriorating from work-forces around the country. Hell, they pay the garbage men more than what they pay the person who has volunteered to become a metaphorical and literal human shield for your child. On behalf of her and all of the teachers returning to work this week, you're welcome.
But I digress.
This past Saturday I had arranged for one of my oldest friends, G, to stop by and catch some of the simulcast Phish concert. He came bearing gifts. Firstly, he had mentioned a while ago that he had the opportunity to pick up Dark Star by the David Murray Octet for me. Would I be interested in a Dead-inspired jazz album? Yes please. Murray had played with the band in 1993 introducing a rabid fanbase to his jazz-inspired flourishes on Grateful Dead staples such as Bird Song and Dark Star playing his alto sax. This sits firmly in my wheelhouse of pre-approved music genres: the aforementioned album (Dark Star) is a creative and sometimes cheeky take on your typical Dead set with the eponymous track being the longest, again, strongly emulating what the Dead themselves would do. Speaking of which, the album opens with Shakedown Street, and then Bobby Weir, the rhythm freight train of the Grateful Dead plays on the last track of the album. The circle is complete.
Then, G says, "hey, whatchu know about String Cheese Incident." Told him that, my impression was that it was a jam band, similar to Umphrey's McGee in scope, but with more strings as the name would suggest. Maybe cheese? Told him I wasn't super aware of either. We resorted to the YouTube where we found this gem of a jam from Umphrey's. While it was playing in the background to our old-man-card-game, we continued our conversation, but every once in a while, this band got our attention, especially at 0:17:32 into the video. Holy cow. Unbridled rock. I think I need to do more homework.
Finally, G asks about my experience with Joe Russo's Almost Dead (JRAD). This is a band that's been on my radar for quite some time. The make-up of the band starts with drummer Joe Russo, and includes Ween's bassist Dave Dreiwitz, keyboardist Marco Benevento, Scott Metzger on guitar and vocals, and American Babies' Tom Hamilton on guitar and vocals. The Wife and I had seen Benevento and Russo play together as a duo, with Mike Gordon as a trio, and then with Mike Gordon and Trey Anastasio from Phish (G.R.A.B.?). By themselves, the Benevento/Russo Duo talent pool was deep already. Adding Hamilton, Metzger and Dreiwitz made for an almost certain slam dunk. But, what, you ask, do they play?
The goddam Grateful Dead...primarily.
Shortly after G's visit, he shot me a text with a link to Archive.Org, the end-all-be-all FREE music repository for legally recorded live music. The JRAD show G shared was a recent one from their appearance at the Jam-infused Lockn' Festival and was recorded live on 8/24/2018. Good god they're awesome. Jams are more serious than the proto-typical noodling of Jerry and Co. from the days of old. And, they don't just play the Dead, but, in this set they were able to mix in tracks from The Band and The Bard, and they infused the set with hints of the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Earth Wind and Fire, and Radiohead. There's some serious talent going on. This iteration of this group has been playing since 2013 and are quickly becoming one of the shows I must see...especially if they cap their shows with Feel Like A Stranger into Shakedown Street and back into Feel Like A Stranger. Full show here.
Certainly I can't blame you with thinking that this post may have had something to do with either the President's crony's legal troubles, or the pending release of Bob Woodward's latest book "Fear." However, in times of insanity, of which there are many in this administration, I'm stealin' back to my same old used to be. In times of great turmoil, find comfort in familiar tradition. For me, that's getting my Shakedown on. Proof that I'm doing it right: when the song comes on in any of its many forms (jazz, cover, live recording or studio), both of my kids sing from the back seat. While teachers are the linchpin of our future, some lessons you gotta learn on your own...or from your dad. Don't tell me this town ain't got no heart.
As happens every school year, my wife was deep in preparing both our family and her classroom for the first week of school. Quite typically this involves several days in the classroom at the end of the summer even before she officially reports for those no-children, in-service days her contract requires. There's a lot that goes on in that classroom before she's been blessed with around 20 children she'll be required to raise until June of 2019.
Before I get on with my own thoughts, my wife, and her colleagues across the United States will be your child's teacher, therapist, nutritionist, physical trainer, mentor, and, in worst-case scenarios, the first line of defense/first responder whenever something may go wrong for the next 9+ months. And, while her benefits package rivals the more generous ones in corporate America, her salary for someone who has their masters degree, several certifications, and 30 additional credits, is less than half of the take-home of those private industry execs who also have 20 exemplary years at their profession, not to mention that she's working for the same employer. So, add the characteristics of "undying dedication" and "loyalty" to her resume, traits that are deteriorating from work-forces around the country. Hell, they pay the garbage men more than what they pay the person who has volunteered to become a metaphorical and literal human shield for your child. On behalf of her and all of the teachers returning to work this week, you're welcome.
But I digress.
This past Saturday I had arranged for one of my oldest friends, G, to stop by and catch some of the simulcast Phish concert. He came bearing gifts. Firstly, he had mentioned a while ago that he had the opportunity to pick up Dark Star by the David Murray Octet for me. Would I be interested in a Dead-inspired jazz album? Yes please. Murray had played with the band in 1993 introducing a rabid fanbase to his jazz-inspired flourishes on Grateful Dead staples such as Bird Song and Dark Star playing his alto sax. This sits firmly in my wheelhouse of pre-approved music genres: the aforementioned album (Dark Star) is a creative and sometimes cheeky take on your typical Dead set with the eponymous track being the longest, again, strongly emulating what the Dead themselves would do. Speaking of which, the album opens with Shakedown Street, and then Bobby Weir, the rhythm freight train of the Grateful Dead plays on the last track of the album. The circle is complete.
Then, G says, "hey, whatchu know about String Cheese Incident." Told him that, my impression was that it was a jam band, similar to Umphrey's McGee in scope, but with more strings as the name would suggest. Maybe cheese? Told him I wasn't super aware of either. We resorted to the YouTube where we found this gem of a jam from Umphrey's. While it was playing in the background to our old-man-card-game, we continued our conversation, but every once in a while, this band got our attention, especially at 0:17:32 into the video. Holy cow. Unbridled rock. I think I need to do more homework.
Finally, G asks about my experience with Joe Russo's Almost Dead (JRAD). This is a band that's been on my radar for quite some time. The make-up of the band starts with drummer Joe Russo, and includes Ween's bassist Dave Dreiwitz, keyboardist Marco Benevento, Scott Metzger on guitar and vocals, and American Babies' Tom Hamilton on guitar and vocals. The Wife and I had seen Benevento and Russo play together as a duo, with Mike Gordon as a trio, and then with Mike Gordon and Trey Anastasio from Phish (G.R.A.B.?). By themselves, the Benevento/Russo Duo talent pool was deep already. Adding Hamilton, Metzger and Dreiwitz made for an almost certain slam dunk. But, what, you ask, do they play?
The goddam Grateful Dead...primarily.
Shortly after G's visit, he shot me a text with a link to Archive.Org, the end-all-be-all FREE music repository for legally recorded live music. The JRAD show G shared was a recent one from their appearance at the Jam-infused Lockn' Festival and was recorded live on 8/24/2018. Good god they're awesome. Jams are more serious than the proto-typical noodling of Jerry and Co. from the days of old. And, they don't just play the Dead, but, in this set they were able to mix in tracks from The Band and The Bard, and they infused the set with hints of the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Earth Wind and Fire, and Radiohead. There's some serious talent going on. This iteration of this group has been playing since 2013 and are quickly becoming one of the shows I must see...especially if they cap their shows with Feel Like A Stranger into Shakedown Street and back into Feel Like A Stranger. Full show here.
Certainly I can't blame you with thinking that this post may have had something to do with either the President's crony's legal troubles, or the pending release of Bob Woodward's latest book "Fear." However, in times of insanity, of which there are many in this administration, I'm stealin' back to my same old used to be. In times of great turmoil, find comfort in familiar tradition. For me, that's getting my Shakedown on. Proof that I'm doing it right: when the song comes on in any of its many forms (jazz, cover, live recording or studio), both of my kids sing from the back seat. While teachers are the linchpin of our future, some lessons you gotta learn on your own...or from your dad. Don't tell me this town ain't got no heart.
Thursday, August 23, 2018
We've been warned
Another vacation. Another naturalist. Another warning about climate change, human causation, and political ineptitude from the front lines.
Last week I didn't write a blog post due to the fact that my family and I were on another vacation. Sometimes summer works like that. And, this time it worked heavily in my favor. After beginning the summer in Alaska, we were able to revisit one of our most favorite places in the country: Mount Desert Island (MDI), Maine, home to Bar Harbor, and, more importantly, Acadia National Park.
MDI has many unique characteristics. At 108 square miles, it's the largest island off the coast of Maine, and second largest island on the eastern seaboard. Only Long Island in New York is larger. Wisconsin Glacial retreating, that occurred over 15 thousand years ago, caused the formation of approximately 26 peaks, the tallest of which stands at 1,529 feet...which doesn't sound like much, but mostly because the majority of hikes start at an elevation greater than sea level. Not so with MDI.
Acadia preserves 47,000 acres of land, and in 2017, according to NPS, over 3.5 million visitors...well, visited. Simple math tells us that's over 74 people per acre...if every inch of the park was visited equally, which it's not. Enter Park Loop Road and Sand Beach traffic congestion. Still, like us, the majority of these visitors came between the months of May and September. Why? We're trying to live like the Rockefellers in the early 1900's, and escape the heat and bustle of New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia, etc.
MDI is also home to many migrating bird species. It's smack dab in the middle of the northern part of the Atlantic Flyway, a name given to the geographic area where the majority of bird migration occurs, from Florida and further south (i.e. Cuba, Central and South America) to Maine, Canada and Greenland. And, change is afoot. During my time on MDI, I made it a point to visit with Michael Good. Michael is a jack-of-all trades naturalist with expertise in anything MDI: geology, botany, biology, and ecology, though his passion is birds. Michael has been giving island birding tours since 1993, collecting data and performing quantitative analysis on observed species and he knows nearly every nook and cranny on the island where they may be hiding. During our outing, his warning about man-made environmental change was no different than my guide in Alaska.
"I see chaotic [ecological] fluctuations every year"
One of Michael's messages: everything is connected. During our outing, he made sure to show us where fish ladders have been rebuilt. A concerted effort was made in 2007 to rebuild fish ladders that, historically, allowed alewives access through the tidal streams into the freshwater lakes to spawn. What are alewives? According to the Maine Department of Marine Resources: "Alewives are important to the ecology of freshwater, estuarine, and marine environments. They provide an alternative prey item for osprey, eagles, great blue heron, loons and other fish eating birds at the same time juvenile Atlantic salmon are migrating downriver. Alewives provide cover for upstream migrating adult salmon that may be preyed on by eagles or osprey, and for young salmon in the estuaries and open ocean that might be captured by seals." Alewives are another species that specifically impact both marine and freshwater ecosystems found on MDI. They are essential components of the food chain both in life and death, providing direct nutrients to things that eat them, and indirect nutrients to the lands and water bodies where they decompose.
Which brings me back to birds. Things are changing almost too quickly to document.
"Twenty years ago we had many more Evening Grosbeak and hardly any Northern Cardinals or Canada Geese. Today, no Evening Grosbeak, Cardinals are everywhere and Canada Geese are starting to be seen in every watershed...so the dynamics are changing for sure."
I asked him what were the primary contributors, and he basically said that we have a tremendous job of undoing all of the stupid decisions we've made in the past. "The other aspect of this is how the 'ecologically-illiterate' people of the past and those science and ecology deniers of today, are essentially the product of the 'European Concept of Exploitation' and the absolute misunderstanding of Ecological Systems and how they are tied to our economy." He's speaking of the collective economy, but also of the coastal Maine economy. Unplanned, unsustainable, uninformed human practices, it turns out, is bad for business. Due to over-fishing, the only coastal fishery allowed to operate is lobster. No cod. No haddock. No flounder. No pollock. The Boston Globe reported earlier this year that these staples of traditional New England catches have moved to colder water. Also, the dip in alewives as bait-fish due to poor management practices in addition to years of mismanaging ocean stocks of fish have led to those fish being unsustainable. And they're not done making poor political mistakes with our environment.
Michael puts it this way: "Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife cannot design a free-flowing fish passage for the Union River because of the 70 foot tall Union River Dam. That dam is sucking the life out of Blue Hill bay and nobody... not a single politician is doing anything about it nor have they since 1908. So, we need some good old American Common Sense and some direction that increases our biodiversity."
And, we need it now. The ignorance shown by our politicians where natural systems are regarded is mind boggling. On a page that our Cheeto-In-Chief hasn't found yet, NASA.GOV, the statement is quite plain: "Observations throughout the world make it clear that climate change is occurring, and rigorous scientific research demonstrates that the greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are the primary driver." This on a page named Scientific Consensus. The 18 organizations listed on that page seem disconnected to you and me...which is why we need to heed the warnings from scientists like Michael Good, and the work that Down East Nature Tours is doing. It's not too late to vote in environmentally responsible representation. And, as I've mentioned before, it's not too late to change personal habits with regard to our choices of light bulbs and ensuring that we're not contributing to the waste problem that single-use plastic bags presents. "Now that you mentioned Cuba [above, ed.] you better tie in the plastics issues because the beaches of Cuba are covered by plastic." Thanks Michael. I guess I now know where I need to visit next before we've permanently destroyed those too.
Last week I didn't write a blog post due to the fact that my family and I were on another vacation. Sometimes summer works like that. And, this time it worked heavily in my favor. After beginning the summer in Alaska, we were able to revisit one of our most favorite places in the country: Mount Desert Island (MDI), Maine, home to Bar Harbor, and, more importantly, Acadia National Park.
MDI has many unique characteristics. At 108 square miles, it's the largest island off the coast of Maine, and second largest island on the eastern seaboard. Only Long Island in New York is larger. Wisconsin Glacial retreating, that occurred over 15 thousand years ago, caused the formation of approximately 26 peaks, the tallest of which stands at 1,529 feet...which doesn't sound like much, but mostly because the majority of hikes start at an elevation greater than sea level. Not so with MDI.
Acadia preserves 47,000 acres of land, and in 2017, according to NPS, over 3.5 million visitors...well, visited. Simple math tells us that's over 74 people per acre...if every inch of the park was visited equally, which it's not. Enter Park Loop Road and Sand Beach traffic congestion. Still, like us, the majority of these visitors came between the months of May and September. Why? We're trying to live like the Rockefellers in the early 1900's, and escape the heat and bustle of New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia, etc.
MDI is also home to many migrating bird species. It's smack dab in the middle of the northern part of the Atlantic Flyway, a name given to the geographic area where the majority of bird migration occurs, from Florida and further south (i.e. Cuba, Central and South America) to Maine, Canada and Greenland. And, change is afoot. During my time on MDI, I made it a point to visit with Michael Good. Michael is a jack-of-all trades naturalist with expertise in anything MDI: geology, botany, biology, and ecology, though his passion is birds. Michael has been giving island birding tours since 1993, collecting data and performing quantitative analysis on observed species and he knows nearly every nook and cranny on the island where they may be hiding. During our outing, his warning about man-made environmental change was no different than my guide in Alaska.
"I see chaotic [ecological] fluctuations every year"
One of Michael's messages: everything is connected. During our outing, he made sure to show us where fish ladders have been rebuilt. A concerted effort was made in 2007 to rebuild fish ladders that, historically, allowed alewives access through the tidal streams into the freshwater lakes to spawn. What are alewives? According to the Maine Department of Marine Resources: "Alewives are important to the ecology of freshwater, estuarine, and marine environments. They provide an alternative prey item for osprey, eagles, great blue heron, loons and other fish eating birds at the same time juvenile Atlantic salmon are migrating downriver. Alewives provide cover for upstream migrating adult salmon that may be preyed on by eagles or osprey, and for young salmon in the estuaries and open ocean that might be captured by seals." Alewives are another species that specifically impact both marine and freshwater ecosystems found on MDI. They are essential components of the food chain both in life and death, providing direct nutrients to things that eat them, and indirect nutrients to the lands and water bodies where they decompose.
Which brings me back to birds. Things are changing almost too quickly to document.
"Twenty years ago we had many more Evening Grosbeak and hardly any Northern Cardinals or Canada Geese. Today, no Evening Grosbeak, Cardinals are everywhere and Canada Geese are starting to be seen in every watershed...so the dynamics are changing for sure."
I asked him what were the primary contributors, and he basically said that we have a tremendous job of undoing all of the stupid decisions we've made in the past. "The other aspect of this is how the 'ecologically-illiterate' people of the past and those science and ecology deniers of today, are essentially the product of the 'European Concept of Exploitation' and the absolute misunderstanding of Ecological Systems and how they are tied to our economy." He's speaking of the collective economy, but also of the coastal Maine economy. Unplanned, unsustainable, uninformed human practices, it turns out, is bad for business. Due to over-fishing, the only coastal fishery allowed to operate is lobster. No cod. No haddock. No flounder. No pollock. The Boston Globe reported earlier this year that these staples of traditional New England catches have moved to colder water. Also, the dip in alewives as bait-fish due to poor management practices in addition to years of mismanaging ocean stocks of fish have led to those fish being unsustainable. And they're not done making poor political mistakes with our environment.
Michael puts it this way: "Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife cannot design a free-flowing fish passage for the Union River because of the 70 foot tall Union River Dam. That dam is sucking the life out of Blue Hill bay and nobody... not a single politician is doing anything about it nor have they since 1908. So, we need some good old American Common Sense and some direction that increases our biodiversity."
And, we need it now. The ignorance shown by our politicians where natural systems are regarded is mind boggling. On a page that our Cheeto-In-Chief hasn't found yet, NASA.GOV, the statement is quite plain: "Observations throughout the world make it clear that climate change is occurring, and rigorous scientific research demonstrates that the greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are the primary driver." This on a page named Scientific Consensus. The 18 organizations listed on that page seem disconnected to you and me...which is why we need to heed the warnings from scientists like Michael Good, and the work that Down East Nature Tours is doing. It's not too late to vote in environmentally responsible representation. And, as I've mentioned before, it's not too late to change personal habits with regard to our choices of light bulbs and ensuring that we're not contributing to the waste problem that single-use plastic bags presents. "Now that you mentioned Cuba [above, ed.] you better tie in the plastics issues because the beaches of Cuba are covered by plastic." Thanks Michael. I guess I now know where I need to visit next before we've permanently destroyed those too.
Friday, August 3, 2018
Hummable Brag
This post is mostly about my victory against the man! In this case, the man is fictional, but that doesn't matter. A little history:
On Wednesday night, my wife, my friends and I shuffled off to Port Chester, New York to catch one of our favorite musicians play in the small bar, Garcia's. Keller Williams, who has long covered music of the Grateful Dead intertwined with his own tunes, was scheduled to play all Dead/Jerry Garcia covers on August 1st. Why? It was Jerry's (or would have been) 76th birthday. It's been a while since he's passed. Jerry died from a heart attack at age 53 in 1995. What's significant about that is, due to the number of narcotics he experimented/depended on during his career as a musician, 53 is longer than he probably should have lived, especially after surviving a diabetic coma and other debilitating conditions.
Jerry did well to live that long.
But, for those of us who believe that he was an incredible musician and lyricist, we depend on others to continue to bring us his music; enter Keller Williams. Now, before I go on, it should be noted that Keller has zero to do with the realty agency. Just a coincidence. Keller performs his own original compositions along with other tracks he appreciates, and he has (nearly) always included Grateful Dead music in his shows, regardless of whether he's performing solo or as part of a larger musical ensemble.
When announced in April that he was going to play this show, my group jumped on the opportunity to grab tickets. And, sure enough, they evaporated as Garcia's is a small venue, and have been sold out since the beginning of May. They even added a second show. That sold out too. Fast forward to earlier this week as the concert fast approached: organizers of the event surprised all of us when they announced that, due to the sell out, they would be simulcasting the show, for free, on the YouTube. Hurray! Friends, unable to grab tickets, would be able to see the show anyway! Also, this presented a unique opportunity.
I'm a bit of a collector of music, specifically music I've seen. At previous Keller shows, I've even gone to the soundboard operator, master of Keller's domain, Lou Gosain, and asked if a copy of the live show would be made available for purchase. The answer was always no. Sure, at some venues, Keller's peeps allowed for tapers to bring their own mics and record the performance, complete with audience noise/chatter, but I was looking for something a bit cleaner, a soundboard copy. And, this time, I was able to get it.
Because they used YouTube, I thought the video of the show would remain on there for a bit. Turns out, that was true. The show, in its entirety, is still up on YouTube. So, how to get it off. Well, the first order of business was to grab the show/download it, just in case it disappeared. While you can load a mess of plug-ins to Chrome, I was doubtful that there would be one so that you could locally save videos since both Chrome and YouTube are properties of Google. Enter Firefox. I added the extension, and a button appeared just below the video: would you like to download this in HD 720p? Yes please.
Now that I had the file, I would need some audio-processing software and MP3-ripping software as well. Enter Audacity. Audacity is FREE and powerful. It allows you to record from your mic, but more importantly, directly from your soundcard in your computer. I was able to play back the show I just downloaded and simultaneously record just the audio track without degradation. Then, Audacity allows you to split the file into individual tracks, normalize the volume, and batch (read: do multiple) save the resultant tracks into individual MP3 files complete with artist/album metadata!
DONE AND DONE.
What I was left with was a near-CD quality show, certainly good enough for car listening, that I could upload to my iPhone without streaming, and relisten to a board-copy of one of the most fun concerts I've been to in a while! Where there's a will there's a way. Now, there may be a reason why Keller's people, and possibly the venue's administration, why this wasn't or wouldn't be made available. But, as it was a free show, one I don't intend on selling for my own profit, I don't think I'm breaking any copyright laws. I may be wrong, but at least when they lock me up, I'll be in my cell with Keller's own brand of bittersweet, folk rock, for free!
P.S. If you tune into the YouTube video (music starts at 14:09), it's practically an advertisement for my wife, who is heavily featured in every song due to the fact that she was tempted to jump onto the stage and hug Keller the entire night. Luckily, cooler heads prevailed. Yes, I'm confident in the strength of my marriage, I think.
On Wednesday night, my wife, my friends and I shuffled off to Port Chester, New York to catch one of our favorite musicians play in the small bar, Garcia's. Keller Williams, who has long covered music of the Grateful Dead intertwined with his own tunes, was scheduled to play all Dead/Jerry Garcia covers on August 1st. Why? It was Jerry's (or would have been) 76th birthday. It's been a while since he's passed. Jerry died from a heart attack at age 53 in 1995. What's significant about that is, due to the number of narcotics he experimented/depended on during his career as a musician, 53 is longer than he probably should have lived, especially after surviving a diabetic coma and other debilitating conditions.
Jerry did well to live that long.
But, for those of us who believe that he was an incredible musician and lyricist, we depend on others to continue to bring us his music; enter Keller Williams. Now, before I go on, it should be noted that Keller has zero to do with the realty agency. Just a coincidence. Keller performs his own original compositions along with other tracks he appreciates, and he has (nearly) always included Grateful Dead music in his shows, regardless of whether he's performing solo or as part of a larger musical ensemble.
When announced in April that he was going to play this show, my group jumped on the opportunity to grab tickets. And, sure enough, they evaporated as Garcia's is a small venue, and have been sold out since the beginning of May. They even added a second show. That sold out too. Fast forward to earlier this week as the concert fast approached: organizers of the event surprised all of us when they announced that, due to the sell out, they would be simulcasting the show, for free, on the YouTube. Hurray! Friends, unable to grab tickets, would be able to see the show anyway! Also, this presented a unique opportunity.
I'm a bit of a collector of music, specifically music I've seen. At previous Keller shows, I've even gone to the soundboard operator, master of Keller's domain, Lou Gosain, and asked if a copy of the live show would be made available for purchase. The answer was always no. Sure, at some venues, Keller's peeps allowed for tapers to bring their own mics and record the performance, complete with audience noise/chatter, but I was looking for something a bit cleaner, a soundboard copy. And, this time, I was able to get it.
Because they used YouTube, I thought the video of the show would remain on there for a bit. Turns out, that was true. The show, in its entirety, is still up on YouTube. So, how to get it off. Well, the first order of business was to grab the show/download it, just in case it disappeared. While you can load a mess of plug-ins to Chrome, I was doubtful that there would be one so that you could locally save videos since both Chrome and YouTube are properties of Google. Enter Firefox. I added the extension, and a button appeared just below the video: would you like to download this in HD 720p? Yes please.
Now that I had the file, I would need some audio-processing software and MP3-ripping software as well. Enter Audacity. Audacity is FREE and powerful. It allows you to record from your mic, but more importantly, directly from your soundcard in your computer. I was able to play back the show I just downloaded and simultaneously record just the audio track without degradation. Then, Audacity allows you to split the file into individual tracks, normalize the volume, and batch (read: do multiple) save the resultant tracks into individual MP3 files complete with artist/album metadata!
DONE AND DONE.
What I was left with was a near-CD quality show, certainly good enough for car listening, that I could upload to my iPhone without streaming, and relisten to a board-copy of one of the most fun concerts I've been to in a while! Where there's a will there's a way. Now, there may be a reason why Keller's people, and possibly the venue's administration, why this wasn't or wouldn't be made available. But, as it was a free show, one I don't intend on selling for my own profit, I don't think I'm breaking any copyright laws. I may be wrong, but at least when they lock me up, I'll be in my cell with Keller's own brand of bittersweet, folk rock, for free!
P.S. If you tune into the YouTube video (music starts at 14:09), it's practically an advertisement for my wife, who is heavily featured in every song due to the fact that she was tempted to jump onto the stage and hug Keller the entire night. Luckily, cooler heads prevailed. Yes, I'm confident in the strength of my marriage, I think.
Thursday, July 26, 2018
Sleight of Hand Done Poorly
The infidelities of the President and his attempts at keeping them under wraps are doing exactly what he wants them to do: distract. Seemingly, every time there's a serious charge leveled against this President, something trivial is exposed which then dominates the easily distracted news media, desperate to report anything that would besmirch the man's already less-than-stellar reputation.
For the Trump team the play is now: distract from disastrous economic and foreign policy by instructing your "fixer" to play the role one last time. Serve your master and release the tapes! Amazing that, as we learn more about Russian influence in our collective political sphere, Cohen (through his lawyer) releases a tape with a recording so ambiguous that both the extreme left and paranoid right claim that it proves their point/s.
Pay no attention to the meeting with Putin or the admission that Russia acted as a bad international agent in our political lives...they didn't, they did, they didn't again, they did but in the favor of the Dems. Trump's constantly changing allegiances stems from the fact that he's a single puppet being used by so many ill-intentioned puppeteers. What, I've said too much? Change the subject!!! Russian spy who slept with ugly NRA members caught? RELEASE THE TAPE and watch the media swarm all over it for days using every word in Webster's dictionary and saying nothing.
Butina, like communism, is just a red herring.
While this administration dismantles our education system, our environmental restrictions (see: clean air, endangered species list, reclamation of national monuments for profiteering), puts money back into the pockets of the filthy rich while condemning our national debt to drop like school child hit by an AR-15 round, the media is frothing over the fact that our President paid $250,000 to get laid twice! Great businessman indeed! #notnews #bankruptethics (see: Atlantic City, NJ)
Look, how many American born traveling abroad were captured by an oppressive nation that then claimed they were spies? Working in full view of anyone caring to pay attention, Butina does qualify as acting suspiciously, more because of her ability to win both games: Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon and Six Degrees of Vladimir Putin in three or less connections. Still, she wasn't hiding! Anything! Have at her CNN, MSNBC, WashPo...and while you're distracted let's really eff things up.
Enter Betsy DeVos stage right. She's wearing a coordinated business skirt-suit and her traditional wireframe glasses. She walks to the podium in the center of the stage and begins speaking in a whisper:
BETSY [muttering]: "students taken advantage of by colleges will no longer be able to find loan relief from the Federal Government..."
MEDIA [collectively]: "SPEAK UP!"
BETSY: "Release the footage of my boat."
MEDIA: "Hey, look what they did to Betsy's boat! Our top story tonight, billionaire Betsy DeVos may find herself in an insurance pickle as someone undocked her $40 million yacht which then sustained...wait for it...you're not going to believe it, between $5,000 and $10,000 in damages."
MEDIA: "RUN THIS ON ALL CHANNELS FOR 10 HOURS STRAIGHT!!!"
End scene, except it's not.
I'm not saying that stories about how Trump campaign funds were used as hush money for exotic dancers and playmates aren't peripherally important. What I am saying is that Cohen, Daniels, McDougal, Butina are nothing better than media fodder. Ask Clinton. Ask JFK. While infidelity sells, it's hardly the most important story about what our President and his administration are doing to this country, and it makes the progenitor of these slight-of-hand stories seem, to quote Ray Stantz, Ghostbuster, 1984, "either the architect [of these distracting news stories] was a certified genius, or an authentic whacko!"
All of the above is to say: stay focused on attacks of actual policy that impact our citizenry (Farmers, this is you!) Make no mistake, the 24hr "news" headlines are being used, on purpose or inadvertently, to distract us from real policy change and legislation meant to promote the agenda of our puppet-in-chief, who, with all the hands up there, is bound to get ripped a new one...eventually. Paging Dr. Mueller...Dr. Mueller, it's time for a political caputque abscisum.
For the Trump team the play is now: distract from disastrous economic and foreign policy by instructing your "fixer" to play the role one last time. Serve your master and release the tapes! Amazing that, as we learn more about Russian influence in our collective political sphere, Cohen (through his lawyer) releases a tape with a recording so ambiguous that both the extreme left and paranoid right claim that it proves their point/s.
Pay no attention to the meeting with Putin or the admission that Russia acted as a bad international agent in our political lives...they didn't, they did, they didn't again, they did but in the favor of the Dems. Trump's constantly changing allegiances stems from the fact that he's a single puppet being used by so many ill-intentioned puppeteers. What, I've said too much? Change the subject!!! Russian spy who slept with ugly NRA members caught? RELEASE THE TAPE and watch the media swarm all over it for days using every word in Webster's dictionary and saying nothing.
Butina, like communism, is just a red herring.
While this administration dismantles our education system, our environmental restrictions (see: clean air, endangered species list, reclamation of national monuments for profiteering), puts money back into the pockets of the filthy rich while condemning our national debt to drop like school child hit by an AR-15 round, the media is frothing over the fact that our President paid $250,000 to get laid twice! Great businessman indeed! #notnews #bankruptethics (see: Atlantic City, NJ)
Look, how many American born traveling abroad were captured by an oppressive nation that then claimed they were spies? Working in full view of anyone caring to pay attention, Butina does qualify as acting suspiciously, more because of her ability to win both games: Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon and Six Degrees of Vladimir Putin in three or less connections. Still, she wasn't hiding! Anything! Have at her CNN, MSNBC, WashPo...and while you're distracted let's really eff things up.
Enter Betsy DeVos stage right. She's wearing a coordinated business skirt-suit and her traditional wireframe glasses. She walks to the podium in the center of the stage and begins speaking in a whisper:
BETSY [muttering]: "students taken advantage of by colleges will no longer be able to find loan relief from the Federal Government..."
MEDIA [collectively]: "SPEAK UP!"
BETSY: "Release the footage of my boat."
MEDIA: "Hey, look what they did to Betsy's boat! Our top story tonight, billionaire Betsy DeVos may find herself in an insurance pickle as someone undocked her $40 million yacht which then sustained...wait for it...you're not going to believe it, between $5,000 and $10,000 in damages."
MEDIA: "RUN THIS ON ALL CHANNELS FOR 10 HOURS STRAIGHT!!!"
End scene, except it's not.
I'm not saying that stories about how Trump campaign funds were used as hush money for exotic dancers and playmates aren't peripherally important. What I am saying is that Cohen, Daniels, McDougal, Butina are nothing better than media fodder. Ask Clinton. Ask JFK. While infidelity sells, it's hardly the most important story about what our President and his administration are doing to this country, and it makes the progenitor of these slight-of-hand stories seem, to quote Ray Stantz, Ghostbuster, 1984, "either the architect [of these distracting news stories] was a certified genius, or an authentic whacko!"
All of the above is to say: stay focused on attacks of actual policy that impact our citizenry (Farmers, this is you!) Make no mistake, the 24hr "news" headlines are being used, on purpose or inadvertently, to distract us from real policy change and legislation meant to promote the agenda of our puppet-in-chief, who, with all the hands up there, is bound to get ripped a new one...eventually. Paging Dr. Mueller...Dr. Mueller, it's time for a political caputque abscisum.
Thursday, July 19, 2018
Alaskan Straws
It's been two weeks since I've written here because, last week and the week before, my family took a trip from the great state of NJ to Alaska by way of Seattle. You may think that this is a "sky is falling" point of view, but the intent was to get our kids to see a glacier before it was gone. I don't care if you believe in global warming, but the glaciers do, and they're receding at an unprecedented state. That's math and that's science and it's measurable and shut-up. Hell, the latest trend, and I fully support it, is the removal of the defalt, non-compostable, plastic straw. Unless you're differently abled, you will survive without them. Trust me. It'll be OK.
Other goals on this trip that were vocalized by the kids and us was to: pan for gold, cuddle with sled-dog puppies, and see orcas. Based on the time of year and the geography of the region we were covering, none of these things were out of the realm of possibility. And off we went.
I'll start by saying that we're not a cruise family. We tend to enjoy the potential of stops/visits that weren't planned. For instance, we stumbled upon the Henry Cowell State Park in California on our last day as we traveled back to San Francisco from Monterey Bay a couple years ago. That park was amazing. So, you can imagine that the boat, at times, felt constraining. The kids felt it too, though, less so as they were more likely to brave the 60 degree temps and hit the (slightly) heated pools on the top deck.
However, as you can imagine, the best parts were when we were off the ship. Excursions, though overpriced, were rewarding. The kids got their sled-dog puppy cuddling time and visited with dogs that ran the iditarod. Cool. We did pan for gold, and after spending $130 for the honor, we made about $32 back in found gold flakes. The orca hunt was less successful. Didn't see a one. I'm sure they were there, smiling as we looked the wrong way...or maybe it was because we were so distracted with the humpbacks.
Oh yes. By far, my best time was on a small 12-person boat in the Inner Passage with guide, captain and other guests, searching the surf for surfacing whales (say that 5 times fast). And we hit the jackpot. After chasing a very specific whale for about 30 minutes, our captain moved further south where she guessed others would be...and how! For about an hour, we witnessed approximately 10 whales, together, surfacing and spouting, and diving. My pictures won't/don't do the experience justice, mostly because, what made the moment special was the knowledge shared by our guide during the trip. Jim was an expert and a photographer and a gear-head, and it was an absolute pleasure having him lead our group for the 6 hours we were together.
But, towards the end of the trip, Jim's patter started matching my own message I was trying to deliver to the kids: this stuff is disappearing. Why are the whales there? Because herring are abundant. Why are herring abundant? Because krill is abundant. And, why is krill abundant? Because of the nutrients found in the waters in that part of the world. And, where do those nutrients come from? Minerals smashed during the process of glacial ice movement towards the sea and the eventual mixing of the fresh and salt waters combined with rich mineral deposits.
And where are the glaciers going?
This is not trivial stuff...because, the more whales thrive, the more species thrive that feed on either whales (read: sharks, crabs, bottom feeders, etc.) or whale poop (read: kelp, krill, more shellfish and bottom feeders). When the whales disappear or even diminish in numbers, other species will become unsustainable...which will eventually mean that our food sources from the oceans will go with them. This is not alarmist, this is scientific proven fact. The human species is messing with the food-chain and the natural order of the world can't correct it quickly enough.
My hope is that, in 10 or 20 years, my kids will remember this trip enough to say: "Yes, I was able to see the glaciers and the whales before they disappeared...and do you really need that disposable plastic straw?"
Other goals on this trip that were vocalized by the kids and us was to: pan for gold, cuddle with sled-dog puppies, and see orcas. Based on the time of year and the geography of the region we were covering, none of these things were out of the realm of possibility. And off we went.
I'll start by saying that we're not a cruise family. We tend to enjoy the potential of stops/visits that weren't planned. For instance, we stumbled upon the Henry Cowell State Park in California on our last day as we traveled back to San Francisco from Monterey Bay a couple years ago. That park was amazing. So, you can imagine that the boat, at times, felt constraining. The kids felt it too, though, less so as they were more likely to brave the 60 degree temps and hit the (slightly) heated pools on the top deck.
However, as you can imagine, the best parts were when we were off the ship. Excursions, though overpriced, were rewarding. The kids got their sled-dog puppy cuddling time and visited with dogs that ran the iditarod. Cool. We did pan for gold, and after spending $130 for the honor, we made about $32 back in found gold flakes. The orca hunt was less successful. Didn't see a one. I'm sure they were there, smiling as we looked the wrong way...or maybe it was because we were so distracted with the humpbacks.
Oh yes. By far, my best time was on a small 12-person boat in the Inner Passage with guide, captain and other guests, searching the surf for surfacing whales (say that 5 times fast). And we hit the jackpot. After chasing a very specific whale for about 30 minutes, our captain moved further south where she guessed others would be...and how! For about an hour, we witnessed approximately 10 whales, together, surfacing and spouting, and diving. My pictures won't/don't do the experience justice, mostly because, what made the moment special was the knowledge shared by our guide during the trip. Jim was an expert and a photographer and a gear-head, and it was an absolute pleasure having him lead our group for the 6 hours we were together.
But, towards the end of the trip, Jim's patter started matching my own message I was trying to deliver to the kids: this stuff is disappearing. Why are the whales there? Because herring are abundant. Why are herring abundant? Because krill is abundant. And, why is krill abundant? Because of the nutrients found in the waters in that part of the world. And, where do those nutrients come from? Minerals smashed during the process of glacial ice movement towards the sea and the eventual mixing of the fresh and salt waters combined with rich mineral deposits.
And where are the glaciers going?
This is not trivial stuff...because, the more whales thrive, the more species thrive that feed on either whales (read: sharks, crabs, bottom feeders, etc.) or whale poop (read: kelp, krill, more shellfish and bottom feeders). When the whales disappear or even diminish in numbers, other species will become unsustainable...which will eventually mean that our food sources from the oceans will go with them. This is not alarmist, this is scientific proven fact. The human species is messing with the food-chain and the natural order of the world can't correct it quickly enough.
My hope is that, in 10 or 20 years, my kids will remember this trip enough to say: "Yes, I was able to see the glaciers and the whales before they disappeared...and do you really need that disposable plastic straw?"
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