Park-ing Safely

The headline this morning is that an “apartment building”size piece of granite cleaved from the side of El Capitan in the middle of the afternoon yesterday, immediately killing one visitor and severely injuring another.  Reports from visitors indicate that others, who were hiking at the base of the popular mountain face, may be buried under tons of rubble. 

Most terrifying is that, I’ve been on that path at the mountain's base.  In February of 2010, I specifically sought out that trail as it has a magnificent view at 6:30am toward Eagle Peak…and due to global warming, there was enough snowmelt that it created...wait, rather than waste 1,000 words...

In this shot, El Capitan is just to the left of us.  So, it's alarming to hear that people, no more or less experienced than me, suffered at the completely random rock-fall in a place that I visited.

And I'd go back in a heartbeat. 

If you have been following this story from yesterday's news, or you merely Googled it now, you'll know that almost every media agency is covering what happened in one of the most visited National Parks in the United States.  But let me tell you what they're not: you have a far greater chance of being struck by lightning than dying in this fashion.  

In a recent article in Outside Magazine, Yosemite isn't even the most deadly of our National Parks.  That title goes to Lake Mead.  The added attraction of a navigable lake adds drownings to the total of people who bit the big one there.  Also, for some reason, Lake Mead has the highest number of homicides in the National Park system, and that's just creepy.  But, drownings are the number one killer in National Parks according to the WashPo, followed by our own idiot piloting of vehicles.  The Post credits our rubber-necking at the scenic views as the cause for 27% of fatal auto accidents in the parks. 

The long and the short of it is that deaths in National Parks is largely due to our own stupidity, whether it's because we're ignoring signs to stay on the path, or because we need to get the perfect shot and slip.  To combat this, here's some advice:

• Practice safe boating and only swim in designated areas by the Parks.  There's a reason why you shouldn't just go off and do your own thing without life jackets.  If they recommend safety devices, take a hint.
• If it's a truly scenic view, the Park knows this, and usually provides decent pull-offs convenient for getting out and stretching your legs and taking a quick shot or glance.  If the first one is full, drive to the next one, or be patient and wait.  Don't worry, the scenery isn't going anywhere.
• Know your Park and read up on paths/trails that may be dangerous or outside of your comfort zone.  Sure the Precipice Trail in Acadia seems like a good idea, but don't expect guard rails and stairs built into the rock-face.  The wilderness is not necessarily ADA accessible, and shouldn't be.  
• Hike, travel, boat at your own pace.  As the NY Times puts it, we are reaching near capacity of visitors at some of our parks, but don't let them push you up the hill or down.  Do your own thing, and stay safe. 
• And, maybe the best advice of all, go off season.  Our park system is beautiful year-round.  However, if you decide to visit, avoid months of high travel.  That usually means August in the U.S., but can also bleed into seasons that boast fall foliage.  Since the parks never close, there will be basic amenities 365 days a year like restaurants and lodging.  Take advantage of that.  And, if you do wind up at a park during peak season, be the first person in that park in the AM.  If you can get in before the crowds, you'll avoid the pushing and shoving at the more common points-of-interest.

Most of all, don't let headlines like the recent ones in Yosemite cause you to change your plans.  If anything, due to global warming, these resources are in the midst of change, and not for the better.  The best time to visit the National Parks is whenever you have the ability to get there.  I dread the day when I may have to tell my children that they used to have glaciers in Glacier National Park.  So, go now, and be safe!

Unnatural Disasters

So, I've been confused for a long time.  It started with reports that school districts in the U.S. were considering and even teaching creationism in the classroom, as opposed to evolution.  That was upsetting on multiple fronts.  First, I'm a huge believer in separation of church and state.  I know that the crossover happens much more often than should be allowed, but, in the most Republican way, I believe that the government should stay out of people's lives, i.e. my religious beliefs.  While tolerance is often preached as being an integral part of the Declaration of Independence and religious freedoms being part of the 1st Amendment of the Constitution, it would make the most sense to include all or none.  Creationism, while popular, is certainly taught from a singular perspective.

Fast forward to the last ten or twenty years when scientists who measure climate statistics started noticing an uneasy trend.  Things are getting warmer.  In fact, on maybe the only U.S. Government page left, NASA reports that approximately 97% of scientists agree: climate warming trends are almost certainly due to human activities.  And, while most Americans agree that Climate Change is a thing...most don't think it will affect them in any way.

Wait, what?

That's like saying, yeah, I know I'm spending more every day, but it's really not going to hit me in the bank account.  It just doesn't make sense.

Well, I've got good news and bad news.  The good news is that there's some definitive proof that climate change can and will impact you and your families.  The bad news is that...hey, how about all of them hurricanes?

That's right, global warming is linked to the recent devastating hurricanes to hit Caribbean, Mexican and American shores.  A 2007 article in Scientific American explains it best: atmospheric disturbances off of the west coast of central Africa set up by temperature differences between inland desert and forested coastal regions combined with warm (i.e. late summer in the Northern Hemisphere) sea surface temperatures determine the size and intensity of hurricanes as those systems cross the Atlantic.  As previously stated, humans have been releasing additional CO2 from fossil fuels and water vapor which elevates the potential for deadlier storms.  The warmer it is, the more potentially dangerous the hurricane.

And we've been on an upward trajectory with global temperatures for the last 200 years, or since the industrial revolution.

What bothers me are the people who discount the science.  I mean, climate science is so easy to research.  Things like rainfall and daily temperatures have been recorded for well over 150 years.  The number of intense hurricanes has been tracked since the 1970s, and all have been reported on in local and regional papers.  Climate change isn't a conspiracy, because, by definition, conspiracies are secretive acts, and in the case for Global Warming, we've been living the data for years and years.

The same people who deny climate change are the same ones who take Advil for a headache, a medication based on clinical scientific tests and an understanding of physiology, drive cars that use heat-resistant materials for internal combustion engines, and cell phones that send and receive radio signals, invisible to the naked eye that can transmit photos to and from anywhere in the world!

Here are the indisputable facts: humans are making things warmer which in turn results in not only stronger hurricanes, but proclivity for wild fires and droughts (see: California).  But, what can you do?  It turns out, you can do quite a bit.  Here's some suggestions:

• Eat less meat...or no meat at all.  Beef production alone is responsible for 2.2% of greenhouse gas production in the US (read: cow farts)
• Change your lightbulbs to energy efficient LEDs.  They're finally affordable and recyclable.
• Invest in renewable energy production.  You have a choice.  Here in PSE&G you can choose to pay for the CleanPower Choice program.  Yes, slightly higher bill, but you're reducing your footprint.
• Drive a more fuel efficient vehicle, or take mass transit.  Duh.
• Wash clothes in cold water and do not use the heat setting on your dishwasher.  Hot = energy.
• And, recycle.  Stop throwing away any containers with a number on it.  In my town, they take recycle numbers 1-6 which covers 99% of all plastic refuse.  And just stop taking plastic bags when you go shopping.  Bring your own.  

Collectively, if we all are cognizant of our own unsustainable habits, we may be able to significantly curtail our contributions to greenhouse gas emissions, which in turn may be able to help stabilize the global temperatures and, possibly reduce the possibility of these destructive natural disasters, which, are clearly, no longer "natural."

Sportsing with the Pats

(Note: the following is 100% football. If that's not your thing you should probably tune out in 3...2...1...)

It's really difficult to focus on Don Jr.'s weak reasoning for lying about why he met the Russians last Summer when there's football on TV.  Say what you want about a sport where each team plays a measly 16 regular season games over 4 months and then (most of them) are done until next September, I'm hooked.  But, maybe that's why American Football is so damn alluring and popular as a sport: every meeting matters.

Which is why last night's game was so satisfying.  It's easy to dislike the Patriots when you're from the New York metropolitan area.  Frankly, any team that's been to the "big game" as often should draw ire and consternation from those (read: Philadelphia, et. al.) who have never been and won.  So, unless you're from New England, it makes sense that last night, during the regular season's first game between the Patriots and the Chiefs, that most people would be rooting for the Chiefs...but picking the Patriots to win due to history.

Except for me.  I picked the Chiefs.  I was right, and oh, and how sweet it was.

I didn't really care what the score was as long as the Pats lost.  Why?  Every year, a player who was a fantastic performer last season gets featured on the Madden videogame cover.  This year Madden was adorned with an image of Tom Brady...the G.O.A.T. edition: Greatest Of All Time.  That's a pretty bold statement.  I understand that only one other player has been on five Super Bowl winning teams...and he's the only one to do that on the same team.  He's been named MVP of the Super Bowl four times...more than anyone else, ever.  And, in the post-season, he's 25 wins, 9 losses for the best record ever.

The team has never lost their first game back after a Super Bowl win...until last night.

So, why am I so happy with last night's result?  First, Tom's been to 2 more Bowl games than he won...both times defeated by the NY Giants, so he's a natural enemy to both New York teams as the JETS are in the same AFC East division with the Pats.  Second, they made such a huge deal before the game started last night, having Mark Wahlberg narrate scenes from last February's game where they came back from the largest deficit to win, ever.  They wheeled out 5 massive replicas of the Super Bowl trophies, and they unveiled a fifth banner to hang in the stadium representing the unlikely win.  The crowd was foaming at the mouth, waiting for their Football God to take the field and rip the Chiefs a new one.

Early in the game, it looked as if that was going to happen.  Chiefs fumbled on their first possession setting the Pats up for another quick score (which didn't happen, thanks to Kansas City's stalwart defense).  But the Patriots were driving and moving the ball well in the first half.  They went to the locker room with a 3 point lead at 17-14.  However, when they came back, Tom was largely impotent with nary a touchdown pass thrown.  The final score of the game was 42-27, Chiefs.  Alex Smith, rookie Kareem Hunt and his wide receiver, Tyreek Hill were able to maul the Patriots defense late in the third quarter and early in the fourth.  The Patriots defense was porous at best. And thanks to sub-standard play by the Super Bowl champions, the Chiefs won.  "Where is your messiah now?"

I believe each player going into that game last night, Pats and Chiefs, were not exclusively thinking of their last year's performance.  No coach would encourage their players to coast on previous successes, and each player should have been living in the moment.  But, with the fanfare before the game, and the public expectation of greatness, I'm sure the Patriots embodied some lingering expectation of greatness, it was fantastic that they crashed and burned.  Oh, I'm sure that they'll recover.  Coach Belichick will fix what's broken, that's what he does.  However, the team will have to start week two preparations with one more record for the record books, thanks to the Chiefs: most points scored against the Patriots in a regular season game under Coach Belichick's purview.

G.O.A.T. indeed.

Thoughts

I would like to post about how the President's tax plan is nothing more than a tax-break for the filthy rich.

I would like to post about how even George Bush wrapped up all other pending business in the wake of Katrina so that he could focus on disaster.

I would like to criticize those who asked "Where was Obama during Katrina."  In Chicago, you morons.  He wasn't President.

Instead, I'd like to point you to a charity I believe in, the J.J. Watt Foundation.

Sometimes professional sports players exceed all expectations.  Michael Strahan used to build playgrounds for kids in need on HGTV before he left the Giants for his Fox/GMA career.  Brandon Marshall started Project Borderline to support people with personality disorders.  Jay Cutler's foundation helps treat children with Type 1 Diabetes.  The Drew Brees Foundation helps children with pediatric cancer.  And J.J. Watt's Foundation was to help develop life skills for middle-school students in athletic programs.  That was, until Harvey.

Now J.J. Watt of the Houston Texans has set up a Houston Flood Relief Fund through YouCaring.org.  Initially, he was looking to crowd-fund $1 million.  When they hit that, he asked for $5 million.  The Houston Texans jumped in with a $1  Million contribution, making the $5 seem like it was possible.  They blew by the $5 million mark, so they raised the stakes to $6.  Blew by that number, and then Ellen DeGeneres and Walmart dumped another Million into the bucket. The goal is now up to $10,000,000...and in a matter of hours, they will hit that number as well.

As of this writing, they're up to $9,982,673.

The thing is, with this President and his bluster, you don't know if he means it when he promises aid to Texas and Louisiana.  The man is filled with empty promises and bravado.  As his overall budget plans to gut FEMA and other flood-response agencies, it's hard to believe that adequate help will come to the people who need it most.  And these people can't wait.

You don't need to donate to the J.J. Watt foundation to make an impact.  There are plenty of other charities that will try to help get the victims of Harvey back on their feet.  Find one.  Donate.  The people on the ground, the volunteers and the professionals helping, all need to eat.  Food isn't free.  Medicine isn't free.  Transporting livestock and pets out of the flood area isn't free.  Gas isn't free.  

$10 million will be a drop in the bucket, and like Ike and Katrina before it, Harvey will have extremely long-lasting effects on the communities it's ruined.  Please consider contributing, and if you have the time, visit Houston and Louisiana to help those communities that need it most.

https://www.youcaring.com/victimsofhurricaneharvey-915053

P.S.  Since starting to write this, they blew past the $10,000,000 mark.  Do your part to help them shatter the next goal.

Pipe Dreams and Nightmares

It's easy to pick on our President.  Lately, it's been his white-supremacy undertones (overtones?) that we've been able to easily key in on.  But, I'd like to remind you that before he was being anti-Semitic and racist...he was bashing the indigenous peoples of North Dakota. 

“I’m pleased to announce that the Dakota Access Pipeline … is now officially open for business, a $3.8 billion investment in American infrastructure that was stalled and nobody thought any politician would have the guts to approve that final leg,” President Dump said.  

“I just close my eyes and said ‘do it.'”

The action (and description of the action) was moronic on many levels.  First, as previously explained, this was less an action of Trump and more of U.S. environmental process in action.  The Army Corps of Engineers did an environmental analysis with several alternatives and chose a route which had the fewest impacts to cultural and environmental resources...AND, Obama's EPA approved it.

However, for those of us paying attention, a judge, on June 14 of this year, "has ruled that permits authorized by the Trump administration to fast-track the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline violated the law."  In a 91-page ruling, the court ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers “did not adequately consider the impacts of an oil spill on fishing rights, hunting rights, or environmental justice, or the degree to which the pipeline’s effects are likely to be highly controversial.”  

Duh, that's what the peaceful protesters said.  You remember them, right?  The Native Americans who rallied on Federal land without firearms (albeit without permits) to bring to light the potential consequences of a spill on cultural (read: people, fishing, etc.) and environmental resources down-stream.

This is a bit after the fact, though, as pumping had begun several weeks before this decision.  A request by the Tribes to halt pumping while this was being considered was denied.  To make things more bitter, a counter-suit was filed in Federal court against the protesters.  Shooting them with rubber bullets and water canons wasn't enough.  "Energy Transfer Partners of Dallas, Texas, listed the lawsuit's defendants as Greenpeace International, Earth First!, BankTrack, and other organizations and individuals."  They're claiming eco-terrorism.  To say the suit is punitive is an understatement.  Regardless of the outcome, Energy Transfer Partners wasn't being held back for completion by the protestors...it was held back by Obama.  Secondly, they got their wish through Trump and completed the pipeline, and began pumping oil into it.  Third, who paid for the enforcement (i.e. shooting innocent people) at Standing Rock?  Why, the good people of North Dakota did, to the tune of $38 million...and, according to their whining to the Feds, they're only asking that they be reimbursed $14 million by the Federal Government.  Trump's administration approved $10 million, to make them go away.  We'll see if that works.


What's next?  Based on the judge's decision, there needs to be public input/comments into the allegations that President Small Hands' maneuver was, in fact, illegal and didn't consider the down-stream impacts of a spill.  That public meeting has already been delayed at the request of Energy Transfer Partners who may or may not have also removed too many trees and improperly handled contaminated soil, thereby violating State Law.  Also, at issue is another security firm is being sued for providing "security services" (read: mercenary enforcement against protesters).  They're looking to get it thrown out claiming that they only provided consulting.  B.S.  There's video everywhere, and this time it is the State of North Dakota bringing the charges against a firm not licensed to do business of that sort in the State.

So, a muddy picture of how this moves forward.  It's possible and likely that all of this is frivolous and that the pipeline will continue to pump oil until a severe accident occurs, which will likely get swept under the carpet by an administration who picks and chooses the environmental facts that best suit its purpose.  It will impact some of the poorest people in the United States, practically confined to the Reservation.  The only black and white outcome from this is that, if DAPL continues to operate, there's only one real winner, and that's Kelcy Warren, chief executive of Energy Transfer who tripled his net worth at the stroke of Trump's pen.

I'm beginning to feel like I need to keep a list akin to Arya's from Game of Thrones, of things we have to remember to undo once Agent Orange has left the building.  But, it's clear that we need to pay attention to the successes and failures of opposing this project along with the President's apparent bigotry, the raping our National Monuments for fossil fuel reclamation, climate change, and, of course Russian interference in our political processes.  I realize that equates to many sticks in the fire, but if we don't mind them all, our culture, our environment and our democracy may burn down around us.


  

Charity and Action

To be fair, I didn't want to go.

My wife's father co-organizes a group from his synagogue to go, each month, to staff and supply a soup kitchen using donations from congregants.  They go the second Saturday of each month, and he had asked Sara to go and to bring Jude.  At the time, we didn't have any conflicts, and she was set to go.  That was, until she all of a sudden had a conflict and asked me to step in, bring Jude and go.

In our relationship, it's my job to temper expectations of all we can get done in one Saturday and one Sunday.  Mentally, I had filled the time she and Jude were expected to be away with quiet alone time with Johanna.  Maybe, based on the weather, a trip to the playground, but super low-key.  Now she was taking Jojo to an event and I was thrust into taking Jude to a parish in Orange, NJ to help out.

Needless to say, after much griping, I got over my bullshit laziness quickly.  It was clearly the right thing to do, which didn't matter because I was irritated at having my weekend dictated to me.  We don't volunteer as much as we should (but we talk a big game), and it would be great for Jude, as my father-in-law reminded us, to see and help people who needed help.

As soon as we got there around 11am we started helping in the kitchen, getting desserts plated and making sure hot food was warm, being warmed, or being cooked.  Slowly, more and more congregants from the synagogue showed up to help, and a line started forming outside by those people looking to come and eat.  The congregation prepared quite a spread of (mostly) healthy foods including some lovely salads, rotisserie chicken, meatballs, veggie medley, pasta, bread and a light dessert comprised of cookies.

When the doors opened at noon, we had a steady stream for about an hour and a half of people of all ages and nationalities.  It was mostly single adults, but occasionally, there would be a mom and her kids, dad and his kids, or just a teenager alone.  I was on chicken duty and Jude was in charge of bread.  As I watched him, he did his job like a champ and with no adult help.  He didn't flinch away from people, even those with fewer teeth than him, or those who smelled differently.  He greeted everyone, and allowed them to tell him what it was they wanted...and then he gave it to them.

He and I estimated that we served more than 100 people that morning.  He never questioned why we were giving them food.  He understood that this is what we do: they were hungry and we helped with feeding them.  That was it.  This is what you do.  There was no talk about race.  There was no talk about why they were less fortunate or why they needed to come to the church.  They were hungry so we fed them.  I wish my mind was so accepting.  I have prejudice.  As I saw them, I insisted that the mother with twin little girls take more food because the three of them were thin.  While they weren't necessarily supposed to come back for seconds, we had more than enough, and I definitely doubled up on portions for those who asked, even some who didn't.  A girl, who came by herself and couldn't have been older than 11 or 12 came without the voucher to eat.  When we asked for it, she turned around as if to leave.  We quickly called after her and insisted she make a plate.  That's why we were there.  She came back again to make a plate to take with her, and we made sure she had enough before we let her go.  It's just the right thing to do.

After we were all done, my father-in-law, sister-in-law, Jude and I went out to get a bite to eat at the Millburn Deli, just 20 minutes away from Orange.  It couldn't have been a more stark contrast to what we had just been doing.  I don't think it hit Jude as much as it hit me, but we had just gone from the extreme have-nots to the extreme haves in the blink of an eye.  How many of these people donate...anything?  Who thinks about the fact that we are so geographically close to such poverty, yet we hardly ever see it.

I am a privileged white male who grew up in an middle-class house with food always on my table, clothes to wear and luxury items like CDs and stereo equipment and computers and the Internet...and books.  Yet, I'm no different than the people we helped.  I know some of them work, maybe most of them.  I know they're trying because they made a conscious decision to get help that morning.

The bigger question is, are we trying?  Are you trying?  It cost my family $15 in vegetables and 3 hours of time.  Do you have that?  What have you donated last?  When was that?  Could you do a little more?  My excuse for not wanting to go was complete and utter laziness.  Facebook this week is filled with posts about racial equality and denouncing hate.  Posts don't do shit.  Praying doesn't do shit.  Put your time and money where your mouth is, and donate the clothes that don't fit.  Go give blood.  Go help at a soup kitchen.  Volunteer at an animal shelter or rehab.  Become a better steward of this earth and its inhabitants...and do it at a meager $15 and/or 3 hours per month.

If you're reading this on FaceBook, I know you have time to burn and money to blow.  Why not do it responsibly.  While I don't know if we'll go every second Saturday, I'm fairly certain that we'll go again.  There is no shortage of people who need help, and we (you included) are uniquely capable of helping.

Simply Orange

Another short blog today, this one about the President.  And, I think I have him figured out.  This week, unless you live in a cave, you've heard the President threaten (multiple times) North Korea.  It's been a literal war of words between the Trump White House and Pyongyang.  

“They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.”

Questions by the media in subsequent interviews, from Bedminster, NJ, yielded nearly no specifics or definitive answers.  What does he mean? "You'll see," was the response. "North Korea better get their act together or they're going to be in trouble, like few nations have ever been in trouble in this world."

Really?  Are you scolding Barron or Eric or Donald Jr.?  Is North Korea going to have to go to their room to think about what they did, and they're definitely not getting dessert tonight.

Sorry, mom, when I was 9, you threatened me much like the President is doing to grown-ups of a foreign nation.

And that's what I understand.  NPR is in Iowa at their State Fair this week, interviewing citizens about their appreciation for the President now that he's done nothing but sign legislation penalizing Russia, something that I'm sure pained him greatly.

"I support him still. He's doing everything he says he'd do. He's definitely a common-man president."

Add to the previous statement a slight mid-west/southern accent, and there you have it: the reason why Trump is still polling well in the mid-US.  He's like them.  Say what you want about his level of intelligence, he's speaking in such layman's terms, that it's laughable, but he's understood universally.  Why?  His use of language is so "very very" basic and without imagination.  He rants seem childish.  His use of short words goes beyond his affinity for Twitter.  He throws in statements about "bad hombres" and "they're going to be sorry" and phrases you wouldn't even belittle your kids with, or use in a middle-school term paper.  

In short, the man is simple, which also, if you were sick of the old regime, is refreshing.  Here's a guy, who's just trying to do his job, and the bad media is making it hard for him.  He talks like us.  All he wants to do is work, and they keep digging up stories about what he may have done.  Can't they just let him be? 

We on the coasts (including the Great Lakes) frequently forget that, in addition to the highest costs of living, we are also some of the most educated citizens, including those who don't have a degree.  Why?  Due to ports, not only do we live at a higher density (more people), but also greater ethnic diversity.  Our world views are bigger.  Even if that just means that you overheard someone speaking another language on the subway platform, its a global awareness that someone without a similar living environment doesn't have.

And ignorance breeds fear.  And Trump is still selling that fear.  And he has buyers of his rhetoric.  How do you combat that?  Not with fancy graphics or detailed reports about how climate change is real, or how mexicans aren't stealing your jobs (Want to pick crops? You're desperately needed in California).  I don't have the answer, but if we want to be able to reach certain Trump voters, we need to start at the lowest common denominator, which he is lowering daily, and try to make connections with the people who sympathize with him most.