A local speaks out

In a letter to Dryden, NY's town board, resident Ron Szymanski puts Dryden's me-too fracking ban  in perspective.  Syzmanski lists the logical problems raised by such a ban, and hits what we think could be the result most harmful to the ordinary Finger Lakes citizen.

ANTI-BUSINESS.  The natural gas drilling ban limits opportunities for local businesses, from trucking to restaurants.  The County recently dropped a road ordinance because of its unintended consequences on local businesses.  In addition, it denies Dryden residents access to jobs and further compromises our tax base.

We suspect that prohibiting the growth of easy entry jobs, and the prosperity those jobs might bring to locals, is one of the unstated goals of the organized defenders of the region's status quo.

Horrors of government shutdown

How ever will we survive if the Republicans don't cave as expected, and the federal government is forced to stop providing vital services?  Midwestern observer IowaHawk analyzed the federal budget, and makes some dire predictions, such as...

Roving bands of outlaws stalk our streets, selling incandescent bulbs to vulnerable children.

Mankind's dream of high speed government rail service between Chicago and Iowa City tragically dies.

Sesame Street descends into Mad Maxian anarchy; Oscar the Grouch fashions shivs out the letter J and the number 4.

No longer protected by government warning labels, massive wave of amputations from people sticking limbs into lawn mowers.

Before they shut down the internet, go read the entire list.

Summer activities

Before the Finger Lakes leaves begin to turn, be sure to play this one poolside, on the dock, or on the deck, while enjoying a local beverage of your choice.

Working at the pool

Harrison, on the job

One of our high school summer jobs involved a large, private swimming pool.  We arrived early, removed drowned wildlife from the pool filters, cleaned up the empties from the previous evening's goings on, topped off the chlorine tank, then jumped in the water and scrubbed the pool walls by hand.  Although we were usually out of there before the first sunbather hit a chaise lounge, we still remember it as a primo gig.

New York City high school kid Harrison Anastasio also has a summer job at a pool.  Harrison's position sounds like more fun:

By 11 a.m. on a recent sweltering Sunday, Harrison Anastasio had already collected the cellphone numbers of five bikini-clad women on the rooftop pool at the James New York Hotel.

“Don’t forget to text me,” one of the women whispered to the 17-year-old, flashing him a coy smile. Anastasio colored slightly beneath his Wayfarer sunglasses. But he wouldn’t forget. Though it sounds like the setup for a 1980s sex comedy, it’s his job.

Back then, we'd have offered that service, too.  Bikinis were widely available, but nobody had heard of cell phones.

Don't try this at home

Our North Country correspondent located and removed this swarm of honeybees in Oswego County.  This is a job for experts only, so let us know if you'd like the bee guy's contact info.

Who is the gas industry?

The force behind the energy industry

Here in the Finger Lakes, it seems every self-important leftist follows the "no-fracking " dogma religiously, without considering opposing points of view.  Since these right thinking drones are found everywhere in an academia-dominated bioregion like ours, the media has no trouble locating them when they need an opinion on the evil plutocrats running the shale gas industry.

The pro-energy, pro-jobs, pro-prosperity point of view is always represented as "the gas industry."  What the "mainstream" media, which does not do well with economics, is missing is that the "gas industry," as they understand it, does not exist.  Unlike coercive government programs, the "gas industry" would not exist if every man, woman, child and reporter didn't choose to consume energy on a daily basis.  The "gas industry" is really nothing but a willing servant, doing the demanding bidding of the common man.  But the "gas industry" is much easier to demonize than, say, Mrs. Smith's fifth grade class, which can study environmentalism in a nice warm classroom in January in the Finger Lakes, instead of shivering in a crude shelter in the woods, hoping to survive until spring.

What we really need is a way to create energy from the Finger Lakes' unlimited supply of hypocrisy.  Why, even our newly arrived "off the grid" cultists are usually hiding a gasoline powered generator from Lowe's somewhere on the homestead.  The next time an anti-energy "friend of the earth" asks you to sign her "let's outlaw fracking" petition, you should first ask her to shut down her website, give up air travel, stop drinking coffee, and turn over her smart phone, Volvo keys, prescription drugs and imported synthetic clothing.  

And, speaking of energy consumers, Lonely Conservative has also grown impatient.

We’re surrounded by so many stupid people who buy into the crap the left is spewing, but we’ll never see them turn off their power. Where the heck do they think it comes from?

Afghan teens shop for tunes

Stylish Afghan teenagers check out the latest hits at a local record shop.  Some of the disks available are even "stereo compatible!"  

This happy scene is, however, from the 1960s. Since the photo was taken, certain cultural changes have occurred in Afghanistan.  This picture could not be replicated today, or, regardless of the billions of dollars US taxpayers have spent to make it otherwise, all involved would risk beatings or execution.