Make America Great Again? Nostalgia for ???
October 1st, 2016
You’ve all heard it, the misplaced nostalgia for a time that never was, where life was somehow easier, none of this fussing about civil rights, those pesky things like equality, the right to vote, freedom of religion… and for too many, it’s this notion that the 1950s (the time of Boomers?) were the best of all worlds. AAACK!
And I’m noticing that so many in this mindset are lacking in basic education, so many very vocal people without any notion of logic and how to present or respond to an argument, the fundamentals of critical thinking, and history, both American history and world history. It’s driving me nuts! I’m getting ready to start sending books and lesson plans to a lot of people I know!
Where’d that Jerry Garcia for President button go?
Alan found a book at a garage sale yesterday, 7th edition so it’s nothing new, but so on point:
Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing (7th Edition)
What We Really Miss About The 1950s -_Stephanie Coontz is included, along with a lot of other classics. It’s a college text:
Designed for first-year writing and critical thinking courses, Rereading America anthologizes a diverse set of readins focused on the myths that dominate U.S. culture.
These myths are those on the front burner today:
- Harmony at Home: The Myth of the Model Family
- Learning Power: The Myth of Education and Empowerment
- Money and Success: The Myth of Individual Opportunity
- True Women and Real Men: Myths of Gender
- Created Equal: The Myth of the Melting Pot
- One Nation Under God: American Myths of Church and State
- Land of Liberty: The Myth of Freedom in a “New World Order”
The grand finale of Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing is Langston Hughes’ Let America be America Again:
Let America Be America Again
Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.
(America never was America to me.)
Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.
(It never was America to me.)
O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.
(There’s never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this “homeland of the free.”)
Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?
I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the black man bearing slavery’s scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.
I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one’s own greed!
I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the black man, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean—
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today—O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.
Yet I’m the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That’s made America the land it has become.
O, I’m the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home—
For I’m the one who left dark Ireland’s shore,
And Poland’s plain, and England’s grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa’s strand I came
To build a “homeland of the free.”
The free?
Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we’ve dreamed
And all the songs we’ve sung
And all the hopes we’ve held
And all the flags we’ve hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay—
Except the dream that’s almost dead today.
O, let America be America again—
The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land where every man is free.
The land that’s mine—the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME—
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.
Sure, call me any ugly name you choose—
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people’s lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!
O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath—
America will be!
Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The abuse and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain—
All, all the stretch of these great green states—
And make America again
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ This stanza is missing in the book:
Sure, call me any ugly name you choose— The steel of freedom does not stain. From those who live like leeches on the people’s lives, We must take back our land again, America!
Whew… I’m a lot less anxious now
September 27th, 2016
#makesniffsgreatagain
I’ve been concerned. I’ve been anxious. But much less so after last night’s “debate.” The good news about this election is that, as with all elections, the voting booth is private, and people can vote and there’s no need to report. My hope is that those undecided, and those supporting Drumpf, will consider last night’s “debate” and how unqualified is, that he is crass and flighty, blustery without substance, arrogant, unprepared and ill-advised. How many times did he say “I didn’t say that” when it’s documented that he did, over and over?
This isn’t about Hillary. I’m no fan. That’s public information. But I am assuredly against Drumpf and the view of “great” America he is pushing. It’s antihetical to all I’ve been working for, to my values, to the values and laws of this country, against the most fundamental tenets of Christianity, all those things that are, or should be, the determining factor in our votes. Things like the Constitution. I mean really, he touts “stop & frisk” when it’s been declared unconstitutional? And doesn’t cop to it when challenged? No, this guy has no business being President. Not on my watch.
And yes, after Feelin’ the Bern, this has been a horrible election season. I don’t want to think about it, yet am drawn to the train wreck. The prospect of voting for Clinton turns my stomach, there are so many reasons, and it’s disturbing that the Dems do not want to acknowledge the legitimacy of issues many of us have with Clinton, preferring shaming as an election strategy (just STOP it!). That makes the prospect of voting for Clinton even worse.
Meanwhile, people I know, though not many, are supporting Drumpf. I’ve been easy on them, really! Holding back… Just minor interjections now and then, a little reality therapy a la Glasser.
This debate, though, and Drumpf’s performance and lack thereof, to me means that it will be pretty hard to justify a vote for him. OH… MY… DOG!
And the coverage of this “debate” is so weird:
That people need to look up words like “stamina” and “temperament” is appalling. Yes, “cavalier” is more than a Chevy… and how about “caprice,” capisce?
Major flooding in Minnesota, roads closed
September 22nd, 2016
Thanks to Nancy Prehn for posting this photo!
Flooding all over southern Minnesota, well, from north of the Metro down to the border, Iowa’s a mess too.
The DOT’s road closure site is overwhelmed…
In Wisconsin, a BNSF train derailed and diesel fuel is leaking into the river:
BNSF train derails at Ferryville amid flooding, landslides
“I saw a fish swimming down the road,” Dagnon said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
The Cannon River is roaring, this VIDEO from Tracy Davis.
Street flooding in Fridley Wednesday evening (Photo: Jeremy King via Facebook)
WRAO & WIRES docs removed from ATC site
September 18th, 2016
Here’s to preservation, download quick to have this bit of history:
| WRAO Report on Transmission System Reinforcement in Wisconsin | File Size | Document |
| Letter of Transmittal to PSCW | 22.8KB | PDF: 1 page |
| Report (without attachments) | 256KB | PDF: 33 pages |
| Attachment A1 – WIREs Phase II Study Report | 391KB | PDF: 79 pages |
| Attachment A2 – WIREs Phase II Study Report (AppendixB) | 2,181KB | PDF: 100 pages |
| Attachment B – Environmental Review of Phase II WIRE Study for the WRAO
Study area map (summary_map.jpg) 1C Salem – Fitchburg – NorthMadison/Rockdale Analysis 2E Prairie Island – La Crosse – Columbia Analysis 3J Arrowhead – Weston Analysis 5A&B Chisago-Weston (345 kv) & Apple River – Weston (230 kV) Analysis 9B Lakefield Junction – Adams – Columbia Analysis 10 King – Eau Claire – Weston Analysis |
– | Web Page |
| Attachment C – Wisconsin’s Electric Transmission Interconnection Capacity Requirements | 120KB | PDF: 15 pages |
| Attachment D – White Paper on the Requirement for Geographic Diversity in Transmission Line Route Selection for System Reliability | 5,910KB | PDF: 41 pages |
| Attachement E – Stakeholder Comments | 188KB | PDF: 70 pages |
Decommission Genoa nuclear?
September 17th, 2016
There’s a NRC meeting on Tuesday about the “License Termination Plan” coming up:
6-8 p.m. on Tuesday, September 20, 2016
Courtyard Mariott
La Crosse Downtown/Mississippi Riverfront
500 Front St. South, La Crosse, WI
Now think about it… why tear down what’s left of the Genoa plant? So asks George Nygaard! Shouldn’t this be a historical site?
Closed in 1987, Genoa nuke plant preparing for demo
My father worked on the conventional side of the Elk River Allis nuclear plant, a demonstration project way back when. That was decommissioned back in the early 70s and is now a garbage burner. When the demonstration project was completed, and they tried to sell it, no local utility wanted it! Good call! Genoa was another matter, and Dairyland bought it for $1. Still not a great deal, because here we are now spending millions on decommissioning. How much? See below… they’re not telling.
Here’s the NRC page, with zero links:
La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor
Where’s the info on this? Here’s the press release, does it say why are we having a meeting?
NRC to Discuss La Crosse License Termination Plan…
Well, it looks like it’s to discuss the “License Termination Plan” according to their notice. But what’s to comment on? Why is there no link? After much digging, FOUND IT! From the NRC’s page:
La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor, License Amendment Request for the License Termination Plan.
Accession Number: ML16200A095
Date Released: Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Package Contents
- ML16200A083 – La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor, License Amendment Request for the License Termination Plan. (39 page(s), 7/27/2016)
- ML16200A085 – La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor License Termination Plan – Chapter 1 – General Information, Rev 0. (19 page(s), 6/27/2016)
- ML16200A086 – La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor License Termination Plan – Chapter 2 – Site Characterization, Rev. 0. (83 page(s), 6/27/2016)
- ML16200A087 – La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor License Termination Plan – Chapter 3 – Identification Of Remaining Site Dismantlement Activities, Rev. 0. (24 page(s), 6/27/2016)
- ML16200A088 – La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor License Termination Plan – Chapter 4 – Remediation Plan, Rev. 0. (31 page(s), 6/27/2016)
- ML16200A089 – La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor License Termination Plan – Chapter 5 – Final Radiation Survey Plan, Rev. 0. (74 page(s), 6/27/2016)
- ML16200A093 – La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor License Termination Plan – Chapter 6 – Compliance With The Radiological Criteria For License Termination, Rev. 0. (114 page(s), 6/27/2016)
- ML16200A091 – La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor License Termination Plan – Chapter 8, – Supplement To The Environmental Report, Rev 0. (37 page(s), 6/27/2016)
- ML16200A090 – La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor License Termination Plan – Chapter 7, Redacted – Update Of The Site-Specific Decommissioning Costs, Rev. 0. (14 page(s), 6/27/2016)
Look at this — how do we comment on redactions?
Some other docs:
Decommissioning Funding Plan for Independent Spent Fuel
Decommissioning & decontamination cost study update