Get Ready for the Fall Solar Energy Tour

September arrived today, along with a post card from Green Energy Ohio announcing their annual Ohio Solar Tour, to be held October 5 - 7. The tour will include hundreds of sites featuring solar, wind, biomass, green design and energy-saving technologies, organized into guided and open house tours that are free and open to the public.

There will be an Akron-area tour on Sunday, October 7th. You can take a virtual tour of green energy sites throughout Ohio via the GEO web site, but you must register to enter the site. Once in, I took a look at the three sites listed for Summit County and was shown a private residence in Akron that has solar panels on both the roof as well as additional panels placed in the yard. From there, I was steered toward Cuyahoga Falls which has installed solar panels to light bus stops around the city as well as on three of its schools. The third Summit site is the Crown Point Ecology Center in Bath with a passive solar designed building that on the coldest day in winter has maintained 83 degrees inside.

Looking around the state, I see that Cuyahoga and Franklin counties have 30 sites to visit each. The Toledo area has 11 sites and Lorain has 8, and then a smattering of sites here and there, while most of Ohio's counties are still waiting for green energy to appear in buildings either private or public. Meanwhile all that untapped energy keeps falling to the earth:

God Save the Queen

For your Friday night punk rock pleasure -- and don't they look so young and ...er ..not exactly sweet, but definitely fresh!

Here and There

Some good stuff to share with you:

This just in the from the Cleveland Engineering Society (for all my engineer pals who read this blog regularly):

The 1st Annual Fall Engineering Extravaganza will take place in Cleveland on Wednesday, October 3 from 7 am to 4 pm at LaCentre, 25777 Detroit Road, Westlake, OH 44145.
Theme of this conference and trade show is Engineering a Sustainable Future. Keynote speakers include Holly Harlan, founder of the E4S Network and Chris Korleski, Governor Strickland's Director of the Ohio EPA. Lots of fascinating breakout sessions on topics such as:

Sustainability and the bottom line, utilization of agricultural waste products in value-added products for sustainability and lots lots more. For more info, go here. Wish I could go, but I can't take off that day. Maybe some of our Akron engineers will attend and get some good ideas for the mayor's "greenprint" for Akron.

Here are a couple of links for some fine online reading:

A new Tangled Bank is up at Balancing Life. What is a Tangled Bank? It's a carnival of science weblog articles, named after Charles Darwin's famous metaphor:

It is interesting to contemplate a tangled bank, clothed with many plants of many kinds, with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects flitting about, and with worms crawling through the damp earth, and to reflect that these elaborately constructed forms, so different from each other, and dependent upon each other in so complex a manner, have all been produced by laws acting around us. These laws, taken in the largest sense, being Growth with Reproduction; Inheritance which is almost implied by reproduction; Variability from the indirect and direct action of the conditions of life and from use and disuse: a Ratio of Increase so high as to lead to a Struggle for Life, and as a consequence to Natural Selection, entailing Divergence of Character and the Extinction of less-improved forms.

This week's Tangled Bank is full of fascinating articles on the origins of cattle, ten habits of highly effective brains, and where to order DNA double helix bracelets (very cool!).

Finally, not a science blog, but one well worth adding to your blog reader:

Aphra Behn -- Danger of Eclectic Shock, named after the first professional woman playwright. In this British blogger's latest post, she describes building a very unique book shelf (not case).

Round and About Akron

Looking for things to do in Akron this weekend?

Homegrown Saturday at Lock 3 will feature more than the fabulous vegetables for sale:
This weekend we are having a sundial craft and orienteering challenge in thes prouts area. There is clay marble making with the museum. A super cool guy is coming down with his handmade game exhibit as well. Kids can play them too! They are each beautiful works of art.As always, the glorious Tom Dayton is broadcasting, $5 pancake breakfasts and delicious produce. One of the jam/jelly vendors is supposed to do a cooking demo as well.

If art is your thing, try the Northside Art Walk 5-10 pm. Trolleys transport walkers from site to site if they so feel the urge. You might want to start at the Red Light Galleries, so-named to honor its origins as a brothel. Climb up the stairs between Luigi's and The Northside Bar and you'll find yourself facing a long hallway, with tiny rooms along each side. Now instead of seedy mattresses, the rooms house artists who rent the spaces to work and to show their art. Pictured below is one such display.

DNA

I'm way too tired tonight for any original thinking, so I will steal a video via Pharyngula that originally appeared on The Colbert Show. I expect it will be pulled per complaint of Comedy Central, so enjoy it while it lasts:

Gay liberation in the US Senate

This evening, I fell into a deep doze in front of the television news. Yet another Republican hidden homosexual politician caught in the act -- yawn. I've lost track of how many of these cases have made the news in the past year. It's difficult to feel sorry for these guys because they have all taken pains to develop "strong family values" images. To the man, they are all anti-homosexual marriage, gay rights in general, and vote for such "pro-family" legislation such as abstinence education and anti-abortion measures.

They must either be filled with self-loathing or are so determinedly hypocritical that they have no problem in pandering to fundamentalist religionists in order to maintain power. In this case, Craig's flailing excuses make diaper-fetishist Senator Vitter appear almost manly, in the Chris Matthews sense of the word.

Such a waste. All these closeted Republicans could have done so much for gay liberation, instead they chose to play the game of power-seeking and denial.

Mayoral prospects

As we approach the September 11th primary in Akron, the local vocals on the Akon Beacon Journal's comment forums are piling on the mayor and anyone who supports him. An article posted on Sunday featured written responses from both candidates in the mayoral campaign. I happened to get to the online Beacon fairly early Sunday morning. The first four comments were typical pro Joe diatribes, consisting of negative attacks against Plusquellic without offering any genuine reason to vote for Finley. So I posted a pro-Plusquellic comment, knowing I was going to be a target. Here's what I said:

"Looks like the current mayor is far more realistic in his approach to urban problems than dreamer Finley. Finley makes lots of promises, but in reality he has had no success at implementing change during his years on city council. Plusquellic on the other hand has turned our downtown into a vibrant and exciting place to visit. He has brought about changes that have increased my quality of life.

Some of Finley's promises are simply outrageous ploys to trick the voters. For example, just how is he going to increase street repairs while bringing down the costs?

I also wonder who his new cabinet might include, especially since the pay will be lowered ten percent? And I have no interest in a candidate who decides to cut off the rest of the world by restricting travel -- that's a recipe for sure disaster. Close your mind to what is effective elsewhere and see how fast we sink as a city. Finley lost in his last citywide run and there are plenty of reasons why. It is easy to harp and criticize, as can be seen on these boards day after day -- but to step up and get the job done -- we need a savvy and pragmatic person like Plusquellic."

Indeed, I drew many responses, including accusations that I must be on drugs, that I work in the mayor's office and most amusingly, that I was Don P in disguise on a message board! For the record, I have never been introduced to the mayor and he doesn't know who I am and I can't imagine he's ever read this blog. I did get to ask him a question at his appearance before the Summit County Progressive Democrats. And I admit, I threw him a soft ball question, as I wanted to know more about his "greenprint" for Akron and how to get involved. (His answer in short -- talk to the people at Keep Akron Beautiful whom he is designating as chief Green planners for Akron.)

Joe Finley also spoke before the SCPD on a separate occasion. Mister Right to Lifer put on his gosh all golly we are so friendly attitude and in a very telling moment, claimed that he was just about as progressive as we were. He didn't go into the parts of his platform that are anti-progressive. Joe Finley is an expert in pandering to whomever is in front of him. That was my impression.

An acquaintance of mine went to today's Press Club debate between Finley and Plusquellic. She said that Don came off like a CEO, confident in his leadership and what he has accomplished, while Finley seemed amateurish, especially with the obviously choreographed standing ovations given by his 8 or so children in attendance -- which was repeated after every Finley statement.

If you read the Akron Beacon Journal comments you might get the impression that all of Akron loathes Don Plusquellic. But look a little closer and you'll see that many of the most vicious ranters are from outlying communities. In fact, after going through several pages of comments, you might even begin to wonder if the bulk of them might very well be posted by Finley's campaign manager. They repeat the same talking points ad nauseum.

Finley is an opportunist. He has his list of mayoral "faults" and that's where his focus is. He gloms onto any and all disaffection within the community, but has very little to offer in the way of what he would do.

The folks on the boards are trying very hard to make it appear that the mayor is in trouble, but one thing to remember is that most Akronites are not reading the Beacon online. And the numbers of those who have benefited from the mayor's years of service far outnumber those who can't see the changes that have taken place in our city over the past 20 years. Half the negative comments deny that Akron has improved in any sort of way. The other half argue that whatever change has happened, it couldn't be due to our mayor. So who is delusional and who will be mayor on September 12th? Just a couple more weeks and we will all know who is going to have the last laugh.

Happy Belated Birthday at the Village Green!

This blog began on August 19th, 2006. I had been spending that summer reading other people's blogs and finding myself chiming in here and there with comments on subjects that matter to me. I had also spent the summer getting political by volunteering on the Sherrod Brown campaign. So a year ago, I decided to build my own soapbox here on Blogger.

The original name for this blog was going to be simply "Village Green" -- however, much to my dismay, I found that somebody had already taken that name. What is really irksome is that they took the name and have done absolutely nothing with it!

Well, we've made up for it here with "Long Live the Village Green" which is a direct tribute to the greatest band to ever come out of the UK -- the Kinks, with their uniquely insightful views on society and culture exemplified by songs such as Village Green and The Village Green Preservation Society. Those songs contain longings for an ideal life that quite possibly never really existed with an acknowledgment that the pursuit of the idea of neighborhood and local sustainability is real and possible. They are also imbued with the ideal of preserving the things that make life worth living, while weeding out those things that prevent us from making social and economic progress.

A village green is a British tradition that provided common ground for all villagers to raise their animals. Nowadays, the village green provides common ground for healthy walks and meetings among neighbors. "Green" has taken on a new meaning in today's society, one that expresses the need for a healthy, sustainable and non-toxic life.

This blog began with the idea of commenting about local life in juxtaposition with the larger influences of state, national and global issues. The local blogs that continue to inspire and inform my life and my blog must be acknowledged here -- Pho's Akron Pages, Psychobilly Democrat and last but certainly not least Terra not Terror. I thank each of them for their support. Beyond Akron, the blogs I cannot do without are The Brain Police in France, Pharyngula (the best damn science blog in the land) in Minnesota, and No Impact Man in NYC.

This blog is not intended to attract thousands per day and I'll work hard to make sure that never happens! (6233 visits over the first year with 9007 page views) I used to do a self-published 'zine called The Dumpster Times, painstakingly prepared at first on a manual typewriter, columns cut with scissors and pasted with glue and photocopied for a print run of 100 per issue, then mailed out to subscribers around the world. It was a lot of fun and a hell of a lot more work than a blog!

At that time, I valued the intimacy of 'zine communication and still feel that way about my blog. The Village Green has managed to build up an Akron area following. My stats tell me that a number of local readers come here regularly and for this I am very grateful. I also am happy to have regular readers from unexpected places, such as France. It is fun to look at the referrals and the searched topics to see who comes here and why. It is also entertaining to look at the hits from exotic lands and wonder what a reader from the United Arab Emirates Dubail, Dubayy or Crafers, South Australia thinks about when they land here.

On a more somber note, I would like to point out that when I added the Cost of the Iraq War feature to this blog, it was under 350 billion dollars spent on that tragic mistake of a war. Look leftward and note that it is has grown to over 450 billions wasted in Iraq. Anybody have any predictions on when that ticker will finally grind to a halt?

Finally, in celebration of one year at Long Live the Village Green - from a July 2007 concert in Rochester UK, ladies and gentlemen -- Ray Davies sings Village Green:

A Highland Square Celebration

It was a grand day to spend in and around Highland Square today. Don't let those dark clouds rolling over the brand new branch library's tower fool you, on this day the community came together to celebrate its unique character and its diverse population.

Art on the Square showcases the many fine talents that live in this neighborhood. Many of Akron's outstanding writers, musicians, visual artists, architects, photographers, film-makers, dancers and theatre artists live there. It is a community so unlike many of our city's neighborhoods, in that you see so many people out and about, walking here and there, waving and nodding to each other as they pass. If only Kenmore Blvd could regain that kind of vibe. Maybe when our new branch library becomes a reality, we'll have a chance.

Here's a photo of the Mayor speaking at the grand opening of the new branch library. There was a ribbon cutting ceremony and many of our local public servants were on hand to say a few words. Each person struck the same theme: how this project could not have been accomplished without the cooperation and collaboration of the library, the city and county governments, and the Albrecht family who have donated land for a reading garden. Afterwards, the crowd flowed into the brand new space, for ice cream and folk music, as well as to check out armfuls of books and videos.

Highland Square is a project not yet finished, with a gaping wound where the essential component for neighborhood sustainability should be -- there is no grocery store. I have been told by a resident that some of the senior citizens in Highland Square are buying their groceries at Walgreen's. Do we really think it is a good thing for our eldest citizens to exist on highly processed food on sale at a local drugstore?

There are some other problem spots on West Market St in Highland Square. The demise of the always popular Dodie's was not due to lack of neighborhood support, but rather bad management. The empty new store fronts on the other side of the street next to the new Chipotle need to find new tenants. Are they empty because of neighborhood turmoil or general economic malaise?

And then there is the fate of the Highland Theatre. I admit that at first I was skeptical about the value of saving this old neighborhood movie house. And then I listened to the the folks who are working to save it and thought their ideas were very creative and that the old theatre could indeed provide a valuable space for local artists and citizens. Akron only need look over at Kent to find a positive re-use of an old neighborhood movie theatre. Transformed into The Kent Stage, it is now home to the finest in acoustic music as well as home of the New World Children's Theatre, sponsored by Kent's Standing Rock Cultural Center.

Akron has done a great job in supporting the training and development of young artists, with its Lock 3 program every summer. The Highland Theatre could be a space where practicing artists of all types share their work and their knowledge with the up and coming generations. It could provide the community with a space that can host independent films as well as family movies and much more.

A Highland Square citizen told me that when plans for the new community learning center were on display for the public, the city wanted to tear down the theatre for parking and in return, the community could use the school's cafetorium because they'd have a projector installed there.

Cafetoriums started sprouting up all over Ohio during the Republican era of spend-the-least-money-possible on children and their schools. They are abominations that seem to be a clever consolidation of space usage. Sometimes, the "stage" is simply a large rectangular gap between a gym on one side and a cafeteria on the other. Sometimes it is one space used for all three purposes. Inevitably, your child's voice will not be heard on such a stage with its vast echoing volume-sucking space in which the audience must uncomfortably sit on folding chairs.

Cafetoriums may have fixed lighting that cannot be used for theatrical purposes, so expensive lighting instruments must be purchased. One techie told me that the grease from all those school lunches is drawn up and coats the lighting instruments. Doesn't sound good for the lights or the kids' nutritional needs being met!

For the residents of Highland Square, a cafetorium is not what they want or need. The Highland has a liquor license, and a community learning center does not. Adult works of art may not be always appropriate for a "learning center." The Highland Square Neighborhood Association is an active, thriving group of people who work hard to make their neighborhood a model urban community. I admire their efforts and envy their achievements.

It pains me to see the conflict between them and the city's administration. I hope both sides listened to the words spoken today at the library and renew their commitment to work together to solve the tough problems. I don't know if the legal threats and efforts to promote a maverick Democrat for mayor are the wisest choices of tactics. More visibility of the real problems caused by no grocery store is a better one. Getting the senior citizens out on the sidewalk with signs was an excellent tactic. It reminds the public that every delay affects the most needy of the neighborhood's residents.

Meanwhile the mayor and council -- please think about what makes urban life special and unique and keeps us city dwellers here rather than heading out to the suburbs. The commitment to neighborhood as exemplified by the folks in Highland Square is something I hope proves infectious and spreads out to all the wards in the city.

Highland Square Festival Entertainment line up

Don't forget that tomorrow is 4 Sides of the Square Festival at Highland Square. Should it rain, the whole thing is moving to First Grace Church.

Here's an advance look at the entertainment schedule for Saturday at the Art in the Park side of the square

11:00 Kick Off Art in the Square 2007 w/ The Twoboudors
12:00 The Mickey’s
1:00 Zobapago!
Play "Funny Folk Tales from Around the World" On the grass by the drive way
1:30 Primitive Groove
2:00 Library Ceremony w/ the mayor at the library
3:00 House Popes
4:00 Play "Funny Folk Tales" at First Grace
4:30 Rachel Robert

My apologies for not keeping up this week. Back to school means lots of extras hours gearing up for the new year as well as being ready for Orientation, which happened yesterday. There's no air conditioning in our building which is uncomfortable for everybody. Let's hope the weather breaks before the start of school.

Enter Lady Macbeth

Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts! unsex me here,
And fill me from the crown to the toe, top-full
Of direst cruelty...

Allow me to introduce you to Lady Macbeth who is not in complete bloom yet, but is so amazing I had to get out the camera.

I can see how slipper orchids might become addictive. The variety of shapes and colors all based on the same theme of the crowned slipper is entrancing, that is for sure.

In the photo below, you can see how much more imposing Lady M is when compared to mischievous scamp Pinocchio.

You will notice that the leaves of Lady Macbeth are mottled green and white, while Pinocchio's are plain green. According to my various orchid books, that tells me that Lady M prefers dimmer light and more moisture. So they are in different places, and only together here for the comparison photograph.

Pinocchio's bloom has been out for over a month now, and there's a young bud growing on the stem below. That's another very pleasing aspect of orchids -- the blooms can stick around for months, providing lots of viewing and tending pleasure.

There's another paphiopedilum called Macbeth's ghost and one called Hamlet's Quest. I'm not going to be tempted until I've made it through to the next growing season with these two. Then we'll see!

Affluenza and class warfare are getting me down

Barbara Ehrenreich nails contemporary economics in her latest blog entry at Huffington Post. Barbara is a writer who does not turn her back on the working poor. Neither does Callahan at his Cleveland Diary. He's been posting a list of foreclosures in and around Cleveland, tallying them by bank. There are hundreds each week. Now we know who the big bad greedy banks are (Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank top the list), we would all do well to avoid them.

But how? Can we blame the working class people for wanting to have everything on display at HGTV? Isn't it the American way to grow up and buy a four bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, with open kitchen featuring marble counters and tiles, the latest burnished stainless steel appliances with cozy breakfast nook and formal dining room, plus the obligatory "great hall" and triple garage?

I chanced upon HGTV a week or so ago and I've become at once hooked, appalled, horrified! There's one series that shows us what a certain amount of money can buy in various locations around the US. They never show anything under $150K, and often go up to 2 million and more. I wonder what people do for a living to make enough money to live in a 2 million dollar home.

Another show takes a potential home buyer out to see three houses, and then they make a bid on one of them. In this program you really get to see what is on the mind of the typical American consumer. It could be a fixation on black leather couches or a fear of too little space. And then I contemplate the sort of person who has such fixed ideas about what elements go into the perfect kitchen or "master" bedroom. I watched one couple immediately size up the lack of closet space and turn their noses way up as they headed out the door.

Another show teaches you how to spend a couple grand to redecorate their homes that are already on the market. Their sale price can go up up up!

Somebody once said that eventually, the only jobs left in the US revolve around selling each other houses. The furnishings will be provided by China, who will end up owning everybody's line of credit.

PBS once did a documentary called "Affluenza." Affluenza is the disease of mindless consumerism, the old keeping-up-with-the-Jones syndrome. If you haven't seen it, it is worth checking out.

It is not just the poor who are loaded with debt these days. The middle class are deep in it as well. We are bombarded constantly with ads for loans, alternating with ads for all the stuff that we simply must have to be in style. Can I possibly live in a house with dated kitchen cabinets? Who cares if it means cutting down more tropical rain forests to make those cupboards and drawers?

Meanwhile, people who long for a home of their own and who sweat and slave doing the jobs nobody else wants can't make their loan payments and that's the nasty dark underside to shows like Flip This House. Buy cheap and sell high, and sell out the workers while you are at it. Meanwhile, millions of people elsewhere will consider themselves lucky they have a plastic roof over their tiny shack with no utilities and no running water.

End of Summer

I stood out back in the rain-drenched dusk tonight, surveying the garden and feeling fully rested, recharged and ready to step into the change of season and rhythm. A school year is a unique journey and always a marathon. Time to tune up the teacher voice and rev up the teaching legs.

So farewell summer and on to another sort of growing season. We'll sweat our way through the last hot humid days of August. When the seasons change, the cool temperatures and bright colors of fall transform the landscapes, we set off on the course of another year's learning.

So in honor of this time of high energy and excitement, we must have some Kinks:

Saturday Flashback to Rockstar

A year ago, Rockstar Supernova passed on the amazing talents of Storm Large and chose a fellow from Canada to front their made-up band of superstars on the verge of becoming has-beens. This year, I guess they are real has-beens as I couldn't find any recent news of their band other than a few old really bad reviews from their tour in the spring of 2007. Lucas Rossi is forming a new band, while Tommy Lee slams other bands on tour.

Storm, on the other hand, recently released her first post-Rockstar album, entitled Ladylike Side One. Storm and the Balls have been on tour pretty much all the time since Rockstar ended. Now she's set to star in a production of Cabaret in Portland this fall. Would that I had the time and cash to make it out there to see her.

The following clip from Rockstar is of a performance that all the male rockers hated. I really dug it, especially Storm's strut and sneers as she hits each note dead on:

My secret growing obsession

Allow me to introduce you to Pinocchio, other wise knows as Paphiopedilum Judge Pinocchio
(P. Judge Philip X P. glaucophyllum).
Paphs are also called slipper orchids, for obvious reasons. Pinocchio's slipper shape doubles as a very large schnozzola, all pink but more waxen than wooden.

My orchid arrived via US mail from a grower in Texas. I found it on Ebay, ordered it on a Monday and it arrived three days later, elaborately wrapped in newspaper shreds and sheets, so that the bloom was completely protected. I gave it a good long drink of water, and then set it under the grow lights I have set up . The first bloom dropped within days, but a new bud appeared almost immediately, which is the one you see in these photos.

Underneath this bloom, another bud is beginning to develop, so apparently it has made itself at home here.

The appeals of orchids are many: their amazing variety of shapes, exotic colors and blooms that last for weeks. They don't grow like "normal" house plants, in that you don't stick them in a pot with dirt and drench them with water. Their roots are usually used to attach themselves to tree trunks and branches or to piles of leaf mold and bark on the forest floor. So they must be potted in bits of bark, coconut hull chips, or sphagnum moss. Their roots often grow up over the lip of the pot, reaching out for moisture in the air, so it is wise to place orchids on a tray filled with pebbles and water not to the top of the pebbles. That way, you can set your plants on the pebbles so their roots don't get waterlogged, yet there is plenty of moisture wafting up from the tray.

Nero Wolfe, the famous fictional detective, has a roof top orchid green house in atop his building in NYC. He would take the elevator up to the plant rooms where nobody was allowed to disturb him. For an interesting take on Wolfe and his orchid obsession, read this.

When Rex Stout wrote his Nero Wolfe stories, orchids were not readily available to most people. Nowadays, you can find them at your local home improvement big box store and at various specialty nurseries and event florists. Dendorbriums and phaleonopsis are the types usually on display. They are easy care and quite adaptable to the home environment. And although some rare and collectible orchids are very expensive, most are quite reasonable in price.

I guess I got into orchids because I have had a variety of houseplants over the years, and I was getting bored with the same old plants. Living in this climate, house plants are absolutely essential to maintain my sanity during the cold winter months! Just looking at plants growing happily in my windows gives me comfort and alleviates stress when I come home from work.

Pinocchio is my first paph, but not my last. I just ordered another with a very dramatic name -- Lady Macbeth! She is blood red and arrived yesterday with an enormous bud. I will be posting her picture soon, I hope.

Have you checked your political compass lately?

Fed up with the old categories of Right vs Left in terms of describing your political leanings? Then take the political compass test. Your responses to the test will land you in one of four quadrants. Right to Left is indicative of economic policy. Up and Down tells you where you land in terms of Authoritarian vs Libertarian values.

But how do your favorite candidates for the 2008 presidential campaign stack up in terms of this political compass? The folks at politicalcompass.org took the test on behalf of the candidates by matching their expressed opinions and stands on issues with the test questions. Our of Republicans and Democrats, only two candidates land in the same quadrant as I do, although they are not nearly as far from the center as I am. Those two candidates happen to be the ones you see underneath the Village Green banner above: Gravel and Kucinich.

The rest of them all land in the upper right quadrant, home of right wing economic theory and authoritarian rule. Go here to see the graph for yourself. Those who think Edwards is so left wing are in for deep disappointment. Obama is more authoritarian than Clinton, who is further to the right than the rest of the candidates, but also closer to libertarian than anybody but Edwards and Ron Paul.

Basically, the graph shows the Dems all clustered near the center, while the Repubs are way far out on the Rightwing/Authoritarian continuum. (My position is about the same as Tom Toncredo's but in the lower left hand quadrant.)

Let us know where YOU appear on the political compass and how closely do you match up to your favorite candidate.

Godless in Akron

Spotted down town, this ghastly spectacle of a vehicle. I will defend their right to free speech, but I'll be damned if I can defend their right to park by a fire hydrant. There was no adult in the vehicle, just a bored kid hanging out by himself while daddy stood on the corner spewing forth. He tried his rant on me and I politely informed him that there is no god, have a nice day.

Speaking of that, readers please note the graceful scarlet letter A in the column to the right. It is courtesy of Richard Dawkins and PZ Meyers of Pharyngula who are instigating a global wide coming out party for atheists and agnostics. We are the last of the oppressed still waiting for something approaching acceptance. Mostly we are told that we will burn in hell. In graphic detail usually involving boiling oil and flesh that never is consumed totally, rather magically remaining burnable for all eternity. Quite a trick that. But I guess Satan is all powerful, so they tell me.

Nevertheless, I am happy to "come out" as an atheist and join my godless comrades in this endeavor. The idea is to reveal ourselves as ordinary people who are your fellow workers, bosses, shop keepers, soldiers, even teachers! We are harmless, really. We believe in one less god than you monotheists. As for pantheists, well -- I have a soft spot in my heart for the ancient Greek gods. They were the first ones I came to know.

For the record, I had the incredible good luck of being born into a godless family. We didn't go to church on Sundays. We went to museums, concerts and theatre. We'd go on family outings to historical sites or on nature walks. Instead of religious indoctrination, we discussed philosophy, science, literature and the arts. We created our own family values with much thought and debate. We learned to be polite in the face of great pressure to conform as well as in the face of horrendous prejudice. I learned what it was like to be hated for something irrational, so I grew up identifying with blacks, Jews and other minorities.

Even though Bush 41 said that atheists should forfeit their citizenship because this is a Christian nation, we are still here and we vote. We tend to avoid voting for those who base all their decisions on a book of old myths from primitive cultures. For a list of celebrity atheists, agnostics and skeptics, look here. And check out my friend Kevin's blog entry in which he comes out as an atheist.

William O'Neill for OH 14th

In case you've forgotten, Bill O'Neill is the fellow who ran for state supreme court in 2006 without taking any money for his campaign. The Village Green endorsed him in that campaign. His slogan was "No money from nobody," because he believes judges should not be beholden to anybody. He bought a printing press and he and his sons made all their campaign literature by hand.

O'Neill has lead a full and rich life, from distinguished service in Vietnam to raising four children after the untimely death of his wife to going back to school at age 50 to become a pediatric nurse. He has served on Ohio's 11th District Court of Appeals

Now he has given up his position on the court and is running for Ohio's 14th congressional district against Republican Steven LaTourette. Here are some of his reasons:

"My health is excellent, my kids are enjoying new adventures, and I have the two greatest jobs in America. I defend justice by day and help sick kids at night. I have gone from a dishwasher at Ohio University to a Judge and it would be easy to sit back and reflect on my successes.

But that is not my style. As Robert Frost wrote, I have “miles to go before I sleep”. It didn’t take long to know that my service wasn’t over – especially as I look at the country I have served my entire adult life.

I see an America that is on the wrong course – a nation bogged down in Iraq where the greatest army in the world is caught in the middle of a civil war they did not start and cannot stop. I see doctors, nurses, and patients stuck in a broken health care system that should be the crown jewel of our society but instead has become a national nightmare. And I see an industrial base that has been sold out by our leaders in Washington in the name of enormous profits for a few and an uncertain future for the rest of us."

Bill O'Neill is an amazing guy and if you live in his district, please go here and read about him and consider sending him some money. Heck, even if you don't live in his district, consider sending him some bucks. Since he's not running for a judgeship, he is indeed accepting donations for his congressional run. I encourage all my friends in the 14th to give him their full support. Don't forget, the old 14th was stolen away from Tom Sawyer by Republican gerrymandering. How better to take it back than with Bill O'Neill as your representative!

We'll be right back after this message...

A fig grows in Kenmore

The fig in my garden grows sideways on the ground. The trunk grows horizontally along the ground and the branches sprout upwards as seen here. They might reach 6 ft by the end of the summer.

Next photo is a close up of a branch, with green figs forming.





Finally, we zero in on the figs themselves. These are about as large as a quarter.



Microdot commented here yesterday that he thinks my fig problem is due to lack of a particular pollinating wasp. I was out in the garden for awhile today and noticed a smaller wasp with yellowish markings -- like a yellow jacket but not as big and bright. It was buzzing around the fig bush, but it chose to land on the leaves, not the actual figs.

But my wasp was way too large to be a fig wasp. I found a blog entry about these creatures with very fine pictures. Check it out here, courtesy of Belgian student Cairnarvon.

I also found a page with growing tips. I am not the only one with figs that won't ripen:

Q: Why won't figs ripen on my fig tree?

A: It may be an environmental phenomenon or a problem with the variety. Often figs freeze to the ground in the winter. The regrowth is lush and vigorous and often the bush is growing too vegetatively to mature the fruit. Figs are also shallow rooted and easily stressed which can hinder ripening. Mulching and regular watering should help. Certain unadapted varieties will never mature the fruit regardless of the management program.

This autumn, I will try laying on the mulch before the weather hits freezing temps and see if that helps. Microdot's tip about growing against a brick wall and/or giving the fig a southern exposure is something that might be a bit difficult on my property. As for luring the proper wasps to my figs -- I'm at a complete loss as to how to accomplish that!

I did an image search and discovered fig trees that looked shrub-like and had leaves exactly like my fig. Other images looked like real trees, and most of them appeared to be growing in Europe. This one is from Australia:

Photo credit: Mike Bogle, May 2006
Photograph of a large fig tree taken at Centennial Park in Sydney, NSW, Australia