Author: Eric

Pivot point for this idea

Go Jump In A Wake

Here’s a regional pastime on the Maine Coast: summer residents — primarily but not exclusively the younger residents — of the outer islands in Casco Bay will often meet the Ferry at the dock in their bathing suit when it arrives for one of its several daily visits. They will patiently wait for the eager visitors unloading, the sad visitors embarking, and for any pallets of cargo to be landed and removed. Then, after the gangplank has been raised, and the ferry captain has nudged the nose of the ferry away from the dock, he will FULL the engines to scoot toward the next stop while a dock load of thrill seekers jumps into the milky turbulence behind the ship. At low tide this can be over a ten foot jump — some increase their decent by climbing on top of one of the piers.

Cliff Island Ferry Jump

Cliff Island Ferry Jump

Cliff Island Ferry Jump

Cliff Island Ferry Jump
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Spring, Maine Style

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POSTSCRIPT: Yesterday the “Nor’Easter Bomb” went off farther out into the ocean that had been initially predicted, so we got ONLY the wind (not the snow) from it: steady 30 mph winds with gusts up to 50 mph…which has “settled down” this morning to 15 to 25 mph winds, while the thermometer read 2 degrees.

The Ice Storm Cometh

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This was all supposed to leave by 9am Sunday…it continues to add ice as of now at 10am Monday, and they say it may not clear out until tonight…or later…

Our power went out yesterday around 3pm but came back on at 7pm…it’s now begun to flicker again, and if it goes out it could stay out for a while given how wide the iced area seems to be. We will have light and heat without grid power but we have stored as much water as possible in buckets and jars…the cows drink about 30 gallons a day…

Day 2
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Genius

I just got an unsolicited robo-call on my landline asking me to sign a phone petition (press 1) because I hate ObamaCare and want to end the death panels and socialized medicine before they can start. This spew of lies and hate *does* mention that “America’s Next Generation” wants to help defeat ObamaCare with me.

Obviously this pisses me off, but there’s really no way to scream at them. Still my head is jangling so I can’t get any work done, and all I can do is follow my sick curiosity by using The Google to find out that the America’s Next Generation SuperPAC was formed after the Citizens United decision by the executives of a telemarketing company in Akron, OH called InfoCision. I bet you won’t guess where 97% of the funds that this SuperPAC raised during the 2012 election went to…InfoCision. What’s worse is that InfoCision was recently sued by 318 employees for failing to pay overtime, minimum wage, and in some cases ANY wage at all.

So not only is a SuperPAC being used as a deadbeat telemarketer’s sales tool to further enrich members of the 1%, but they are spewing extremist lies and hate into the public on a wide-spread level simply as a way to get enough people riled up to send them $25. And it works. And when the few folks who actually Press 1 to “sign” the petition probably the only thing that’s done is their phone numbers are added to a list that is sold to other like-minded telemarketers to insure that these folks continue to be bombarded with lies and hate and asked to “donate.”

And we still wonder how our public discourse has been poisoned?

Don’t Take My Word For It

Here’s an excellent overview of the Uighur situation by the NY Times, which concludes that through its heavy handed repression of the Uighur population in Xinjiang, the Chinese government “could unwittingly radicalize a generation of young people, said Nicholas Bequelin, a researcher for Human Rights Watch who is based in Hong Kong. ‘The entire Uighur ethnicity feels asphyxiated, having become suspect as sympathetic to extremism,’ he said. ‘Xinjiang is trapped in a vicious circle of increased repression that only leads to more violence.'”

I wonder, however, if the Chinese government’s efforts are the opposite of “unwittingly” because as soon as there is a violent incident that is indisputably linked to a Uighur resistance group, the government will then have “license” to wipe out all but a few token Uighur communities, and their assumption of this HUGE region will be complete, claiming outright their only petroleum reserves and an increasingly crucial trade link to the rest of Asia and Europe.

Turpan Story

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The wirey man in the small room did not sit at a desk, but stood at a small metal stand — perhaps a music stand? – holding paperwork and my and Alison’s passports. He seemed young – smooth faced, long and lean, almost feline – but it’s often difficult for me to estimate age in Han men. He wore an all black uniform along with a black cloth baseball cap that had a short brim and Chinese characters stitched into the front.

“What is your name?”

“Eric Rector?” I replied as a question, obviously nervous.

“What is the purpose of your visit?” He had not yet looked at me, and continued working through the paperwork on his stand whether I replied or not. Perhaps he was filling in the blanks of a Rural Village Visa application, I wasn’t sure.

“I am touring Turpan for pleasure.” I said using the terms available in the list of options on the imagined visa form.

He laughed, which did not make sense because I’m sure he wasn’t reading any irony into this situation. My host family had tried to register our visit to their home with the village police, and the local police wanted nothing to do with us. They insisted that my hosts call the city police and follow their lead. In the village station my host called and was told: bring them to the city headquarters – we want to talk to the visitors. We also want them to check into a hotel in the city; there are not adequate facilities for them in your village.

“What is the purpose of your visit to _____ Village?” he clarified.
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