Short fun video from the Wildlife Conservation Society about the plight of New York’s aquariums and botanical gardens.
After you watch, write Albany and tell them how you feel.
Save our zoos, aquariums and botanical gardens
Category: Politics
Like gardening, all politics is local.
Local foods Catch-22
Thought-provoking column (under the header ‘Arugula Politics’) in this morning’s Washington Post: Go Slow, Foodies. It’s the Way to Win.
Shorter version: The problem with transforming the food system is that it takes a holistic approach. And that has movers and shakers thinking that foodies lack focus. How can politicians get behind foodies when their issues are all over the map, from tilling up the White House lawn for a garden to reducing cow flatulence?
I’ve long been a fan of the Thom Harmann view of politics: We, the people, are a parade. And when we get enough marchers all headed in the right direction, politicians will quickly jump in front and declare themselves the drum majors.
The good news is, the local foods band is growing by leaps and bounds. Witness the article Good Eats in Cornell Alumni Magazine. The feature details how faculty, educators, students and alumni-turned-farmers aren’t waiting for the policy changes. They’re plowing ahead and laying the groundwork for local foods now.
Join the march.
Thursday music: Big Bill Broonzy
When I listened to Rev. Lowry’s inaugural benedition, I thought the words sounded familiar.
Sure enough. They echo Big Bill Broonzy‘s country blues classic about Jim Crow, ‘Black, White and Brown’:
More Big Bill, ‘Hey, Hey’:
Gardens in peril
I couldn’t help noticing the juxtaposition this morning:
First, the Washington Post editorial A Downtrodden Mall – America’s front yard desperately needs sprucing up. A lack of funding and deferred maintenance have left Pierre L’Enfant’s “vast esplanade” looking pretty shabby. “[T]rampled grass, decaying sidewalks, crumbling foundations and scum-filled ponds … mar this special place.”
But good luck getting funding to fix that special place, if the federal budget is anything like we face here in New York.
This morning’s New York Times warns: Proposed Budget Shuts Out Zoos, Aquariums and Gardens.
[N]ext fiscal year, which starts in April, state financing for all 76 zoos, botanical gardens and aquariums would be eliminated under Gov. David A. Paterson’s proposed budget. This after a 55 percent reduction this fiscal year — a move that was made only last month, surprising many organizations so late in the fiscal year.
Endowments and other funding sources for public gardens and the like aren’t looking real good either. Perhaps a surge in volunteerism will pick up some of the ‘resource shortage’ that looms. But that can only go so far.
‘It’s warm’
Al Roker gets the first interview with President Obama.
Oh happy day!