Month: May 2016

Monday, May 30

Nobody told a dirty joke. Nobody tried to one-up the others. We just got together this morning to enjoy each other — the Urban Farmers.

We’ve been meeting for years, third Saturday of the month. Guys who know how to get dirt under fingernails. Guys who make a worthy living in medicine, ecology, education, counseling, engineering, administration and bus driving.

Two have died, wonderful chaps — Mark Smucker and Donovan Miller.

Today’s was a $675 breakfast. That is, we bid up a meal offered by Mil Penner, a donation to Mennonite Economic Development Associates. This year’s projects are two: a city garden and a women’s project in Myanmar.

Here is Mil over the coals.

Bacon crisps.

Buns baked over the coals.

Conversation after breakfast …

conversation about

• MEDA in Myanmar
• Mennonite Disaster Service in Detroit
• SOOP (Service Opportunities for Older People) in Colorado
• Myanmar residents in Indy
• The Indianapolis 500
• The nasty effects of the one percent residential tax cap
• Blue Indy, Uber and the mass transit proposal

I am grateful for these guys.

 

Saturday, May 28, 2016

In my most recent blog I praised my near environment — a place I fondly call home. The day after I wrote that blog, my wife and I headed to midwestern Michigan to attend a festival at Interlochen Center for the Arts that preceded commencement (today). Our grandson Adrian graduated after two years of studies in theatre.

Adrian being congratulated by Interlochen’s president the one who is wearing shoes.

Joy and I had enough free time to explore the region — loveliness to the fullest.

Sleeping Bear dunes to the west. And then on the peninsula ending at the Mission Lighthouse …

vineyards aplenty …

back roads not plowed in the winter

orchards of apple, peace, cherry and apricot…

and finally the lighthouse and its beautiful old lens.

The next day (Friday) we traversed the larger peninsula jutting northward from Traverse City, ending in Leelanau County. Again we saw scores of vineyards, orchards and farms. We stopped, turned around to get a photo of lilacs against a barn.

I asked a senior who was working in a garage whether was OK to enter his premises so that I could take a picture of his barn. “That isn’t a barn,” he responded. “That is an old flour mill” which as we subsequently learned was in the family for several generations. The mill wheels, when still in operation, were propelled by water from a pond that he showed us.

In Leelanau State Park we searched the beach for Petosky stones. The shoreline was beautiful …

but Lake Michigan itself seemed moody.

By the time we got back to our B&B, a storm was in full force.

We did get to see a gentler Lake Michigan.

The four days reminded me that I’m not the only one who lives in a pleasant environment.

 

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

So much of my own sense of the beauty of this earth comes not from exciting trips to far away places but from the near environment — let’s say an area that goes no further than a quarter mile from our house. Or even better, what I can see from the patio.

Here is looking south

This is north.

And to the east.

My mind and heart need home, this place, this chair, this window and so important, this patio. By the way, we live in Irvington, once a little town separated from Indianapolis but now a vital urban community. It is not a wealthy spread; most of us are middle, middle class. But Irvington residents do indeed like green.

I hope your near environment nurtures you.

Sunday, May 22, 2016

When you pursue political theory far enough you discover the troublesome dynamic between the have and the have-nots, or, stated somewhat baldly, between the rich and the poor.

I do not write with authority, just with a conscience that is raked regularly when I stop to consider or am stopped to reconsider.  Yesterday our breakfast conversation (Urban Farmers) was at times jolly, but the agenda pulled us to sobering facts.

• There isn’t enough money in this fair city — this place celebrated for its downtown, its museums, art and culture and successful sports programs — to fund a thorough rebuilding of its crumbling infrastructures (streets, sidewalks, bridges).
• There isn’t enough money — we are a population of 800,000 within city limits and double that in the county — to pay for adequate city park maintenance.
• There isn’t enough money — what with the conservative push to encourage private and charter schools — to pay for quality public schools.
• There isn’t enough money — at a time when incarceration is shockingly high — to provide adequate and humane quarters for prisoners.
• There isn’t enough money — here where literacy is relatively high — to keep public libraries open full time.
• There isn’t enough money — during years of record-breaking homicides in the city — to pay for more street officers.
• There isn’t enough money to provide reliable bus transportation to people in poorer sections.

All of this at a time when our governor, at the National Rifle Association meeting in Louisville, touts the glories of Indiana.

What is the problem?

A sector of the community believes that the government should stop providing many of the services that have been assigned to the government:  public schools, the water system, prisons, highways. Let these be privatized.

Another sector argues that government-run operations gradually grow less and less efficient, since profit no longer drives day to day operations.

An apparent majority of the population fights against paying taxes of any kind.

This blog is titled “Rich and Poor.” I’m just getting to that topic. In this city there IS enough money to pay the rich owners of professional sports teams to stay here. There IS enough money to give superb maintenance to streets and sidewalks in well-to-do communities. There IS enough money to give tax breaks to companies wishing to start businesses.

As I said, my farmer buddies were rather intense on Saturday.

 

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Once upon a time we had a great music system, accessed through the graces of Glick Audio. Eventually I gave the speakers to a grandson. What became of the receiver I can’t remember. We then entered a period of cassette sound. When our cassette player went kaput, I gave away a box of classical cassettes. I migrated via FM radio to Minnesota Public Radio, classical streaming.

Now I’ve come upon the next “system.”  On my MacPro I bring up YouTube. Its music sounds tinny until I plug in earphones which puts me on the first row balcony to my choice of classical music.

Tonight, after a day of work in the garden, I listened to Camille Saint Saens Requiem Opus No. 54; then Faure’s Requiem; and concluded my concert with Samuel Barber’s Agnes Dei. No, I’ve not learned a vocabulary to convey what I hear and experience in great music. Just take it from me, music connects my heart and brain and soul.

Wednesday, May 18, 2019

It’s a privilege to pull weeds at Indianapolis Museum of Art on Wednesdays, and a pleasure to share photos.

My work begins at 8, but I try to arrive early to look around.

The vegetable garden demonstrates what can be done with a small space.

Today I came across a type of dogwood that won my heart.

We spent half the morning planting wildflowers. Here is Greg planting Virginia blue bells.

During our weed pulling John stopped by with his dog. It’s a daily trip for him.  Steve chats with him about the trail.

Unfortunately I wasn’t quick enough to adjust the camera to capture two herons flying in opposite directions.

Lots of school kids were on the grounds today. Steve edges past one group eating lunch on the bridge over the canal.

I look forward to next Wednesday.

 

Monday, May 16, 2016

Some years ago — perhaps as long ago as my grad school days, someone suggested the need for an ambience barometer. She imagined a device far more sophisticated than a thermometer that reveals the temperature, something more thorough than gross national product (GNP) to measure well-being, and something far better than public opinion about best beaches or best cities to retire in.

She wanted a somewhat magical device that when placed at any one spot on earth, would make a comprehensive reading of material, cultural, physical and spiritual wellbeing.

I’ve never forgotten about this imagined tool. When traveling to Malta, Thailand, Chile and elsewhere, I’ve tried to coax my brain and all of my senses to make my own informal appraisal of environments. I remember in particular a visit to an island on which there was, in my opinion, a lot of garbage along the roads and on beaches. I tried to extrapolate social meanings from this plethera of garbage.

Now, is this moment of widespread consternation about the candidates slated for our next presidential election, I think about my own nation and culture, our economy and material wellbeing, our communitarian spirit, our physical health, our level of hope and confidence, and indeed our moment in the ever-moving tide of earthly life.

1. The gap between the very rich and the very poor is extremely wide.
2. The definition of work as well as the availability of jobs has left a substantial segment of the population inadequately employed.
3. University education continues to rank high among developed nations; however the cost of attending college has risen far faster than national cost-of-living increases.
4. Despite the equal rights amendment to the Constitution, racism continues to destroy equal opportunity and respect.
5. Violent storms have increased both in number and severity.
6. An increased life expectancy is due in large part to medical advances although good medical care is expensive, taking up an increasing portion of earned income.
7. The infrastructure, much of it built in the post World War II boom, is overdue not only for repairs but also for redesign and rebuilding.
8. The so-called war on drugs has not succeeded. The latest suggested strategy is to legalize drugs in order to control their use.
9. Our incarceration rate is four times higher than the average of all other nations on earth, even as the rate of major crimes has decreased.
10. The definition, role and importance of the family has changed dramatically in recent decades, introducing questions about  the principal source and quality of child rearing.
11. The omnipresence of hand-held computers and related electronic gadgets is modifying not only how we get information, but also how we relate to each other.
12. It is beyond me to define the religious moment in our country, due to the Americanization of some denominations, the splintering of other religious groups, the increased number of other-than-Christian religions, the statistics that reveal a rising number of non-participants in church life and changing social mores.

I got to twelve!  And I didn’t even remark about the amount of paper thrown from car windows, left in parks or strewn even on our own property. If I stayed at work, gazing at the ambience barometer, perhaps I could list one hundred and twelve blips. But enough for now. But just this: my list as shown above seems rather negative doesn’t it? What calls my attention to this negativity is the contrast with how I myself feel about my life, my friends, my activities, my environment which is strongly positive. Why the discrepancy between my perception of my self and of my nation?

 

Sunday, May 15, 2006

I search for a way to say it without using a cliche: weeks frequently deserve to get tickets for speeding.  My most recent blog was seemingly yesterday but actually five days ago. Since then …

On Tuesday, outdoors work at Winter Wood was limited by rain.

But on rainy days, there’s always something to do in a shed.

A cool but dry Wednesday morning allowed for volunteer work on the grounds at Indianapolis Museum of Art.

On Thursday I worked on a book I am editing, which I will tell you about when copies come off the press.

Friday was special — a day spent with Jerry Yoder, a beloved nephew. While we traversed IMA and the Indy 500 area, and later saw an IMAX presentation of our national parks, our main activity was talk. And more talk.

Rain continues to be the week’s special. Currently this area’s rainfall year-to-date is well over two inches beyond average. But rain a garden makes.

Last evening we attended the annual fund-raiser for Mennonite Economic Development Associates who will be supporting a women’s project in Myanmar this year. Our cordial gathering was at Ed and Mary Liechty’s house by Eagle Creek Reservoir.

Which brings us to Sunday. I drove a friend to the airport early this morning. Since then, I am contentedly loafing … with hopes that you too mark the times with pleasure.

 

 

 

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

A reader noticed the absence of  racism on my listing yesterday of possible reasons for the high rate of incarceration in America today. With no doubt, racism belongs on the list. Racism was implied in several of the items, but should be explicitly identified.

I went to the web to learn more on the topic, and wish to share the following.

The Center for American Progress offers these data:

1. While people of color make up about 30 percent of the United States’ population, they account for 60 percent of those imprisoned. The prison population grew by 700 percent from 1970 to 2005, a rate that is outpacing crime and population rates. The incarceration rates disproportionately impact men of color: 1 in every 15 African American men and 1 in every 36 Hispanic men are incarcerated in comparison to 1 in every 106 white men.
2. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, one in three black men can expect to go to prison in their lifetime. Individuals of color have a disproportionate number of encounters with law enforcement, indicating that racial profiling continues to be a problem. A report by the Department of Justice found that blacks and Hispanics were approximately three times more likely to be searched during a traffic stop than white motorists. African Americans were twice as likely to be arrested and almost four times as likely to experience the use of force during encounters with the police.
3. Students of color face harsher punishments in school than their white peers, leading to a higher number of youth of color incarcerated. Black and Hispanic students represent more than 70 percent of those involved in school-related arrests or referrals to law enforcement. Currently, African Americans make up two-fifths and Hispanics one-fifth of confined youth today.
4. According to recent data by the Department of Education, African American students are arrested far more often than their white classmates. The data showed that 96,000 students were arrested and 242,000 referred to law enforcement by schools during the 2009-10 school year. Of those students, black and Hispanic students made up more than 70 percent of arrested or referred students. Harsh school punishments, from suspensions to arrests, have led to high numbers of youth of color coming into contact with the juvenile-justice system and at an earlier age.
5. African American youth have higher rates of juvenile incarceration and are more likely to be sentenced to adult prison. According to the Sentencing Project, even though African American juvenile youth are about 16 percent of the youth population, 37 percent of their cases are moved to criminal court and 58 percent of African American youth are sent to adult prisons.
6. As the number of women incarcerated has increased by 800 percent over the last three decades, women of color have been disproportionately represented. While the number of women incarcerated is relatively low, the racial and ethnic disparities are startling. African American women are three times more likely than white women to be incarcerated, while Hispanic women are 69 percent more likely than white women to be incarcerated.
7. The war on drugs has been waged primarily in communities of color where people of color are more likely to receive higher offenses. According to the Human Rights Watch, people of color are no more likely to use or sell illegal drugs than whites, but they have higher rate of arrests. African Americans comprise 14 percent of regular drug users but are 37 percent of those arrested for drug offenses. From 1980 to 2007 about one in three of the 25.4 million adults arrested for drugs was African American.
8. Once convicted, black offenders receive longer sentences compared to white offenders. The U.S. Sentencing Commission stated that in the federal system black offenders receive sentences that are 10 percent longer than white offenders for the same crimes. The Sentencing Project reports that African Americans are 21 percent more likely to receive mandatory-minimum sentences than white defendants and are 20 percent more like to be sentenced to prison.
9. Voter laws that prohibit people with felony convictions to vote disproportionately impact men of color. An estimated 5.3 million Americans are denied the right to vote based on a past felony conviction. Felony disenfranchisement is exaggerated by racial disparities in the criminal-justice system, ultimately denying 13 percent of African American men the right to vote. Felony-disenfranchisement policies have led to 11 states denying the right to vote to more than 10 percent of their African American population.
10. Studies have shown that people of color face disparities in wage trajectory following release from prison. Evidence shows that spending time in prison affects wage trajectories with a disproportionate impact on black men and women. The results show no evidence of racial divergence in wages prior to incarceration; however, following release from prison, wages grow at a 21 percent slower rate for black former inmates compared to white ex-convicts. A number of states have bans on people with certain convictions working in domestic health-service industries such as nursing, child care, and home health care—areas in which many poor women and women of color are disproportionately concentrated.

Monday, May 9, 2016

“America spends $80 billion a year locking up 2.2m people, reflecting an incarceration rate that has climbed remorselessly to more than four times the world average, even as violent crime rates fell sharply.” The Economist

Why the high rate of incarceration? I will speculate, will offer twenty hypothetical reasons, some of them ridiculous, some of them realistic theses which deserve to be argued.

1. because the incarceration of people is a money-making enterprise?
2. because the populace demands crime-free communities?
3. because our police are getting better trained to detect offenders?
4. because the courts have fewer options?
5. because of the influence of “three strikes and you’re out” legislation?

6. because of a growing poverty class?
7. because inner city schools are failing?
8. because of single mom families?
9. because of drug commerce and drug addiction?
10.because of increased gun violence?

11. because of too many immigrants?
12. because of the decline in religious affiliation and church attendance?
13. because poor arrestees are not given adequate lawyers?
14. because the people of this nation are becoming more devious?
15. because state institutions for the mentally ill have been closed?

16. because of violent media offerings?
17. because jail terms effect good behavioral changes?
18. because welfare immobilizes the recipient population?
19. because of the unemployment of low-skilled workers?
20. because an adequate standard of living is not available to all people?

Without doing further research I guess that the top five explanations for high incarceration are 1, 6, 9, 10. and 15. What do you think?