f/k/a archives . . . real opinions & real haiku

U.C. v. G.R.S.

One candidate was quite icy, showing little emotion, and was the early choice of “party” regulars; the other was a giant and media star, with a famously positive demeanor and message. In mid-February, as early voters cast their ballots, the rivals were only one vote apart. If Barack Obama’s strategists had paid attention over the weekend, the results last night might have been very different.

You see, when the votes were tallied early March 1st, it was a rout: the candidate with rustbelt, blue-collar appeal had 66% of the votes, while the favorite of the elite college crowd only attracted 29%. It seems they can party, and caucus, and rave (and even make lots of videos), but those younguns just don’t show up when and where it counts to actually vote.

388 (29%) . . . . . . . 874 (66%)

It didn’t matter that the winner had in fact disappeared before election day. The Today’s Snowman worldwide Snowman Contest for February 2008 demonstrated once again the fundamental importance of having a big, wide base and then getting that base to the polls to vote.

march thaw
the dirty snow on top
melts last

….. by dagosan

[orig.] Now, the story behind the last-minute electoral tidal wave that catapulted the Great Rotterdam Snowman to an overwhelming victory over the candidate from the University of Colorado can be told. As an article last week in the Schenectady Daily Gazette reported, Jeff Older of Donald Drive, in the Schenectady suburb of Rotterdam, NY, built the now departed GRS, with his kids, while Chris Moskoff and a group of 12 U.C. alumni built the contender from Aspen. ‘Great Snowman’ leads in online contest: Local entry battling Rocky Mountain foe” (Schenectady Daily Gazette, by Justin Mason, February 27, 2008). Bob Eckstein (author of The History of the Snowman) has tracked the battle between the UC Snowman and GRS, who were the main contenders in his Today’s Snowman weblog February Snowman Contest. See “University of Colorado Vs. Rotterdam” (Feb. 17, 2008); “The Finger Pointing Continues” (Feb. 27, 2008).

In our posting on Feb. 24th, we told f/k/a’s readers about the contest, noting that there had been mud-slinging, with the UC crowd insinuating that a dad and his kids could not have lifted the top sections of a snowman that they claimed to be 12-feet tall. [Older rebutted that slur in the Gazette, explaining that they had taken “an atypical approach in their creation by first building a towering snow cone and then carving out the snowman.” Indeed, Eckstein drove for eight hours to measure the snowman in person a few weeks ago, and validated it’s size at a dozen feet tall.]

naughty child–
instead of his chores
a snow Buddha

….. by Kobayashi Issa – translated by David G. Lanoue

What politics? As you surely have noticed, the f/k/a Gang has been a little antsy since we sworn off political and legal-ethics punditry back on Christmas Eve, with a bit too much time on our hands. Our three-part snowman (r)evolution series was one consequence of our idle minds, and led us to discover Eckstein book and weblog. While we might have promised not to post about politics (hmmm, we did, didn’t we), we never promised not to work on a campaign in the real world, nor in another part of cyberspace. So, when we saw that the UC Snowman and GRS were only one vote apart as of Feb. 21, 2008 (see “UC vs. Rotterdam Update“), and realized that our local candidate was being slurred, and facing a bunch of web-savvy elitists, while getting no publicity here in Schenectady County, Prof. Yabut decided he had to help even the playing field (or maybe tilt it a bit).

in the howling wind
under the full moon
the snowman, headless

…….. by George Swede from Almost Unseen

[larger photo] A quick check at the Rotterdam Community Internet Forum confirmed that no one had brought up the topic of their local Great Snowman at that busy website, as of the morning of February 24, 2008, with only 5 days remaining in the election. Therefore, shortly after completing our posting on the subject, Prof. Yabut emailed Jo-Ann Schrom, the Board Moderator, to tell her about this epic battle. In a couple of hours, a new topic page appeared at the Rotterdam forum, entitled “Vote for the Great Rotterdam Snowman.” It printed the text of a couple of Eckstein’s posts about the contest, and linked to the f/k/a piece. That attention attracted the Gazette reporter, and resulted in Main Stream Media coverage. The rest is, indeed, snowman electoral history. From a virtual tie, GRS supporters gave the Rotterdam giant a 2 to 1 landslide (which is not a word usually used in polite snowperson society). (update: March 6, 2008: the Daily Gazette‘s reports on the victory of GRS, posted here.)

one smirking snowman
and one
hatless scarecrow

…………… by dagosan

What lessons? This post is already too long, and we’ve sworn not to pundificate about politics this election season. So, you will all have to draw the obvious conclusions on your own — hopefully before the spring thaw melts away any additional smiling giants. (If you have the stomach and appetite for more political punditry today, we suggest checking out Prof. Ann Althouse, who has just taken a vow of “cruel neutrality,” which might indeed be worse than either benign or malignant neglect.)

p.s. Jeff Older, the creator of The Great Rotterdam Snowman has told Today’s Snowman that “Our goal next year is to go for the tallest snowman/snow-woman in the world.” And, speaking of audiacity and hope, Bob Eckstein leaked that Jeff also “plans to build a college campus, by himself, larger than the University of Colorado, once the weather warms up. Updates will be provided here exclusively at Today’s Snowman.”

– speaking of super-delegates: [ original photo by Alison Shumway, via Chad]

he’s holding one
snowball…
the Buddha

…. by Kobayashi Issa – translated by David G. Lanoue

[Daily Gazette, Marc Schultz, larger photo]

Valentine stroll
neither lover mentions
the pink flamingos

…………. by dagosan

Did you get flocked on Valentine’s Day? If you live in The Stockade, a tiny historic district in Schenectady, New York, it’s really hard not to get flocked by a flamboyance of pink flamingos on February 14 — and (virtually) no one knows who’s doing the flocking. As described in today’s Schenectady Daily Gazette, fourteen pink flamingos appeared overnight within the small traffic circle monument to Lawrence the Indian, and were gone when the sun set. See “Pink flamingos make annual appearance: Stockade residents have grown fond of Valentine’s Day tradition” (February 15, 2008). Reporter Kathleen Moore explains:

“Welcome to the Stockade’s Valentine’s Day mystery.

“For nearly a decade, someone has decorated Lawrence the Indian with pink flamingos on Feb. 14. Most have no idea who does it or why the day of love is being celebrated with one of the tackiest decorations available in stores today.”

At the Gazette Online website, you’ll find more details and some humorous speculation, but you will not learn the identity of the impish Mohawk-flockers. The only clue is cryptic: “The covert decorators are actually two middle-aged men, who asked for anonymity since they’ve kept their identities a secret for so long.” [Indeed, although he was recently sighted lurking in and around the Stockade with another middle-aged gent, and he has demonstrated a rather warped attitude about Valentine’s Day at his weblog, the mysteriously anonymous Editor of Blawg Review denies planting the pink plastic fowl, but wishes he had thought of it first.] As to their motives, one of the aging delinquent flamingo herders says:

“The goal was to show residents that change could be good,” . . . .

And, his cohort in crime said, “It was sort of a hoot.”

Currently, you can find quite a few additional pictures of the 2008 Stockade flamingo episode at the homepage of the Stockade Neighborhood Association.

follow-up-dates (February 13, 2009): See our post “Valentine flamingos return to the Stockade,” which has many new photos; and see more coverage, with lots of photos, of the 2011 Stockade Flamingos and the 2010 Stockade Flamingos, at our sister weblog “suns along the Mohawk.”

Why make Valentine’s Day into Flamingo Day? We get no satisfactory explanation in the Gazette. However, as a dateless denizen of the Stockade, I can appreciate the reaction of two interviewed Stockadians, when asked by the Gazette reporter:

Newcomer Katy Nestor, who came upon the flamingos on her way to Arthur’s Market, said the birds could be the last resort for the dateless. “If you can, you spend Valentine’s with the ones you love … if you have nobody, come be with the flamingos,” she said. “It’s great. They’re cute.”

Joyce Wachala, co-owner of Arthur’s Market, said the flamingos are particularly welcomed by single residents. “A lot of people down here are single. Valentine’s Day is so hard for people — and this is so nice,” she said. “I think it’s adorable.”

winter sunset
in the shrimp boat’s wake
pink pelicans

spring rain the cat’s pink nipples

……. by Carolyn Hall –
“spring rain” – 2003 Henderson Haiku Competition, Hon. Men.; Frogpond XXVII: 1
“winter sunset” – The Heron’s Nest (II:5, May 2000)

follow-up-date (February 13, 2009): See our post “Valentine flamingos return to the Stockade,” which has many new photos.

With the subject-matter vacuum left at f/k/a by our no-politics and no-legal-ethics pledge, Your Editor decided to dig deeper into the whole flamingo and pink theme. It seems that getting flocked by pink flamingos is not merely a Schenectady activity, although it has not apparently been associated with Valentine’s Day nor reached the level of “tradition” elsewhere. The folks at Get Flocked.com explain:

“Flocks of Flamingos are a great way to celebrate a special occasion such as a birthday or anniversary. Flamingo Flocking is a great way to raise funds for your church, group, or organization. By the pair or by the flock… Flamingos are just fun.”

Of course, Get Flocked only sells the Genuine “Don Featherstone” design pink flamingo. Much like my own Valentine date situation, this demand for classic quality has caused a large availability problem. You see, the Union Products Co., which produced Featherstone’s pink plastic icons for almost half a century, closed in 2006. (See “RIP: Pink Flamingo, 1957-2006” (South Florida Sun-Sentinel, October 20, 2006; listen to NPR coverage, Oct. 31, 2006) As a result, they’re even Out of Stock at Get Flocked (but you can settle for a substitute at eBay).

Nevertheless, do not despair. The f/k/a Gang has some suggestions for anyone still hoping to get flocked by pink flamingos in the afterglow of Valentine’s Day.

• First, and miraculously, famous haiku poet Roberta Beary — who just might have been the inspiration for Manfred Mann’s flamingo song — penned a pair of poems this afternoon especially for this posting:

mother-in-law –
at the tip of her swizzle stick
pink flamingo

visit home
the pink flamingo’s
cracked wing

……………………………. by Roberta Beary – specially commissioned by f/k/a –

• (Feb. 16, 2008 update/insert): Our Honored Guest and friend Ed Markowski swooped in overnight with his own flock of flamingo poems for our Lawrence Flamingo Celebration. Here are a trio; check our Comments section below for more:

mobile home park
apple blossoms settle
on a pink flamingo

[Ed. Note: one poem temporarily removed.]

two pink flamingos
& a waitress named Sally…
summer begins

• If money is no object, we sighted a pair of genuine Featherstone flamingos (along with a warning against fake signature versions from China), at Amazon.com for over $100; but another pair of knockoffs for $12.

For the more intellectual and history-oriented flamingo buffs, we suggest the book “The Original Pink Flamingos: Splendor on the Grass” (Schiffer Publishing, 1999, 98 pp., Paperback), which is co-authored by Don Featherstone, the designer of the most famous lawn ornament of our times (with apologies to the Virgin in a Bathtub). The book’s description notes:

“In 1957, Don Featherstone sculptured the first three-dimensional pink plastic flamingo, thereby making affordable bad taste accessible to the American public” –from Pink Flamingos. This is the tale of a wonderful bird, named by his creator phoenicopteris ruber plasticus; a new avian species, now known to all as “Pink Plastic Flamingo.”

“. . . If you’re a believer, or even a skeptic, take a look, see for yourself. This book is one of a kind, the documentation of American genius, homage to an icon, or, perhaps, a rare opportunity to observe a culturally tolerated symbol of taste gone awry. It’s great fun!”

Kitsch collectors should click this link for Pink Flamingos Gift Set (Running Press Mini Kits), for a pair of desktop mini flamingos with their own patch of lawn, and “a book celebrating America’s beloved bauble of bad taste as a symbol of kitschy fun in the sun.”

Also, from Get Flocked get a cap, t-shirt or other apparel.

pink mitten
at the curb –
warming one small red hand

historic district —
an old sidewalk trips up
the blossom gazer

another year
without learning their names –
trees with pink blossoms

………………………….. by dagosan

Or, perhaps this pair in flamingo pink [formerly] at Target is more up your alley (or, another flamingo bikini beauty from SwimHut).

parting her pink robe
–daybreak

……………… by Yu Chang, from A New Resonance (1999).

And, last but — certainly around here — not least, enjoy a flock of poems by our Honored Guest Poets, and dagosan, bathed in the hue of pink:

new lover
pink light sleeps
Amsterdam awakens

….. by pamela miller ness – from pink light, sleeping (chapbook, 24 p, Small Poetry Press, Concord, CA, 1998)

new pink sneakers –
grandma’s porch step
still creaks

………… by Laryalee Fraser – clouds peak #2

footbridge
pink clouds
between the boulders

…….. by Yu Chang – from Upstate Dim Sum

pink begonias
deepening
the grey fall

…………………….. by Barry George at simply haiku

country stop sign–
the pink glow of sunset
through .22 holes

…………. by Lee Gurga from Fresh Scent (Brooks Books, 1998)

st. patrick’s day
the foreman hands out
pink slips

………….. by ed markowski

in the pink dusk
with pimples
moon

…….. by David G. Lanoue from Dewdrop World (2005)

trespassing –
three pink tulips
in an unkempt yard

pink clouds in the crotch
of the bare oak
the street-walker stares

white to pink–
clouds repainted
while we sip our wine

………………………. by dagosan

breathing space—
the deepening pink
of alpenglow

sunny morning —
pink tulips in bloom
on the preschool’s walls

……………………… by Billie Wilson – The Haiku Society of America Newsletter XIX:1 (2004)

easter brunch
his daughter’s hair
a new shade of pink

……………………… by Roberta Beary, The Unworn Necklace (2007)

a present, a present
a New Year’s present!
her pink cheeks

…………….. by Kobayashi Issa,
translated by David G. Lanoue

it’s pink! it’s purple!
sunset inspires
more bickering

……………….. by david giacalone, Frogpond Vol. XXVIII, #2 (2005)
[haiga photo: Arthur Giacalone; see the haiga here]

faint pink lips
where someone kissed
the window

…………….. by David G. Lanoue from Haiku Guy: a novel

(more…)

As Carolyn Elefant has been saying for years (and argues in her acclaimed new book Solo by Choice), one of the great advantages of owning your own small business as a sole proprietor is having greater control over “quality of life” issues, such as which days and hours you will work. Of course, most solo lawyers don’t have perfect control of their time — court schedules, client emergencies and deadlines, and tasks that take much longer than expected to handle diligently, can at times make it quite difficult for a solo lawyer to keep to a rigid schedule.

[image from BarberPole.com]

The same cannot be said, however, for barbers. If you own a barbershop, you can pretty much call the shots when it comes to when you’re open for business. A customer’s bad hair day or important social engagement poses no big social expectation or ethical obligation to provide your services during designated off-hours. You post a sign and expect your patrons to abide by it. If you want to make an exception for a loyal client, you do. Sure, there will be marketplace forces that tempt you to increase your hours to attract or keep some customers, but each barbershop owner has to decide for himself or herself which values are most important, and whether work-life balance wins out over financial needs or desires.

With those assumptions in mind, along with my usual pro-consumer and pro-competition biases as a former antitrust lawyer, I was rather bemused seeing the lead business-section article in the Schenectady Sunday Gazette, with the headline “Clash of barbers: Should shops be closed on Mondays?: Unionized barber waging battle to keep traditional day off” (February 10, 2008). As reporter James Schlett explains, Richard DiCristofaro, owner of Wedgeway Barber Shop in Schenectady, considers it a “cardinal sin” that a barber in neighboring Rotterdam was open on the Monday before Christmas, and decries the “greed” of those who violate the 60-year agreement of local barbers not to work on Mondays, which allows them to all have a five-day workweek. The article explains:

“At least in Schenectady, Mondays are turning into the latest front in unions’ battle against the global and corporate forces that are trimming away the benefits organized workers fought for during much of the 20th century. At his 96-year-old shop on Erie Boulevard, [Richard] DiCristofaro is mounting a spring campaign designed to turn union supporters against barbers who offer haircuts on Mondays.

“For the past few weeks, DiCristofaro — the former president of the Schenectady Barbers’ Union Local 176 — has become more vocal about the Monday issue. He has run advertisements criticizing the practice in The Daily Gazette and sought support from the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1.

“ ‘They’ve always done as they please, which is fine. What we want to do is make people aware that they’re not union,’ DiCristofaro said.”

Perhaps the legal experts at Antitrust Review or the Employment Blawg will let me know if my analysis is off, but here’s my reaction to Mr. DiCristofaro (which I also made in a comment to the online Gazette article):

• No matter what they call themselves, this group of barbershop owners is not a union — they’re small businessmen and, most important, competing sellers of a service, acting together in a trade association.

By agreeing not to open on Mondays, and by trying to force other shops to close on Mondays, the “union” of barbers is really a cartel engaging in collective action that appears to violate the antitrust law.

• Antitrust law considers joint action by competing sellers — aimed at either other sellers or their customers — to dictate the terms of service (such as hours of business) to be unlawful boycotts. It doesn’t matter if the competitors are “little guys” or even “goodfellas.”
• Thus, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with the Federal Trade Commission in 1990 that a group of solo practice lawyers, who served as assigned counsel for indigent defendants, were competitors and could not engage in a boycott to get better terms of service, even if they were acting to protect constitutional rights. [see FTC v. Sup. Ct. Trial Lawyers Ass’n, 493 U.S. 411 (1990); and our posting about the Mass. Bar Advocates].
• More important, in the late 1980’s, the Supreme Court confirmed the FTC’s conclusion that Detroit Area Auto Dealers could not agree to be closed on Saturdays, even if they did so to keep their employees happy, or to achieve other social benefits. [see “Car Dealers Lose Ruling” (AP/New York Times, March 3, 1989); “More dealers open Saturdays” (Detroit News, March 9, 2005); and continuing FTC action in Detroit Auto Dealers Association, Inc, Docket No. 9189]

• Barbers are independent business owners, who have every right to close on whatever day they want to close or to allow employees to have two days off a week, in order to seek life balance goals. But, they cannot act together to deprive consumers of the choice of getting a haircut on a Monday, or to coerce competitors to limit operations to five days a week. Loyal clients will fit their haircut requirements into their barber’s schedule — or, as they have every right to do (and if that loyalty has not been earned), find a shop that accommodates their needs or convenience.

For me, calling themselves a union does a disservice to real unions (composed solely of employees) and the “unionized” barbers should not be pressuring members of genuine employee unions to help coerce competing barbers to close on Mondays. Over the decades (like auto dealers in Detroit), barbers have put bricks through the windows of many shops that stayed open on the “wrong” days. (I remember hearing about such efforts in my hometown, Rochester, NY, in the 1960’s, where barbers tried to enforce competitors to close on Wednesdays.) Let’s hope Schenectady’s disgruntled barbers have the courage to act individually on their convictions (even if it loses them customers), rather than behaving in ways that might get them convicted.

again, the bald barber
cuts my hair
too short

as the professor speaks
only his bald spot
is illuminated

……… by George Swede from Almost Unseen

holiday rush
the barber speaks wistfully
of the sixties

late day showers…
my hair gel
reactivates

…………………. by ed markowski

disinfectant jar –
there must be 14 or 15
barber’s combs

……………………… by Michael Dylan Welch
Shiki Haikusphere 10th Anniversary Anthology (2007)

barber’s sweepings
a touch of grey splits
man and boy

letting go…
cherry blossom drifts
into cut hair

. . . ………………… by matt morden at Morden Haiku

my childhood barber shop–
only the mirror
has changed

………………… by dagosan

p.s. The Wedgeway Barber Shop is located in the same building as The Grog Shoppe, the last place where “Ed,” the infamously anonymous Editor of Blawg Review, was sighted in Schenectady last week. (read Ed’s account here)

It can now be revealed: My “three magi” poem in our “Holiday Haiku from Schenectady” collection was referring to the arrival of three haiku poets in Schenectady from distant points of origin, and was inspired by the venerable (not venerated) General Electric sign, which has long been a major symbol and icon for Schenectady, the birthplace of GE. As the Schenectady Gazette recently noted, the sign was erected in 1926 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. “The company uses 1,399 bulbs to illuminate the 10-foot letters and the huge GE logo, which is 36 feet in diameter. The entire sign stretches 168 feet along the top of Building 37.”

At night, I can see the GE sign from my back yard along the Mohawk River.  It’s been on my mind the past few days, however, due to an article in last Saturday’s Gazette. Titled “Rule nearly brings down GE icon: Schenectady plan calls for removing ‘free-standing’ signs” (by Kathleen Moore, February 2, 2008), the article begins:

“A new rule intended to clean up the city’s streetscapes almost had the unintended consequence of eliminating the historic General Electric sign.

“The brightly lighted landmark nearly fell afoul of a new rule included in the proposed new comprehensive plan, which states that all illegal signs must be removed by 2010.

“The goal is to accelerate the city’s long effort to get rid of billboard-style signs in front of businesses. The problem is that General Electric’s 82-year-old sign is just as illegal as the oversized signs that have been more recently installed in front of other businesses.”

The Gazette [see its photo] says the city’s zoning and planning moguls were stumped when they first realized that their proposed comprehensive plan would require tearing down a beloved local landmark. You see, in addition to its excessive size, the GE Sign sits on a roof and, according to Zoning Officer Steve Strichman, “Rooftop signs are simply not allowed in Schenectady.”  Moreover, Strichman aims to rid Schenectady’s streets of highway-oriented signs that are “out of pedestrian scale.”

Therefore, despite really wanting to eliminate non-conforming rooftop signs over the next two years, the planning board decided on a rule that merely mandates “all illegal ‘free-standing’ signs be corrected by 2010.”

can’t quite get over
the high rooftop…
firefly

deep snow–
on the signpost
a crow caws

……………………. Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue

I’m really glad our civic leaders want to save this famous sign, which adds a lot to our rather minimalist urban skyline. But, as has often happened in my two decades as a resident of Schenectady, I’m scratching my head over the apparently inept (and often inapt) lawyering that goes into our law-making.   It seems to me that even a second year law school student, taking Zoning 101, could have come up with a quick fix for Schenectady’s comprehensive plan that would both 1) save a protected historic landmark that is situated on an enormous tract of land, in a (very non-residential) heavy industrial zone, and set far back from a broad one-way thoroughfare (with no neighbors across the street), and also 2) provide that nonconforming rooftop signs in or near residential and mixed-use zones, or along our narrow city streets be removed in the next two years.

show me yours.
you first.
barn roof creaks

……………..…. by Randy Brooks – from School’s Out (Press Here, 1999)

Of course, I first learned thirty years ago (when even Washington Post legal-beat reporters kept mis-stating the facts and law in cases I worked on at the Federal Trade Commission), that newspapers can get things wrong when describing laws and the details of lawmaking.   So, I’d be most pleased to have a more flattering account of what went into the efforts to salvage the future of the GE Sign.  Since I can’t image Schenectady’s skyline without it, I’m pleased indeed that this catastrophe, or the customary embarrassment around this town when inadvertent regulatory missteps are noticed too late, was avoided.

through a hole
in the fog billboard girl’s
radiant face

……………………………. by George Swede
from Almost Unseen (Brooks Books, 2000)

city lights –
the brightest are all
selling something

snowing hard
no road sign
to obey

………… . . by John Stevenson, Upstate Dim Sum

rooftop garden
she collects the rain
in saucepans

………………………. by Tom Painting – 2nd Place, July 2006 Shiki Monthly Kukai-Kigo

Wendy Cook Update: There’s a new chapter in the sad story of Wendy Cook, the 37-year-old daughter of Funny Cide owner Jack Knowlton, who was charged with performing sex acts and snorting cocaine with her then 2-month-old son and 5-year old daughter in the back seat of her car.

Cook was arrested in a bizarre prostitution sting in Schenectady in early October (see our prior post; scroll down page). According to Channel 13 in Albany, NY, in its noon report “Mom facing sex, drug charges takes plea deal” (WNYT.com13, Dec. 5, 2007):

“Felony charges against Cook were reduced to misdemeanors Wednesday. She is now charged with reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child.

“Under the plea agreement she will spend nine months in a residential treatment center.”

For Ms. Cook’s sake and that of her children and entire family, we wish her the best of luck. If I had represented her children in this case, I surely would have agreed with this outcome.

update (Dec. 6, 2007): Today’s Albany Times Union provides further explanation about the plea and the reasoning behind it (see “Mother pleads guilty to endangerment charges: Wendy Knowlton Cook, 37, snorted cocaine off newborn son’s stomach, police say,” Dec. 6, 2007), saying that “As part of a plea deal, Cook must complete a rehabilitation program in Sullivan County which could last up to two years. Cook faces two years in prison if she fails to complete the program, according to Schenectady County District Attorney Robert M. Carney.” In addition:

“I understand why police investigators were so outraged by Ms. Cook’s conduct, but unfortunately, there was no provable felony here,” Carney said in a statement released by his office. “She was prostituting herself for drugs and using them in the presence of her children, but since no drugs were recovered, no drug charges could be brought.

“Police charged her with reckless endangerment in the first degree which requires proof that her driving created a grave risk of death,” he said. “Police did not see her driving, she did not have an accident, and no one was injured.”

update (April 30, 2008): See “Cook answers to probation violation” (wnyt.com, April 29, 2008).

update (May 30, 2008): See “Mother to be sent to drug rehab” (Daily Gazette, May 30, 2008) “Knowlton-Cook’s attorney, Jake Hogan, explained that her earlier reluctance [to continue in rehab] was that she couldn’t find a program that would allow her to continue to see her children. A program has been found, the DayTop facility in Rhinebeck, Hogan said.”

afterwords (Nov. 8, 2008): Read about Wendy getting her kids back and receiving probation, by scrolling down to the second topic at this post, dated Nov. 8, 2008.

home for Christmas: .
my childhood desk drawer
empty

first Christmas –
our baby sleeps through
the unwrapping of his gifts

………….. by Michael Dylan Welch ..
“home for Christmas” – from Open Window – haiku & photo
“first Christmas” – frogpond XXIX: 2 (2006)

“easy to assemble”
I put it back and
grab a teddybear

…………………………………. by dagosan

to Petta, DiCerbo & Hughes: SORRY, GUYS, I’m a Democrat, but . . .

. . . I remember your votes this past summer in favor of the Schenectady County SORR laws (Sex Offender Residency Restrictions) — both their initial passage and your decision, upon reflection, to confirm the basic residence ban and establish a horse-behind-the-cart Sex Offender Council to study the issue. [see, e.g., Schenectady’s PanderPols Vote to Evict Sex Offenders (June 13, 2007), and Schenectady’s (d)evolving Sex Offender Law (Aug. 23, 2007)]. You say “Schenectady is Moving in the Right Direction,” but “Sex Offenders Keep Moving” is not a legislative record that should make you proud. Frankly, there is nothing else that comes to mind when I try to figure out just what you’ve done for our County over the past four years that entitles you to re-election.

Reluctantly, I’ve concluded that your SORR votes are reason enough to withhold my vote on Tuesday, as you seek re-election to the County Legislature, and I hope other Democrats will join in — showing up at the voting booth but sending our silent message of “no confidence” and “No thanks for SORR.” I’m probably not willing to vote for your Republican opponent, but I will not pull the lever under your names on Election Day.

— Paul Michael Petta was apparently all set to vote against SORR early on the day the vote was taken last June. He somehow had his arm twisted, however, by Legislative Chair Susan Savage and meekly voted for the ineffective and counterproductive laws.

Affable Vince DiCerbo voted to retain the residency restrictions, despite knowing they are bad policy and likely to be counterproductive. As I said in August about Vince: “One Albany politician’s political posturing provoked a Schenectady politician to change position and vote for a law that he admits is bad in theory. A sad example for our children, and for impressionable adults.”

— In voting for SORR, Gary Hughes stressed his desire to protect children. Governing by cliche and slogans is not good enough, Gary.

I hope this Just Say No to SORR protest will give Vince, Mike and Gary some ammunition the next time they need to defend positions opposed to the high-handed methods and low-EQ policies of their leader Susan Savage. More important, I hope — if they somehow still need further incentives– that it is the nudge that will bring them to choose a new Legislative Chairman this January, under Sec. 2.06.8 of the County Charter. We citizen-members of the Democratic Party in Schenectady County want our elected leaders to start acting like Real Democrats — in their policies and their procedures, as members of the County Legislature.

By the Way: The Schenectady County Democratic Party‘s official website promises “detailed information” about the candidates, but clicking on the above links gets you a photo and one word of detail about each of the incumbents. A In fact, it is the same word for each candidate: “dedicated.” In practice, dedicated to keeping Susan Savage happy seems to be the theme. We need to let them know that their strategy is wrongheaded, and growing a spine for standing up against Susan would be advantageous. [Note to SCDP’s webmaster: the gentlemen above are members of the County Legislature, not the “County Board.”]

Here’s a Sunday antidote to stale, rudderless, spine-challenged Schenectady pols: some new, hearty poetry by Schenectady’s most-honored haiku poet, Union College’s Professor Yu Chang:

unmarked grave
butterflies in and out of
the long grass

Thanksgiving
I promise to take care
on the road

home theatre
a squirrel just left
the feeder

video chat —
touching the gap
in her baby teeth

blue heron
all paddles
at rest

…………………………………………… by Yu Chang – from Update Dim Sum (2007/II)