Ithaca Festival is unofficially, and informally, but fervidly, expanding into a nighttime event, too, with many clubs and other public spots hosting music and arts events after the free daytime events on Friday and Saturday.
An easy way to partake of the gamut, called "Ithaca Festival Inside," is with a pass that provides admission to all dozen-plus events for one low price of $20.
The passes are laminated ducats on a lanyard you wear around your neck, so you get to feel like a V.I.P., which of course you are.
The passes are available at Angry Mom Records, in the basement of Autumn Leaves Books, on the Commons. They are also available online at theithacapost.com.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
A Catholic Way to Diet?
I went to Farmers Market this morning with my friend JD and her daughter Emily, who is 20. They told me they are on a diet, together, for support.
They told me they are allowing themselves a restricted amount of calories daily, which they will tabulate loosely, but no junk food, and no eating between meals, except healthful things like produce, and dessert just once a week.
They said one aspect of the togetherness thing is that if one goes off the diet, they have to tell, and then the other gets to go off, for the same amount, or thereabouts, and then they start over.
I had to think about it but I knew right away something was wrong with this strategy. Then I realized what.
"That's no good," I said. "It should be that if one of you goes off, you have to tell, but then the other one gets denied that amount of food or calories. So say Emily has a second dessert this week. She has to report it, and the consequence is that J. gets no dessert. Emily ate yours. Or if J. eats Doritos or donuts in the afternoon at work, Emily gets kale for breakfast, and has to run three miles. Something like that."
Probably there are lots of good ideas that stun listeners into silence. That happened here.
"What is wrong with you?," J. said.
"Hmm," I said. I had to think. "Catholic school, I guess. But let's say, what is different about me, shall we?"
You have to admit, this Catholic way, if that's what it is, would work much better. But some people don't react well to guilt, or even the idea of it. At the Market, I bought a bag of lettuce. They bought a burrito.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
They told me they are allowing themselves a restricted amount of calories daily, which they will tabulate loosely, but no junk food, and no eating between meals, except healthful things like produce, and dessert just once a week.
They said one aspect of the togetherness thing is that if one goes off the diet, they have to tell, and then the other gets to go off, for the same amount, or thereabouts, and then they start over.
I had to think about it but I knew right away something was wrong with this strategy. Then I realized what.
"That's no good," I said. "It should be that if one of you goes off, you have to tell, but then the other one gets denied that amount of food or calories. So say Emily has a second dessert this week. She has to report it, and the consequence is that J. gets no dessert. Emily ate yours. Or if J. eats Doritos or donuts in the afternoon at work, Emily gets kale for breakfast, and has to run three miles. Something like that."
Probably there are lots of good ideas that stun listeners into silence. That happened here.
"What is wrong with you?," J. said.
"Hmm," I said. I had to think. "Catholic school, I guess. But let's say, what is different about me, shall we?"
You have to admit, this Catholic way, if that's what it is, would work much better. But some people don't react well to guilt, or even the idea of it. At the Market, I bought a bag of lettuce. They bought a burrito.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
GrassRoots Fest 2010 Announces Schedule
The schedule for GrassRoots Festival 2010 has been posted on www.grassrootsfest.org.
Highlights include Merle Haggard on Thursday, Rusted Root and Oliver Mtukudzi on Friday, and Burning Spear on Saturday.
Advance sale tickets are available at the web site, or at various locations in Ithaca, including Autumn Leaves Books, home of Small World Music, where you can find recorded music of many GrassRoots musicians and their ilk(s).
Small World Music shares space in Autumn Leaves' basement with Angry Mom Records, and opens at noon, 7 days a week.
Steve Burke
for Small World Music and Ithaca NY Blog
Highlights include Merle Haggard on Thursday, Rusted Root and Oliver Mtukudzi on Friday, and Burning Spear on Saturday.
Advance sale tickets are available at the web site, or at various locations in Ithaca, including Autumn Leaves Books, home of Small World Music, where you can find recorded music of many GrassRoots musicians and their ilk(s).
Small World Music shares space in Autumn Leaves' basement with Angry Mom Records, and opens at noon, 7 days a week.
Steve Burke
for Small World Music and Ithaca NY Blog
Bonus Day Today at Small World Music
It's Wednesday, and we don't know what that means to you, but to us it means the day we staff Small World Music/Angry Mom Records, in the basement of Autumn Leaves Books, at 115 The Commons.
Last week we made an offer we reprise today. Come in today, Wednesday, and pick up not one, not three, but two free CDs from our table of used bargain bin CDs. No purchase necessary. See details at last week's posting, if you must, because you don't believe the magnanimity of this gesture, and need more confirmation.
Then, come in! We're here til 8 p.m.
Steve Burke
for Small World Music/Ithaca NY Blog
Last week we made an offer we reprise today. Come in today, Wednesday, and pick up not one, not three, but two free CDs from our table of used bargain bin CDs. No purchase necessary. See details at last week's posting, if you must, because you don't believe the magnanimity of this gesture, and need more confirmation.
Then, come in! We're here til 8 p.m.
Steve Burke
for Small World Music/Ithaca NY Blog
Monday, May 17, 2010
Waffle Frolic Pleases
We finally made a trip this weekend into Waffle Frolic, the new eatery on the Commons, and happily issue a report of good favor.
The place offers homemade waffles in variety (classic buttermilk, buckwheat and hemp, etc.), with toppings a la carte you order specially.
We had had a light and healthy breakfast, and no lunch, so we had some nutritional room to manoeuvre by late afternoon, which meant we felt fine going for the most dietetically border-line combo we could contrive, the buttermilk waffle with whipped cream and chocolate chips.
The ingredients (also, the coffee) were fresh and first-rate. The prices reflect this but are not onerous and, you know, there's that old saw about knowing not just the price, but the value, of things. We were happy to pay what we paid for fun, fine food in a nice, clean spot that we are delighted to have unvacanted on the Commons by a bright and pleasant crew who laughed at our jokes, which of course is the simple but salient barometer of good service, all you people thinking about starting your own business.
Our friend had a panini-style sandwich, also great.
We hear there are further menu developments coming, such as chicken and waffles, which is a classic of southern cuisine, and we think would be a first on any menu in Ithaca.
Congratulations and good luck to the nice people at Waffle Frolic.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca Blog
The place offers homemade waffles in variety (classic buttermilk, buckwheat and hemp, etc.), with toppings a la carte you order specially.
We had had a light and healthy breakfast, and no lunch, so we had some nutritional room to manoeuvre by late afternoon, which meant we felt fine going for the most dietetically border-line combo we could contrive, the buttermilk waffle with whipped cream and chocolate chips.
The ingredients (also, the coffee) were fresh and first-rate. The prices reflect this but are not onerous and, you know, there's that old saw about knowing not just the price, but the value, of things. We were happy to pay what we paid for fun, fine food in a nice, clean spot that we are delighted to have unvacanted on the Commons by a bright and pleasant crew who laughed at our jokes, which of course is the simple but salient barometer of good service, all you people thinking about starting your own business.
Our friend had a panini-style sandwich, also great.
We hear there are further menu developments coming, such as chicken and waffles, which is a classic of southern cuisine, and we think would be a first on any menu in Ithaca.
Congratulations and good luck to the nice people at Waffle Frolic.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca Blog
Saturday, May 15, 2010
I Could Be An Oil Technician
The oil industry guys trying to stop the geyser they made in the Gulf of Mexico remind me of me. I can't fix anything, either.
The NY Times today reports, "Companies will try a method that involves pumping items like plastic cubes and knotted rope into the well's safety device."
They got that one right out of my book. That's pretty much how I try to fix anything that's leaking, too, whether it's a car or household plumbing. I never thought to refer to it is a "method," but I will from now on.
What I would like to know is how did they decide on plastic cubes and knotted rope. But I think the answer is in the phrase, "items like." In other words, "any scheiss we have laying around, of which plastic cubes and knotted rope is at the moment the most plentiful."
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
The NY Times today reports, "Companies will try a method that involves pumping items like plastic cubes and knotted rope into the well's safety device."
They got that one right out of my book. That's pretty much how I try to fix anything that's leaking, too, whether it's a car or household plumbing. I never thought to refer to it is a "method," but I will from now on.
What I would like to know is how did they decide on plastic cubes and knotted rope. But I think the answer is in the phrase, "items like." In other words, "any scheiss we have laying around, of which plastic cubes and knotted rope is at the moment the most plentiful."
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Free CDs For Fans Of Ithaca Blog/Small World Music
Ithaca Blog operates largely out of 115 The Commons, in the basement of Autumn Leaves Bookstore, while we keep shop for Small World Music, our other enterprise.
You might remember Small World Music from 614 W. State St., in a stylish garage. Well, we've moved on up, while also down (basement), but we're doing very good in this new space, which we consign with (from?) the best place around, by far and even farther, for music on vinyl: Angry Mom Records.
But not everybody knows we're here. We want everybody. We want you.
We have so much to offer. Oh, yes indeed. All the best newest releases: Pat Metheny, Shelby Lynne, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Drive-By Truckers, Yeasayers, Gil Scott-Heron, David Byrne, music from the upcoming Doors movie soundtrack (with Johnny Depp), Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard (of GrassRoots Festival, this year), and the proverbial much more.
Busy Steve Burke of Ithaca Blog/Small World Music currently serves the store's public - that is, personally staffs the store - only on Wednesdays. That's today. So:
Come to the store today, and pick up a used CD, from our bargain bin containing hundreds for $5 and less, Absolutely Free. Tell you what: pick up two.
Where else you going to go today for an offer like this? Are you kidding me? Nowhere.
Come on in. It will be fun.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog & Small World Music
You might remember Small World Music from 614 W. State St., in a stylish garage. Well, we've moved on up, while also down (basement), but we're doing very good in this new space, which we consign with (from?) the best place around, by far and even farther, for music on vinyl: Angry Mom Records.
But not everybody knows we're here. We want everybody. We want you.
We have so much to offer. Oh, yes indeed. All the best newest releases: Pat Metheny, Shelby Lynne, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Drive-By Truckers, Yeasayers, Gil Scott-Heron, David Byrne, music from the upcoming Doors movie soundtrack (with Johnny Depp), Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard (of GrassRoots Festival, this year), and the proverbial much more.
Busy Steve Burke of Ithaca Blog/Small World Music currently serves the store's public - that is, personally staffs the store - only on Wednesdays. That's today. So:
Come to the store today, and pick up a used CD, from our bargain bin containing hundreds for $5 and less, Absolutely Free. Tell you what: pick up two.
Where else you going to go today for an offer like this? Are you kidding me? Nowhere.
Come on in. It will be fun.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog & Small World Music
Monday, May 10, 2010
Cavs May Put LeBron on Rondo
The headline above is not original, and does not pertain to anything here.
It's a headline I saw in a paper today and really liked, because it means someone got a headline past an editor that many people will not understand one bit.
Tomorrow's lead story: It's Crackers To Slip a Rozzer the Dropsy in Snide.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
It's a headline I saw in a paper today and really liked, because it means someone got a headline past an editor that many people will not understand one bit.
Tomorrow's lead story: It's Crackers To Slip a Rozzer the Dropsy in Snide.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
New Era For Car Sharing?
Everyone but Geico agrees that there are too many cars in the world. Too many for the ozone layer. Too many for the roads. Too many for safety.
Or even for nice attitudes. Usually in my life I never utter the words "Way to go, douche bag," but I did yesterday. When driving, of course. It can turn Jekylls into Hydes.
Car sharing efforts have developed in the past decade to help people let go of extra cars. It's good, but it's not enough.
Such operations tend to be in larger cities. Ithaca is among the smallest cities to have one, largely due to participation of the colleges.
A new era in car sharing is, perhaps, about to begin. The idea is to let individuals share cars they own, on their own, as an alternative to car sharing businesses.
The main hurdle is insurance regulations. As things stand, there is no legal provision for sharing a car that is not registered for commercial use.
Legislators in California are trying to change that now.
There may be a leadership role for us here in Ithaca, too, as there has been in car sharing already.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
Or even for nice attitudes. Usually in my life I never utter the words "Way to go, douche bag," but I did yesterday. When driving, of course. It can turn Jekylls into Hydes.
Car sharing efforts have developed in the past decade to help people let go of extra cars. It's good, but it's not enough.
Such operations tend to be in larger cities. Ithaca is among the smallest cities to have one, largely due to participation of the colleges.
A new era in car sharing is, perhaps, about to begin. The idea is to let individuals share cars they own, on their own, as an alternative to car sharing businesses.
The main hurdle is insurance regulations. As things stand, there is no legal provision for sharing a car that is not registered for commercial use.
Legislators in California are trying to change that now.
There may be a leadership role for us here in Ithaca, too, as there has been in car sharing already.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
Lack of Big Mac Downtown Draws Film Maker Note
From Europe to Ithaca came a guy last week making a documentary on these global economic issues.
He had been in Boston, to talk to Noam Chomsky, and was going to Princeton, to talk to some cat there, whose name we didn't quite catch.
He was in Ithaca to film a segment on Ithaca Hours, and to ask questions about local currencies in the wide, wide world, and whether they could do any good. It was us he was asking. We're on the Hours Board of Directors.
Our position, in sum, was that the world might come around. You know, there aren't many sharp places to go, these days. Goldman Sachs turned out to be not so great.
We mentioned buy-local movements, and the locavore phenomenon, as indications that people were investing and spending explicitly within their communities as a way forward.
We mentioned the fact that there is no McDonald's in downtown Ithaca, although there used to be, right on the Commons.
This he found to be the most amazing thing of anything we discussed.
"On this Commons was a McDonald's? And it close?"
"Yeah," we said.
"But that is impossible. McDonald's opens. It does not close."
"Yeah, but here it did."
He looked around furtively, like he had just found out a big secret, and he didn't want anyone to hear.
"Listen," he said. "You are absolutely sure of this fact?"
"Sure," I said. "It was right: there," and I pointed.
"Why do they close?"
"Nobody went there."
"Why do they not?"
"It's no good."
"If you can assure me with your personal guarantee of this knowledge," he said, he was going to make this a big part of his film. So I did.
Then I took him to the Gimme Coffee outpost on Green Street. I waited til he took a sip of his drink to tell him that, in downtown Ithaca, Gimme Coffee outnumbers Starbucks three to one. I wanted to see if this knowledge would provoke a spit-take. It didn't. But maybe it will provoke another segment for the movie.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
He had been in Boston, to talk to Noam Chomsky, and was going to Princeton, to talk to some cat there, whose name we didn't quite catch.
He was in Ithaca to film a segment on Ithaca Hours, and to ask questions about local currencies in the wide, wide world, and whether they could do any good. It was us he was asking. We're on the Hours Board of Directors.
Our position, in sum, was that the world might come around. You know, there aren't many sharp places to go, these days. Goldman Sachs turned out to be not so great.
We mentioned buy-local movements, and the locavore phenomenon, as indications that people were investing and spending explicitly within their communities as a way forward.
We mentioned the fact that there is no McDonald's in downtown Ithaca, although there used to be, right on the Commons.
This he found to be the most amazing thing of anything we discussed.
"On this Commons was a McDonald's? And it close?"
"Yeah," we said.
"But that is impossible. McDonald's opens. It does not close."
"Yeah, but here it did."
He looked around furtively, like he had just found out a big secret, and he didn't want anyone to hear.
"Listen," he said. "You are absolutely sure of this fact?"
"Sure," I said. "It was right: there," and I pointed.
"Why do they close?"
"Nobody went there."
"Why do they not?"
"It's no good."
"If you can assure me with your personal guarantee of this knowledge," he said, he was going to make this a big part of his film. So I did.
Then I took him to the Gimme Coffee outpost on Green Street. I waited til he took a sip of his drink to tell him that, in downtown Ithaca, Gimme Coffee outnumbers Starbucks three to one. I wanted to see if this knowledge would provoke a spit-take. It didn't. But maybe it will provoke another segment for the movie.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Our New Blog, Maybe Book
Our postings on Ithaca Blog have slowed lately, as we scheme on a new writing project we hope will eventually become a book.
Our idea is to use Blogspot for first inklings, as Nabokov used index cards.
The subject will be Brooklyn, a large metropolis and frequent literary subject. Some might say too frequent, and we're not sure that's not true.
Many recent books mythologize the place. Born and raised there, we know we lived no myth. We would like to write about the place and the people realistically. We wouldn't mind writing a book degreed people would read, but more than that we would like to write one that our family, friends, and old neighbors would appreciate. Them, and maybe Jimmy Breslin.
It's called "Brooklyn 3, New York", and the URL is brooklyn3newyork.blogspot.com.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog, etc.
Our idea is to use Blogspot for first inklings, as Nabokov used index cards.
The subject will be Brooklyn, a large metropolis and frequent literary subject. Some might say too frequent, and we're not sure that's not true.
Many recent books mythologize the place. Born and raised there, we know we lived no myth. We would like to write about the place and the people realistically. We wouldn't mind writing a book degreed people would read, but more than that we would like to write one that our family, friends, and old neighbors would appreciate. Them, and maybe Jimmy Breslin.
It's called "Brooklyn 3, New York", and the URL is brooklyn3newyork.blogspot.com.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog, etc.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Earth Day Resolutions
Earth Day is a little like New Year's, in that we think about ways to make our lives healthier and better.
We saw a piece in the Huffington Post today that emphasized "real" (i.e., big) things you can do, along with turning out the lights, etc.
Three of these things impressed us as things that are part of the Ithaca lifestyle already, so hitting them a little harder now and in the future might be relatively easy, with support
around.
1. Use cars less. Actually, HuffPost advised "give up your car," which of course is easy to say. But in Ithaca, reduced car use is easier than in most places, with the Carshare organization, and a good public transit system in TCAT.
2. Eat more vegetables. HuffPost emphasizes the amount of water used, and waste created, in meat production. Ithaca is about as friendly a vegetarian town as exists, with the Moosewood restaurant, and the Giving Tree (the new ABC Cafe), and Food For the Planet, plus vegetarian options at almost every eatery; and with no Golden Arches nor any other fast-food burger chain downtown. And, of course, there is GreenStar Coop, which emphasizes healthful vegetarian eating, and the Farmers Market.
3. Buy local. It helps your neighbors, and it helps the planet in reducing the use of fossil fuels to bring you apples, books, CDs, dentifrices, eggs, fans, gum, hats, etc. Ithaca has organizations promoting this concept, in Local First Ithaca, and the Ithaca Hours local currency system.
Keep your resolve, and enjoy you planet and your life!
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
We saw a piece in the Huffington Post today that emphasized "real" (i.e., big) things you can do, along with turning out the lights, etc.
Three of these things impressed us as things that are part of the Ithaca lifestyle already, so hitting them a little harder now and in the future might be relatively easy, with support
around.
1. Use cars less. Actually, HuffPost advised "give up your car," which of course is easy to say. But in Ithaca, reduced car use is easier than in most places, with the Carshare organization, and a good public transit system in TCAT.
2. Eat more vegetables. HuffPost emphasizes the amount of water used, and waste created, in meat production. Ithaca is about as friendly a vegetarian town as exists, with the Moosewood restaurant, and the Giving Tree (the new ABC Cafe), and Food For the Planet, plus vegetarian options at almost every eatery; and with no Golden Arches nor any other fast-food burger chain downtown. And, of course, there is GreenStar Coop, which emphasizes healthful vegetarian eating, and the Farmers Market.
3. Buy local. It helps your neighbors, and it helps the planet in reducing the use of fossil fuels to bring you apples, books, CDs, dentifrices, eggs, fans, gum, hats, etc. Ithaca has organizations promoting this concept, in Local First Ithaca, and the Ithaca Hours local currency system.
Keep your resolve, and enjoy you planet and your life!
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Big Day on the Commons
At Angry Mom Records/Small World Music, we generally open at civilized noon. Today it was 10, specially for National Independent Record Store Day. We were pleasantly surprised, arriving at about 9, to find a line of dozens of people waiting for opening. (We let them right in, of course, as "getting that party started" is our philoso-phee, generally.)
It was a big day all over the Commons, with the Cornell Marching Band visiting. They were right outside our store and chances are people thought we hired them. We do think they should record. We like the very specific marching band kind of repertoire ("Jesus Christ Superstar", "You Can Call Me Al").
We were too busy to visit, but 2 new stores opened today - one, in the old Juna's Cafe, featuring coffee and waffles; another, a few doors from there, featuring, we guess, high-end lifestyle accoutrements. All we know right now is what we heard from a customer, that they had a smoking device made from the jaws of a pirhana, that was quite striking and cost $500. He might have had it wrong, though. We will do our own research soon - of a limited variety, to be sure - and report it here.
We hope you had a good day, wherever you were, and if it wasn't here, that it will be soon.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
and Small World Music (in the basement of Autumn Leaves Books, with Angry Mom Records)
It was a big day all over the Commons, with the Cornell Marching Band visiting. They were right outside our store and chances are people thought we hired them. We do think they should record. We like the very specific marching band kind of repertoire ("Jesus Christ Superstar", "You Can Call Me Al").
We were too busy to visit, but 2 new stores opened today - one, in the old Juna's Cafe, featuring coffee and waffles; another, a few doors from there, featuring, we guess, high-end lifestyle accoutrements. All we know right now is what we heard from a customer, that they had a smoking device made from the jaws of a pirhana, that was quite striking and cost $500. He might have had it wrong, though. We will do our own research soon - of a limited variety, to be sure - and report it here.
We hope you had a good day, wherever you were, and if it wasn't here, that it will be soon.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
and Small World Music (in the basement of Autumn Leaves Books, with Angry Mom Records)
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Free Coffee, Music, at 115 The Commons, Sat. 17 April
Maybe you are not the kind of person who needs a week's notice for free coffee.
But that's what the Owl Cafe, in Autumn Leaves Books, is offering on Saturday 17 April, to celebrate their new ownership.
April 17 is also National Record Store Day, and Angry Mom Records/Small World Music, also inside Autumn Leaves Books, will have plenty of specials and activities to celebrate, including sales, new releases, and live music.
All this takes place at 115 The Commons. Opening time is 10 a.m.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
But that's what the Owl Cafe, in Autumn Leaves Books, is offering on Saturday 17 April, to celebrate their new ownership.
April 17 is also National Record Store Day, and Angry Mom Records/Small World Music, also inside Autumn Leaves Books, will have plenty of specials and activities to celebrate, including sales, new releases, and live music.
All this takes place at 115 The Commons. Opening time is 10 a.m.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Anti-War Activist Cindy Sheehan in Ithaca Tonight
Cindy Sheehan, among the most strident and uncompromising of American anti-war activists, speaks in Ithaca tonight, at the Women's Community Building.
Ms. Sheehan's activism is personal. It began with the death of her soldier son in the line of duty in Iraq.
It continues, past George Bush, into the Obama administration.
Sheehan went to Norway to protest the Peace Prize award to President Obama. Last month, she created an encampment at the Washington Monument to protest continuing American presence in Iraq, and increased military action in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
More than twice as many Americans - 332 - have been killed in Afghanistan as in Iraq in the past year. The number is expected to escalate drastically as most of the 30,000 troops President Obama ordered to Afghanistan will be sent this summer.
Is it possible to be too strident against war? Decide for yourself tonight, at 7 pm.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
Ms. Sheehan's activism is personal. It began with the death of her soldier son in the line of duty in Iraq.
It continues, past George Bush, into the Obama administration.
Sheehan went to Norway to protest the Peace Prize award to President Obama. Last month, she created an encampment at the Washington Monument to protest continuing American presence in Iraq, and increased military action in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
More than twice as many Americans - 332 - have been killed in Afghanistan as in Iraq in the past year. The number is expected to escalate drastically as most of the 30,000 troops President Obama ordered to Afghanistan will be sent this summer.
Is it possible to be too strident against war? Decide for yourself tonight, at 7 pm.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Alan Greenspan Says It's A Funky, Funky System
The Financial Crises Inquiry Committee met this morning in Washington to focus on the subprime mortgage crises and the attendant collapse of many banks and other institutions, and the financial ruin for untold numbers of Americans.
Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chairman who presided over the whole thing, was there to make plenty of sense of it.
But he fell a little short of expectations.
The NY Times summed up his statements thusly: he "warned that preventing future crises would be nearly impossible."
How many degrees does a guy need to come up with a prescription like that?
It makes us wonder who ghosted his initial job application, way back when.
One lesson for us is not to trust experts who run big institutions. In the event they even know the right thing to do, they probably won't do it anyway, if it closes any doors on fast profit.
Instead, cast your lot with people you know and can trust. In Ithaca, we are lucky to have such opportunities, in the Alternatives Federal Credit Union, and the Ithaca Hours currency system. Check them out on the web. And put some good distance between yourself and guys like smart Al.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chairman who presided over the whole thing, was there to make plenty of sense of it.
But he fell a little short of expectations.
The NY Times summed up his statements thusly: he "warned that preventing future crises would be nearly impossible."
How many degrees does a guy need to come up with a prescription like that?
It makes us wonder who ghosted his initial job application, way back when.
One lesson for us is not to trust experts who run big institutions. In the event they even know the right thing to do, they probably won't do it anyway, if it closes any doors on fast profit.
Instead, cast your lot with people you know and can trust. In Ithaca, we are lucky to have such opportunities, in the Alternatives Federal Credit Union, and the Ithaca Hours currency system. Check them out on the web. And put some good distance between yourself and guys like smart Al.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
Monday, April 05, 2010
Spotlight in Ithaca on Women Political Writers
Naomi Klein, columnist for the Nation magazine and author of "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism" and other political works, speaks at Ithaca College on Wednesday 7 April, 7 p.m., in the Emerson Suites.
Cindy Sheehan, who began speaking and writing against war in the Mid-East after the death of her soldier son, will be at the Women's Community Building on Saturday 10 April, at 7 p.m. The program also features music by the Grady Girls.
The Ithaca Journal announced today that it will begin regularly publishing the syndicated column by Amy Goodman, the host of the "Democracy Now!" radio and TV broadcast.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
Cindy Sheehan, who began speaking and writing against war in the Mid-East after the death of her soldier son, will be at the Women's Community Building on Saturday 10 April, at 7 p.m. The program also features music by the Grady Girls.
The Ithaca Journal announced today that it will begin regularly publishing the syndicated column by Amy Goodman, the host of the "Democracy Now!" radio and TV broadcast.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Grassroots Festival Announces 2010 Performers
The Grassroots Festival maintains its reputation for diverse offerings with its two headliners for 2010, Burning Spear and Merle Haggard.
The festival is from Thursday 22 - Sunday 25 July.
Tickets are available at Early Bird prices (through May 1) at www.grassrootsfest.org.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
The festival is from Thursday 22 - Sunday 25 July.
Tickets are available at Early Bird prices (through May 1) at www.grassrootsfest.org.
Steve Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Frida Berrigan in Ithaca With Nuclear-Free Efforts
The Obama administration has announced a new nuclear disarmament agreement with Russia. The pact is called the most significant advance in the past two decades.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, nuclear-free activist Frida Berrigan comes to Ithaca with a Walk for Nuclear Free Future.
No doubt Ms. Berrigan will have insights on the new agreement, and ideas for future progress.
On Tuesday, there will be a talk at the Unitarian Church, from 7 until 9 p.m. On Wednesday, there will be an interfaith service at the Baptist Church, at 7 p.m.
Stephen Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
On Tuesday and Wednesday, nuclear-free activist Frida Berrigan comes to Ithaca with a Walk for Nuclear Free Future.
No doubt Ms. Berrigan will have insights on the new agreement, and ideas for future progress.
On Tuesday, there will be a talk at the Unitarian Church, from 7 until 9 p.m. On Wednesday, there will be an interfaith service at the Baptist Church, at 7 p.m.
Stephen Burke
for Ithaca NY Blog
Friday, March 26, 2010
P&C On Hancock Street To Close
Tops Supermarkets, the new owner of the bankrupt P&C chain, plans to shut the P&C store on Hancock Street.
The closing is set for April 18.
Only one other store, in Cortland, has been designated for closing.
The Ithaca closing will leave downtown without a full-service, mainstream market - a hardship for city families in general, and the elderly, poor, and working-class in particular.
Stephen Burke
for Ithaca Blog
The closing is set for April 18.
Only one other store, in Cortland, has been designated for closing.
The Ithaca closing will leave downtown without a full-service, mainstream market - a hardship for city families in general, and the elderly, poor, and working-class in particular.
Stephen Burke
for Ithaca Blog
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