Maine Owl

The annual labor celebration is at the Solidarity Center. Slaid Cleaves!

Enhanced language techniques are in use at National Pentagon Radio.

To wit:

• A growing "torture" controversy
• All the reliable news fit for broadcast

Nope, explosive reports on torture at Bagram, high seas piracy on the shores of Gaza, and massive war crimes at same do not see the light of day where they "start with the day's news."

There's a reason I've refused to send them money since 1993.

Told you so


Jack McKay and Steve Husson of Food AND Medicine warn against FairPoint in September 2007

A cloud of doom hangs over the northern New England land-line telephone carrier. Today in the news a changing of the guard is reported "amid money problems." According to a story in the Montpelier Times Argus, Vermont has "hired a law firm with experience in corporate bankruptcy cases" to prepare to deal with the shaky company.

Meanwhile, in a June 24 filing with the SEC, FairPoint itself seems to counter its own happy talk about improving service with a dose of heavy reality,

Form 8-K for FAIRPOINT COMMUNICATIONS INC, 24-Jun-2009
Regulation FD Disclosure, Other Events, Financial Statements and Exh
Item 7.01 Regulation FD Disclosure

The Company has a highly leveraged capital structure and has essentially fully drawn all borrowings available under the Credit Facility. In the future, the Company expects that its primary sources of liquidity will be cash flow from operations and cash on hand. Because of Cutover issues that have prevented the Company from executing fully on its operating plan for 2009, the Company's revenue has continued to decline. In addition, cash collections have remained below pre-Cutover levels, causing further stress on the Company's liquidity position. Should these factors persist, the Company may be unable or unwilling to make the October 1, 2009 interest payment on the Notes. If the Company is unable or unwilling to make the October 1, 2009 interest payment on the Notes, such failure would constitute an event of default under the Indenture as well as under the Credit Facility, in each case following the expiration of the 30-day cure period contained in the Indenture with respect to such payment. In such case the holders of the Notes and the lenders under the Credit Facility would be permitted to accelerate the obligations under the Notes and the Credit Facility, resulting in most or all of the Company's long-term debt becoming due and payable. In that event, the Company would be unable to fund these obligations.

None of this has stopped FairPoint from blitzing the media with cheerful ads, many about the great broadband service remote small businesses can get. Executives have been available as well, in THIS June 25 MPBN phone-in, for example.

I do not doubt the sincerity of FairPoint's desire to be a good phone/internet provider. We use them. I don't have many complaints about the dsl service we receive. The bills have been very messed up for months, but that has yet to require much effort on our part to straighten out. They do seem to be working on it without us bugging them.

But, as many critics warned in 2007, the financial terms under which the company was ushered in look to be exactly the losing proposition we all feared.

Update: Jeff Inglis at The Phoenix just now has out a new piece on FairPoint, "FairPoint watch: Making a quiet killing — of itself and Maine's economy." Portland businesses can't get simple service orders fulfilled without a wait of "more than a month to transfer phone connections to their new locations." Oy.

Jeff also spoke with public advocate Dick Davies, leading to this interesting hint about what the future may hold if FairPoint does fail.

While Davies says bankruptcy is "clearly ... more than a remote possibility," he is hoping that FairPoint will be able to "stop those losses and get people to come back," so as to avoid another transition to a new owner, or the involvement of a federal bankruptcy court in the state's telecommunications industry.

Previous posts on FairPoint:

• FairPoint struggling with debt payment
• Vermont takes right step in blocking phone deal

He's done.

A bigger jackass than Norm Coleman I am hard pressed to name. This has been my feeling towards the guy since 1996. Those were days we lived in my home state of Minnesota and Coleman switched from Democrat to Republican in order to better turn St. Paul (where he was mayor) into a corporate office park on the taxpayer's dime.

Below is my good riddance review of this awful man. Note how he appears alongside Senator Susan Collins in many of the items where their lack of oversight of U.S.-involved war corruption allowed Iraq (and the U.S. taxpayer) to be hammered while their hyper-attack on the U.N. over the 1990s Iraq Oil-for-Food program unfairly sullied reputations.

Previous posts re Norm Coleman:

• Norm Coleman of Minnesota, 100% a-hole
• Susan Collins no-show at Palin rally
• Minnesota politics
• Iraq waste, fraud, & abuse dissected
• Iraq: rampant American corruption
• Susan Collins and the Oil-for-Food double standard
• Galloway versus Coleman
• Norm Coleman attacks Kofi Annan

Please post your own favorite Norm Coleman tales in comments below.

That's the insurance companies, not sick people. (h/t Atrios)

Full program from Saturday June 27 event at Pickering Square:


The program featured several short speeches generally promoting national-level legislation for universal public health insurance that would be affordable for everyone and would actually pay the doctor bill (unlike the so-called insurance many people in this country have currently). There are notes of support for what roughly is the direction taken by President Obama to get Congress to include such a public plan in reform legislation now under consideration.

While "Medicare for everyone" is mentioned by one of them, speakers at this rally do not necessarily demand that the solution be single payer, just that it fixes what are seen to be extreme harms to the American people because insurance companies are cruelly organized with insistence for high financial return and callous disregard for health outcomes. The quality of the speakers and the compelling stories told along those lines make this event very worthwhile.

The speakers were

• Don Todd, activist from Etna, Maine
• Dr. Elizabeth Weiss, Bangor physician
• Leslie Mansfield, Bangor business owner
• Dr. Benjamin Schaefer, Bangor cardiologist
• Alice Knapp, Esq., Attorney in Richmond

WLBZ/WCSH television provided statewide coverage, story HERE. The Bangor Daily News also has a story up on the web, HERE.

Locally the Maine People's Alliance (MPA) and Food AND Medicine supported this event. The related national organizing effort is under the flag of Health Care for America Now, a broad coalition of labor, economic justice, and a huge spectrum of social change groups. The organization has "10 principles for reform that have been endorsed by President Obama and more than 190 members of Congress," easily found at their website.

My personal view is that the Obama-style reform will end up not being adequate to the task of eliminating the harms in the system described by our speakers and within the principles of Health Care for America Now. My view is that that only a mass transition to a single payer along the lines of the Canadian system (or better yet the French system) can really re-direct the resources needed to ensure people get their doctor bills paid while the costs are fairly born by society as a whole.

I would not abolish highly regulated private insurance as an extra option, but everybody has to be in the public system or it just is going to end up a failure. The Obama reform already is in big trouble before a bill in Congress even exists. Because it will not re-direct enough of the insurance company premiums people pay now into a robust public plan instead, the Obama reform looks too expensive. The figures that came last week out of the Congressional Budget Office are truly killer--more than $1 trillion on top of current obligations. A universal plan covering all people within the public system actually would be cheaper.

More importantly, the harms of the private, financialized system ought to be made to disappear immediately. That would be real reform. Obama falls short. What he wants to do will preserve all the cost (people)-chopping insurance bureaucrats and out-of-pocket co-paying that in this country stand between people and their doctors and thus prevents the system from improving health like it should.

These notions ought to be a major discussion in the activist community. There is quite a divergence between the MPA, labor-supported, Obama-style organizing efforts and we who favor single-payer. Discussion?

Related media posts:

• Everybody in nobody out
• Health care rally in Augusta (w/Jerry Call)
• Health care q and a

Would this happen on television nowadays?

It's amazing how growing up with a television on affects a person. This man was in our living room five nights a week through most of the sixties and seventies. It's not so much that I'll miss Ed McMahon. It's the whole milieu of my childhood that's disappearing and leaving a void. Thank goodness there's YouTube for filling that sentimental, nostalgic place. God rest your soul, Ed.

Trip to Ferry Beach


Rose rugosa, common sight on Maine beach dunes


Saco Bay

Summer solstice occurs during the wee hours of June 21, overnight tonight (0546 UT, 1:46 am EDT). We used the last full day of 2009 spring to poke around Old Orchard Beach and Saco.

Friday had featured big rains. Most places received five to ten centimeters. So the Tupelo Swamp at Ferry Beach State Park was good and wet. Find more pictures in the supplemental gallery, HERE. I'll be adding more images to this and additional special pages in the future.

"Fraud did take place in the 2008 election-conducted for, and paid for by, the Republican Party."

The California Republican operative responsible in this pretty massive case, Mark Jacoby, was given probation this past week, but "two felony counts of perjury and one felony count of voter registration fraud were dismissed under the deal."

The accusations last fall against ACORN from the McCain/Palin camp became so crazy that false does not even begin to describe the absurdity. The Republicans must just reason that it is easy to distract the American people from the real fraud in which they engage because no one with a grasp of the truth would vote for them.

These claims chiming from the bells of wingnuttia utterly are without merit.

What they bought in the junked-up appropriations bill:


Robert Greenwald collects the bits of news that Americans get and weaves in the real story of Afghanistan

Now that the U.S. Senate has voted 91-5 to extend and expand war in south Asia, the Democrats have no more excuses. They really, really own the wars now.

I'm just glad our two Reps. have courage of their convictions. Let's not let them (or Obama) forget that a lot of us out here want funding attached to a plan to bring the troops home, not just more Bush-like blank checks.

And let's not let the Leadership forget that the excuse they used last year--a "hostile" White House made them do it--doesn't work any more. Sadly, President Obama, Rahm Emanuel, and Democratic Congressional Leadership now are all too happy. The faux disgust of Speaker Pelosi after the War Supplemental passed last year gave way this year to a sickening display of glee by top Democrats. Their conduct should be that of a funeral.

BDN story takes jaundiced view of the listing


Weather vane at the Veazie Salmon Club


Salmon scorecard for 2009 at the Veazie Dam

The Bangor Daily News has THIS story today:

Will the salmon clubs survive?
Seasoned anglers say federal endangered status for species is a "kick in the teeth" and could spell the end of a storied Maine pastime
By John Holyoke | BDN Staff

In the days before the scheduled opening day of this year's month-long catch-and-release salmon season on the Penobscot River, Douglas "Cap" Introne and his 14-year-old son, Christopher, made plans to spend as much time as possible on the river. Then everything changed. The Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission changed tack in response to a meeting between federal officials and Gov. John Baldacci. The season was scuttled. There would be no fishing.

"When [Christopher] learned that he couldn't go fishing this year, he started to cry" ...

On Monday, the federal government decided to list wild Atlantic salmon as endangered in the Penobscot, Kennebec and Androscoggin rivers while designating a large swath of nearby rivers and lakes as critical habitat. This is described in the BDN article as "another blow" to salmon anglers.

The article goes on to quote a number of people who are upset, and some, including Governor Baldacci, provided the (evidently rejected) reasonable alternative of merely listing the salmon as threatened.

I do think I understand the feelings of many people who will be shut out of a traditional recreational activity for a long time. These views are very important to the story. However I think commentators who argue against the value of scientific study and science-based policy-making (see the comments below the article), or those who feel that because many salmon currently are hatchery-raised the fishery is somehow "artificial," are barking up the wrong tree. What they say may contain truth, but without science and hatcheries, "natural," fishable salmon runs never will be restored like everyone wants.

These comments both within the main story and many of those from the general public below do not represent the full range of information necessary to understand the story. The article itself almost lacks entirely the crucial perspective of proponents of the listing and it contains no explanation at all of the motivation behind the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration deciding at this time to apply the strongest protection available under the Endangered Species Act. THIS press release from an organization that promotes this listing action may help:

Endangered Atlantic Salmon Earn Expanded Protection in Maine, Receive 12,000 River Miles of Critical Habitat

RICHMOND, Vt.— Responding to lawsuits filed in 2007 and 2008 by the Center for Biological Diversity and other groups, the National Marine Fisheries Service has protected Atlantic salmon in three additional river systems in Maine under the Endangered Species Act, including the Penobscot, Kennebec, and Androscoggin rivers, and designated about 12,000 miles of rivers and estuaries, as well as 300 square miles of lakes, as critical habitat.

"Maine's wild salmon deserve a fighting chance, and now they have it," said Mollie Matteson, conservation advocate for the Center. "Dams, pollution, water withdrawals, and other threats must be curbed or stopped if Atlantic salmon are to have a future in Maine."

Atlantic salmon populations have declined dramatically throughout most of their range along the eastern seaboard and in the rivers they return to for spawning. Dams, overfishing, degradation of river habitat, introduction of nonnative fish species, and water diversions have all taken a heavy toll.

Designation of critical habitat is a key component of protecting and recovering endangered species, and is required by law. In 2000, salmon in several smaller rivers in eastern Maine were listed as endangered, but the government failed to designate federally protected habitat. The Center and the Conservation Law Foundation filed suit in 2007. In May of 2008, the Center, along with Friends of Merrymeeting Bay and activist Douglas Watts, filed suit to expand salmon protection to include Maine's most significant rivers. The Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released a preliminary decision on both critical habitat and listing expansion in September of last year. This week's action finalizes the initial proposal made last fall.

Conservationists are celebrating the new legal protections for the imperiled fish, but point to a significant shortcoming in the critical habitat designation. Only currently occupied habitat is protected at this time.

"The point of federal protection is to recover species," states Matteson. "The salmon is in grave danger of extinction, in part, because of its severely and artificially limited range. It makes no logical sense to say we will only protect its present range. Its historic habitats must be protected, too, if recovery is ever to become reality."

I visit the Veazie Salmon Club many times each week as an appreciative neighbor. I do not fish for salmon, though I do some lake fishing. I suppose without a local tradition of salmon fishing, this marvelous little spot on the river would not be there like it is.

I'll leave this discussion with a plea for everyone to look at the big picture: the changes in the habitat over the last two centuries are utterly profound. This is a clash between industrial society and the environmental conditions the salmon population needs to survive and build. Since the dams first went up, the salmon basically are the losers. Change in their favor will take a long, long time and will require a lot of different communities, stakeholders, government entities--including sport fishers--to understand this big picture and pull in the same direction.

In that sense, I think that this is a positive story. Government policy and money is essential to survival of the habitat and hence the salmon. I'm certainly no Republican, but I think the Penobscot restoration and Forest Legacy project is something that really happened right during the Bush years. But seeing the results? That will be very, very long term. I hope the Salmon Clubs can evolve and survive in the meantime.

Related archive posts:

• Federal appropriation for Penobscot restoration
• Veazie Dam removal funds enacted
• A Win for the Penobscot River
• Friday nature blogging
• Big powerful river; One minute at the Veazie Dam
• Two minutes at the Veazie Dam

U.S. pullback proceeding: LINK

A Whole New Ballgame in Iraq
US Troops Leaving the Cities
Patrick Cockburn

Baghdad. There are few American patrols on the streets of Baghdad and soon there will be none. In just over two weeks time on June 30, US military forces will withdraw from Iraqi cities. The occupation which began six years ago is ending. On every side there are signs of the decline of US influence. ... The knowledge that the US forces in Iraq will go is already transforming the Iraqi political landscape, long before the exit of the last American troops. It is no longer politic for any Iraqi leader to be identified in the eyes of Iraqis with the American occupation. ...

Cockburn covers the story in his unique way, trying to make sense of dozens of observations and reports about certain incidents that happen (some unfortunately very violent) and the activities and behavior of important officials. He describes tension along "a 300-mile-long unofficial frontier, of areas which are outside the boundaries of the highly autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government but have a Kurdish majority" and points to the struggle "over oil, which is being discovered in large quantities in the KRG under contacts the Oil Ministry in Baghdad denounces as illegal."

Cockburn concludes on a hopeful note, "One of the main destabilizing factors in Iraq for the last six years has been the presence of a large US army and with its departure Iraq's many simmering conflicts might just be kept under control."

I have my suspicions about the extended presence of U.S. forces and its continuing control over its central embassy palace and airport bases. Supposedly the new War Supplemental funding measure prohibits "permanent bases", but how long will they "endure"? But despite the bases and embassy, when I add up the entire picture of Iraq since 2003, I believe the U.S. did not acquire anything resembling the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld vassal originally intended.

True, U.S.-connected cleptocrats stole tens of billions of dollars of Iraqi wealth, recklessly destroyed Iraqi towns and cities, while millions in the population suffered unspeakable death, injury, and displacement. There is good reason for officials now not wanting to be seen to have anything to do with the Americans.

No clear, absolute American control of Iraqi oil seems to be in place. A U.S. attempt at privatization on behalf of Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total, BP, and Chevron desired by Bush a year ago didn't fly. The Pentagon later greased a deal for Shell, but that has faced Iraqi resistance along the way as well.

The U.S. remains destined to be involved in the affairs of Iraq for years to come. But it hasn't turned out to be the model of imperialism often wrongly conceived by Americans as "liberation."

Update: The missing link to the story was added.

Progress made, 36 of 39 votes needed to block war funding secured in House, Michaud and Pingree still both reported by staff to be voting "no"

I called Mike Michaud’s D.C. office around noontime today. Mike is holding "no" on the War Supplemental. He is standing by his original statement against the bill:

Just like the Iraq War, I believe that we need an exit strategy for our operations in Afghanistan. Until I see clearly defined benchmarks for progress and a plan to bring our troops home, I will continue to oppose these types of funding measures.

Still, the discussion with the staffer included the quote, "as of now." So it is imperative to continue making calls!

The bill number is H.R. 2346.These direct links to the Representatives give full contact information:

REPRESENTATIVE MIKE MICHAUD
REPRESENTATIVE CHELLI PINGREE

The scorecard by Jane Hamsher at Fire Dog Lake suggests 36 of 39 needed House anti-war no votes are of this moment confirmed.

Now, HERE is something unbelievably awesome!! Our good work is noticed!



I've struggled for a long time (six years) of marginally-read blogging, often wondering if it was even slightly worth it. At moments like this, when a small group of committed people take on a wrong policy that appears to be sailing, unhindered by the slightest consideration of its morality--and we make some progress--yes, every word of every post suddenly seems a lot more worthwhile.

AND BIG THANK YOUS TO REPRESENTATIVES MIKE MICHAUD AND CHELLI PINGREE. You listen. You help make Maine's politics some of the best anywhere.