essays | Page 5 | Andy Arthur.org

Smile a Little Smile

Andy | January 13, 2022

Why smile? There is so much hate in our society, and so much evil. Why be happy? The reasons are summed up in one word: hope. We must love each other and hope for a better tomorrow, and our smile is one way to reflect that hope for a better tomorrow.

There is so much good in our world today that we should all celebrate as individuals. There are beautiful green forests and farm fields all around, cities that offer exciting opportunities to individuals, and a world that is already amazingly technologically advanced. This is only a picture of what is to come in our beautiful world that surrounds us.

A smile is a celebration of life in what it is and what it is becoming. It is a reaction to a feeling of ecstasy that dominates us from world around us. How can you not react positively to a world of happy faces and so much color? Smile a little bit more.

Remembering the Ice Storm ’08

Andy | December 15, 2021

Notes on the Re-Run for Tuesday, December 6th.

— Andy

Throughout Friday, freezing rain, sleet, and snow came down, covering the State Capitol and surrounding building with a layer of ice.

The ice weighted down trees and made everything look “wet”, but it did not pile up all fluffy like we think of snow being.

Here are the Heldeberg Mountains covered with ice and beauty.

The next morning walking through the woods, covered with ice and beauty at Cole Hill State Forest.

The swamp at Cole Hill was just shimmering in light.

While driving the pickup for a while got the ice melted off the doors, it kept freezing shut, and I had to keep cracking the ice off the doors.

Ice on a Pine Tree at Thatcher Park.

Branches covered with ice where so pretty.

Even when it was on the power lines and knocked out power to thousands.

The Ice Storm of 2008 was so beautiful, even if it did knock out power and close down roads.

Paying My Respects to the Lake Champlain Bridge

Andy | December 14, 2021

Notes on the Re-Run for Thursday, December 22nd.

It was almost two years ago when they blew up the old Lake Champlain Bridge…

— Andy

Yesterday, I drove up to Chimney Point, in Vermont outside of Addison to witness the sad but historic passing of the Champlain Bridge. The massive 80-year old span was imploded into the frozen lake, after two piers where discovered badly damaged, and was determined to be likely to fail catastrophically without a controlled demolition.

It is sad to see such a historic landmark go. Nobody really wanted to see such a landmark go up into a pile of rubble. As I stood there on Chimney Point, I stood next to many farmers and other local residents who had been alongside of and over the Champlain Bridge thousands of times. It’s such a big landmark, that stands out over the landscape, with it’s arches reaching 130 feet above the flat landscape around. Pictures simply don’t do justice. Many had grown up seeing it’s majestic spans and beautiful archways, and just assumed it would always be there. Some of the oldest residents might even remember back 80-years ago to 1929, when the bridge was under construction.

It was truly a community event. I swear every person from the very rural Addison County, VT and surrounding areas had to have been there. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many pickup trucks with dairy-farming related bumper stickers, men and children with muck boots on, Carharts and seed-hats. It was such an amazing group of people, with such a complicated mix of emotions about the demolition of the bridge. People where sad to see it go, but also hopeful for the new bridge. Some where cynical that something ever as great could be built again.

The wintry weather made the span almost invisible from the site about 3,000 feet away from the bridge where I was looking at. Chimney Point had probably the best viewpoint of the Champlain Bridge on a sunny day, your back would be to the sun, and with a back drop of the Adirondack Mountains. You could see the bridge fade in and out like a ghost as the snow squalls blew out and blew in. What you could see was so massive, so beautiful. Yet eerie, because all that was left was the lightest silhouette of the old bridge. The silhouette was so light, that it was hidden from the camera.

Then there was the loud bang, right at ten in the morning — a thunderous roar lasting less then a second or two, that shook the ground and sent ice soaring a foot into the air on Lake Champlain, even as far away as we where. The energy wave forced upon the lake and the surrounding landscape shook the parked cars so hard that it set off car alarms. It was not like listening to a firecracker going off, but more like a wave of energy coming at you. In the wintry blizzard-like weather, you barely saw the bridge fall, but it was still the most remarkable feeling at you felt the thousands of tons of steel and concrete hit the waters of Lake Champlain.

Vermont 127 and Vermont 17 where one way during the day to allow for parking, so leaving everyone had to drive by the fallen bridge. The once majestic bridge was little more then just a pile of rubble sticking up from the frozen lake in a wintry fury of the snow. I looked like something out of a war photograph, although it was much bigger and much more realistic. It was a bit scary that we as a society could convert such a massive and beautiful structure to just a pile of rubble.

On the 400th Anniversary of Samuel de Champlain’s discovery of Lake Champlain and the fertile plains that surround it, it’s sad to see such a man-made landmark go. Yet, it’s also a reminder of how man made landmarks come and go, and only natural wonders like the mountains and the lake remain. While people since 1929 have looked out across the lake at Chimney Point at the engineering marvel of Champlain Bridge, much of the rest of the landscape remains unchanged since the day Samuel de Champlain first made his voyage in 1609.

A new bridge will replace the first Lake Champlain bridge, and service the automobile, truck, pedestrian, and bicycle needs of the 21st century, but it will be little more then an impermanent landmark that must someday fall and be destroyed like the first Lake Champlain Bridge. Nobody can foresee the demolition of the new bridge, in some future century, but it will ultimately be gone just like the first bridge is now gone.

(this picture taken just north of the bridge was taken in March 2006).

Blue – Bridge
Yellow – My View
Green – Where I Parked

View Champlain Bridge Demo in a larger map

What is an Election District in NY State?

Andy | November 28, 2021

For sometime I’ve puzzled about what an election district is. If you reside in NY State, you probably live in an election district, and if you volunteer for a political campaign, you probably walked an election district. But you probably have no idea what an election district is.

Defining an Election District.

Article 15 of the Election Law, Section 4-100 defines an election district as:

4-100. Election districts; creation and alteration.

1. The State of New York shall be divided into election districts which shall be the basic political subdivision for purposes of registration and voting as provided in this chapter.

2. The creation, consolidation, division or alteration of election districts shall be done by the board of elections.

3. a. Each election district shall be in compact form and may not be partly within and partly without a ward, town, city, a village which has five thousand or more inhabitants and is wholly within one town, or a county legislative, assembly, senatorial or congressional district. Except as provided in paragraph b of this subdivision, election district boundaries, other than those boundaries which are coterminous with the boundaries of those political subdivisions mentioned in this paragraph, must be streets, rivers, railroad lines or other permanent characteristics of the landscape which are clearly visible to any person without the need to use any technical or mechanical device. An election district shall contain not more than nine hundred fifty registrants (excluding registrants in inactive status) or, with the approval of the county board of elections, not more than eleven hundred fifty registrants (excluding registrants in inactive status), but any election district may be divided for the convenience of the voters.

Simply said an election district is:

Defined by the County Board of Elections
Normally consists of fewer then 950 persons, but not necessarily equal in population
Has to be compact and drawn for the “convenience of the voters”
Must follow blocks, as defined by Census bureau (see below)
Must follow the boundaries of:
- Congressional Districts
- State Senate Districts
- Assembly Districts
- County Legislature Districts (in “reformed” county charter counties)
- City Ward Districts (in cities)
- Municipal Boundaries (city, town, village boundaries)

What is a Census Block?

All political districts in NY State are a series of Census Blocks, the smallest unit of population count by the Federal Government. Census blocks are defined as:

Census Blocks are smallest possible “city” blocks in area, bounded by:

Streets, Roads, Highways
Railroad lines
Water bodies
Rivers, Streams, Creeks
Municipal Boundaries (city, town, village boundaries)

Except for municipal boundaries, which are usually defined by historical surveys in a variety of measures, all other boundaries are clearly visible to anybody who visit the boundary.

What is a “Legislative District”?

A “legislative district”, e.g.

Congressional Districts
State Senate Districts
Assembly Districts
County Legislature Districts (in “reformed” county charter counties)
City Ward Districts (in cities)

… is a district that is defined by a grouping of Census Blocks.

Each legislative district under Reynolds v Simms must have an equal population or relatively close to an equal population. State constitutional and statutory restrictions allow for some variance in population, but differences of population greater then 10% in each district are not allowed.

Each legislative district is drawn based on often very detailed constitutional and statutory restrictions. Compact and contiguous restrictions are well known, but state constitutional and statutory restrictions are less known. State legislative districts are constitutionally prohibited from dividing towns but not cities and villages, except were the town is larger then maximum size of the districts.

Under the Civil Rights Act of 1965, it is unlawful to “draw” legislative districts in a way that reduces racial minority voting opportunities. In other words, it’s unlawful to break up groups of census blocks of a certain race. You can not split up a neighborhood that consists of many census blocks of African Americans or Asian into multiple legislative districts. All legislative districts are subject to review by the US Department of Justice to assure there is no dilution of minority votes.

Often legislative districts are drawn by partisan bodies with ideological agendas in mind. Usually when legislative districts are drawn, there is a lot of consideration of past election results and partisan enrollments. While it’s impossible to know how each census block will vote (as voting enrollment is broken down by election district), and census blocks change every ten years prior to reapportionment, one can make an educated guess on how people in a certain neighborhood will vote in the future.

Legislative districts are simply roughly equal population groupings of census blocks, taking in consideration of legal restrictions and political considerations.

How Election Districts Are Drawn.

After reapportionment of congress, the state legislature, county legislatures, and city wards has been approved by each body, Election Districts are re-drawn. All areas in the same congress, state senate, state assembly, county legislature, city ward, and municipality are grouped together.

If there less then 950 active voters in the resulting districts, then the district consists of those grouping of areas. Active voters are those who have voted in one election since the prior two gubernatorial elections. In 2012, a voter would have to vote once between 2006-2011 to be considered active. If a district consists of more then 950 active voters it must be broken up after the lines are drawn. There is no political advantage by breaking up common districts already drawn, so it’s more done as matter of convenience and simplicity.

Having more then 950 active voters one election district would lead to long lines at polling place, and would not provide for particularly useful election results for further analysis. The election law allows an election district to grow to 1,150 active voters between redistricting of legislative districts, however if it grows beyond that number, it must be split into multiple districts.

Election districts aren’t generally drawn for political purposes. All the potentially controversial work was done in drawing the various legislative districts, so drawing election districts really not that important, even if the results of elections are often used to predict future results.

August

Andy | August 6, 2021

The final month of summer has arrived. It’s the warmest and most mature month, and meadows run their wildest. The nights are not as long as previous months, and while it’s often hot and humid in the day, the nights start to have little hints of a fall chill that’s certain to come next month.

August is the time of Altamont fair and many people’s vacations. It will be time of sitting out and soaking up the sun, of long days out in the canoe, and climbing mountains in the early morning. They’ll be nights sitting around the campfire drinking beer and whisky, watching flames as the burn towards the sky.

August can be a lazy month. The last of the summertime season, the last time we are laid back before our youth go to school, and before things get more serious at work as people’s vacations end. The heat makes some outdoor activities challenging, so we choose to lay back.

There will be plenty of warm days in September, but it won’t be as much summer as the month of August will be. It will be different. September will see many of the final harvests of the year, our society’s agricultural bounty, and the signs of fall. Much hope and sadness we enter that month.

June

Andy | June 1, 2021

The first official month of summer is upon us, with the Summer Solstice occurring on June 21st. It is the month when summer activities get fully underway, when the crops and gardens are planted, with primary and secondary schools recess for the summertime.

By the 21st of the month, we will have seen the longest day come and go for the year. Sunsets will occur as late as 8:37 PM, with it not being totally dark until after 9:10 PM most nights. The long summer nights will be a pleasure.

Folks will camp, they will fish, they will picnic and enjoy the beautiful weather. The wildflowers will cover the fields, first the daisies, then the black-eyed susans. We will explore the hay fields looking for Juneberries, those ever so small, but wonderfully tasting “wild strawberries”.

One of three months of wonderful summer weather, there will be much to enjoy as nature starts to mature into it’s full born of beauty of summer time.

Smokers Are Cancer Denialists

Andy | February 15, 2021

Smoking causes lung cancer. Nobody disputes that fact. Yet, 1 out of every 5 Americans still lights up at least occassionally. Smoking feels really good, it’s really relaxing and awesome. Cigerettes with a glass of whiskey and coke, full of ice is so wonderful. That intense sensation from nicotine is out of this world. And by the way — it’s awful deadly.

There was a time when industry spokespersons downplayed the danger from smoking, and there were some doctors and other professionals that questioned the scientific consesus that smoking wasn’t bad for you. Those claims, while never particularly crediable, did give cover to some people who wanted to dig their heads into the sand, and continue to smoke because it felt so increadibly good.

Tobacco companies never forced anyone to smoke. People want their products because they are so damn pleasurable. Anybody is free to quit smoking at any time, but most don’t. There is no real function to smoking, justifying it rationally is very hard to do.

Fossil fuels are the exactly like cigerettes.
It’s so damn pleasurable to burn them.

I often ride my bicycle around town or catch the bus to work and shopping. It gets me where I need to go around town. But nothing is as fun as when Friday evening rolls around, I hop in my truck, slap it into gear, and I’m off to buy some beer or head up into the mountains. Hell, even the sound of the engine makes as it clunks into gear statisifies one’s ears. The feel of effortless 315 HP, as slap my foot on gas pedle (leaving rubber on the road if I so choose), and off we go. You can even push the accelerator harder, and it will speed up effortless — even going up hill!

When you drive, you can take any road you want to. You can drive out into the countryside, up into the mountains. It can take you to the wilderness, to a mountain lake, a farm, or some other remote place, at a rate of roughly 45-75 miles per hour. Cars are elegently styled, you are free to choose your music taste, they can provide solitude and a carefully controlled climate to your choice of temperature, such as 72 degrees, and they take you exactly to your destination. Cars are such wonderful things.

Let’s be honest, the sensation one gets driving is so awesome … even we all conceed its so deadly. Automobiles kill roughly 40,000 people nationwide in a year, and roughly 1,500 New Yorkers. It’s the most common cause of death for people under Age 40. It’s also warming the planet, and putting us rapidly on a course for a time when there will be no mankind, or certainly no mankind living in a world like today.

There will probably no action on climate change, until the damage is serious enough that it can no longer be ignored. A far higher percentage of Americans drive automobiles then ever smoked, and we are all quite happy denying climate change as we push our ways towards the cliff. Until it becomes so obvious that we are all in a sucide pact, Americans have started dying in mass, and their has been clear and unrefutable evidence on climate change, don’t expect a lot of action…

I sure like my truck. And hell, smoking cigerettes sure is a lot of fun. I guess we are all going to die one of these days at any rate.