The Wisconsin Labor Dispute, a Civic Soapbox Essay by Larry Stopper

It’s time to be frank about what’s happening in Wisconsin right now. The fight Governor Walker has picked with some of the public employee unions is nothing more than blaming the little guy for the big problems. The governor is trying to portray the rights of teachers and nurses to bargain as a union as the cause of the state budget shortfall. It is utterly false and designed by some very clever people to pit one group of middle class people against another.

Let’s be clear about how the governor in Wisconsin is operating. Just weeks before precipitating this crisis, the governor pushed through the legislature 117 million dollars in corporate tax breaks. Now, the current shortfall in the budget is 137 million dollars.

Let’s also not forget that this push to end collective bargaining for the teachers and other state employees does not include the firefighters union or the police since, coincidentally, they supported the governor in the recent election. It seems if you supported the governor during the election then your right to collective bargaining is not a threat to the state budget.

The real problem in this country is vastly unequal income distribution and it is only getting worse. How is it that hedge fund managers have their income taxed at a 15% rate as if it were capital gains, but the rest of us in the middle class have to pay 28% of our income? The difference is that they are able to hire lobbyists who push Congress to rewrite the tax code in their favor.

This is but one example among many that point out the inequality rampant in our tax code. Let’s face it, the super rich are happy to see the various parts of the middle class fighting over a small portion of the pie. So long as we leave their half alone.

The fact that many state governments are in bad financial shape is not fiction and must be treated seriously. It is also quite true that there are no painless remedies. We want the services we have, we just don’t want to pay for them. But do we really want to cut teachers pay or benefits? Could it really be true that the reason state budgets are busted is because public employees have too generous a health care plan? While it’s true, as a self employed business owner I am envious of the benefits public workers have, I’m just not naïve enough to think this is the reason states are in poor financial condition.

Solving state budget problems will take sacrifice, including higher taxes on all who can afford it. Let’s just not delude ourselves into thinking that the rights of folks in our schools and hospitals and courthouses to bargain collectively are the problem. They are only the problem to governors who hate unions and don’t really care to see that unions and collective bargaining have brought millions into the middle class.

--Larry Stopper is an entrepreneur and strong union supporter from Afton  

The Endangered Future of Stargazing, a Civic Soapbox essay by Matthew Poteat

Nearly twenty-years ago I had the privilege of working a summer job in Yellowstone National Park. It's an astonishing place, loaded with natural wonders. The natural wonder I remember best, however, wasn't Old Faithful or the trout-filled streams: It was the night sky.

I grew up on a farm in eastern North Carolina, so I was used to dark, starry nights, but nothing prepared me for the inky black wonder I experienced on those isolated campsites in Yellowstone. Camping out on a moonless night in rural, isolated Wyoming is to experience the night life our ancestors knew, for all those thousands of years before the street lamps came.

Since moving to the Shenandoah Valley, some friends and I have had the pleasure of scanning the heavens from some pretty dark locations. There's nothing like viewing the Milky Way from atop a mountain. My friends, who have deep roots here in the Valley, have told me, however, that: "you should have seen these skies a generation ago... now the Valley is lit up like Christmas tree."

Indeed. The night sky today just isn't as dark as it used to be, especially on the east coast and in Europe. Satellite imagery taken over the last five decades proves it. One half of the earth's natural environment--the star-filled night-sky--is being lost in a yellow haze.

Light pollution dims our enjoyment of the heavens, disrupts wildlife and human sleep patterns, and contributes to our increasing detachment from nature.

According to National Geographic, "darkness is as essential to our biological welfare, to our internal clockwork, as light itself." Sky and Telescope magazine says "this monotonous, wasteful glow hides beautiful and richly meaningful sky wonders." It also wastes energy. The International Dark Sky Association estimates that light pollution costs at least $2.2 billion per year in the U.S. alone.

This problem, however, can be corrected with relative ease and minimal expense: turn off and reduce our lighting. Some light at night, of course, is necessary, but by reducing the number of street lamps, updating old fixtures with pollution reducing shields, using timers, photocells, and smart technology, and by simply turning off unnecessary lights, we can save money, energy, and improve our environment. It would also bring back the awesome beauty of the night.

A dark sky is an important resource worthy of protection. It is free and accessible to all, and you don't need expensive equipment to marvel at its wondrous beauty. Vincent Van Gogh said "the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day" and it inspired him to paint his masterpiece, Starry Night. It continues to inspire those of us who can still see it today. Hopefully enough to turn down the lights.

-- Matthew Poteat is an assistant professor of history at Central Virginia Community College and am amateur stargazer.

Civic Soapbox Friday

Marriage Rights for All 

by George Kamide

When I married the girl of my dreams in July, a friend said, "Welcome to the club."

As a new member of the married club, I want to voice my vehement opposition to Proposition 8 and all other measures to prohibit gay marriage. Such measures relegate homosexuals to second-class citizens. These laws are discriminatory and, frankly, un-American, flying in the face of what this country stands for.

Proposition 8 baffles the mind. Legislating minority rights by referendum is, at best, specious reasoning, and at worst, exemplifies what Plato called the "tyranny of the majority."

Opponents of gay marriage see a threat to traditional definitions of marriage. I suppose that depends on how far back in the tradition one wishes to go. Would most women today be willing to take traditional vows that include total subservience to the groom? If not, then we could settle on a more recent definition of marriage by re-enacting Virginia's own Racial Integrity Act. Blood tests for everyone! However, if that were still the definition of marriage, I would represent a felony for my Japanese father and American mother.

While my wife and I were on our honeymoon in Belize, we had the pleasure of meeting another couple on their honeymoon. While talking over drinks and watching a tropical sunset, I could see that these two women were just as starry-eyed and madly in love and ridiculously happy as we were. Despite the rapturous mood and idyllic setting, I was pained by the idea that these two women might be denied the same rights accorded to me and my wife.

"Civil Union," is what some would propose as the answer: full marriage rights without calling it marriage. This term is little more than compromise to the point of condescension. To give, but not fully, smacks of a "separate but equal” ideology. And therein lies the rub: This issue is not the gay and lesbian struggle for legality, as some have framed the debate. It is one of human dignity. This is a familiar struggle in our history; the yearning of a marginalized group for that most American of rights: equality.

Despite Judge Vaughn Walker's well-reasoned ruling on Proposition 8, the opposition is crying foul and denouncing another so-called "activist judge." They have again forgotten their history. The first battles for equal rights are usually won in the courts before the legislatures. The ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education came a full decade before the Civil Rights Act was signed into law. It is unfortunate that legalized discrimination is a recurring theme in this country's history. But I am heartened by the fact that so is the persistent struggle for justice.

Finally, for any who remain on the fence about this issue, I would pose this question: When the world is doing its best to tear itself apart with hate and intolerance, why are we so eager to stop two people from declaring their commitment to love one other forever?

                                --George Kamide and his wife, Lindsay, live in Greene County. 

"Make one's life revolve around festivals, not festivals around one's life!"

The title of this blog post is taken from today's WMRA Civic Soapbox, by Greene County home builder Brad Lovelace. It's an essay which, as I prepare to endure more seriously dreary winter weather, struck me as an auditory gift from the gods, most of whom are about to be honored in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, which is what Brad's essay is about. (Mardi Gras graphic is credited to tephies)

Of course Mardi Gras, the largest religious festival in the United States, doesn't technically take place until February 16th, a week from Tuesday. But since the Saints are in the Super Bowl this weekend, I'm sure the partying is well underway, and I did think our wintry souls could use a blast of virtual participation in the rompings and stompings of the Who Dat nation.

The essay is about how last year at this time, Brad and his wife packed up their kids and went to Mardi Gras on impulse (the only real way to attend Mardi Gras, don't you think?) There's no point in rehashing his Civic Soapbox--just click on this link and listen to it, or on this link and read the text. (Unless of course, your life just has too much fun in it already and you don't need a dose of romping and stomping.)

I am, however, going to augment the Civic Soapbox experience with a few pictures, taken with the Lovelace cell phone, since the Lovelace camera got left behind during their impulsive departure.  This means the fun looks a bit blurry, but when you think about it, that's probably not all that inappropriate. All picture commentary is by Brad Lovelace.

As they say in every restaurant I don't like: Enjoy!

After Orpheus almost O' Bead....  Niall and I after the Orpheus parade.  I had so many beads around my neck I couldn't stand up straight....  During this parade I made a heroic leap and snagged a Jim Belushi throw,  a set of purple beads.

 Zulu cigar. . . . That is my daughter Addy with her Zulu cigar.  Zulu is a mainly black Krewe. They dress up with Al Jolson face paint and grass skirts.  They look like characters out of the old King Kong or Tarzan movies.  Their signature throws are cigars, really cool Zulu necklaces and they hand out coconuts.

Lundi Gras....  That is me, my eldest daughter Annalise, who is so enthralled with New Orleans that she moved there, and Addy.   Lundi Gras is when  Zulu gives a big party on the waterfront.  There is a great fireworks show, and then the night is topped with the Proteus and Orpheus parades.

Street cleaners . . .  This is a truly impressive operation of street sweepers, fire hoses, skid loaders and guys with leaf blowers....  They do an incredible job of cleaning streets one would think could never get clean, but every night they are out there.

Laissez les snowy bon temps rouler!

Go Saints!