Let's Have An Honest Debate

I've visited Arizona a couple of times and absolutely love the state. That doesn't mean I can relate to how physically or economically threatened its citizens feel by the presence of illegal immigrants. Seventy per cent of Arizonans apparently feel the need for a stronger crackdown outlined in a bill just signed into law by Governor Jan Brewer. Senator John McCain had been considered a more moderate advocate of immigration reform up through the 2008 election, but he now seems to see this as a bigger crisis than before. I caught a bit of the Dan Yorke Show on WPRO out of Providence today. Some callers were suggesting extreme measures like moving all our military bases to the 2000 mile border with Mexico and turning the closed bases into wind farms. Yorke made a valid point when he claimed that the governor and many other proponents of the new law were not being totally honest when they say it does not mean racial (more accurately ethnic) profiling by authorities. Of course it does. If it's not profiling, does that mean everyone who doesn't "look" or "sound" Hispanic may also be asked to show they are not an undocumented alien? If you think profiling is fine, at least you're being honest when you support what's happening in Arizona. No matter what side of immigration debate you come down on, the failure of Congress to act has been a key reason we face what we do today.

Gone Fishin'

The fishing season kicked into high gear last Saturday. With it came a statewide controversy over increased fees for fishing licenses. Connecticut felt the need to reel in a whopper to put a dent in its budget shortfall, so licenses that may have gone for $32 a year ago were soaring to $50. As concerns over these charges hit home, the concern was evident heading toward April 17th at the Fish Connection in Preston and Mike's Bait & Tackle in Voluntown. Some eastern Connecticut lakes, rivers and ponds are also frequently visited by Rhode Island anglers who were even less eager to pay a lot more for an extra Connecticut license. Many of those who believe a bad day fishing is better than a good day working went ahead and paid the money, only to see the fees decreased right before the start of the season. The earlybirds were essentially penalized. Many state park fees had also been rolled back thanks to some strong lobbying. This eleventh hour change is good; we don't want to discourage people from fishing and visiting our parks. Now, should the state give refunds to anyone who paid the higher fee? If refunds or credits for next year are at all possible, they should be given. A giveback would be the fair thing to do. I have my doubts if the early payers will ever see it though.

Voluntown Pays Its Respects

Tyler Owen Griffin, a 19-year-old Marine lance corporal from Voluntown, was recently killed in Afghanistan. His hometown said its goodbyes this week. With this loss, a war on the other side of the world hit home. This has an especially big impact on a small town of only 2,600 people where everyone seems to know everyone. Voluntown has been tested before, rising to the occasion in the face of such tragedies as that of the Girard family featured on ABC's "Extreme Home Makeover." While it must be comforting to get such overwhelming community support, it is hard to imagine what strength and courage it must take for those most directly affected. When you get to feeling cynical about what people can do, think about the good people of Voluntown and of so many other communities who try and do the right thing everyday. They deserve far more recognition, but from time to time they even manage to make the headlines.

Northern Exposure

A month after my departure from WBMW, I still have many radio geek moments. I listen a lot to NPR, which has an affiliate in the northernmost town in the United States: KBRW-AM/FM in Barrow, Alaska. If the fictional town of Cicely, Alaska on TV's critically-acclaimed Northern Exposure seemed more than a bit quirky, life on a spit of land overlooking the Arctic Ocean must be about as different as can be from eastern Connecticut. This outpost inaccessible by car from the outside world has always fascinated me. Yesterday I found the webstream for KBRW-AM 680 and was treated to a forecast of snow and a high of 5 above, but it was supposed to "warm up" to near 20 soon. The announcer was very smooth with a great voice, playing an eclectic mix of Bobby Darin, the Four Tops and Little Feat followed by an hour of Bruce Springsteen during their local segments. In this era of one town - and one radio station - often as similar as the next, life in this northern town would be amazing to see. Since I have yet to see Seattle, I don't see this trip happening soon. The next time we complain of a spring chill, think of those 4,700 residents in this town at the top of the world.

My Facebook Birthday Bash

If I needed direct evidence of how much Facebook has done for online social networking, yesterday provided it. All through the day yesterday, dozens of friends sent Happy Birthday wishes. The vast majority were through my Facebook account. It's not that I'm the most popular person on Facebook with 110 friends. Then again, it's hard to believe most people can ever have 500 or 1000 real friends anyway. The most remarkable thing is how my Facebook friends has grown since my last birthday, and how frequently many of these people are using it. Some use this new power wisely, while others write without proofreading or conveying anything that anyone would ever remotely care about. That's just pure addiction. I'm sure Facebook, among other related sites, will be a somewhat different service by my next birthday. For me, Facebook brightened up my birthday and kept me in touch with friends after my job loss last month. Here's my personal page. I still have my direct mail advertising work with The Extra & The Advertiser, and of course we had to start a Facebook fan page for that. Take a minute and become a fan. We'll try to make it worth your while.

Living Longer - As Of Today

It's April 1st, the favorite holiday of practical jokers everywhere. That's never been my style of humor and I don't want to spoil someone else's fun, but the day makes me think more of someone who passed away far too young in 1978. This would have been my father's birthday. This particular April 1st also marks the point when I will have lived longer than he did. I don't exactly know what to make of this reminder of mortality. There are no plans to react to it by jumping into a late midlife crisis the way I'm told some men do. Nothing's really changed today, but for some reason I have this need to think about it.

Floods of 2010

Eastern Connecticut really took much of the brunt of the flooding brought on by this week's seemingly endless rains. While Route 184 got washed out at the Stonington/Groton line, the Quinebaug River unleashed its power on Jewett City. There was a long line of stressed out homeowners at the Uncasville Home Depot waiting to get one of the limited supply of sump pumps just arriving off the truck. Usually the Yantic River gets plenty of attention when flooding hits, and this time was no exception. Much of the Norwich damage seemed concentrated east of I-395 toward Norwichtown instead of the usual Yantic Flats area. In Colchester, I was treated to instant lakefront property in the woods by my house. At least the house was spared. I don't recall flooding like this since 1982. So many people have been telling me about how much water had seeped into their basements. It was even worse to our east. Rhode Island suffered from what are being called historic floodwater levels, leaving millions of dollars in damage to homes and infrastructure from Westerly to Woonsocket. I-95 in Warwick was actually impassable for days. No matter where you are, if it hits you like this you don't need an official declaration to tell you it's a disaster.