Monthly Archives: April 2016

SWIMMING POOLS & MOSQUITO CONTROL. (ContrĂłl de Moscas en las Piscinas.)

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Mosquito orgy: abandoned pool in barrio Santiago

MOSQUITO ORGY: a neglected swimming pool containing rain water and leaves in barrio Santiago.

ÂżWhat do you do with your pool while away?  ¿How many Merida homeowners are allowing mosquitos to party in standing water which collects in their backyards while they travel?  Last year I wrote about a biological control which can float in your untended pool, toxic only to mosquitos, introducing them to a deadly gut organism.  This year, due to widespread problems afflicting humans, I decided to do more.  While I was very happy with the biological product, I wanted to prevent access to the water altogether.  So I contrived my own cover, seaming together pvc-mesh screen as a physical barrier. (The entire project cost me about $70-usd, not counting the galvanized pipes supporting the mesh or the flashing, which I already had, and which prices I’ve forgotten;  and I still have almost a half roll of mesh left over.)  Here’s the finished installation:

Our pool, securely covered with a homemade screen.

Our pool, partially drained and covered by a homemade screen, measuring about 4-1/2 meters by 6m.

To start, I bought a roll of 60-inch x 30 meter pvc-mesh (malla) from a larger hardware supply, and a small can (una lata pequeña) of pvc cement (pegamento) from a local plumbing supply; and then I seamed together three lengths of screen, using a roll of aluminum flashing as a work surface so the cement didn’t bond with the paint on my roof, where I did the seaming. (Smaller hardware stores often sell mesh by the meter, but the ultra wide mesh may be more difficult to locate.)  I tested the bond for a week in the bright sun to be sure it would remain strong, trying two types of adhesive.  Both felt equally strong, so I went with the more neutral color.

Close-up of small can of adhesive, on seamed screen mesh

Close-up of small can of adhesive, on seamed screen mesh.

 

Adhesive test on two swatches of screen mesh.

Adhesive test on two swatches of screen mesh.

 

Joining the first pair of three lengths of screen on my roof — pool in top of photo.

Joining the first pair of three lengths of screen on my roof — pool in top of photo.

Of course, there are other places for mosquitos to party, so we each need to do our part:

A favorite breeding area maybe in a nearby yard.

A favorite breeding area may be in a nearby yard, guarded by ferocious beasts.

 

 

 

VOTING: “2nd Amendment” & free elections

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Photo by Tony Webster, WikiMedia

Photo by Tony Webster, WikiMedia

 

OPEN PRIMARIES 

Our ability to choose candidates in New York State (and a minority of other states) is restricted by two dominant political parties.  If rules prevent voters from crossing party lines to cast a ballot for a preferred candidate, the nominating process is closed, and it is no longer a free election.  

The politicians in this state have stolen the voting franchise so they can control the electorate, disallowing maverick-upstart candidates.  (The US Constitution makes no mention of political parties, so state politicians designed it in their own favor.)  A majority of states allow voters to choose whichever primary contest offers greater interest.  Why is ours closed?–  Because two bully parties want to know where you store your ballot [your affiliation]!  Think Second Amendment:  do you want the gov’t to know where your affiliation [your ballot] resides?  It’s more useful than our guns, when things are normal.  (Or have you forgotten the experience in Norway during WW2, of registered small arms being seized by invading forces.)  Like guns, ballots can get “seized” too; and so they have in states with closed primaries.

Justice Felix Frankfurter said “We are in danger of forgetting that the Bill of Rights reflects experience with police excesses. It is not only under Nazi rule that police excesses are inimical to freedom. It is easy to make light of insistence on scrupulous regard for the safeguards of civil liberties when invoked on behalf of the unworthy. It is too easy. History bears testimony that by such disregard are the rights of liberty extinguished, heedlessly at first, then stealthily, and brazenly in the end.  

Adolf Hitler said “The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subjugated races to possess arms. History shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subjugated races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by so doing. ”   

ÂżWhether or not you favor gun control, can you defend the politicians in this state who have confiscated your ballot?   When the gov’t knows where your party affiliation resides, it’s easy for parties to gerrymander, resulting in districts designed to be almost solidly R or D, by agreement of both parties, making it nearly impossible to defeat an incumbent.  That’s how the parties control us.  The result:  career politicians are rarely removed from office; and we suffer dictatorial anointing of who gets to run for office.  (Just look at the obstacles put up by DNC to stifle Bernie Sanders!)

Those voters registered “independent” are in even worse shape in NY:  the Independence Party has no voice in nominating or choosing those who run in main parties in NY.  Independent voters have abandoned their ability to nominate a candidate in what is arguably a more important balloting process — the primary, where potential office seekers are blessed-by and beholden-to party bosses; upstarts are scorned and obstructed.
    
In New York, voters tolerate this, although there is an effort to lobby for repeal of closed primaries  which you could sign.  We voters deserve what we got.  The pol’s knew we were asleep, and stole our voting franchise.  What’s even worse:  voters who want to switch parties to cast a ballot in a more interesting primary have to do so long before a contest becomes exciting.  The cutoff date to switch was October 25, for an April primary!  That’s designed by them to prevent people from exercising their choice in a timely fashion, as a race heats up.  Yep, more control by the pro’s. Not a free election!
Don’t New Yorkers deserve open primaries?  We must hide our affiliation!  It’s time to take back the electoral process.  We, the people of NYS want our voting power restored to full clout, by becoming a state with Open Primaries. We want a truly independent ability to opt out of party affiliation, without surrendering our ability to vote in a primary of our choice.  Our party affiliation must be invisible to government!  That’s why it’s called a Secret Ballot — but it’s not secret, if THEY know the address of your affiliation.  And it’s not a free election if you can’t easily change affiliation to vote in the primary of your choice.  Take back the power to choose!  Demand an open primary for NY! (We need a revolution in balloting.)
(I would welcome learning of organized efforts in NY to press this issue.)  

ON CHOOSING A LEADER

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AP photo

AP photo

Pasted below is a Letter to the Editor of our hometown newspaper up north. 

Hi Neighbors,

We haven’t missed the northern winter, but we’re flying back early to cast a vote for Bernie Sanders in NY’s primary.  It’s such a rare opportunity to have a person of integrity on the ballot.  His rival, a member of a First Family which sold out America’s middle class by removing the Glass-Steagall Act — a protection which had long kept banks from gambling with our savings and pensions, thus setting the stage for crashing the global economy — doesn’t deserve another chance with our financial security.  The banksters who have contributed so heavily to her campaign should be denied their influence.

I hope my fellow citizens will think carefully about this.  The mistakes of the past need correction, not replay.  

As for Sanders being a “socialist” (a social democrat) we might ponder the facts of nature:  humans are one of only a very few social species on this planet, like the bees and the ants, which specialize in working together. 

Sanders has become known in the US Senate as the “Amendment King”* for his ability to work with colleagues of both parties to improve bills before passage.  Working together is socialism at its best.  And his history as mayor of Burlington VT taught the Democrat “machine politicians” who ran that city for so long that he knew how to work with the merchants of main street to restore sensible government to that city, soon putting the machine out of office.  They laughed at his socialism until he won; then they told him he wouldn’t get anything done.  But he taught them otherwise.  Yes, Bernie has the right executive skills to restore balance to our government.  And he hasn’t been bought by special interests — accepting no PAC money, just small donations from people who want America to work again.  We, the people have a voice.  We can choose a leader with integrity.

*(Update): In comparison, Hillary Clinton passed zero roll call amendments during her tenure as a senator from New York from 2001-09.