Barry Considine's Open Salon Blog

Incredible Journey

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 10:03:57 -0400

Okay I'm guilty of stealing my title from Sheila Every Burnford's book of the same name. However, this story is truly a "That's incredible, Cathy Lee" type tale. Somewhere off the coast of Venezuela, heading towards the southern Caribbean Matt Rutherford of Annapolis, Md. is on the last leg of a truly incredible journey. Matt is attempting to "solo the Americas" non-stop in a 40 year old, 27' Albin-Vega sailboat. So far he has already made history. He is now recognized by the Scott Polar Institute University of Cambridge as the smallest vessel to be sailed single-handedly through the Northwest Passage.

First a little about Matt, born in Ohio he now calls Maryland his home. Matt is a volunteer with CRAB (Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating http://crabsailing.org/) a group dedicated to helping people with disabilities learn about and enjoy sailing. Like most of CRAB’s volunteers Matt has a disability. His particular disability is a learning disability which as you might guess caused him problems in school. Add to that being “born into a cult” Matt’s youth was difficult. He even spent some time in a juvenile detention center. Not one to let life keep him down eventually Matt discovered sailing which is now his passion. Matt has since made two trans-Atlantic crossings. On one of those trips he even took a 200 mile side trip up the Gambia River in Africa.

Sometime back he came up with the idea of using his love of sailing and adventure to help raise money for CRAB. His goal is $10.00 a mile or put another way, $250.000.00. At the end of this I will provide every one with the links to help out.

On June 11, 2011 Matt Rutherford left Annapolis on his journey. Simply explained, he sailed up the East Coast past Nova Scotia around Prince Edward Island to the Northwest Passage. After navigating the Passage he was on to the Bering Sea, past Alaska to the open waters of the Pacific, south along the coasts of Central and South America. Then it was time to round the treacherous Cape Horn. After surviving Horn it was time to point his vessel the “St. Brendan” north and head home. Along the way there were ice bergs, storms of unbelievable force to face in such a small vessel, and equipment failures, so many equipment failures.

Let’s talk about wind for after all this is a story about sailing a 27' boat around the Americas. Matt has experienced winds that most sailors would do everything in their power to avoid. Knots per hour are converted to miles per hour by multiplying by a factor of 1 knot = 1.15077945 mph. To put it another way, knots per hour doesn’t sound as fierce as miles per hour. This is from Matt’s journal entry Amundsen gulf (Go west young man), [please note journal entries are copied directly from his website. Among other things they demonstrate his dyslexia] “From this point on I was able to sail with 20-30kt easterlies. I’m not sure what this boat’s hull speed is but I’m sure I was over it.”

Anyone who has sailed smaller boats loves it when the small craft warnings go up. 20-30kt wind is when you would see the small craft warning flag raised if one was on Chesapeake Bay. These are great winds to sail, but experience is a must. From his post Alaska, “A few hours after I wrote my last entry the winds picked up out of the southeast and in 12 hours became a gale. It was blowing 40kts with higher gusts and was the most wind iv had this trip.” Using the conversion above this means the winds were 46.1 mph. On land this is when minor structural damage begins. This was the post I read and started asking “Does he have more guts than brains?” Sorry Matt.

Wind on land is one thing, on the sea it is a different beast altogether. Gale force winds on land can take the shingles of a roof. However on the sea they can work either with the current or as Matt explains against the current. The following is from September 3^rd’s blog post Point Hope “The problem is the winds are going to be gale to storm force and coming out of the north directly opposing the current. There is also a funneling effect caused by the land north of the Bering straits which will smash the waves together as they approach the straits. [This is the mix-master effect he talks about later] If I were to have continued south at my previous speed and heading I would of entered the Bering straits at the beginning of the storm and it would of been like sailing into the 7th circle of hell.” This is definitely where I’d be yelling “Mr. Wizard, help me Mr. Wizard.” Not, Matt he deployed his parachute anchor and laid up around Cape Thompson and waited for conditions to improve. These are just a sampling of his wind conditions.

Before sharing his next harrowing tale I’ll explain the sailing term “knocked down.” To be knocked down is when the mast of your boat hits or dips below the surface of the water. I have been at the tiller when a gust of wind has suddenly pushed me over to the point of water coming over the gunnels. I can assure you this is nothing compared to being knocked down.

About two and a half weeks after Point Hope Matt posted the following, Stupid Storms !!!!, “So I’m in a gale right now, nothing new about that. What is new is I just had a full knockdown, I nearly capsized. My mast was underwater. My dodger is shredded. I had water above the floor boards. I smashed my knee. My fuel bladder got launched across my cabin along with everything else. A can of tomato powder exploded and my cabin is now covered in the stuff. You know those little round things at the end of your spreaders that keep your main sail from chaffing? Well knockdown ripped one of those off. Its a pretty bad knockdown when things get ripped off you spreaders half way up your mast. The local fishermen call this area the mix master, I understand why.” Here’s a picture of the dodger he’s talking about.

Wind is only a part of the problem when undertaking a trip of this magnitude. Waves are another thing all together. Think of waves at sea this way. When you go the ocean and walk out past the breakers, first you encounter the shore break. These are the little waves that hit you somewhere between your ankles and your knees, or about two feet high. The waves you pass through to actually get past the breakers are about three to five feet high. Judging from the pictures of St. Brendan and other 27 foot boats Matt has about three maybe three and a half feet from the surface of the water to his deck. Matt I would guess is less than six feet tall. Remembering standing next to him I’d say he’s about 5' 10" and cannot stand up straight in his cabin.

Here is another gripping entry from his blog post entitled “Open Water” on the subject of waves. “Let me take a few steps back. So I was in the mix-master sailing along. At the time I’d never heard of the mix-master. I was confused because it was only blowing 35kts with higher gusts but the seas were breaking as if it was blowing much harder. Waves kept crashing in my cockpit, I must of been pooped [pooped is when the waves break over the stern] 20 times in 24 hours. I reduced sail to just a scrap of jib, but like I said it was only blowing 35kts. I have a translucent slide for my companionway hatch so it makes for a good back window. I remember looking back behind my boat just by chance and seeing this monster wave towering above my stern. I said Oh Cra….but I couldn’t get the words out of my mouth before I was flying threw the air. Next thing I know I’m rolling around on my port side window, half pressed up against my cabin top. St Brendan bounced back on her feet quickly, the Vega is a good boat, owners have good reason to be proud. It was a rouge wave, not some 80 footer or something crazy like that, but it was much larger then the waves around it. I just happened to be right under it when it decided to break.” This was from around day 102; he was off the coast of Alaska.

Equipment failures have made the trip particularly difficult and resupply missions have made it inspiring. In many ways equipment failures on St. Brendan can be described as what hasn’t broken. In this picture of St. Brendan you cannot make out the spreaders that were damaged during his knock down. The dodger is not shown here.

You can clearly see his solar panel and wind generator mounted at the stern of the boat. Imagine what happens when the mast hits the water. Right a whole bunch of stuff gets damaged or totally destroyed. But it doesn’t take a knock down to damage things. The first damage done to the wind generator came when a wave crashed over the boat around day 29.

When undertaking a voyage like this electricity is almost as important as wind. Matt has a diesel engine but only wants to use it when absolutely necessary because he can’t carry a lot of extra fuel. Remember St. Brendan is only 27' in length, in what little cabin area there is Matt has to store all of his clothes, his food, tools, and various pieces of electronics. To generate electricity Matt started with solar panels and a wind generator. He also had four inverters. For those of you not familiar with inverters, an inverter converts DC or battery power to AC current to run say a boom box, or plug in a laptop. Matt started with four but by September three of those had crapped out due to excessive moisture. While it was expected that moisture would be problematic for the inverters everyone thought four would last the whole voyage.

It was only June 29^th or 18 days out that Matt lost his fresh water maker. Simon Edwards of Endurance Yacht Deliveries and Matt’s resupply master I guess you could say, arranged for one to be delivered to him in the middle of Bowl Bay. Remember this is a solo non-stop voyage and all resupplies have taken place at sea. This resupply did give Matt one of his incredible sightings of sea creatures when a killer whale surfaced just 20' off his stern.

Thanks to Simon and others Matt has been resupplied a couple of times now. Each one completed while at sea preserving for Matt his goal of going non-stop. Each time they have also brought Matt other things besides the needed equipment. During one while he was still in the Bering Sea they brought him a pizza among other things. It is always a spirit lifter as reflected in this passage from his post, Open Water, “I received more stuff then I can list but a few items… new tiller pilot, back up water maker, 25 gal diesel, 5 gal stove fuel, BOOZE!, fresh veggies, a Virgina ham, ect. I would like to thank all of you involved in the resupply. You have made my life soooooo much better and things will be a bit easier down the road thanks!” I read one account of this resupply where he called the pizza the best he’d ever had.

Matt’s hero is Sir Ernest Shackleton He ends each post with “FORTITUDINE VINCIMUS” the Shackleton family motto. Man has been going to sea since about 4500 BC and with sailing vessels since about 4000 BC. From those first seafarers to Columbus and Magellan in the 15^th & 16^th centuries, to Shackleton and others in the 20^th centuries man has gone to see for exploration, treasure, war and even pleasure. Many like Matt do it to prove to themselves they have what it takes. Executive Director of CRAB Don Backe recently put it this way. “Matt Rutherford has dedicated his voyage to Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating (CRAB) because, in support of CRAB's mission to serve persons with disabilities, he wants to show that with perseverance and courage, big challenges may be met and left in our wake.”

However like I said at the outset Matt has already proved that many times over. While surely there are records still to be set Matt’s other goal is raising money for CRAB. At the time of this writing CRAB is reporting online that Matt has raised $58,000.00 so far, though I think I recently heard a slightly higher figure than that when Matt was interviewed by WJZ a local Baltimore television station. Still it’s a long way from the $250,000.00 he hoped to raise through this incredible undertaking.

If you have experienced the joy of watching someone with a physical disability or some cognitive disability such as Downs Syndrome, Autism, a stroke or traumatic brain injury accomplish some task that everyone said they never would then you understand what CRAB is all about. Here’s how you can help out. First you could visit CRAB’s webpage at http://crabsailing.org/ click on the Matt’s Challenge tab. At the bottom of the page is a link to contribute. Better still you can visit Matt’s page, "Solo Around The Americas" http://www.solotheamericas.org/. There you can read all of Matt’s blog posts about this incredible journey. Matt is best at telling this tale and as you have read it has not been a lazy afternoon sail. There just under the picture of our handsome intrepid traveler is a link to donate and help Matt reach his financial goal. His other goal sailing around the Americas solo and non-stop is in reach. Matt is currently expected home sometime in mid to late April.

It’s a crime scene now

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 00:10:35 -0400

Knock, knock, knock, the innocent knocking on a neighbor’s door is how it began. One of life’s every day tragedies. As the next few minutes passed the knocking begins and stops a number of times. Each time it starts up again it is louder and more insistent, growing to be frantic. Eventually I became concern, who was banging on my next door neighbor’s door. I first looked through the peep hole to see if it was the police. Turns out it's just a normal looking guy in slacks and dress shirt with a tie on so I opened the door to see what’s going on.

As soon as I opened the door he asked me if I know Janice, my neighbor. “Who’s asking?” “I’m her boss” was his reply. He then went on to explain how she had not been to work lately. I hadn’t seen her in in a few weeks, which is normal. Janice worked two jobs so even when you did see her it was just in passing. While we talked his cell phone rang; he drifted away some to keep his conversation private. When the call was over he explained that the call was Janice’s mother. They had been talking back and forth for a few hours.

That creepy feeling that caused me to investigate the knocking in the first place suddenly got much stronger. “I hesitate in asking this but have you considered calling the police and asking for a ‘well-being’ check?” Ken, Janice’s boss said that her mother had already called the police. She had phoned Janice over the weekend but she lives in New York. She just thought that Janice was being her usual busy self, We stood around waiting for the police to come for a little bit longer before I suggested that maybe a local call might get a faster response. It was a good thing I said something because when “Mom” called she couldn’t remember the apartment letter.

It wasn’t long after Ken called that the first responding officer arrived. She loudly knocked on the door announcing “Police” as she did. She called for a sergeant on scene. I let the officer know that if someone was up for it, it might be possible to climb from the back staircase on to her deck for a better look. She had a better idea and called dispatch to send the fire department. All I could think was, this isn’t going to end well.

The fire department arrived and put a ladder up to Janice’s deck. Checking the doors and windows accessible from the deck they found an unlocked window. The police cautiously entered the quiet apartment. Very shortly they returned and asked “can we go through your apartment again? She’s in there. She’s gone; it’s a crime scene now.”

In that moment I was glad I watch too many crime dramas for I knew that the scene of any unattended death would be treated as a possible crime scene. As the next couple of hours passed the officers began their investigation. They asked Ken for Janice’s mom’s contact info. While he was looking it up on his phone’s call list it began to ring. It was her mother. The officer told him he knew this would be hard but he should ignore her calls. He explained that they would contact the local police in New York and they would handle the notification.

They asked my neighbor as they came home when the last time they had seen Janice was. Did we know if she had any health problems? We all had the same answer; we couldn’t remember when the last time we had seen her. No, we weren’t aware of any health problems. Personally we had commiserated about our aches and pains but nothing more. After a while I went inside. I didn’t want to watch them remove her remains.

Janice was a friendly African-American woman who worked two jobs to afford to buy her condominium. Her weight was more than it should be but we have all seen many others whose weight is much more of a problem. Whenever she would pass you she would cheerfully greet you with a friendly smile. She left for work at 5:30am, would come home mid-afternoon, rest a while and go back to work the evening shift at a car dealership. None of us even knew her last name. It doesn’t matter really. She was a genuinely friendly person. She will be missed.

Remembering

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 16:09:58 -0400

September 11, 2001 approximately 8:45am – What a beautiful morning it was. I remember doing as was my custom back then; I turned on the little portable TV that sat atop our refrigerator. Poured myself a cup of coffee and went to sit on my deck while I drank my morning mud. I left the TV tuned to the Today Show as I sat there surveying my domain as it was. The neighborhood kids were in school and since it was still cool the air conditioners weren’t droning. All was quiet. My wife’s gardens were blooming with fall flowers. Our miniature rose bushes on either side of the yard were going like gang busters. They would continue to bloom until Thanksgiving that year.

With the kids occupied until 2:30 in the afternoon I was wondering, “What can I get into on this gorgeous day?” I went back inside to fill my mug. It had already begun. The first plane had hit the North Tower 1 World Trade Center. I stood there with my mouth open, shocked, aghast, the damage was huge. How many people have died I thought. Then as I stared at the images of the smoke and flames emanating from the burning building the second plane struck 2 World Trade Center, the South Tower. Accident had just been ruled out. America was under attack but by whom?

Shortly after 9:30 the third plane struck the Pentagon. I knew this was going to be a day like no other in my life, more emotional than even the assassinations. My post-polio has a weird effect on my muscles, when adrenaline flows I begin to shake. I called a friend that lives nearby to see if she had any pot around because I knew it would stop my shaking. She did but asked that I wait until her kids were down for their morning nap, which I did.

A little before 10:00 I left for the trip of less than a mile to my friend’s house. I listened on the radio as the news of the first tower collapsing came in. I ran into her house, to see for myself if it was true. I mean after all how could that be possible? How could one of these massive skyscrapers collapse? As I watched the replay, all I could hear in my head was that reporter so many years ago when the Hindenburg had exploded, “Oh, the humanity!” It so eclipsed watching Lee Harvey Oswald being shot in the basement of a Dallas police station. That was the death of one person, and an assassin at that. How many people did I just watch die.

I hurried home with what, even then, I had grown to consider medicine. I was barely safe back at home when I saw the North Tower fall. In the horror that was the collapse of Tower 2 the South Tower, mentally I had barely taken notice of the news of Flight 93 crashing headlong in to that field in Shanksville, Pa.

As the hours continued to drag on, the news continued. Every plane in America was being ordered to land immediately. What an incredible task that was. Sometime later I saw a time lapse of air traffic control radar that showed all those dots, each a plane in the air. In short order there were no more dots, no planes were flying.

By lunch time I had begun to think I want my children home with me. As high school students they were old enough to comprehend the enormity of what was happening. Today I don’t remember how I had heard that Anne Arundel County Schools was asking parents not to come and pull students out of school. They feared that if that happened, the kids who could not be allowed to leave because there was no one home would be even more panicked. I think only because I could look out our bedroom windows and see the school and know that all was OK there that I did as they asked.

All day the video showed over and over again. I actually used the “favorites” button on the TV remote for the first time so I could flip from NBC to CBS to ABC to CNN and MSNBC. (Even that day FoxNews was persona non grata on my TV) All the anchor people were overwhelmed. I am sure they were constantly asking themselves, “Who do I throw it to next?” From unfounded theories as to the perpetrators, rumors of more attacks, The Sears Tower, the State Dept., and the National Mall all were subjects of unfounded rumors of additional attacks. And those continuing images that came so quickly, like the video of the debris cloud as it rushed down the streets nearby, people walking across the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty with the smoke from Ground Zero rising up behind them.

One of those images still chokes me up today as I write this. It is the image of doctors and nurses outside a hospital, gurneys at the ready waiting to receive survivors. Survivors who surely were going to be horribly injured, survivors that never came. They were so few.

By early in the morning terrorism experts were telling us that there was only one group capable of this attack, Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda terror network. To their credit there were some experts who were cautioning not to jump to conclusions. After all we had already been through two significant terror attacks under President Clinton. The first was bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda, the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center. While that was devastating but it was soon eclipsed in devastation by Timothy McVeigh’s attack on the Murrow Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Mo. So, home grown terrorists couldn’t be ruled out of hand.

It was sometime after lunch that I realized that I knew someone in the area of destruction. A young woman who had worked with me, the daughter of my employer, had recently moved to New York. I grabbed the phone and called her mother to check on her. There was no answer so I could only leave a message. It wasn’t until much later that she finally returned my call. She knew nothing; the phone system was still overloaded. While I was viewing this tragedy from one viewpoint she was living through the hell of not knowing whether her oldest child was alive or dead. I would later learn that she was just a few blocks away when the attacks began, on her way to work nearby the World Trade Center. But she was alive.

Carol had been allowed to come home early that terrible day. Consequently we gathered for dinner early. No cooking dinner that night, just soup & sandwiches. We always watch the evening news while eating dinner so 9/11 was no different. We sat there eating dinner, for Carol and I it was more liking choking dinner down as we were filled with worry about how this would change our children’s lives. Then in disbelief we watched 7 World Trade Center collapse becoming even more burning rubble where once there had stood the jewels of the New York City skyline.

On the evening of the eleventh the sound of silence became very real. Sitting on our stoop there was not a sound, no children out play, no planes on their way to BWI, no cars hurrying here and there, just church-like silence.

After dinner we were joined by a neighbor for a while in the basement of our townhome. After all, that was where the bigger TV was. We sat and talked and in a foreshadowing of what was to come, this woman who we consider a friend commented that she wouldn’t be buying gas from that towel head Muslim on the corner. The problem with her bigotry, more than the bigotry itself was this. The man who owned that gas station was Sikh from India.

It was about this time that members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans gathered on the steps of the United States Capital which we would learn in the days to come had been saved by those regular citizens on Flight 93. In unison they sang “America the Beautiful.”

Late in the evening, word came that survivor Port Authority Police Officer Phil Jimeno had finally been freed. Somehow the next day two more survivors were pulled from “The Pile.”

In the days to come I would learn that an “online” friend whose husband was a member of FDNY was luckily out of the country. They were on vacation in Greece. It was more than a week before they could get back. When they did, he did as you would expect, he went to “The Pile.” “The Pile”, the remains of the World Trade Center, for weeks actively burned in some places, and smoldering in others, became the focus of the nation.

Those of us who watched, maybe too many hours of news coverage came to hate the sounds of bag pipes. In those early days we watched as all work stopped when a mostly intact corpse was found. The firefighters would place the remains in a rescue basket because climbing over all that twisted steel was dangerous. They would line up, helmets in hand and salute as the basket came by. They didn’t know for certain it was a firefighter, it didn’t matter, what mattered was honoring that person.

Ten years have passed. Like seeing Bobby Kennedy swiping at that unruly lock of hair as he told the crowd at the Ambassador Hotel as he told the crowd, “Now it’s on to Chicago, and let’s win there.”, there are images in our life that stir the grief we have thought was buried. Who, even ten years later, can see those images from 9/11 without an immediate pit in our stomachs, or the salty burning of tears in our eyes? The fireball exploding out of Tower Two as Flight 175 hits the building, the immense cloud of debris rushing down the streets as each tower falls, the smashed fire engines, the people covered in dust, the Pentagon burning, that field in Pennsylvania smoldering, those doctors and nurses waiting for survivors that never came, all images indelibly etched in our memory, in our psyche. We have been forever changed. We will always remember and take time to honor those lost.

The Ridiculousness of Republican Politics

Fri, 9 Sep 2011 14:09:51 -0400

President Obama set out his plan for creating jobs in a fiery speech to both houses of Congress on Thursday. Once he again he has tried to craft legislation that the Republicans can support. Once again the Republicans in Congress are already lining up to block it. Michelle Bachmann with her total lack of credibility had this to say, “The president is politically paralyzed and philosophically incapable of doing what needs to be done. The president should take immediate action." What action is that Michelle? After saying he agreed with President Obama on trade Rep. Dave Camp R-Mich. called for the president to send those agreements to congress. It is my understanding that congress has had these agreements for a while and has been refusing to act on them. Then he went on to say this, “However, I was disappointed that the president did not discuss the one area that can truly spark sustained private-sector job creation in this country — comprehensive tax reform." And what is that Congressman Camp, more tax breaks for big corporations because I heard the president call for tax reform. Tax reform that benefit small businesses, veterans, the long term unemployed, and middle-class families while ending tax breaks for major corporations who are already making billions in profits.

"Ultimately I think the problem is there are some things in there that are good, but by and large, it's a proposal based on things that just won't work, haven't worked in the past and they won't work in the future." said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. I find it incredibly arrogant that a Republican senator can say that these policies won’t work when the Republican’s policies have put us in this situation in the first place.

"The president's plan makes a mockery of the recent debt limit deal. That agreement cut $7 billion in appropriations next year but the president now wants to borrow hundreds of billions more to finance a second stimulus package." was Sen. Jeff Sessions, (R) from Alabama’s thoughts on the speech. Was this man even in the House of Representative’s chamber last night? The president thoroughly explained that this bill was paid for before ever getting to congress by using the debt committees power to identify savings to pay for it.

My favorite reaction came again from Congresswoman Bachmann; she said that President Obama had insulted congress. Congresswoman Bachmann you and your caucus have been insulting the American people for years. Your anti-gay, anti-government, read my lips no new taxes philosophies have done nothing to improve the economy of this country. Just the opposite, you and your party didn’t like the fact that in 2008 the American country rejected your failed economic policies. So from day one you and yours have had one plan – BLOCK EVERY THING! Then you go out on the stump and talk about failed policies. What policies, you have blocked every policy initiative this White House has sent congress, declaring them all dead on arrival.

If you need more Republican reaction just turn on FoxNews I’m sure they are going wall to wall with Republicans criticizing a bill full of their ideas. They don’t want to pass it because just like every other piece legislation that will help they don’t want this president to be successful. A Google search shows a number of times that Sen. Mitch McConnell, the minority leader in the senate, made statements like the one he said on October 25, 2010, "The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president." He said this in an interview with the National Journal. From health care reform to the ridiculous fight over the debt ceiling being raised, an action that had in the past been pro forma, the Republican Party continues to fight for the profits of companies that make billions, while telling mom & pop restaurant owners that they are doing it for them. Bullshit!

I live in Maryland and an example of our crumbling infrastructure just occurred yesterday when a highway on-ramp buckled. For years I used to sit on a highway over pass waiting to get on an on-ramp that shakes worse than the ground did during our recent earthquake. In my neighborhood I drive over over-passes that have huge chunks of concrete missing around the seams. Once again Republicans have begun to argue that protecting Exxon/Mobil and GE’s profits is more important than fixing our crumbling highways.

Do they think the entire electorate is as dumb as the average FoxNews viewer? Do they really think anybody is buying this BS that protecting Wall Street’s ridiculously low capital gains tax really helps the husband and wife that work 20 hours a day between the two of them just to run the local 7-11, or Dairy Queen, or Maid Brigade? No we don’t; we’re not all stupid. Most of us know that small businesses are incredibly risk ventures whose biggest problem is making payroll. The problem with payroll partly is an employer’s contribution to Social Security. Which President Obama addressed last night.

I know personally the risks of owning a small business. I used to be an independent title abstractor. Business was robust back in the late 1990’s. I decided to merge my one man abstracting company in with a larger firm for that very reason, payroll. Payroll was going to force me to work even harder for the same profits. I had reached the point of needing at least part-time help and doing so was going to be a problem if the then robust real estate market took a turn for the worse. Well guess what it did and the company I merged with has had to lay off most of its employees while asking those that remain to produce even more work product then they were already.

It is time that we stop listening to members of the Republican Party. Face it their best candidates are running around saying things like the science of global warming is unsettled. But worse they (Rick Perry) use the plight of Galileo as an example of how scientific theory is challenged before acceptance. Hey, Gov. Rick, Galileo was persecuted by another group of religious zealots, one that most conservative Christians are quick to ridicule, you know, The Holy Roman Catholic Church. But guess what Gov. gravity was still true the whole time the Catholic Church questioned it. So if you can’t get that straight, why should we listen to your theories about making the economy grow? You can’t figure out that millions and millions of cars, planes, factories air conditioners, all venting excess heat into the atmosphere plus pumping CO2 into the air that keeps it trapped, is going to heat up the atmosphere. You don’t want to believe it because your money lenders are getting fat selling all of the things that are heating up the climate, oil, coal, automobiles…

They say that last night’s speech was just a campaign speech. You bet; it is a campaign to show America that even if we give Republicans nearly everything they claim to want… they still won’t pass it. And why is that, because of one simple thing, that (D) that is going to appear in the history books every time the accomplishments of President Barack Obama are written about.

Gearing Up In Maryland

Wed, 13 Oct 2010 09:10:59 -0400

Well 2010 is three quarters gone. With the election a little less than a month away it is time to start thinking about 2011. Medical marijuana activist are all ready gearing up for the 2011 Maryland General Assembly Session. What will happen when the legislature returns in January? What we are hearing is there will be a new old bill put in the hopper. Early this year I told you about HB 712 & SB 627. SB 627 made it through the Maryland Senate but HB 712 died in the House of Delegates. What was not talked about was HB 1388, a second medical marijuana before the House of Delegates. It was allowed to go by the wayside in favor of HB 712 because 712 had more sponsors and certain provisions that made it more palatable. Here's the deal - we were wrong to let that happen. If all goes as planned currently HB 1388 will be re-introduced this year, with possibly a few improvements.

There were two main flaws in HB 712 and we knew it. One there was no provision for personal cultivation. Second was the basic premise of the bill which was to set up state licensed large operations to grow cannabis. Here is the problem with that. It is not likely DEA will allow large grows to spring up in Maryland. How would that look, an acre of pot, or a large greenhouse growing marijuana just over the boarder from the nations capital.

HB 712 was modeled after New Jersey's recently passed medical marijuana law. NJ's law is still not finalized. Rules have not been agreed upon. The deadline for those rules is being pushed back at the request of first year governor of Gov. Christie (R). I spoke to the NJ Dept of Health and Senior Services back in late March of this year. At that point not one person had applied to become a grower. I’m sure that when this bill was before the New Jersey legislature the lawmakers were told that people will flock to become legal marijuana growers. According to the person I spoke to people aren't even calling to ask what the process will be. Actually the person I spoke to made it clear that she and many of her co-workers oppose having to implement the law. This is what we told Maryland lawmakers would happen if we enacted HB 712.

This is what you can expect if we pass a newly resurrected HB 1388. You can expect to be able to live without fear if you choose all natural cannabis over the narcotics of Big Pharm. You will be issued an ID card that lets every police office know that in Maryland it is legal for you to be in possession of marijuana for medicinal purposes. You will be allowed to grow your own. How much is under discussion whether it would be a certain number of plants or the preferred “canopy” method of measuring. Under a “canopy” provision you will be allowed to designate a certain area, measured in square feet of your property to grow your own medicine. You will be allowed to designate a “caregiver.” A “caregiver” is a person you can designate to obtain cannabis for you because you are unable to say travel. This person may be someone who allows you to medicate in their residence because you have children present and don’t want to expose them to you breaking federal law. There are many other provisions; to read them all go to: <a href="http://mlis.state.md.us/2010rs/bills/hb/hb1388f.pdf">http://mlis.state.md.us/2010rs/bills/hb/hb1388f.pdf</a>
For now there will be a series of conference calls to begin the organizing process. If you would like to participate just send your e-mail address to me at caseyscannabisdream@comcast.net I’ll make sure it gets added to the mailing list. As always you can learn more about what’s happening in Maryland and all the other states by visiting the Americans for Safe Access (ASA) website at: http://www.safeaccessnow.org/ Remember it is your right “to be as pain free as possible.” It is time for Marylanders to stand up for their rights. Please join us this year to protect the right of Marylanders facing terrible illnesses to use cannabis to alleviate the debilitating disease symptoms and or side effects of the medicine they have to take for them.