Attention All Advocates

Yes, this means you!

Here are a few link to organizations that can help make changes on both a local and global level.
US PIRG which stands for US Public Interest Research Group. I like their mission statement.

The state PIRGs created U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) in 1983
to act as watchdog for the public interest in our nation’s capital, much as
PIRGs have worked to safeguard the public interest in state capitals since 1971.
Our organization’s roots at the state level, and U.S. PIRG members across the
country, give us a unique “outside the beltway” perspective and provide the
grassroots power necessary to influence the national policy debate.

There are chapters in every state.

• New Hampshire
• Vermont

They occasionally send you email with links to web page forms that help you to communicate with law makers and express your viewpoint on issues.

Upper Valley Bike to Work Day, May 19th, 2006

This is the second bike/walk to work day I have participated in. We moved our office from WRJ to Wilder since the last time I rode to work. The forecast predicted rain but I went anyway.
This time I was able to go through Hanover and go to one of the event breakfast stops. The Hanover location was the Black Senior and Community Center. There were a dozen or so bikers and walkers around when I showed up at 7:30. It started taining again about that time too. (what else is new!)
A photographer from the Valley News took my picture and asked a few questions. She is the in the photo above talking to a few other bikers. They had free T-shirts, pedometers and blinking bike lights inside for event participants. There were bagels, juice, fruit and coffee for breakfast. I survived the traffic and construction in town and headed across the river. I was able to blow by the usual line of traffic going into Hanover.
Coming home was a different story. It was uphill and in the rain. I appreciate my car just a little more then I did yesterday.
Here are a few event stats from the post-event email from the Upper Valley Trails Alliance.

Thanks to everyone who showed up this morning in spite of the rain and flood
watches! 2006 Upper Valley Bike/Walk to Work Day was another great success. 147
people left their cars at home and signed in at six public biker/walker
breakfasts and several employer-sponsored events in our area, representing a
slight increase from the previous event. We are sure that others participated
but did not stop for breakfast. You all helped reduce fuel consumption, clear
the air, and unclog streets while getting some healthy and invigorating
exercise.
You also covered some ground 1,702 miles logged! In the process,
you saved 85 gallons of gas (@ 20mpg) and spared the air around 1,649 pounds of
CO2 emissions, according to EPA averages. You accomplished this by bicycling to
work (about 80 percent of you), walking, carpooling or riding the bus, or
combining different forms of transportation, such as bicycling partway to a bus
(20 percent altogether).

“A wink and a nod one more time…”

Current immigration practices and laws irritate me. We say it is against the law to enter our country without permission, but dont really enforce it for those that make it in. We allow employer’s in this country to exploit cheap labor. I would bet that some employer’s to not follow worker health and welfare laws that American enjoy. Illegal immigrants have no way to get justice and the employers get the profit. These immigrants have already been exploited by the professional criminals that bring people across the border. The explotation of the immigrants is the real crime here.
I am glad to see Senator Isakson acknowledge this truism of our society.
See the full article at the MSNBC Website.

In Tuesday’s 55-40 vote, the Senate rejected an appeal by Sen. Johnny
Isakson, R-Ga., to require that the border with Mexico be secured before
other immigration law changes could take place.
Isakson said that anything less would amount to “wink and a nod one more time to those who would come here” unlawfully.

Whales at Stellwagen Bank

These are my two best photos from a whale watch trip to Stellwagen Bank Marine Sanctuary.
The sanctuary is only about 30 miles east of Boston, which makes this a day trip from the Upper Valley. The boat trip lasted about 3 and half hours and leaves from the New England Aquarium.
The bottom structure and upwelling makes Stellwagen Bank rich in phytoplankton, zooplankton and other marine life that whales feed on. They are returning from calving in the Caribbean, where there is little feed for them. So by the time they migrate to the food rich waters of New England they are ravenous.
Visit www.markkarl.com to see all of the photos from the trip. Click on the photos for a larger image.
Anyone else been to the Aquarium or on a whale watching trip?

This is my best fluke shot. The whale was only a few yards from the boat.


There are three whales feeding in this shot.