Henry Aaron--a Baseball Player Worth Honoring

Last Saturday, Henry "Hank" Aaron (BaseballLibrary.com, Wikipedia, Biography.com) delivered a commencement address at Concordia University. This was only the second commencement address he could remember giving--the other was at Harvard University. When asked by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel why he had decided to give an address at Concordia University, he replied, "It is Wisconsin. It is Milwaukee. It gives me a chance to see a lot of my friends. My attachment to Milwaukee and Wisconsin is always something that will be in my heart."

Hank Aaron has a long history of playing baseball in Wisconsin: he played for both the Eau Claire Bears (Wikipedia) and the Milwaukee Brewers. During his long career in Major League Baseball, Hank Aaron went on to become the player to hit the most homeruns--755. Barry Bonds has since broken that record. But, I tend to agree with Hank--last Saturday he said, "I still consider myself the home-run king."

In 6th grade, I read Hank Aaron's Autobiography: I Had a Hammer: The Hank Aaron Story. This books offers insights into Hank Aaron's life; but it also goes on to tell us much about 20th century social history. It is a worth your time and I can lend it to you if you want. ;-)

Crop Progress in the Chippewa Valley is behind the rest of the state

The Capital Times reports:

"The Wisconsin Crop Progress report released Monday said corn planting is 56 percent complete, soybean planting is 22 percent complete and oats planting is 83 percent complete.

"Spring tillage is progressing at full force with 66 percent complete, but some counties are still slow because of excessively wet soils."

Counties in the Chippewa Valley region are some of those that are affected by the excessively wet soils that are a result of Wisconsin's wet winter (something I didn't have to experience this year).

WEAU reports:

"Chippewa County Agriculture Agent, Randy Knapp, says as of last week--local farmers had about 30% of their crop in the ground. By now, he says that number is likely up to 50%. Still, he says those numbers are behind the 10-year average."

. . .

"Still agriculture agents say it’s important to remember – there’s a whole growing season ahead of us.

"'It's a bit cool yet, but we can make this up in June, July and August,' said Knapp."

On the flip--economic--side, the delay in crop planting this spring has meant that farmers are hiring fewer workers: the National Agricultural Statistics Service released data showing that farmers in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota have hired 7% less labor than at this time last year.

Menominee becomes 18th Wisconsin city to agree to a Climate Protection Agreement

The Capital Times reports that Menominee is joining 17 other Wisconsin municipalities to fight global warming. The other cities that have already signed on to the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement are Ashland, Bayfield, Greenfield, Kenosha, La Crosse, Madison, Milwaukee, New Berlin, Oshkosh, Racine, River Falls, Stevens Point, Superior, Washburn, Waukesha, Wauwatosa and West Allis.

The Mayor of Menominee, Dennis Kropp, said last Thursday, "We are trying to do our little part in the world . . . We are exploring options. We have a brand new fire station that is environmentally friendly, and we are reducing dependence on fossil fuels as much as we can. We are experimenting with whether we can use biofuels for dump trucks, for instance."

This is good to see, but I am wondering why cities from the Chippewa Valley have not yet signed on this this agreement? I am wondering if Eau Claire has not signed on to this agreement because the city does not have a mayor--and, therefore, cannot sign the agreement?

"The Straight Talk Express" Has DERAILED

John McCain's doublespeak featured in a video from TheRealMcCain.com.

Cyclone Nargis--a "Grotesque" Disaster

Yesterday, I wrote about Cyclone Nargis (Blog Post: Cyclone Nargis--Natural & Political Disaster), and ended my post will little resolved in my mind. This article from The Washington Post summons up my feelings on the recent natural disaster (turned political disaster) in Burma.

"THE STORY of Cyclone Nargis, which devastated much of Burma more than two weeks ago, long ago moved from the tragic to the criminal. It is now becoming
grotesque.

"Diplomats from the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have announced they will hold a 'donor conference' in Burma's capital on Sunday. This will allow foreign ministers from around the world to preen and promise millions in loans and grants for 'reconstruction' that, if delivered, will enrich and empower the corrupt rulers of that unhappy nation. Meanwhile -- thanks to those same rulers--as many as 3 million people affected by the cyclone will still be suffering, and in many cases dying, because the regime refuses to allow delivery of humanitarian aid on anything close to the scale that's needed."

. . .

"Burma's generals are concerned about preserving power, not saving lives, and they fear that foreign aid workers would undermine the regime's legitimacy. So victims of the cyclone are left in the rain, without shelter; lying in mud, without bedding; hungry, without even rice. Every day the danger, and perhaps the reality -- with so few reporters on the scene, we can't be sure--of cholera, diarrheal diseases, measles and dehydration grows. Meanwhile, a few miles offshore, U.S. and French ships are carrying tons of food and medicine, helicopters, and other tools and supplies.

"Tomorrow, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is scheduled to visit Burma . . . Mr. Ban should not accept the junta's unilateral decision to move on to a 'reconstruction' phase. On the contrary, he should make clear that other nations insist on a 'humanitarian relief' phase and that they will attend no conferences if they cannot conduct assessments, on site, of true needs . . .

"And the United States, France, Britain and Indonesia and other neighboring countries should prepare to deliver immediate relief and save thousands of lives, whether or not Burma's generals want them saved."

I still feel unresolved . . . :( . . . because I fear that little will come from General Ban Ki-moon visit to Burma. This awful government has been able to keep the international community at arm's length for over 40 years has it firmly keeps its people economically, socially, and culturally depressed.

Low Gas Prices--Is It Worth Remembering?

WEUA asks a silly question: do you remember when gas was 99 cents? I do. I'm not that old, and I remember when it was 87 cents a gallon. But lets be honest with ourselves--gas prices will NEVER be low again. There are a first reasons for this. First, oil prices are continuing to hit unprecedented highes along with gas prices. Therefore, oil companies are passing along the price increase to consumers.

However, the second reason is more important--America has been paying lower gas prices than the rest of the world FOREVER--when I let Thailand gas prices had risen to $5.17 a gallon. This means that even if this recent rise in oil prices is a bubble, don't expect gas prices to fall when oil prices do. U.S. oil companies (despite the billions of dollars in profits they reap) have been waiting a long time to bring U.S. gas prices inline with the rest of the world. Do you think they will just back away from that once they have achieved this goal?

So, besides reminiscing and complaining, what should we be doing? Perhaps we should be using a travel mug when we buy coffee (Blog Post: Enjoy Drinking Coffee--Buy a Travel Mug!). Or, perhaps, we should continue to advocate, look for, use sources of renewable energy. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that "Wisconsin is generating six times as much electricity from wind power today as it did last year." This is certainly a step in the right direction for Wisconsin. However, the article goes on to state that "Wisconsin generates far less power from wind turbines than several nearby states, including Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois, which have all seen dramatic increases in wind farm development in recent years . . . Until this year, the state had [only] 30 wind turbines generating electricity at a variety of sites."

Good work Wisconsin, and keep moving in the right direction. But, readers, what else should we be doing?!?!?

Cyclone Nargis--Burma's Natural & Political Disaster

Burma and its citizens suffered from a catastrophic natural disaster when Cyclone Nargis made landfall on May 2, 2008. However, the poltical disaster that has followed the storm has only compounded the loss of life and suffering. It has been more than 2 weeks since the initial onslaught of the storm, and NPR reports that children are most in danger as aid workers continue to fight to be allowed to enter Burma.

Today, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) held a news conference, at which they stated that Burma is finally ready to accept help from international aid agencies and is ready to admit foreign medical workers from Southeast Asian countries.

17 DAYS after the initial storm . . . !

On May 15th, CNN reported that the death toll could reach as many as 100,000. That number is nearly 5 times what the Burmese junta is claiming the toll to be.

It is hard to say home many deaths could have been prevented if a government that cared about the lives of its citizens was in power. Truthout.com repoted that the Burmese government will still be exporting rice. 40% of stored rice was ruined because of the storm; but the government is still willing to watch its people starve so that it can reap the benefits from soaring global food prices. The time has come to for this government to fall.

Does TIME Magazine raise a valid question: Is It Time to Invade Burma?

I'm not sure how I would answer that question . . .

Right now, I can only tremble with sadness at the devastation this storm has caused on so many fronts.

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UPDATES
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Blog Post: Cyclone Nargis--a "Grotesque" Disaster

Back from Madison

I got to spend a couple of nights in Madison visiting with a few friends. The weather was pretty chilly--relative to what I am used to in Thailand. When I was driving into Madison, just seeing the State Capitol put a smile on my face. Once again, congratulations to all the recent graduates.

Enjoy this photograph--"Blooming Capitol"--from the Isthmus.

On My Way to Madison . . .

I'm heading down to Madison for a couple of days--its graduation weekend for all you seniors that were able to finish in four years. Let me know if you are around and we'll meet up for a Cheez-It or two.

Congratulations to Wisconsin's New Alice in Dairyland

It's official, Alice "Kay" Huibregtse--a UW-Madison graduate--has been named the 61st Alice in Dairlyand. Her duties begin on June 2nd, and she will received $40,000 for her services as a public relations professional working for the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. "I am elated to be selected," Kay said "and look forward to the job."

Congratulations Kay!