Good morning, everyone!! It’s snowing a little bit this morning at Chez Siberia – we got about 16-18″ of snow earlier this week which my arm is feeling this morning.

OK here is some really good news.

Political, religious and sexual behaviors may be reflections of intelligence, a new study finds.

Finally a study that shows that we reality based DFHs are a darn sight smarter than the average ‘C’ street acolyte.

The study found that young adults who said they were “very conservative” had an average adolescent IQ of 95, whereas those who said they were “very liberal” averaged 106.

Of course we do not need a tea party to tell us that or in fact this

“The adoption of some evolutionarily novel ideas makes some sense in terms of moving the species forward,” said George Washington University leadership professor James Bailey, who was not involved in the study. “It also makes perfect sense that more intelligent people — people with, sort of, more intellectual firepower — are likely to be the ones to do that.”

Or the neo-cons to demonstrate this

Religion, the current theory goes, did not help people survive or reproduce necessarily, but goes along the lines of helping people to be paranoid, Kanazawa said. Assuming that, for example, a noise in the distance is a signal of a threat helped early humans to prepare in case of danger.
“It helps life to be paranoid, and because humans are paranoid, they become more religious, and they see the hands of God everywhere,” Kanazawa said.

So all you FDL DFHs take heart you we are smarter than the average right wing lemming.

I’d like to add this recent news story about altruism in chimpanzees: http://www.livescience.com/animals/chimpanzee-adoption-altruism-100126.html

Even under circumstances where the adopter had no connection to the infant needing care, adopters (both male and female) invested great effort for a long time to keep the infants safe, fed, and cared for.

Have always suspected part of the conservative vendetta against liberals originated when the classroom experience featured acknowledged differences in ability that left them showing up poorly.

Toby, here in a place where there is a superabundance of sunshine, there is precious little use of it. A near neighbor recently built a Macmansion, totally denuding the front yard to put in large parking space of concrete, using old fashioned heating/cooling system and no solar at all. Regrettably, this is the president of the local Community College system, which has several campuses.

Morning all
nomolos – your news is not surprising

Big ouch there and to me shows a profound lack of ability to think through the implications of actions. It never ceases to amaze me when people do that sort of stuff, but then again, the president of our local university has now been forced into retirement because of her behavior in terms of the Div.1 basketball program. In a way, although the national coverage of this (the NY Times has taken an amazing amount of interest) has been highly embarassing to the university, it looks as if in the long haul it will be very good because the faculty (who had been browbeaten into passivity by the president)have finally decided that since ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead, they are going to exert their rights to maintain academic standards on campus. And THAT is very good news.

Amazing the difference preparedness makes, Chile’s been earthquake building conscious since the twenties

Ellie – is there any idea that the earthquake in Chile and the one off Japan are connected?

On the other hand I seem to remember reading that you were getting actual growing flowers from your garden while those of us that live in the colder climes are waiting for snowdrops to show themselves. If you have any sunshine left over from your wonderful use of it please send some our way. At the moment I am in the middle of a snow storm.

Fresh baked biscuits anyone? Hold out your plates. I’ve also got some home made jams (spiced peach & blackberry/cranberry/grapefruit).

Bummer – our end of that ended yesterday, though we are getting little bits and pieces of snow this morning.

I say yes, and the full moon, too. But the professionals are only now starting to consider the possibility.

oo! thank you, don’t mind if I do.

Was in Chile on a Habitat build a few years ago, and fear for the downtown area, the Place des Armes and archaeological museum area, where old several-story buildings predominate. Also, as in Port au Prince, space is scarce so several story buildings with supermarkets on the bottom are everywhere. Ominously, the shopping malls have several stories, and in the city are old official buildings, and many apartment buildings – all built out of stone and concrete.

Do have some sunshine! although at the moment, a heavy frost is on all the nearby roofs.

Well, I have a coworker who’s originally (and still has family) in Jamaica and he gave me chapter and verse on the fault that caused the recent Haitian earthquake. He told me that fault goes right through Jamaica and was also the source of the earthquake that destroyed Port Royal (yes, that is not some fantasy town created for Pirates of the Cariibbean) 200 years ago and caused the capital to be moved to Kingston.

We have a beautiful snow cover here in Michigan, I’m going cross-country skiing today and tomorrow.

Toby, your story sounds kind of like Rochester, MI.

Here’s a map estimating the tsunami arrivals across the Pacific

Thanks, seems a tsunami already has hit Valparaiso, a beautiful seaside town that rises straight from the shore, and has/had wonderful parks along the beach, then funiculars going up the hills where one house is built right above another. Have fears for that too, the town area again is monumental architecture, lots of gargoyles and stones.

I’m sure there are thousands of places with stories just like ours. The big problem I have always seen locally is this tendency to look backwards to what people considered ‘our hey-day’ with IBM. Once the Watson family (who were local) were out of it, the company moved the headquarters to Armonk and our local facility was treated like Siberia. From an economic standpoint, everyone depended too much on a small group of extremely large fish and did not do the job to encourage and nourish a large group of smaller fish. It’s a mistake people make here still — when I was doing economic development, no one wanted to listen to my arguments on this; they were/are in the mode of ‘getting the next big hit’, which from a ‘growing your own’ standpoint is a big mistake.

it sounds beautiful, (even just the name lol )
hope the damage is not significant

Great start to Saturday, Toby! You are right about green shoots if you look and listen for them. I just learned about a couple that are expanding their nearby landscaping/nursery business with a farmer’s market on Saturday and Sundays.

Thom Hartmann frequently mentions that many businesses start up during depressions to fill local needs. My favorite, tho, is hearing that some towns are issuing their own script for local purchases; gotta have more of that.

community first, corps last!

Just was watching footage on the news from Vina del Mar, the next town north from Valparaiso, lots of damage to the high rise apartment buildings, it’s a resort with vacationers from all over the world. The earthquake being in the middle of the night, can easily imagine chaos. Hope the building codes were a help, much of the buildings there are pretty new on the beach area.

Toby, what a great post to wake up to! Thanks.

Might I also point out that in addition to the economic benefits you note, farmers’ markets, “First Fridays” and such, build community. Rather than madly dashing in and out the Target, people linger, eat, drink and talk with each other.

“Talk with each other.” What a concept. There’s no better way to build social, and political, power.

Can’t speak to the structural integrity of the buildings but the idea of mixed use in a building (retail on first floor with residential or office on upper floors) is sound urban planning/design. Makes for energized street life.

Yes, and families go out on the streets and walk together, there is a wonderful city park with funiculars to the top of the mountain there, lots of outdoors life everywhere.

Here are pictures I took, but mostly of our build site in Casablanca; http://cabdrollery.blogspot.com/2008/10/pictures-from-chile.html

Community scrip – I’m not sure Ithaca, NY was the first, but I think it’s the one that is most often mentioned: http://www.lightlink.com/hours/ithacahours/
We have a local grower who’s gone into hoop houses and now runs his market 365 and this is in Upstate NY – if you can grow greens and hydroponic tomatoes up here and make money, then there’s opportunity everywhere. Which is actually good because a lot of places which produce winter veggies, like Florida and Texas, have been hit very hard this winter. I predict that between that and climate change, within 10 years, we will see winter veggie growing in a lot of other places in the US.
Another wrinkle we’ve got here is that our farmers markets used to completely shut down after about October and pumpkins. The same group that is doing that farmers market in the park made arrangements with the county cooperative extension to do two winter markets a month. Now, it’s much smaller than the regular farmers market – just cheese,baked goods, root veggies, meat, poultry, eggs, and a few plants, but I never see fewer than 20 customers in that room when I go. The farmers market now is working with the county to put an actual building (just a closed in frame with a lot of garage doors, really) at the end of the park where the bathrooms are so that they can have access to power and water), so that they can be open every weekend. I’m not sure when that will get built, but at least everyone is agreed as to where, how big and so on.

And of course, the stupider the right-winger, the smarter he thinks he is. I call it Logan’s Law.

For several reasons, I have been away for some time and I left with some people waiting for my promised Frito Pie recipe. Sorry for the delay, it was unavoidable. So, to the recipe. I’m not going to give you my chili recipe. First, because I don’t give it up to anyone and second, because most people find it far too spicy for their taste. As there are almost as many chili recipes as there are chili eaters and I am no chili snob, whatever chili you find most suitable for you will work. I don’t think chili with beans will work well however. The secret of good Frito pie is not in the chili, it’s in the arrangement. It took me a lot of experimentation to work it out.
See, there are very few things less palatable than soggy Fritos so the secret to a good Frito pie is to keep them crunchable. First, make your favorite chili. Then take a hemispherical bowl, preferably ceramic and add a layer of Fritos in the bottom. I find it best to use the smaller chips rather than the big dipping ones or the scoops. Then add a thin layer of onion, chopped to a medium to fine condition. I use a yellow onion because we don’t want to be onion overwhelmed. Next, add a layer of finely shredded cheese over the onion. Not a great deal, we are just making a seal. Then spoon the chili over the layers. Add another layer of shredded cheese and then more Fritos. Viola! Fritos stay dry and crispy and you are treated to the high sodium, fat bomb goodness so many of us crave from time to time. This is NOT suggested as a healthy meal and I really don’t want to hear from outraged vegetarians or recovering heart patients. I’ve managed to lose 90 pounds and not have to give up my favorites, I just don’t have them nearly as often as I used to.
For those who have been waiting, I’m sorry for the delay. First my old computer decided it was unhappy as a computer and would rather be a footstool, then I had some personal issues that had to be given my attention. Hope you enjoy.

Well, our area is really sort of stretched out – it’s a series of little towns along, one right after another. One of the big complaints was that there was nothing to do downtown because the businesses closed. It’s not as if there is a movie theater there (though there is a big old theater which probably has some sort of music, opera, or dance performance in it pretty regularly). And no one runs a late shift downtown for anything. But that group of little shop owners really started something – and the number of other events that have decided to ride their coat-tails has been pretty impressive. We now have a ‘bridge ride’ (bike ride for families; the city police do traffic calming, etc. to keep everyone safe)every summer which now brings out 100s of families to do the ride over the city’s 7 historic bridges. There’s a stop at each one where the ride leader talks about the bridge, the area around the bridge, what it was like 100 years ago and so on. That ride is always on the day after First Friday, which prompted First Saturday, and now a lot of small shops and restaurants which usually did not open on Saturdays do so because more people are coming down.

oooo, thank you, Margaret!!!

Hi Aunt Toby and everyone!

Have not posted in a long time but your PUAC makes me “out” myself again.

I experienced a good news story on Thursday night. (Have returned to my hometown in rural eastern NC to care for my elderly mother. It’s been a huge adjustment after my 27 yrs. in Manhattan to say the least — and I don’t get out much at all. However, mother’s temporarily in a nursing home so I made some plans.)

Background — this small town has an ornate jewel of a theatre downtown. It was originally built for traveling vaudeville shows. It became a movie house and was successful for many years until the ubiquitous mall/mutiplex was built. The theatre sat abandoned for a long time until some locals and “transplants” (retirees) decided it should be restored….and the result is amazing.

I attended a “Friends of the Library” lecture there on Thursday.. (The author, a local boy, returned to talk about his book which was a NYT notable nonfiction selection for 2009). The place, and the crowd, was astonishing.

The fascinating part is that the opening of this venue has made locals rediscover the commercial viability of the downtown. It’s situated on a beautiful river with historic homes adjacent to the commercial area. There are now galleries, restaurants, gifts shops etc. This theatre has also helped people discover a local “working museum” (on estuarine waters). The museum had always drawn well from travelers but not locals.

We also have “Friday Night in the Streets”, a Farmers’ Markets etc. The genesis of all of this was the theatre though. And it happened because of a small group of committed, tireless citizens.

This area still has many problems. However, there is now a spirit here of what can be done when people establish a goal and work together to pursue it. If we forget that, we can just cruise Main Street at night and look up at the lights of that restored marquee,

Nice post, Toby, gives me some good ideas to pass on to some folks trying to drum up more business for small towns in my state with strong artist sub-communities. A First Friday art tour would be a great marketing package.

nomolos (2) — I’ve thought for a while now that religion served purposes for humans for a couple of reasons. First, it served as an organizing tool for the disbursement of culture (memetic materials) when the average person could not write in order to pass on information. Second, it served as a control on reproduction (genetic material), ensuring that numbers would increase within a group of homogenous genetics as well as memetics. At a time during human emergence when success of a line of genes couldn’t be ensured due to the ravages of nature, religion may have helped ensure genomic success.

But now that humans have more control over natural forces which weeded them out — like childhood and adult communicable diseases, exposure to the elements, death in childbirth or from hunting/farming accidents — ensuring genetic success of a particular line through cultural reinforcement isn’t quite as necessary. It may even do the opposite now that religion acts as a rationale to support wars over resources rather than encouraging conservation and cooperation. And repressive control of reproduction might also prevent newer, more successful and diverse combinations of genes from forming.

That latter point is manifest in the IQ schism; if a certain group is consistently lower in IQ and reinforce themselves through exclusion, they may actually hurt their own long-term survival. A pity, really.

“..a spirit here of what can be done” – very important because especially for areas which sometimes seem to be forgotten, it’s easy to become stuck in the past and decide ‘what CAN’T be done’. A bunch of students from the college got together with young, professional grads locally to start an organization for young people who want to stay local. They’d come here because of school or a job, fallen in love with the place (despite all the bad-mouthing from local kids who claim ‘there’s nothing to do and no place to go; I can’t wait to get out’)and wanted to figure out a way to grow activities that they were interested in, organizations for young people, job tips, etc. etc. That has grown tremendously over the past 5 years and now there is another organization called “20 in their 20s” that every year recognizes young people who are making things happen locally. This gets them connected to the (older) folks with money, businesses, etc. in the area, too and helps them tap into that network to get money for projects and so on. http://www.pressconnects.com/assets/pdf/CB15152028.PDF

Rayne – here’s the organization that got it started:
http://www.gorgeouswashington.com/index.htm

OK snow is off the car and off to the farmers market. Have a great day everybody.

Tonight’s dinner Jaques Pepin’s Scallop soufle.

ooooo, I’ll be interested in hearing about the results (how do you keep them from sinking to the bottom?)

Good Morning, Toby and all. Love the post–great to hear folks coming together.

There’s a growing farmer’s market here in small town, Indiana. There’s an even smaller town close by that has a “Saturday in the Park” thing going on, where they’ll have a band play at a park-like area in the center of town.

bush dyNASTY, for example.

Something else, Rayne – we finally got our movie theater downtown – and they cross market with First Fridays and other events as well.
http://www.artmission.org/aboutus.html

Well, welcome back. So thoughtful to remember the recipe when you were nursing a computer. Hope things are better.

Just did a post on Chile, as we were discussing, now up at http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/32176

Time to get started with the help.

looks like you’re enjoying being in the kitchen this morning. i LOVE virtual biscuits. and jam.

Another piece of what might be considered good news (we can argue the other points later) is that US companies are finally (and boy, has it taken them a LONG time to smell the halupkis on this)getting the message that if you add up all the costs of doing business overseas, including intellectual property theft, lack of control, etc. , it makes more sense to work right here – and not only right here in the US – working LOCAL.
http://www.areadevelopment.com/siteSelection/dec09/united-states-manufacturing-insouring-costs1102.shtml
It’s tough to control a manufacturing operation in China from a U.S. headquarters. Just ask Rick Admani Abulhaj, COO of Diagnostic Devices Inc. of Charlotte, North Carolina. The company, which manufactures blood glucose monitoring systems called Prodigy, had 600 workers at its China facility, but problems with quality control, as well as rising costs, prompted the company to come back to Charlotte, where it will hire 200 employees at a new manufacturing facility. “Using cutting-edge automation and robotic technology will give us greater control of our operations, reduce costs and protect our intellectual property,” says Abulhaj…When asked where they would be expanding production, 44 percent said in the United States; 37 percent said Mexico; another 37 percent said China; 24 percent said Canada; and 24 percent said India. Obviously, some will be expanding in more than one country. When [the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the Manufacturing Institute, and Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME)] asked manufacturing enterprises where sourcing would be expanded, 50 percent said China; 49 percent said the United States; 43 percent said Mexico, and 23 percent said Canada.”

vegetarian here, not outraged. it’s so sweet that you have found a way to take off the pounds you want to and still get to enjoy what you like. now that’s a real success story!

What a great story, d. Sadly, most towns tore down their ornate buildings during the “modernization” of the 70s.

The small town I wrote about has the neatest old bank buildings complete with “bank” stamped in stone on it. Either by chance or design, they’ve kept their small town quaint. They’ve invested in the little central park to draw folks downtown during the warmer months.

There’s even a 70s style phone booth with “GTE” on the lighted sign above it that looks much like it did when new.

Thanks. I cut my losses and granted my old computer it’s dying wish. It’s now enjoying a second life as a lamp stand and I have a new ‘puter from which to spray my vile, librul thoughts.

Good Morning Toby and Firedogs,

our small town has indeed undergone some significant if under reported changes in just the past five years -

we forced the county to revoke CCA’s contract for their ‘family prison’, we now have a city/county wide curbside recycling, and our very own farmer’s market. And, as a result of the 08 elections, we now have a core group of over 30 democrats – couldn’t get three of us together as recently as 2006.

you guys really have me going on the First Friday idea – perfect for our ‘old town’ neighborhood – going to talk it up with the locals

And not to push people along, but PW is upstairs with a new post. Everyone, thanks so much for stopping by.

Tonight’s dinner Jaques Pepin’s Scallop soufle.

we’ll bring the wine and the dessert – would a white chocolate raspberry cheesebcake be too heavy, could always go with the lighter pear tart if you like :D

glad your back :)

Thanks Elliott. That’s so sweet. :)

Toby, have you heard about Youngstown and Pittsburgh’s successes in reinventing themselves as green cities? Including reclaiming old suburbs and unoccupied neighborhoods as green spaces and gardens? Worth checking out.

Probably would have been faster if I had become vegetarian….or given up chocolate but a mortal mind can only handle so much. ;)

We have a couple of those great bank buildings. The most ornate, a Greek Revival, hosts a succesful womens’ clothing shop. They used the vault as their shoe salon!

Gary, Indiana, a town not known for positives, has some of the most ornate, beautifully constructed buildings–former bath houses; former art schools; loads of churches and schools of old artistic design.

It’s a gem just waiting for someone to come along and dust it off.

The Greek dome style shows up in many older churches here, and is a fond memory from my childhood. The building craze hit in the 50′s, and many of those wonderful structures were replaced with colonial style that is completely out of place. Never have gotten over watching my old church go that way.

Cool.

The banks in that town are still used as banks…changed hands, of course. One being bought up by TBTF’s and another I believe is a part of a banking system within the state.

The analogy of an economic tsunami that was used by many pundits and commentators immediately after the 2008 collapse on Wall st. was wrong. A long blistering drought is closer to how it’s playing out in reality. The really big Enterprises that need lots of cash (water) are sucking up whats out here and many of the smaller and med.sized businesses are withering. New hardier small and med. business though will spring up as the drought continues. The problem is that millions are finding themselves without anything to carry them across the increasingly parched economic desert landscape that is replacing the once flourishing economy out here.