L'aura del Campo

Watt's Gnus for Halloween.

Buffalo Commons: Should the High Plains be restored?. Crime: Is it fair to compare cities? Is Saint Louis all that bad? Pink Flamingos: with the factory closing down, is it an endangered lawn ornament? School safety drills: are police the new terrorists?

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AUTUMN: 16 Ilm (31 October)

'é a lua,  é a lua,  na quintana dos mortos'
♣    Federico García Lorca    ♣

WATT'S GNUS

Did anyone see the newsclip on how grade-school kids were terrorized by a fake 'terrorist' drill? It was part of a 'Safety in the Schools' drill conducted in Wyoming, Michigan by the local police. Through a mix-up in communication, the parents and students were not properly notified.

If my kids were involved, I'd have my lawyer screaming lawsuit! Why hasn't there been more outrage? As a young teenager, I would've been scared out of my wits. Why are Americans waging war on themselves and creating a severe mental health crisis at the same time?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061028/ap_on_re_us/school_drill

Is agriculture that needs water sustainable on the High Plains? Is Buffalo Commons an alternative? Can small town life continue or does it need to change?

Buffalo Commons is an idea to return the High Plains to short-grass grazing lands populated by buffalo and other native species. Many of the countuies affected have populations of less than 2,000 and there are few small family farms left. Ted Turner has already bought up large tracks. Here are some links I need to revisit:

http://www.kansasbuffalo.org/
http://www.buffalocommons.net/
http://www.huntingtop10.com/guides/ks/ksgd4/index.html
http://www.kansasprairie.net/odds_and_ends.htm
http://www.buffalofarmer.com/index.html
http://www.coloradocollege.edu/Dept/EC/Faculty/Hecox/CPwebpage/issuespageTurner....
http://www.livescience.com/imageoftheday/siod_041122.html

The Pink Famingo Factory is closing! Oh my, what will the town I grew up in, in the land of blue-collar Kitsch, ever do?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061029/ap_on_bi_ge/flamingo_s_swan_song_2

Saint Louis and Detroit have more in common than the World Series. They are listed #1 and #2 in crime in the U.S.

You'll notice that upper-white-middle-class suburbs like Amherst, NY and Overland Park, KS are among the safest, but this comes at a price. Poverty, one of the key indicators of crime and of poor schools, are not allowed in these two towns. I am familiar with both. That may SOUND great, unless you are poor. In that case, you are ghettoized in cities that do not have the resources to provide basic services because their tax-base has moved to the upper-white-middle-class suburbs. A vicious cycle of segregation and impoverishment.

If metro areas were listed instead, the picture would change somewhat. All this shows is how segregated wealth and crime are in the U.S.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061030/ap_on_re_us/city_crime_list_glance

Go Cards. Go Tigers.

I have a regular entry almost ready to post, but decided to chop it in two! Peace, Kåre