Community Support for Water Resources

Athol, Massachusetts has a rich set of water resources. Due to several recent community initiatives that have focused on conservation in our region and activity by the Army Corps of Engineers there are a large amount of land reserved as water shed and as protected lake and river habitats within the town limits.

The predominant water resource in our area is the Miller's River which travels seven miles through Athol from New Hampshire to the Connecticut river.

The community exists largely because of it's access to this swift flowing river which, once dammed several times has provided industry in the area the hydro-mechanical power it required to grow as a milling and textile leader in early New England history.

In the 30's and 40's the Miller's river had become so polluted that it would not support fish populations but the residents of Athol started to manage this abuse of the system and have turned it around significantly.

There are, however, 3 major polluters in Athol who continue to cause problems. It is worth noting that all three have put measures in place that should help reduce their impact on the river. The community must be vigilant, however, the industries in this economically depressed region are in a strong negotiating position as the residents object to their use of the river, the community also desperately needs their jobs and local spending to survive.

Changing where a menu points in Drupal 6

In Drupal 6, I am using Drupal 6.19 and pathauto. If you use custom menus and need to change the path (the node) a menu item points to, do the following:

1. Go to your new page: http:/YOUR-DOMAIN/YOUR-PAGE/
2. Edit it by clicking the edit tab
3. Notice the URL is now: http:/YOUR-DOMAIN/YOUR-PAGE/node/NODE-NUMBER/edit
4. jot down the node number, NODE-NUMBER above.
5. go to Home › Administer › Site building › Menus ›
6. edit custom menu
7. find the specific menu item and edit it.
8. first item is menu path. change it to the new one: node/
9. save and test

It's that easy! We love Drupal!
-Stev3

Whose Responsibility is our world anyway?

When considering the issues involved in the current environmental controversy the economic issues stand out as the low hanging fruit. The first time I because fully aware of the conflict between the environment and the economy was 30 years ago when the company I worked for, a computer manufacturer was accused of dumping large quantities of ferric chloride into a local river. Ferric Chloride is a by product of the circuit-board manufacturing process and is produced as copper is etched off of the boards put inside computers.
The economic benefit of not having to deal with this by-product allowed the growth of the computer industry. After being forced to deal with it, it was discovered that by reclaiming the base chemicals in the waste, much of the toxic by-products could be turned into a secondary revenue stream.

The ethical implications of knowing one is causing harm to others, even if those others are not human is clearly an ethical issue for all but the hardest of hearts. In the Boston area, the Alewife, an indigenous fish has come back from the brink of extinction by the proactive conservation efforts of many groups in the Boston area including the Army Corps of Engineers whom I worked with on the Gridley locks in Boston Harbor which included a stepped system to allow these fish into the Charles River to spawn.

Socially the topic of conservation is considered politically correct. We all pay lip service to our concern. when push comes to shove, however, the question inevitably arises; "whose responsibility is this anyway?" What is really being asked is who will pay for it? This is generally determined by who governs the domain in which a specific issue arises. Certainly the plight of the African Elephant is not mine, I live in the north east of the United States and the only African Elephants in my area are in zoos. On the other hand, the plight of the Alewife, mentioned earlier, is not the concern of the Egyptians, most of whom have never heard of this species of fish.

In consideration of aesthetics, this is the hardest issue to speak to. Perhaps here is where I confess to having a pessimistic view of mankind's willingness to "step up" to the challenges of conservation. Even as the Whale, the Butterfly, species of beautiful flower and the Florida wetlands are all in danger of long term damage, we worry more about the cast of Jersey Shore instead of the Mississippi delta.

Sliding Scale Ethics

When challenged with an "ends justifying the means" debate we often go to the extreme cases of survival, revenge, war, and life or death decisions. I suspect that we strain our capacity to think critically while our "fight or flight instinct" is in full gear. Certainly Pearl Harbor, The extermination camps, The bombing of Hiroshima and the World Trade Center are incidents that strain our ethical framework to the limit. The wealth generated by Blackwater in the wake of 9/11 certainly exemplifies this point. It makes me wonder if there is a scale upon which this question is judged? If I invade the Middle East in response to 9/11 is that Justified even if I would never cut in line at the supermarket in front of an old lady so I could get my cheese sandwich faster which, after all, will raise my blood sugar and allow me to be more effective at my church fund-raiser?

Grappling with the a generational Influence of "Queen and Country"

There is an aspect of my childhood that I have not revisited as an adult in a meaningful way until now. A recent examination of personal barriers, has triggered a new way of looking at my Father that I have not considered before. Enculturation, the process by which one encorporates the aspects and expectations of ones cultural environment into ones own psyche. As a white, anglo saxon male, the archetype of american success, I have lived in denial surrounding what this author is newly discovering to be enculturation.

My father's mother came from a solid Scottish family tracing it's linage back into the highlands past record time. That said, Grandmother was a devout follower of the Queen of England and viewed herself to be from the upper servant class. She was, for most of her life, a Governess by profession.

While she lived and worked in the Boston area most of her adult life, she identified as a Scottish Brit, not an Scottish-American. Her loyalty was always to the Queen and she taught this to her son, who, in turn, confused me with it.

While I do not celebrate a loyalty to the Queen of England, I understand the importance of "knowing ones place" and Deferring to authority in ways that those who are not blessed with a linage of service to ones betters can never understand.

If one has a predisposition to deferring to "ones betters", it is difficult to objectively and critically think about aspects of issues that are "above ones station". The struggle of casting off this yolk is a challenge to the clear application of logic and critical thinking.

Biology and Humanism

When one applies the scientific method to the nature vs. nurture debate the biological model is compelling. At first blush, it appears less subjective. The advent of the mapping of the human genome gives us the ability to assign behavioral characteristics to defects in specific genes. In theory, a catalog of these defects or augmentations could yield a chinese menu of personality. Certainly one does not need a laboratory to log the way an individual's behavior changes under the physical effects of alcohol or drugs.

On the other hand, the argument for a humanistic study of personality is equally compelling. The idea that a path of guided introspection can yield a stronger, happier, and more content self is common desire for humanity. The fact that this practice can be empirically planned and measured lends credibility to the science of the spirit. The ability of humans to self-actualize, that is to experience spiritual growth and to achieve one's goals allows us to overcome profound physical impediments in life.

When the biologists argue that genes and synaptic functions provide the ability to introspect and spiritually grow, they are not wrong.

When the existentialists argue that the self is greater than the sum of it's parts, they are not wrong. Perhaps the most profound weakness for both biological and humanistic paths is how little we really know in either regard.

Introducing An Almost Science...

Many critics of psychoanalysis say that;

"The comparison of psychoanalysis to religious miracle cures is an apt one in reflecting the criticism that Freud’s ideas are not subjected to the same critical, scientific scrutiny as are other psychological theories (Friedman & Schustack, 2009)."

This comment follows from an observation by the comedian Woody Allen, who, in the movie, "Annie Hall", states that after fifteen years of psychoanalysis, he is resolved to give it one more year before resorting to faith-healing. Of course, this idea is coming from someone who thinks that God considers him to be the loyal opposition.

Psychoanalytic theory has two content componants; manifest, and latent content. Manifest describes the notion of "what is", and Latent describes the implications of what is superficially observed.

The problem is that while one can gather anecdotal data and compare that with the mean of similar data, one cannot compare results with a control and therefore cannot reasonably apply the full scientific method to psychoanalytic practice.

Modern medicine and contemporary understanding of the structure of the brain have helped to fill the gaps in psychology that is based solely on observation in a closed system. We know now that the study of personality requires a study of multiple data points that are gathered from a broader spectrum of ideas than were originally thought to be the case.