Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Madrid Bombing, not New Jersey, misleading ad in NYTIMES, April 25, 2012






On page 22 of the NYTimes International and National News section, today, April 25, 2012, an advertisement was published that was deceptive. Governor Christie of New Jersey took credit for the ad which was paid for with funds (partly) by Homeland Security. It addressed the reader to be vigilant and to call in case of ... . The picture showed a bombed train and so identified it, but it did not say where and when the bombing had occurred. But closer examination of the picture showed that one of the persons who was examining the wreckage site was wearing a chartreuse belt with the word: POLICIA. So the picture was not about a bombing on a Jersey train but it used a photo of the terrible attack in Spain (Madrid) several years ago. The NYTimes should have edited this ad. It is misleading and appears to be preparation for Governor Christie’s political career.



Tuesday, April 24, 2012

an elephant in suburbia: wonders of nature

Poisoning the water in Tenafly, New Jersey, Bergen County, 07670




Walking along the Tenakill Brook, a feeder to United Water, the source of Tenafly's drinking water, the water that we use for cooking washing and all our other needs has once again been infused with an herbicide, a poison. which herbicide was used I cannot tell you. I was surprised to see the yellow border, a tell-tale sign of spray after reading an artticle in The New York Times about New Jersey's strict new rules regarding its water supply. The photograph was taken on Monday, April 23, 2012.
The herbicide is on the surface, but of course it washes down into the brook, a few feet away and it also leaches into the soil and reaches the water in that way. Tenafly's municipal government is responsible for this irresponsible act. Ultimately it is the consumer of the water who pays dearly. Disease may not be immediate, although it could be, but it affects all persons: the foetus in the womb, newborns, toddlers, mothers, fathers, the mature and older persons, indeed the entire population. Why has autism skyrocketed and other diseases? Environmental factors are causative agents and if a person's genetic make-up predisposes her/him to a particular disease, this insidious malign chemical (s) may well damage the person in later years. And then who is to say what "caused" the cancer or the disease the person is burdened with. No one will know what happened to the water in the Tenakill Brook in Tenafly in April 2012.

Two visions of Nature: rationalized and pastoral




two ideals, but the pastoral in fact is rustic and arduous. sheep need tending and they have an economic role: wool and flesh. photographed at Sudeley Castle, England. Katherine Parr the last wife of Henry VIII resided at Sudeley Castle.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

a bee: 2012, the first photographed and Emily Dickinson





It's all I have to bring to-day,
This, and my heart beside,
This, and my heart, and all the fields,
And all the meadows wide.
Be sure you count, should I forget,-
Some one the sun could tell, -
This, and my heart, and all the bees
Which in the clover dwell.
Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson, Avenel Books, New York, 1982 (first published 1890, 1891, 1896)
Book III, Nature

first bee photographed in 2012, April 19, 2012.
not only is the bee "hairy," but so, too, leaves and flowers, a "discovery" I made several years ago when I began to photograph flora at close-range. My elph became a surrogate microscope and has shown me wonders that I had no idea existed; these are not revealed to the naked eye