Happy and/or high in New England?
Hit this link for Smiley Face history.
Adapted from Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com
Rankings of places and institutions are often full of baloney because they’re comparing apples and oranges, but not always.
Here’s one from last year that ranks, by certain criteria, the happiest states. This one ranked Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, in that order, as the best.
Note that a cannabis company (!) did the rankings, in which, as in most rankings of states in health and other important criteria, the South is at the bottom.
Joy Organics said:
“There are lots of ideas as to what constitutes happiness for different people. With this research, we aimed to include a number of factors that either influence a state’s happiness or serve as indicators of it. Mental well being, support and suicide rates were weighted more heavily in the ranking, accounting for a larger proportion of each state’s overall score, as these were deemed to be the most important factors."
And easy access to marijuana products? Maybe not.
Away from it all
“Big Thompson Falls”,” (in Colorado) by Richard Sneary, in the annual “Green Mountain Watercolor Exhibition,’’ at the Galleries at Lareau Farm, Waitsfield, Vt., through July 20.
Nature-based early-childhood education at the University of Maine, Farmington
At the Sweatt-Winter Child Care and Early Education Center
Edited from a New England Council article
”The University of Maine at Farmington’s new Sweatt-Winter Child Care and Early Education Center recently received the Maine division of the American Institute of Architects’ design award.
“Designed by the CHA Architecture P.C. ,of Portland, Maine, the center for children comprises observation areas, digital observation technology, a child-scaled learning environment, a sunlit versatile space, and an outdoor natural playground that can be reached from every classroom. Each space has its own color, and there is a nature mural on every alcove. Nature-based education allows children to explore and interact with the natural environment. This kind of education fosters creativity, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills.
“‘We want children to connect with the natural world at a young age, but it is not just about child development. It also is so they will learn to love the earth and grow up to take care of it. So, we are helping them develop an environmental ethic and conservation values in addition to learning with nature to develop in all domains of early childhood,”’ said UMF Early Childhood Prof. Patti Bailie.
Where ‘Jimmies' came from
From a Boston Guardian article by Jonathan Brand
(Robert Whitcomb, New England Diary’s editor, is The Guardian’s chairman)
Newcomers to Boston’s many unusual words and phrases are often perplexed about their origins. Those indulging in ice cream in the city might sometimes wish that they had brought along a personal cryptanalyst, a number 2 pencil and Advil.
When ordering, for example, a large Green Monstah sundae they must learn to expect the final topping to be Jimmies, aka, chocolate sprinkles. This beloved Bostonian word has its origins back in the 1940s during a young boy’s battle against cancer and a feature on the radio.
And bring food
“Diagonal Waffle,’’ by Michael Heffernan, in the group show “What’s Cooking,’’ at Studio Place Arts, Barre, Vt., through Aug. 16.
The gallery says:
“What's Cooking?’’ features 25 artists who examine "our lives at the kitchen counter, stove and the dining room…. Our relationship to food and the everyday moments that surround it are some of the most well-loved yet most overlooked parts of our lives. These artists put those moments at the forefront. Visitors are asked to bring shelf-stable food items that will be donated to Vermont-based non-profit Capstone Community Action.’’
"Youth Triumphant" welcomes visitors to Barre, famed for its granite quarries and sculptures.
— Photo by Kenneth C. Zirkel
Chris Powell: ‘Mansion tax’ wouldn’t help address Conn. housing crisis
The Lauder Greenway Estate, in Greenwich, Conn.
MANCHESTER, Coon.
Apparently you don't have to do much thinking to run a "think tank" in Washington, or at least not a liberal "think tank." The Connecticut Mirror reports that two such "think tanks" -- the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy -- have produced a study concluding that Connecticut could raise tens of millions of dollars every year to spend on reducing homelessness (or spend on something else) by imposing an extra conveyance tax on the state's most expensive homes.
Well, duh! Connecticut could get that kind of money by raising taxes or imposing new ones on nearly anything, not just property transfers.
What is the connection between Connecticut's desperate shortage of housing and its most expensive homes? There isn't one. The mansions of "mansion tax" proposals aren't why the state is short of housing and why housing prices have been rising so fast. While mansions typically occupy larger lots, Connecticut remains full of vacant land and, especially in its cities, decrepit former industrial and residential sites. The state has plenty of room for more housing. Land hogging by the wealthy is not getting in the way.
Connecticut's housing shortage has four major causes.
First is the soaring inflation of the last few years, engineered, in my view, by President Biden and Congress. This has driven up prices and mortgage rates far faster than the incomes of ordinary people. People who own residential and other substantial property, especially the wealthy, profit from inflation, but most others suffer from it.
Another cause is the flood of illegal immigration, a matter of Democratic Party policy on both the federal and state levels. It may be no coincidence that the number of illegal immigrants estimated to be living in Connecticut, more than 100,000, is close to the number of housing units the state is said to lack.
A cause of longer duration is exclusive zoning in suburbs and rural towns, zoning that discriminates against less expensive housing, particularly apartments and condominiums. Such zoning generally has community support, since most people don't want their neighborhoods to become more crowded, though of course their own arrival may have increased the neighborhood's population.
Exclusive zoning has its own cause. In some places exclusive zoning arose long ago from racism or ethnic or religious bigotry. But for many years now exclusive zoning has been sustained mainly by fear of poor people generally, a fear largely justified by the disaster inflicted on the cities, their residents, and everyone else by mistaken state and federal welfare and education policies. People don't want the pathologies of poverty -- fatherlessness, child neglect, crime, ignorance, indolence, and dependence -- imported into their neighborhoods by new housing accessible to the poor. This fear has produced zoning and community opposition that now often obstruct even middle-class, owner-occupied housing.
State government has responded with a law that weakens the use of exclusive zoning against housing, but it hasn't been very effective, and in any case inflation, declining real wages, and illegal immigration still stand in the way.
That's why that Washington "think tank" study on raising taxes on the sale of "mansions" and a similar proposal by state Senate President Martin M. Looney (D.-New Haven), to impose a punitive statewide property tax on "mansions" are so dishonest. While these ideas will raise money, there's no guarantee that much of it will be spent to build housing. More likely the money will be used as most extra tax revenue in Connecticut is used -- to pay the compensation of government's own employees, the Democratic Party's campaign army, while punitive taxes on "mansions" provide camouflage for the real objective.
Housing supply can be increased without punitive taxes on large homes -- by stopping inflation, enforcing immigration law, having state government cover all extra school and police costs of new housing, and revoking the welfare and education policies that manufacture poverty.
But that would take the fun out of blaming "mansions" for the declining living standards caused by elected officials who style themselves defenders of the poor even as they make poverty worse.
Chris Powell has written about Connecticut government and politics for many years (CPowell@cox.net).
Jamie Hartmann-Boyce: Benefits of menthol-flavored e-cigarettes may outweigh the risks
An e-cigarette with transparent clearomizer and changeable dual-coil head. This model allows for a wide range of settings.
On June 21, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the marketing of the first electronic cigarette products in flavors other than tobacco in the U.S. Of the four new authorized products, two are sealed, prefilled pods with menthol-flavored nicotine liquid that can be used in certain types of e-cigarettes. The other two are disposable nicotine e-cigarettes – meaning once the prefilled menthol liquid is used, the device cannot be used again.
The Conversation asked Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, a health-policy expert who specializes in tobacco control and e-cigarette products, to explain the pros and cons of the FDA’s authorization and what it could mean for vulnerable populations.
AMHERST, MASS.
E-cigarettes, also known as vapes, are hand-held, battery-operated devices that heat a liquid to form a vapor that can be inhaled. This vapor can be manufactured to include flavors. Unlike traditional cigarettes, e-cigarettes do not contain tobacco leaf. E-cigarettes can – but don’t always – contain nicotine.
Until June 21, the only nicotine e-cigarettes authorized for sale in the U.S. were tobacco-flavored. Some organizations, including some tobacco industry advocates, described this as a “de facto flavor ban.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines menthol as a chemical compound found naturally in peppermint and other similar plants.
This is the first time the FDA has authorized marketing of an e-cigarette flavor other than tobacco. “Tobacco flavor” describes a range of flavors that are designed to taste similar to traditional cigarettes.
What are the potential harms, such as risks to kids?
Tobacco companies have historically added menthol to traditional cigarettes to make them seem less harsh and more appealing. Tobacco companies have aggressively marketed menthol cigarettes to Black people. In 2022, the FDA proposed a ban on menthol cigarettes based on their appeal, including to youth, and the potential of such a ban to improve health and prevent deaths. But the proposal has stalled.
Research shows that nontobacco, e-liquid flavors are more appealing than tobacco flavors, including to young people. The FDA has previously denied applications for menthol e-cigarettes, stating that the applications “did not present sufficient scientific evidence to show that the potential benefit to adult smokers outweighs the risks of youth initiation and use.”
How are e-cigarettes regulated in the U.S.?
In the U.S, e-cigarettes with nicotine fall under the authority of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products. For their products to be legally marketed and sold in the U.S., e-cigarette manufacturers must apply for marketing authorization from the FDA.
The FDA evaluates these applications based on the scientific evidence provided by the manufacturers. To be approved, the applications must demonstrate that permitting marketing of the products would be appropriate for protection of public health.
This means the FDA needs to weigh whether the potential benefits of the product – in other words, its ability to help adults quit smoking – outweigh its risks, including its appeal to youth. Though not risk-free, e-cigarettes are considered much less harmful than smoking. This means that adults who switch from smoking to vaping may benefit from improvements in their health.
The FDA’s authorization of menthol-flavored e-cigarettes underscores the growing body of evidence that vaping can reduce the harms of traditional smoking. But many experts are concerned that the new products will entice more young people and nonsmokers to begin vaping and smoking.
Weren’t flavored vapes already available in the U.S.?
Even though only tobacco e-liquids were authorized for sale before this new announcement, many Americans report using flavored e-liquids, with sweet, fruit and mint and menthol flavors being the most popular. This is in part because many vaping products available in the U.S. haven’t been authorized for marketing or sale. These are referred to as illicit products. In addition, some of the products currently available are still being reviewed by the FDA.
Many of the harms the public associates with vaping – such as the serious vaping-related lung injuries that were widely reported in 2019 and 2020 – have been linked to illicit products and the harmful chemicals some contain, which are not present in FDA-authorized products. Earlier in June, the Justice Department and FDA announced a federal multi-agency taskforce to curb distribution and sale of illegal e-cigarettes. Meanwhile, the U.S. is awash in sleek, colorful and highly potent vapes manufactured in China.
What are the potential health effects?
The best available research doesn’t show any clear differences between menthol and tobacco flavored e-liquid in terms of direct health risks to users.
As mentioned above, research suggests that nontobacco e-liquid flavors are more appealing than tobacco-flavored ones, at least in some groups. This might mean an increase in the risk of nonsmoking youth taking up vaping. But it might also encourage people who smoke to switch to vaping, which can pose fewer risks than smoking. Quitting smoking can also improve the health of other people, by reducing secondhand smoke exposure.
Smoking kills half of its regular users and is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. and worldwide. So alternatives that increase chances of successfully quitting smoking can bring substantial health benefits.
To grant authorization for the four new approved products, the FDA had to review an extensive amount of documents and research showing that the benefits of the new products outweighed their risks.
Jamie Hartmann-Boyce is an assistant professor of health promotion and policy at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
She receives funding from the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and Cancer Research UK, on topics related to tobacco control. She sits on Health Canada's Scientific Advisory Board on Vaping Products and consults for the Truth Initiative.
‘The pitiful knaves’
Vermont quarter dollar coin
Ho—all to the borders! Vermonters, come down
With your britches of deerskin, and jackets of brown;
With your red woolen caps, and your moccasins come
To the gathering summons of trumpet and drum
Come down with your rifle!—let grey wolf and fox
Howl on in the shadow of primitive rocks;
Let bear feed securely from pig-pen and stall;
Here's two-legged game for your powder and ball
[Chorus]
And cheer, cheer, the green mountaineer!
And cheer, cheer, the green mountaineer!
[Verse 2]
On the south came the Hessians, our land to police;
And, armed for the battle, while canting of peace;
On our East came the British, the red-coated band
To hang up our leaders and eat up our land
Ho—all to the rescue! for Satan shall work
No gain for the legions of Hampshire and York!
They claim our possession,—the pitiful knaves—
The tribute we pay, shall be prisons and graves!
[Chorus]
And cheer, cheer, the green mountaineer!
And cheer, cheer, the green mountaineer!
[Verse 3]
We owe no allegiance; we bow to no throne;
Our ruler is law, and the Law is our own;
Our leaders themselves are our own fellow-men
Who can handle the sword, and the scythe, and the pen
Hurrah for Vermont! For the land that we till
Must have sons to defend her from valley and hill;
Our vow is recorded—our banner unfurled;
In the name of Vermont we defy all the world!
[Chorus]
And cheer, cheer, the green mountaineer!
And cheer, cheer, the green mountaineer!
And cheer, cheer, the green mountaineer!
“Song of the Vermonters,’’ by John Greenlead Whittier (1807-1892), Massachusetts poet and abolitionist.
Two bucks a shell?
“Daily Catch” (oil on board), by Julie Gifford, at Alpers Fine Art, Rockport, Mass. See this book and read this.
Photo of Rockport inner harbor showing what’s left of its lobster fleet and Motif #1 (red building), much beloved by Sunday painters.
Patriotic peas
— Photo by Rasbak
“No New England garden was considered a success if it did not furnish a large mess of green peas for Fourth of July dinner. If the season were a late one, the whole family watched the rows of peas anxiously. If the season were early, the peas were left on the vine to be sure enough to go with the fresh salmon and lemon sherbet.’’
— From Secrets of New England cooking (1947), by Ella Shannon Bowles and Dorothy S. Towle
Urban myth — From Wikipedia:
“Abigail Adams is said to have served salmon, peas, and new potatoes for her husband, John Adams, in 1776, on the first Fourth of July, but historians point out that the couple were in different cities during the first Fourth of July celebration.’’
Barely out of shark range
“Brighton Beach” (pastels), by Tony Schwartz, who lives in Boston and Peru, Vt., in the show “National Exhibition: Exuberance,’’ at the Copley Society of Art, Boston, July 11-Aug. 17.
The gallery says:
“Like the title describes, this show celebrates the exuberance of daily life. Artists submitted works in figurative and abstract forms, in many different mediums. Whether it be the warm sun breaking through the clouds or the unbridled enthusiasm of running through a summer shower, this exhibition aspires to reflect the exuberance found in every corner of life," according to a curatorial statement. ‘‘
'Or die at its portals'
Daniel Webster sometime in early middle age.
This, the earliest known image of Dartmouth College, appeared in the February 1793 issue of Massachusetts Magazine. The engraving may also be the first visual proof of cricket being played in the United States.
This glorious stretch of purple prose, delivered in Hanover, N.H., by Daniel Webster (1782-1852), eventually to become a formidable lawyer, U.S. senator, secretary of state and perhaps America’s greatest orator, was delivered on July, 4, 1800, when Webster was a mere junior at Dartmouth College.
COUNTRYMEN, BRETHREN, AND FATHERS,
We are now assembled to celebrate an anniversary, ever to be held in dear remembrance by the sons of freedom. Nothing less than the birth of a nation, nothing less than the emancipation of three millions of people, from the degrading chains of foreign dominion, is the event we commemorate.
TWENTY FOUR years have this day elapsed, since United Columbia first raised the standard of Liberty, and echoed the shouts of Independence!
THOSE of you, who were then reaping the iron harvest of the martial field, whose bosoms then palpitated for the honor of America, will, at this time, experience a renewal of all that fervent patriotism, of all those indescribable emotions, which then agitated your breasts. As for us, who were either then unborn, or not far enough advanced beyond the threshold of existence, to engage in the grand conflict for Liberty, we now most cordially unite with you, to greet the return of this joyous anniversary, to hail the day that gave us Freedom, and hail the rising glories of our country!
ON occasions like this, you have heretofore been addressed, from this stage, on the nature, the origin, the expediency of civil government.—The field of political speculation has here been explored, by persons, possessing talents, to which the speaker of the day can have no pretensions. Declining therefore a dissertation on the principles of civil polity, you will indulge me in slightly sketching on those events, which have originated, nurtured, and raised to its present grandeur the empire of Columbia.
As no nation on the globe can rival us in the rapidity of our growth, since the conclusion of the revolutionary war—so none, perhaps, ever endured greater hardships, and distresses, than the people of this country, previous to that period.
WE behold a feeble band of colonists, engaged in the arduous undertaking of a new settlement, in the wilds of North America. Their civil liberty being mutilated, and the enjoyment of their religious sentiments denied them, in the land that gave them birth, they fled their country, they braved the dangers of the then almost unnavigated ocean, and sought, on the other side the globe, an asylum from the iron grasp of tyranny, and the more intolerable scourge of ecclesiastical persecution. But gloomy, indeed, was their prospect, when arrived on this side the Atlantic. Scattered, in detachments, along a coast immensely extensive, at a remove of more than three thousand miles from their friends on the eastern continent, they were exposed to all those evils, and endured all those difficulties, to which human nature seems liable. Destitute of convenient habitations, the inclemencies of the seasons attacked them, the midnight beasts of prey prowled terribly around them, and the more portentous yell of savage fury incessantly assailed them! But the same undiminished confidence in Almighty GOD, which prompted the first settlers of this country to forsake the unfriendly climes of Europe, still supported them, under all their calamities, and inspired them with fortitude almost divine. Having a glorious issue to their labors now in prospect, they cheerfully endured the rigors of the climate, pursued the savage beast to his remotest haunt, and stood, undismayed, in the dismal hour of Indian battle!
SCARCELY were the infant settlements freed from those dangers, which at first environed them, ere the clashing interests of France and Britain involved them anew in war. The colonists were now destined to combat with well appointed, well disciplined troops from Europe; and the horrors of the tomahawk and the scalping knife were again renewed. But these frowns of fortune, distressing as they were, had been met without a sigh, and endured without a groan, had not imperious Britain presumptuously arrogated to herself the glory of victories, achieved by the bravery of American militia. Louishurgh must be taken, Canada attacked, and a frontier of more than one thousand miles defended by untutored yeomanry; while the honor of every conquest must be ascribed to an English army.
BUT while Great-Britain was thus ignominiously stripping her colonies of their well earned laurel, and triumphantly weaving it into the stupendous wreath of her own martial glories, she was unwittingly teaching them to value themselves, and effectually to resist, in a future day, her unjust encroachments.
THE pitiful tale of taxation now commences—the unhappy quarrel, which issued in the dismemberment of the British empire, has here its origin.
ENGLAND, now triumphant over the united powers of France and Spain, is determined to reduce, to the condition of slaves, her American subjects.
WE might now display the Legislatures of the several States, together with the general Congress, petitioning, praying, remonstrating; and, like dutiful subjects, humbly laying their grievances before the throne. On the other hand, we could exhibit a British Parliament, assiduously devising means to subjugate America—disdaining our petitions, trampling on our rights, and menacingly telling us, in language not to be misunderstood, “Ye shall be slaves!”—We could mention the haughty, tyrannical, perfidious GAGE, at the head of a standing army; we could show our brethren attacked and slaughtered at Lexington! our property plundered and destroyed at Concord! Recollection can still pain us, with the spiral flames of burning Charleston, the agonizing groans of aged parents, the shrieks of widows, orphans and infants!—Indelibly impressed on our memories, still live the dismal scenes of Bunker’s awful mount, the grand theatre of New-England bravery; where slaughter stalked, grimly triumphant! where relentless Britain saw her soldiers, the unhappy instruments of despotism, fallen, in heaps, beneath the nervous arm of injured freemen!—There the great WARREN fought, and there, alas, he fell! Valuing life only as it enabled him to serve his country, he freely resigned himself, a willing martyr in the cause of Liberty, and now lies encircled in the arms of glory!
Peace to the patriot’s shades—let no rude blast
Disturb the willow, that nods o’er his tomb.
Let orphan tears bedew his sacred urn,
And fame’s loud trump proclaim the heroe’s name,
Far as the circuit of the spheres extends.
BUT, haughty Albion, thy reign shall soon be over,—thou shalt triumph no longer! thine empire already reels and totters! thy laurels even now begin to wither, and thy fame decays! Thou hast, at length, roused the indignation of an insulted people—thine oppressions they deem no longer tolerable!
THE 4th day of July, 1776, is now arrived; and America, manfully springing from the torturing fangs of the British Lion, now rises majestic in the pride of her sovereignty, and bids her Eagle elevate his wings!—The solemn declaration of Independence is now pronounced, amidst crowds of admiring citizens, by the supreme council of our nation; and received with the unbounded plaudits of a grateful people!!
THAT was the hour, when heroism was proved, when the souls of men were tried. It was then, ye venerable patriots, it was then you stretched the indignant arm, and unitedly swore to be free! Despising such toys as subjugated empires, you then knew no middle fortune between liberty and death. Firmly relying on the patronage of heaven, unwarped in the resolution you had taken, you, then undaunted, met, engaged, defeated the gigantic power of Britain, and rose triumphant over the ruins of your enemies!—Trenton, Princeton, Bennington and Saratoga were the successive theatres of your victories, and the utmost bounds of creation are the limits to your fame!—The sacred fire of freedom, then enkindled in your breasts, shall be perpetuated through the long descent of future ages, and burn, with undiminished fervor, in the bosoms of millions yet unborn.
FINALLY, to close the sanguinary conflict, to grant America the blessings of an honorable peace, and clothe her heroes with laurels, CORN-WALLIS, at whose feet the kings and princes of Asia have since thrown their diadems, was compelled to submit to the sword of our father WASHINGTON.—The great drama is now completed—our Independence is now acknowledged; and the hopes of our enemies are blasted forever!—Columbia is now seated in the forum of nations, and the empires of the world are lost in the bright effulgence of her glory!
THUS, friends and citizens, did the kind hand of over-ruling Providence conduct us, through toils, fatigues and dangers, to Independence and Peace. If piety be the rational exercise of the human soul, if religion be not a chimera, and if the vestiges of heavenly assistance are clearly traced in those events, which mark the annals of our nation, it becomes us, on this day, in consideration of the great things, which the LORD has done for us, to render the tribute of unfeigned thanks, to that GOD, who superintends the Universe, and holds aloft the scale, that weighs the destinies of nations.
THE conclusion of the revolutionary war did not conclude the great achievements of our countrymen. Their military character was then, indeed, sufficiently established; but the time was coming, which should prove their political sagacity.
NO sooner was peace restored with England, the first grand article of which was the acknowledgment of our Independence, than the old system of confederation, dictated, at first, by necessity, and adopted for the purposes of the moment, was found inadequate to the government of an extensive empire. Under a full conviction of this, we then saw the people of these States, engaged in a transaction, which is, undoubtedly, the greatest approximation towards human perfection the political world ever yet experienced; and which, perhaps, will forever stand on the history of mankind, without a parallel. A great Republic, composed of different States, whose interest in all respects could not be perfectly compatible, then came deliberately forward, discarded one system of government and adopted another, without the loss of one man’s blood.
THERE is not a single government now existing in Europe, which is not based in usurpation, and established, if established at all, by the sacrifice of thousands. But in the adoption of our present system of jurisprudence, we see the powers necessary for government, voluntarily springing from the people, their only proper origin, and directed to the public good, their only proper object.
WITH peculiar propriety, we may now felicitate ourselves, on that happy form of mixed government under which we live. The advantages, resulting to the citizens of the Union, from the operation of the Federal Constitution, are utterly incalculable; and the day, when it was received by a majority of the States, shall stand on the catalogue of American anniversaries, second to none but the birth day of Independence.
IN consequence of the adoption of our present system of government, and the virtuous manner in which it has been administered, by a WASHINGTON and an ADAMS, we are this day in the enjoyment of peace, while war devastates Europe! We can now sit down beneath the shadow of the olive, while her cities blaze, her streams run purple with blood, and her fields glitter, a forest of bayonets!—The citizens of America can this day throng the temples of freedom, and renew their oaths of fealty to Independence; while Holland, our once sister republic, is erased from the catalogue of nations; while Venice is destroyed, Italy ravaged, and Switzerland, the once happy, the once united, the once flourishing Switzerland lies bleeding at every pore!
No ambitious foe dares now invade our country. No standing army now endangers our liberty.—Our commerce, though subject in some degree to the depredations of the belligerent powers, is extended from pole to pole; and our navy, though just emerging from nonexistence, shall soon vouch for the safety of our merchantmen, and bear the thunder of freedom around the ball!
FAIR Science too, holds her gentle empire amongst us, and almost innumerable altars are raised to her divinity, from Brunswick to Florida. Yale, Providence and Harvard now grace our land; and DARTMOUTH, towering majestic above the groves, which encircle her, now inscribes her glory on the registers of same!—Oxford and Cambridge, those oriental stars of literature, shall now be lost, while the bright sun of American science displays his broad circumference in uneclipsed radiance.
PLEASING, indeed, were it here to dilate on the future grandeur of America; but we forbear; and pause, for a moment, to drop the tear of affection over the graves of our departed warriors. Their names should be mentioned on every anniversary of Independence, that the youth, of each successive generation, may learn not to value life, when held in competition with their country’s safety.
WOOSTER, MONTGOMERY and MERCER, fell bravely in battle, and their ashes are now entombed on the fields that witnessed their valor. Let their exertions in our country’s cause be remembered, while Liberty has an advocate, or gratitude has place in the human heart.
GREENE, the immortal hero of the Carolinas, has since gone down to the grave, loaded with honors, and high in the estimation of his countrymen. The courageous PUTNAM has long slept with his fathers; and SULLIVAN and CILLEY, New-Hampshire’s veteran sons, are no more numbered with the living!
WITH hearts penetrated by unutterable grief, we are at length constrained to ask, where is our WASHINGTON? where the hero, who led us to victory—where the man, who gave us freedom? Where is he, who headed our feeble army, when destruction threatened us, who came upon our enemies like the storms of winter; and scattered them like leaves before the Borean blast? Where, O my country! is thy political saviour? where, O humanity! thy favorite son?
THE solemnity of this assembly, the lamentations of the American people will answer, “alas, he is now no more—the Mighty is fallen!”
YES, Americans, your WASHINGTON is gone! he is now consigned to dust, and “sleeps in dull, cold marble.” The man, who never felt a wound, but when it pierced his country, who never groaned, but when fair freedom bled, is now forever silent!—Wrapped in the shroud of death, the dark dominions of the grave long since received him, and he rests in undisturbed repose! Vain were the attempt to express our loss—vain the attempt to describe the feelings of our souls! Though months have rolled away, since he left this terrestrial orb, and sought the shining worlds on high, yet the sad event is still remembered with increased sorrow. The hoary headed patriot of ‘76 still tells the mournful story to the listening infant, till the loss of his country touches his heart, and patriotism fires his breast. The aged matron still laments the loss of the man, beneath whose banners her husband has fought, or her son has fallen.—At the name of WASHINGTON, the sympathetic tear still glistens in the eye of every youthful hero, nor does the tender sigh yet cease to heave, in the fair bosom of Columbia’s daughters.
Farewel, O WASHINGTON, a long farewel!
Thy country’s tears embalm thy memory;
Thy virtues challenge immortality;
Impressed on grateful hearts, thy name shall live,
Till dissolution’s deluge drown the world!
ALTHOUGH we must feel the keenest sorrow, at the demise of our WASHINGTON, yet we console ourselves with the reflection, that his virtuous compatriot, his worthy successor, the firm, the wise, the inflexible ADAMS still survives.—Elevated, by the voice of his country, to the supreme executive magistracy, he constantly adheres to her essential interests; and, with steady hand, draws the disguising veil from the intrigues of foreign enemies, and the plots of domestic foes. Having the honor of America always in view, never fearing, when wisdom dictates, to stem the impetuous torrent of popular resentment, he stands amidst the fluctuations of party, and the explosions of faction, unmoved as Atlas,
“While storms and tempests thunder on its brow,
“And oceans break their billows at its feet.”
Yet, all the vigilance of our Executive, and all the wisdom of our Congress have not been sufficient to prevent this country from being in some degree agitated by the convulsions of Europe. But why shall every quarrel on the other side the Atlantic interest us in its issue? Why shall the rise, or depression of every party there, produce here a corresponding vibration? Was this continent designed as a mere satellite to the other?—Has not nature here wrought all her operations on her broadest scale? Where are the Missisippis and the Amazons, the Alleganies and the Andes of Europe, Asia or Africa? The natural superiority of America clearly indicates, that it was designed to be inhabited by a nobler race of men, possessing a superior form of government, superior patriotism, superior talents, and superior virtues. Let then the nations of the East vainly waste their strength in destroying each other. Let them aspire at conquest, and contend for dominion, till their continent is deluged in blood. But let none, however elated by victory, however proud of triumphs, ever presume to intrude on the neutral station assumed by our country.
BRITAIN, twice humbled for her aggressions, has at length been taught to respect us. But France, once our ally, has dared to insult us! she has violated her obligations; she has depredated our commerce—she has abused our government, and riveted the chains of bondage on our unhappy fellow citizens! Not content with ravaging and depopulating the fairest countries of Europe, not yet satiated with the contortions of expiring republics, the convulsive agonies of subjugated nations, and the groans of her own slaughtered citizens, she has spouted her fury across the Atlantic; and the stars and stripes of Independence have almost been attacked in our harbours! When we have demanded reparation, she has told us, “give us your money, and we will give you peace.”—Mighty Nation! Magnanimous Republic!—Let her fill her coffers from those towns and cities, which she has plundered; and grant peace, if she can, to the shades of those millions, whose death she has caused.
BUT Columbia stoops not to tyrants; her sons will never cringe to France; neither a supercilious, five-headed Directory, nor the gasconading pilgrim of Egypt will ever dictate terms to sovereign America. The thunder of our cannon shall insure the performance of our treaties, and fulminate destruction on Frenchmen, till old ocean is crimsoned with blood, and gorged with pirates!
IT becomes us, on whom the defence of our country will ere long devolve, this day, most seriously to reflect on the duties incumbent upon us. Our ancestors bravely snatched expiring liberty from the grasp of Britain, whose touch is poison; shall we now consign it to France, whose embrace is death? We have seen our fathers, in the days of Columbia’s trouble, assume the rough habiliments of war, and seek the hostile field. Too full of sorrow to speak, we have seen them wave a last farewel to a disconsolate, a woestung family! We have seen them return, worn down with fatigue, and scarred with wounds; or we have seen them, perhaps, no more!—For us they fought! for us they bled! for us they conquered! Shall we, their descendants, now basely disgrace our lineage, and pusilanimously disclaim the legacy bequeathed us? Shall we pronounce the sad valediction to freedom, and immolate liberty on the altars our fathers have raise to her? NO!—The response of a nation is—”NO!” Let it be registered in the archives of Heaven!—Ere the religion we profess, and the privileges we enjoy, are sacrificed at the shrines of despots and demagogues, let the pillars of creation tremble! let world be wrecked on world, and systems rush to ruin!—Let the sons of Europe be vassals; let her hosts of nations be a vast congregation of slaves; but let us, who are this day FREE, whose hearts are yet unappalled, and whose right arms are yet nerved for war, assemble before the hallowed temple of Columbian Freedom, AND SWEAR, TO THE GOD OF OUR FATHERS, TO PRESERVE IT SECURE, OR DIE AT ITS PORTALS!
Fuzzy borders
Political map of the main European establishment in North America north of Mexico in 1664: Blue: French; Orange: Dutch; Red: English; Purple: French territories under English control; Brown: Iroquois
Goodnight Essex, Mass.
Photo by Daisy Nell, a native of Essex and a folksinger and educator
In Maine, pushing the boundaries of basket art
“First Light” (ash, sweetgrass, birchbark, porcupine quills, and synthetic dye), by Jeremy Frey, a member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe, in his show “Jeremy Frey: Woven,’’ through Sept. 15, at the Portland Museum of Art. It’s from the collection of the Farnsworth Museum of Art, Rockland, Maine. Copyright Jeremy Frey
Photograph by Jared Lank (Mi'kmaq)
The museum says:
“Jeremy Frey is a seventh-generation basket maker who is one of the most celebrated Indigenous weavers in the country. His work is meticulously detailed and pushes the boundaries of what is possible in his medium. "I try to create a newer and more elaborate version of my work each time I weave," he said.
Prepare for ruthless kleptocratic tyranny after Nov. 5; you can't hide
John Adams, in a 1793 painting by John Trumbull. Adams would have been mortified by Trump and his followers.
Birthplace of John Adams, in Quincy, Mass. This house is now part of the Adams National Historical Park, operated by the National Park Service, and open to the public.
— Photo by Daderot
"The fundamental article of my political creed is that despotism, or unlimited sovereignty, or absolute power is the same in a majority of a popular assembly, an aristocratical council, an oligarchical junto, and a single emperor. Equally arbitrary, cruel, bloody, and in every respect diabolical."
— John Adams (1735-1826), a Founding Father and second president of the United States, in a letter to Thomas Jefferson, dated Nov. 13, 1815. Both of them died on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Park in the shade and charge when you leave
Parking lot with solar panels as canopies and charging stations serving guests of the famous Brutalist-style Hotel Marcel in New Haven, Conn.
— Photo by pedrik
Adapted from Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com
Having done more driving in New England than I had wished the last few weeks, I’ve passed many parking lots. It struck me how useful it would be if many could be roofed with solar panels, as above.
Placing solar canopies on parking lots makes use of land that’s already cleared — no chopping down trees — produces electricity close to those who need it, and shades cars from sun, rain and snow.
The Marcel was designed by famous modernist architect Marcel Breuer. It operates as a zero-energy building, generating enough renewable energy to sustain its operations.
— Photo by Ɱ
John Rossheim: Concierge medicine: Better access for affluent, trouble for others
“The Doctor's Visit,’’ by Jan Steen, circa 1663.
Via Kaiser Family Foundation Health News
“I was shocked that they literally said, ‘You can go to urgent care.’’’
— Deb Gordon, of Cambridge, Mass.
PROVIDENCE
“You had to pay the fee, or the doctor wasn’t going to see you anymore.”
That was the takeaway for Terri Marroquin of Midland, Texas, when her longtime physician began charging a membership fee in 2019. She found out about the change when someone at the physician’s front desk pointed to a posted notice.
At first, she stuck with the practice; in her area, she said, it is now tough to find a primary-care doctor who doesn’t charge an annual membership fee from $350 to $500.
But last year, Marroquin finally left to join a practice with no membership fee where she sees a physician assistant rather than a doctor. “I had had enough. The concierge fee kept going up, and the doctor’s office kept getting nicer and nicer,” she said, referring to the décor.
With the national shortage of primary-care physicians reaching 17,637 in 2023 and projected to worsen, more Americans are paying for the privilege of seeing a doctor — on top of insurance premiums that cover most services that a doctor might provide or order. Many people seeking a new doctor are calling a long list of primary-care practices only to be told they’re not taking new patients.
“Concierge medicine potentially leads to disproportionately richer people being able to pay for the scarce resource of physician time and crowding out people who have lower incomes and are sicker,” said Adam Leive, lead author of a 2023 study on concierge medicine and researcher at University of California-Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy.
Leive’s research showed no decrease in mortality for concierge patients compared with similar patients who saw non-concierge physicians, suggesting concierge care may not notably improve some health outcomes.
A 2005 study showed concierge physicians had smaller proportions of patients with diabetes than their non-concierge counterparts and provided care for fewer Black and Hispanic patients.
There’s little reliable data available on the size of the concierge medicine market. But one market research firm projects that concierge medicine revenue will grow about 10.4% annually through 2030. About 5,000 to 7,000 physicians and practices provide concierge care in the United States, most of whom are primary care providers, according to Concierge Medicine Today. (Yes, the burgeoning field already has a trade publication.).
The concierge pitch is simple: More time with your doctor, in-person or remotely, promptly and at your convenience. With many primary care physicians caring for thousands of patients each in appointments of 15 minutes or less, some people who can afford the fee say they feel forced to pay it just to maintain adequate access to their doctor.
As primary-care providers convert to concierge medicine, many patients could face the financial and health consequences of a potentially lengthy search for a new provider. With fewer physicians in non-concierge practices, the pool available to people who can’t or won’t pay is smaller. For them, it is harder to find a doctor.
Concierge care models vary widely, but all involve paying a periodic fee to be a patient of the practice.
These fees are generally not covered by insurance nor payable with a tax-advantaged flexible spending account or health savings account. Annual fees range from $199 for Amazon’s One Medical (with a discount available for Prime members) to low four figures for companies like MDVIP and SignatureMD that partner with physicians, to $10,000 or more for top-branded practices like Massachusetts General Hospital’s.
Many patients are exasperated with the prospect of pay-to-play primary care. For one thing, under the Affordable Care Act, insurers are required to cover a variety of preventive services without a patient paying out-of-pocket. “Your annual physical should be free,” said Caitlin Donovan, a spokesperson for the National Patient Advocate Foundation. “Why are you paying $2,000 for it?”
Liz Glatzer felt her doctor in Providence, R.I., was competent but didn’t have time to absorb her full health history. “I had double mastectomy 25 years ago,” she said. “At my first physical, the doctor ran through my meds and whatever else, and she said, ‘Oh, you haven’t had a mammogram.’ I said, ‘I don’t have breasts to have mammography.’”
In 2023, after repeating that same exchange during her next two physicals, Glatzer signed up to pay $1,900 a year for MDVIP, a concierge staffing service that contracts with her new doctor, who is also a friend’s husband. In her first couple of visits, Glatzer’s new physician took hours to get to know her, she said.
For the growing numbers of Americans who can’t or won’t pay when their doctor switches to concierge care, finding new primary care can mean frustration, delayed or missed tests or treatments, and fragmented health care.
“I’ve met so many patients who couldn’t afford the concierge services and needed to look for a new primary care physician,” said Yalda Jabbarpour, director of the Robert Graham Center and a practicing family physician. Separating from a doctor who’s transitioning to concierge care “breaks the continuity with the provider that we know is so important for good health outcomes,” she said.
That disruption has consequences. “People don’t get the preventive services that they should, and they use more expensive and inefficient avenues for care that could have otherwise been provided by their doctor,” said Abbie Leibowitz, chief medical officer at Health Advocate, a company that helps patients find care and resolve insurance issues.
What happens to patients who find themselves at loose ends when a physician transitions to concierge practice?
Patients who lose their doctors often give up on having an ongoing relationship with a primary-care clinician. They may rely solely on a pharmacy-based clinic or urgent care center or even a hospital emergency department for primary care.
Some concierge providers say that they are responding to concerns about access and equity by allowing patients to opt out of concierge care but stay with the practice group at a lower tier of service. This might entail longer waits for shorter appointments, fewer visits with a physician, and more visits with midlevel providers, for example.
Deb Gordon of Cambridge, Mass., said she is searching for a new primary-care doctor after hers switched to concierge medicine — a challenge that involves finding someone in her network who has admitting privileges at her preferred hospitals and is accepting new patients.
Gordon, who is co-director of the Alliance of Professional Health Advocates, which provides support services to patient advocates, said the practice that her doctor left has not assigned her a new provider, and her health plan said it was OK if she went without one. “I was shocked that they literally said, ‘You can go to urgent care,’” she said.
Some patients find themselves turning to physician assistants and other midlevel providers. But those clinicians have much less training than physicians with board certification in family medicine or internal medicine and so may not be fully qualified to treat patients with complex health problems. “The expertise of physician assistants and nurse practitioners can really vary widely,” said Russell Phillips, director of the Harvard Medical School Center for Primary Care.
John Rossheim, based in Providence, reports for Kaiser Family Foundation Health News.
Promote N.E. artists’ work
“Veil” (offset lithograph and screenprint on paper), by Mikel Elam, in the group show “Sacred Space,’’ at the Fairfield (Conn.) University Art Museum, Sept. 21-Dec. 21.
The museum says:
“‘Sacred Space’ encourages a deep exploration of spiritual connection, inviting viewers to reflect on the ancestral wisdom and memory passed down through generations. The exhibition serves as a portal into the interconnected realms of spirituality, time, space, memory, and culture. The artists pay homage to their forebears, drawing upon cultural traditions, rituals, and sacred practices to honor and preserve, as well as question, the invaluable heritage that shapes our identities.’’
“Christina’s World’’, by Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009), set on a farm in the Maine Coast town of Cushing. It’s in the Museum of Modern Art, New York, a few miles from New England.
The house depicted in the painting is known as the Olson House. It’s open to the public and is operated by the Farnsworth Art Museum, in Rockland, Maine.
New England Diary welcome images of work by New England artists, new, old and in-between. Please send images and caption and other information to:
rwhit6@yahoo.com
‘Circularity’: Recyling wind-turbine blades
Wind turbine at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, in the town of Buzzards Bay.
Edited from a New England Council report.
BOSTON
“Avangrid, which is based in Orange, Conn., has begun working with a student-led startup from Yale University on an initiative to recycle wind-turbine blades. According to Avangrid, the company has donated 300 pounds of decommissioned wind-turbine blades to the startup, WindLoop.
“The blades are recycled using a process that allows 90 percent of the material, including glass fiber and epoxy resin, to be reused. This process is very useful, because wind turbines need blade replacements every 10 to 15 years. The blades donated by Avangrid came from the company’s wind farm in Kenedy County, Texas. Avangrid said that it plans to recycle 100 percent of its decommissioned wind-turbine blades by 2030.
“‘Avangrid is one of America’s most innovative leaders in renewable energy, and this is yet another example of our forward-thinking approach to accelerating a clean energy transition across the United States,’ said Avangrid CEO Pedro Azagra. ‘We recognize the great challenges in front of us, and we are helping lay the groundwork to find new and efficient methods to recycle blades that will improve the circularity of our industry.”’
Illustration of a wind turbine for power generation erected by Josef Friedlaender at the International Electrical Exhibition in Vienna in 1883.