This piece has been posted two times earlier in an attempt to get Pottstown to react and become aggressive in promoting the use of solar energy. Sadly Pottstown lacks an urgency to move into the 21st Century. Her leaders find too mush of an ease in saying," We can't".
A Win-Win For Pottstown
If you had an investment of mega-millions in a property would you be satisfied in it just sitting there hardly generating any income beyond the cost to keep it mowed. If the property were on the tax rolls it would carry a negative balance sheet, taxes being more than income generated.
This property I describe is our own Pottstown Airport. With something like 70 Acres of open land much of it surrounded by industrial properties, the under performance of this commercial land is a drag on Pottstown's lagging economy.
One way of addressing this situation would be by selling the property but, federal grants which would need to be repaid, scuttle this tact. About two years, or so ago, I wrote a letter to council and to the administration suggesting a method to create at the airport an income generating operation.
Create a solar farm on the roofs of the buildings and on the open space grass areas in a magnitude maximizing all available space. The very nature of an airport requiring that there be no vertical obstructions is perfect for a solar energy generation. I would suggest a minimum of 20 acres could be used for such a venture. In fact, Pottstown could become the templet for these types of operations across the state, if not, the nation.
Well, nothing's happened. With this Year's shortfall of $600,000.00 looming and property values into the future figured to be falling even further, I doubt we can assess fees up each year to balance the budget. What we need is an income generator, a solar farm.
The future requires futuristic thinking, out of the box thinking. I would hope some would give this thought some consideration. A solar farm could easily coexist with the airport in full operation. Income generation would go on forever and when investments were paid off income would rise accordingly. A win-win in my eyes.
Ronald C. Downie
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Friday, April 13, 2012
Spring's Upon Us
Spring's Upon Us
Emerging, elongating,
Unfolding, budding,
Coloring, flowering,
Wilting, dropping.
Then leafing out,
Topical limb formation,
More lateral limbing,
Adding girth and mass,
Exponential growth.
Life is divided into two segments :
The first half, actively growing.
The second, retaining formed growth.
First half life continues to add mass ;
Second half just sustains and maintains
Birth delivers a form requiring growth,
Death gives this life form its finality,
Whether be it plant or be it animal.
All life forms conscript to this process.
Their half life's vary to their own formula.
Some humans have their lives extended.
You see their monuments erected in parks,
Read names in books, hear tales about them.
But, even though Spring annually arrives,
And birth evolves allowing life to unfold,
Fall triggers the coming of a second half.
Leaf coloring, browning, curling, falling.
Winter ushers in a sense of life's ending.
Subject to the Natural Laws of the Universe
Man holds no higher a place in life's existence
Than all other life forces on this our planet.
Man's lust to alter these laws draws him
Into the wilds of Faith, a dependence on
The unknown, sinking into the bubbling crucible
Holding the power of an unsuspecting bondage.
Belief in faith needs faith in belief sort of a
Revolving theme needing constant reinforcement.
Ministers seize the airwaves in hot pursuit :
Sizing you up, shaking you down, spouting off.
Their words, could become your's, if you let them.
Spring's upon us, wear it well !
Ronald C. Downie
Emerging, elongating,
Unfolding, budding,
Coloring, flowering,
Wilting, dropping.
Then leafing out,
Topical limb formation,
More lateral limbing,
Adding girth and mass,
Exponential growth.
Life is divided into two segments :
The first half, actively growing.
The second, retaining formed growth.
First half life continues to add mass ;
Second half just sustains and maintains
Birth delivers a form requiring growth,
Death gives this life form its finality,
Whether be it plant or be it animal.
All life forms conscript to this process.
Their half life's vary to their own formula.
Some humans have their lives extended.
You see their monuments erected in parks,
Read names in books, hear tales about them.
But, even though Spring annually arrives,
And birth evolves allowing life to unfold,
Fall triggers the coming of a second half.
Leaf coloring, browning, curling, falling.
Winter ushers in a sense of life's ending.
Subject to the Natural Laws of the Universe
Man holds no higher a place in life's existence
Than all other life forces on this our planet.
Man's lust to alter these laws draws him
Into the wilds of Faith, a dependence on
The unknown, sinking into the bubbling crucible
Holding the power of an unsuspecting bondage.
Belief in faith needs faith in belief sort of a
Revolving theme needing constant reinforcement.
Ministers seize the airwaves in hot pursuit :
Sizing you up, shaking you down, spouting off.
Their words, could become your's, if you let them.
Spring's upon us, wear it well !
Ronald C. Downie
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Only Knowledge
Only Knowledge
When, looking into the mirror of hope
I find far too many so deep in despair
Who willingly slough off a need to cope,
Leaving them vulnerable, requiring care :
Will it be an epiphany that grabs the scene ?
Without something like that, what's then ?
Do spots disappear, stripes fade, does fat lien ?
From nagging disappointments, hope comes when ?
Realizing a personal attitude becomes the key
To unlocking the potential energy pent up now
Awaiting release. Learning wisdom's wise old plea,
"Only knowledge sets Man free", showing him how.
History records, rewrites episodes sad or proud,
While shunning facts, destiny floats on as a cloud.
Ronald C. Downie
An English Sonnet
When, looking into the mirror of hope
I find far too many so deep in despair
Who willingly slough off a need to cope,
Leaving them vulnerable, requiring care :
Will it be an epiphany that grabs the scene ?
Without something like that, what's then ?
Do spots disappear, stripes fade, does fat lien ?
From nagging disappointments, hope comes when ?
Realizing a personal attitude becomes the key
To unlocking the potential energy pent up now
Awaiting release. Learning wisdom's wise old plea,
"Only knowledge sets Man free", showing him how.
History records, rewrites episodes sad or proud,
While shunning facts, destiny floats on as a cloud.
Ronald C. Downie
An English Sonnet
Monday, April 9, 2012
Humanity's Grand Mosaic
Humanity's Grand Mosaic
Within the stitches
holding together your
patch work quilt,
you live your life
just peeking out
from under its cover.
Your birth, infancy,
childhood, teen years,
adulthood, marriage,
family, midlife, old age,
infirmity, and death are
recorded with their own patch.
Each one's story, a quilt some
could easily hang on their wall.
Others would wrap themselves
snugly within its warm comfort.
While some would fold up
their quilt and place it in an old
trunk, with moth balls for keep sake.
Those, though of a shattered life, who
understand their quilt's unthinkable
nature, seek not to remember,
but, just in case, keep theirs hidden
in a safe place, there to be a reminder.
Walk down any street, anywhere,
look at the people, look closely,
are they that much different from
each other in looks and physique ?
Now, conjure up in your minds eye
what their individual quilt would look like.
All the writers in the World,
all the singers and songsters too,
the poets, historians, and the story tellers,
have yet to unfold the totality of patch work
quilts which makes up this,
each is our contribution to
humanity's grand mosaic.
Ronald C. Downie
Within the stitches
holding together your
patch work quilt,
you live your life
just peeking out
from under its cover.
Your birth, infancy,
childhood, teen years,
adulthood, marriage,
family, midlife, old age,
infirmity, and death are
recorded with their own patch.
Each one's story, a quilt some
could easily hang on their wall.
Others would wrap themselves
snugly within its warm comfort.
While some would fold up
their quilt and place it in an old
trunk, with moth balls for keep sake.
Those, though of a shattered life, who
understand their quilt's unthinkable
nature, seek not to remember,
but, just in case, keep theirs hidden
in a safe place, there to be a reminder.
Walk down any street, anywhere,
look at the people, look closely,
are they that much different from
each other in looks and physique ?
Now, conjure up in your minds eye
what their individual quilt would look like.
All the writers in the World,
all the singers and songsters too,
the poets, historians, and the story tellers,
have yet to unfold the totality of patch work
quilts which makes up this,
each is our contribution to
humanity's grand mosaic.
Ronald C. Downie
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Women's Voices Needed
Women's Voices Needed
"She can't change water into wine; instead
She fashions sweet milk out of her own blood."
A.E. Stallings, "First Miracle"
In this the last couplet of her ten line poem, Ms. Stallings sings out words which vibrate in my mind as an anthem loud and clear that could be adopted by today's women's movement. Sweet milk out of blood is unique only to the female gender as is the birthing of both female and male offspring. Where and when did the idea of male supremacy creep into the story of humankind ? Was body mass trumping maternity ?
Passed down orally for untold millennia the Story Of Genesis was finally written down by scribes for future generations to read and further disseminate. From a female's perspective, through Eve, women got off to a bleak start. Conceived of one of Adam's
ribs, Eve consorted with the Devil, imaged as a serpent, to get Adam to eat of the fruit from the Tree Of Good And Evil. Purportedly God had mandated the eating of this fruit would result in a dire penalty, the banishment from this glorious Garden Of Eden.
Poor Eve, as men conceived human history, was just a portion of a man, Adam's rib, and was from inception already flawed, she being easily influenced by God's nemesis, The Devil. Let history continue its detailing of the trials and tribulations which females have endured throughout the ages. Look at church doctrine that subjugated women into a minority roll even continuing on until today. Examine their roll in governing, their toil in daily securing such a thing so basic as water, think of all the women in this World who must cover up due to male made laws. Who labeled women as harlots, as witches, as chattel to be traded freely in a Man's World ?
I don't read many articles locally written about how a women's roll in today's society functions. Are local women satisfied with their pay scale, with the tone of political rhetoric, and with the story of female inferiority ? Do local women empathize with national unrest stirring under the surface of male/female relationships ? I don't know the answers because I don't read any writings on this subject.
A.K. Stallings begins her poem, First Miracle, with this couplet :
"Her body like a pomegranate torn
Wide open, somehow bears what must be born,"
Look the poem up, it's worth the trouble.
Ronald C. Downie
"She can't change water into wine; instead
She fashions sweet milk out of her own blood."
A.E. Stallings, "First Miracle"
In this the last couplet of her ten line poem, Ms. Stallings sings out words which vibrate in my mind as an anthem loud and clear that could be adopted by today's women's movement. Sweet milk out of blood is unique only to the female gender as is the birthing of both female and male offspring. Where and when did the idea of male supremacy creep into the story of humankind ? Was body mass trumping maternity ?
Passed down orally for untold millennia the Story Of Genesis was finally written down by scribes for future generations to read and further disseminate. From a female's perspective, through Eve, women got off to a bleak start. Conceived of one of Adam's
ribs, Eve consorted with the Devil, imaged as a serpent, to get Adam to eat of the fruit from the Tree Of Good And Evil. Purportedly God had mandated the eating of this fruit would result in a dire penalty, the banishment from this glorious Garden Of Eden.
Poor Eve, as men conceived human history, was just a portion of a man, Adam's rib, and was from inception already flawed, she being easily influenced by God's nemesis, The Devil. Let history continue its detailing of the trials and tribulations which females have endured throughout the ages. Look at church doctrine that subjugated women into a minority roll even continuing on until today. Examine their roll in governing, their toil in daily securing such a thing so basic as water, think of all the women in this World who must cover up due to male made laws. Who labeled women as harlots, as witches, as chattel to be traded freely in a Man's World ?
I don't read many articles locally written about how a women's roll in today's society functions. Are local women satisfied with their pay scale, with the tone of political rhetoric, and with the story of female inferiority ? Do local women empathize with national unrest stirring under the surface of male/female relationships ? I don't know the answers because I don't read any writings on this subject.
A.K. Stallings begins her poem, First Miracle, with this couplet :
"Her body like a pomegranate torn
Wide open, somehow bears what must be born,"
Look the poem up, it's worth the trouble.
Ronald C. Downie
Friday, April 6, 2012
A Battle Won/Lost
A Battle Won/Lost
A recent reading shook up my dour disposition I've been experiencing lately. I've learned DNA testing shows Homo Sapiens of today are directly related to the ancient Neanderthals which we Homo Sapiens completely exterminated eons ago. If we were able to wipe Neanderthals off the face of the earth, we must have been so superior compared to them. That led me to thinking Neanderthals were just an ignorant bunch of inferior, two legged beings.
But, archeologists studying the Neanderthals tell us a different story. These scientists show us that in reality, proven through a study of recently discovered artifacts, the Neanderthal was a master at making useful tools. Their downfall is attributed to them making the same useful tool over and over again, never improving or improvising, never retrofitting or making the "next generation" model.
Watching our country today, seemingly stuck on fossil fuels, unwilling to ween ourselves off energy infused carbons polluting when fired the World's atmosphere; we are acting more like Neanderthals than who we really are, Homo Sapiens. For Sapiens posterity's sake, already knowing the value of "next generation" energy sources - sun, wind, geothermal - you would think we could overcome the personal greed exhibited by the super rich in keeping a status quo. Extracting carbon from the Earth is essentially like uncovering a gold mine and the worth of carbon skyrockets each day as the price goes up. Of course, the value of our Planet's atmosphere declines in equal proportion.
Will Homo Sapiens learn the lessons Neanderthals failed to absorb ? Will we succeed as we always have done because we can improvise and refine, because we can picture a better future and understand how to get there ? We out witted the Neanderthals but, can we outwit our own who live in the immediate grubbing for every advantage their huge wealth can purchase ? Are we to be peopled by those who see a value in a livable planet which is environmentally sound benefitting all life forms ? Or, will the few who weld the power of the purse be able to pull a veil over the eyes of an unsuspecting electorate and continue to rape the Earth for their immediate gain, will they rule this Earth humans have assumed stewardship over ? The answer lies within you .
Ronald C. Downie
A recent reading shook up my dour disposition I've been experiencing lately. I've learned DNA testing shows Homo Sapiens of today are directly related to the ancient Neanderthals which we Homo Sapiens completely exterminated eons ago. If we were able to wipe Neanderthals off the face of the earth, we must have been so superior compared to them. That led me to thinking Neanderthals were just an ignorant bunch of inferior, two legged beings.
But, archeologists studying the Neanderthals tell us a different story. These scientists show us that in reality, proven through a study of recently discovered artifacts, the Neanderthal was a master at making useful tools. Their downfall is attributed to them making the same useful tool over and over again, never improving or improvising, never retrofitting or making the "next generation" model.
Watching our country today, seemingly stuck on fossil fuels, unwilling to ween ourselves off energy infused carbons polluting when fired the World's atmosphere; we are acting more like Neanderthals than who we really are, Homo Sapiens. For Sapiens posterity's sake, already knowing the value of "next generation" energy sources - sun, wind, geothermal - you would think we could overcome the personal greed exhibited by the super rich in keeping a status quo. Extracting carbon from the Earth is essentially like uncovering a gold mine and the worth of carbon skyrockets each day as the price goes up. Of course, the value of our Planet's atmosphere declines in equal proportion.
Will Homo Sapiens learn the lessons Neanderthals failed to absorb ? Will we succeed as we always have done because we can improvise and refine, because we can picture a better future and understand how to get there ? We out witted the Neanderthals but, can we outwit our own who live in the immediate grubbing for every advantage their huge wealth can purchase ? Are we to be peopled by those who see a value in a livable planet which is environmentally sound benefitting all life forms ? Or, will the few who weld the power of the purse be able to pull a veil over the eyes of an unsuspecting electorate and continue to rape the Earth for their immediate gain, will they rule this Earth humans have assumed stewardship over ? The answer lies within you .
Ronald C. Downie
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Haiku 80
Haiku 80 - Simply prodding you into action .
Hooray ! Yes ! Hooray !
State House Bill - Property Tax -
Get involved ! Shout Out !
Change needs momentum,
Which comes from voters like you -
Stop the naysayers .
Educate yourself,
Opportunity knocks once -
"Seize The Day " your way.
Write, call, Email, march,
Tell your congressman your wants -
They work for you/me .
Big money kills dead
Ideas which aid common folks -
Time for a real change.
Will you act/react ?
Our future is in your grasp.
Thank You ! for acting .
Ronald C. Downie
Hooray ! Yes ! Hooray !
State House Bill - Property Tax -
Get involved ! Shout Out !
Change needs momentum,
Which comes from voters like you -
Stop the naysayers .
Educate yourself,
Opportunity knocks once -
"Seize The Day " your way.
Write, call, Email, march,
Tell your congressman your wants -
They work for you/me .
Big money kills dead
Ideas which aid common folks -
Time for a real change.
Will you act/react ?
Our future is in your grasp.
Thank You ! for acting .
Ronald C. Downie
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