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Tuesday, March 28, 2006Notes from Upstate New YorkRandom observations from New York. I'm in upstate New York on business this week, and it's not allowing as much time for blogging as I had hoped. But here are a few miscellaneous observations. My work is in Glens Falls, roughly between Albany and Lake Placid, near the Hudson River and beautiful Lake George. My hotel is a bit north of there in the town(ship) of Queensbury. There are no leaves on the trees yet, but the weather is gorgeous. I've spent ten years in central and western New York; would anyone be offended if I sometimes miss it, despite Utah's virtues? There is a superb little Italian restaurant just up the road which puts me in mind of the Thai restaurant I like on my block at home (at 200 W and Main in American Fork). When I turn on the radio I am bombarded with commercials by the New York State Teachers Whatever (Union? Federation? I could Google it, but so could you), insisting that all New Yorkers call their legislators and demand that they allocate the funds to education which a judge prescribed about a dozen years ago in some decision or other. My politicized mind hears, "We don't teach you about the separation of powers in government classes so you won't notice the absurdity of demands like this." (Since when does the judicial branch appropriate state funds?) But that's probably just me. Meanwhile, the legislature itself is boasting that it just approved the state budget on time for the second year in a row, after many consecutive years of late budgets. The locals in Glen Falls point with pride to a nice trail across town, where a railroad line used to be. Some suggest that it's the only good, successful thing their city government has done in years. Local and state governments usually aren't pretty to watch. Copyright 2006 by David Rodeback. |
