Photography by Rich Gigli

SAILOR'S PRAYER - A simple yet eloquent prayer offered by every sailor who sets off to sea – “Keep us, our God; for your ocean is so big and our boat is so small.”

By Bob Gaydos

I blame it all on the earthquake in Chile. Since it happened, everything seems to be out of whack. The temblor (I love that word) registered 8.8 on the Richter scale and caused tremendous damage and loss of life. I in no way mean to minimize the enormous pain it has caused. But the quake actually shortened the length of days on the planet and, never mind shaking the earth, it actually moved it. That’s got to have far-reaching ripple effects.

Scientists at NASA say the earthquake nudged the earth over 3 inches on its figure axis. That’s not the north-south one that spins us around and gives us our days and nights. It’s the one the planet’s mass is balanced around. Apparently it is off-balanced from the north-south axis by 33 feet, which I take to mean that one side is a bit denser than the other. Suddenly, Jim Bunning makes sense.

He had to equalize the earth’s density axis again by objecting over and over again in the U.S. Senate to a bill extending unemployment benefits to hundreds of thousands of Americans who are out of work, through no fault of their own. Such is the Senate these days that one person can tie up billions of dollars in legislation. When the Earth’s density equalized, Bunning relented, but not before giving America a first-hand look at what Congress would be like if the Tea Partiers took over. And make no mistake, the Republican moron from Kentucky has his supporters.

One blogger wrote: “Bunning will be remembered as a hero for this stand – he stood up to protect America from the uncontrolled spending of the socialists now running Washington, DC. As Europe collapses on itself with its socialist health plans and benefits, Obama and his cronies try to push America into the same failed model. The Mid-term elections can’t come quick enough.”

This supporter, like all others, ignored the fact that Bunning’s “stand” was a sham. While he repeatedly said, given the huge federal deficit, Congress should pay for any new spending, Bunning (and all other Republicans) had voted against a bill that would require just that. Instead, he chose to make his point on spending that would reduce the pain of ordinary Americans, which Congress contributed to with its unchecked spending and homage to corporate America.

In reality, it was just a crass political ploy to get back and Senate GOP leader, and fellow Kentuckian, Mitch McConnell, who led an effort to convince Bunning not to seek re-election, in part because he is prone to unpredictability. Last February, for example, he predicted Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg would be dead from pancreatic cancer within nine months. Smooth, Jim.

But I linger too long on the Bunning ripple. The Chile quake has also thrown the entire political scene in New York into turmoil. Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., has stepped down as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee because he neglected some tax laws he may well have written. Gov. David Paterson has abandoned his campaign for governor on the heels of yet another abuse of power scandal that  has tarnished the state police. Some guy named Steve Levy, who is Suffolk County executive, says he’s thinking of running and a lot of Democrats are still trying to get Paterson to resign, which would make Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch (Did you know that?), the smartest man in Albany because he doesn’t want the job, our next accidental governor.

On the other hand, Harold Ford Jr., a former Democratic Tennessee congressman and current Merrill Lynch VP, says he’s not running for the Senate here against Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand because he doesn’t think they can conduct a civil contest. And Daily News publisher Mort Zuckerman, who supposedly got Ford to drop out of the Senate race, dropped out himself, because, apparently, he sees a brighter future in journalism than politics and what planet is he on?. All of this seems to leave only Orange County exec Eddie Diana as a possible opponent for Gillibrand. Now that’s some ripple effect.

And it goes beyond politics. Disney has taken off the kid-friendly gloves to get into a fight with ABC-TV over money, money, money. Greece, of all countries, almost killed the euro and plunged all of Europe into bankruptcy. The Oscar bigwigs got all uppity and banned a producer of “The Hurt Locker” from the awards ceremony because he dared to send e-mails to voters asking for their support (like everyone else does). A guy in England lost his driver’s license for walking his dog, from the driver’s seat of his car. Some poor-shooting rookie beat NBA legend Michael Jordan in a game of H-O-R-S-E.  Supermodel Naomi Campbell, who hadn’t assaulted anyone in weeks, felt the need to attack her driver. And Sarah Palin did a standup routine on The Tonight Show that got better reviews than her political speeches.

… Come to think of it, that last one is probably a sign that the earth has finally settled on its new axis. Whew.

Bob can be reached at bob@zestoforange.com.

By Michael Kaufman

Last Thursday afternoon, a group of Jewish high-school girls in the state of Washington gave the adults in the state a lesson in sportsmanship and brotherhood… or maybe sisterhood would be a better word. The girls, members of the Mercer Island Northwest Yeshiva girls basketball team, walked onto the court at the SunDome in Yakima for a scheduled playoff game in the Washington state tournament. They shook hands with the members of the opposing team, St. John-Endicott…. and walked off the court, forfeiting the game

That Thursday was a fast day for many observant Jews, the “Fast of Esther,” the day before the holiday of Purim. The girls would go without both food and water until sundown. When their request to change the game time was denied, officials of the small, 95-student Orthodox Jewish high school near Seattle decided to forfeit.
 
“We didn’t think it was safe for the team to play without water,” explained Rabbi Bernie Fox, the school’s head. Thus, the first team from a Jewish school to qualify for the state tournament became the first team in state history to forfeit a postseason game. Northwest Yeshiva was aware of the potential scheduling conflict when the initial playoff draw was announced. Had they won their first tournament game earlier in the week, the conflict would have been avoided. But they lost to Sunnyside Christian, putting them into the consolation bracket.
 
Yeshiva officials contacted the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) prior to the first game to offer suggestions to resolve any logistics problems involved in the potential rescheduling.
 
“We came up with possibilities that we hoped might be a win-win for all involved,” Fox said. He said the school offered to play the game Thursday evening at an alternate venue and offered to help defray the financial costs of moving the game. Another option was to play the game that evening on St. John-Endicott’s home court. But the WIAA said changing the game would cause too much disruption in the rest of the playoff schedule.
 
“As to the request that, could we do some rescheduling to deal with this particular issue, that would negatively impact the schedule for all 31 of the other teams involved,” said Mike Colbrese, WIAA executive director, in an interview with the Yakima Herald-Republic. He did not explain just how holding a game on the same date could possibly have a deleterious effect on the schedule for the other 31 teams. 
 
“And if we were to go off-site with (any rescheduling),” he continued, “we’ve basically taken both teams out of their schedule and they end up playing their game at night, not in the afternoon. And they’re also not getting that state tournament experience, which is really what the whole thing is about.”

By that he meant that the two teams would not be playing in the SunDome, Yakima’s answer to Madison Square Garden. After all, the SunDome is the home of the Yakima Valley Warriors. I had to go to the Warriors home page to learn that they are a professional indoor arena football team. Their next big home game is scheduled for April 3 against the Wenatchee Valley Venom. Other events coming soon to the SunDome are a WWE professional wrestling “Smackdown” and the Professional Bull Riders Touring Pro Division. Speaking of bull riding, Colbrese’s explanation is pure bullspit. 
 
“It left us in an awkward situation,” Fox said. “We felt that if we could not reschedule the game, we would at least show good sportsmanship.” So Northwest Yeshiva contacted St. John-Endicott about setting up a meeting on the court instead. The Thursday afternoon handshake was the result.
 
“St. John-Endicott was very appreciative,” said Fox. “They conducted themselves with perfect sportsmanship.”
 
It remains to be seen whether Northwest Yeshiva will be sanctioned by the WIAA for its actions. Colbrese told reporters that potential sanctions will not be discussed until later this month. However, he added, “the board is under no obligation to sanction Northwest Yeshiva.” How kind of him. 
 
The Fast of Esther isn’t exactly Yom Kippur and the Northwest Yeshiva girls are not Sandy Koufax….but there are some similarities between the stand taken by the team and the Hall of Fame pitcher’s refusal to pitch the first game of the 1965 World Series. “We worked really hard to get here, to qualify for state,” said sophomore player Julia Owen. “But we’re also very happy to be able to show that our religion is very important to us. Although it’s hard because it would be great to get the chance to continue, we’re not wishing we could ignore the fast and play, because observing the fast is important.”
 
“Whether you’re in a public school or religious school, you want kids to gather not just knowledge, but values to guide decisions in life,” added Fox. “This was a situation where the team was challenged to do that — to prioritize. And they felt that as important as this basketball tournament was, they couldn’t compromise their personal values. I’m very proud of them.” And so, I suspect, are many others across the country, be they secular or religious, Jewish or non-Jewish. The shame lies with the closet anti-Semites of the WIAA.

Michael can be reached at Michael@zestoforange.com.

By Shawn Dell Joyce

Phthalates, called “plasticizers,” are chemicals used to make polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic soft, pliable, and in the case of water bottles; clear. This chemical is as American as apple pie, and is present in all of our households through things like toys, food packaging, shower curtains, vinyl flooring, lubricants, adhesives, detergents, and most cosmetics. Phthalates make baby’s teething rings soft, give your car that new car smell (by off-gassing), are in almost all perfumes and nail polish. They make medical tubing and IV bags flexible.
   

Here’s the bad news. Phthalates are also endocrine disruptors, which means they interfere with normal brain development. Children’s brains are always developing which makes them particularly susceptible to damage from phthalates. Our children are also most likely to come into contact with them because plastics are widely used in children’s toys, foods, and in most things they with which they come into contact.

Researchers have found that children suffer permanent damage from phthalates because their cells depend upon hormones to determine how they should develop. Phthalates resemble estrogen in the body and send signals to cells that may result in autism, breast and testicular cancer and reduced sperm counts. Adult exposure to endocrine disruptors is not as harmful because the effects are temporary, similar to taking a birth control pill.

Recently, phthalates have been linked to autism in a study by Dr. Philip J. Landrigan, professor of pediatrics at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. He found that autism and other ailments “are, in part, the result of the impact of environmental chemicals on the brain as it is being formed.” In another study, researchers measured phthalate levels in the urine of pregnant women, and found those with higher levels had children more likely to display disruptive behavior.
 

Phthalates are highly profitable, bringing chemical companies over $1.4 billion a year. Exxon Mobil is a major manufacturer of phthalates. Many countries have banned phthalates — the EU, Canada, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and even China. The United States demands a level of proof that many scientists consider impossible and hasn’t acted to protect the American people from harmful toxins. The Environmental Protection Agency is slow to react and has only banned a handful of chemicals in its history, while allowing millions more to be used without any safety testing at all. 
  

Many savvy mothers are already protesting te ue of phthalates and urging others to boycott manufacturers. Because of lax regulation, phthalates aren’t listed on product labels and are so widely used it’s difficult to avoid them.  The best way to protect your family is to look at the number in the recycling triangle located on the bottom of the container:

•  Don’t buy or use and plastics with the numbers 1, 3, or 7 because they contain endocrine disruptors. Safer choices are numbers 2,4, or 5.
• Don’t buy any product that contains n-butyl benzyl phthalate (BBzP) or di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), or any other ingredient that starts with “phth” which is a dead giveaway for phthalates.
• Avoid any soft, flexible or pliable plastic, especially for use around children. Polymer clays contain up to 14 percent phthalates by weight. These phthalates enter children’s bodies through hands and by breathing fumes produced when the clays are baked. A child playing for five minutes with small amounts of the tested clays would be exposed to levels of phthalates that exceed the maximum daily exposure standards set in Florida and Minnesota.
• Use all natural cosmetics, personal care products, home cleaners, and adhesives. Synthetic fragrances in hair sprays, antiperspirants and deodorants, adhesives in nail polishes, and fume-bearing chemicals expose children to airborne phthalates. 
   
   Shawn Dell Joyce is an award-winning columnist and founder of the Wallkill River School in Orange County, N.Y. Shawn@zestoforange.com

Marching in Montgomery

By Carrie Jacobson

The Wallkill River School occupies the ground floor of the Patchett House, outside the downtown part of the lovely Village of Montgomery.

Originally a tavern, the Patchett House stands on the corner of Factory Street and Route 17K, part of the old Newburgh-Cochecton Turnpike. The Patchett family, which owned the woolen mill at the end of Factory Street, bought the house late in the 19th century, and lived there until the 1970s.

In 1980, the house was added to the National Historic Register. Later, the house fell into disrepair. The Devitt family, whose purchases and renovations are part of the fabric of the Village of Montgomery, bought the home late in the 20th century and brought it back to its glory.

It is in this home, with its 14-foot ceilings and hardwood floors, its 10-foot-high windows and spectacular staircase, where I will be showing my art, starting a week from today, with Shawn Dell Joyce.

Shawn has made a series of paintings to celebrate the Village of Montgomery’s bicentennial. And I have plans for a couple, myself.

One of them, I finished yesterday. This painting is from the old photograph on the cover of the Village of Montgomery Bicentennial calendar, which is on sale at the gallery and around the village, for $10. The painting shows the Firemen’s Parade, as it makes its way down Ward Street at the turn of the 19th century.

I started with the intention of using only sepia tones, but color overtook me – a little! Come to the show, which will be up through the end of March – or come to the reception, Saturday, March 13, from 5-7 p.m. You won’t be disappointed.

Contact carrieBjacobson@gmail.com for information on price and delivery options for “Marching in Montgomery.”