Big Mountain Jesus

Okay, I engaged in the subject of politics in my last post and, so far, there have been no negative reactions. Having taken this risk without any ramifications, I am now going to push my luck and forge ahead into the realm of religion.

Let me now tell you about the controversy over Big Mountain Jesus. He stands near the top of Big Mountain overlooking a broad valley on a 25 x 25 foot parcel of land at Chair 2 of the Whitefish Mountain Resort, MT. Evidently, Big Mountain Jesus' plot of ground is/was part of public lands administered by the Flathead National Forest. He has been there for nearly 60 years through a lease arrangement with the U.S. Forest Service. Alas, the lease expired last summer and suddenly Big Mountain Jesus has run afoul of the Establishment Clause in the United States Constitution. As it stands right now, unless a new lease is granted (or some other innovative arrangement is made), Big Mountain Jesus will have to find a new home.

Well, what the heck, it's only a six foot, concrete statue. Yet in contemporary America Big Mountain Jesus has become much more than that. He was built, lovingly, by WWII veterans to honor the Army's 10th Mountain Division (coincidentally headquartered at Fort Drum in northern N.Y.S.). Big Mountain Jesus has been tenderly cared for by Knights of Columbus Council #338 in Kalispell, MT. For his creators, Big Mountain Jesus was a loving reminder of the innumerable statues and monuments the 10th viewed during its sweep of Europe during the war. Yet most of them are now dead.

Controversy and public outcry arose last summer when Council #338 applied for a new lease. Before making its final decision in the matter, the U.S. Forest Service prudently decided to learn more about how the public felt. More than 100,000 comments later, the period of public comment is about to end. Both positive and negative reactions to the statue's current location have been recorded by Christian and atheist groups alike, including the American Center for Law and Justice as well as the Liberty Institute and a Wisconsin-based organization known as the Freedom From Religion Foundation. And a recent turn of events has taken the matter in a new direction when the Montana State Historical Preservation Office announced that the Big Mountain Jesus site may be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. So there you are -- and oh, by the way, there is a tangible fear that moving Big Mountain Jesus might cause him to crumble and fall to pieces. A decision about his fate will be made in the next few days. Watch for it...

My sources of information for this blog come from today's "Watertown Times" (home of Fort Drum) written by Gordon Block, and an on-line article from the "Whitefish Pilot," written by Heidi Desch. I am also borrowing a photo by Matt Baldwin who works for the above newspaper too.

So what do I think about the Big Mountain Jesus controversy? I was raised a Lutheran; my mother was dutiful and lived in dread fear of her own pious bible-reading mother. When I went off to college I became enchanted by the town's Unitarian-Universalist Church and several of my professors who were members of that same liberal religious organization. Unitarians would not, for instance, refer to the fellow in the photo as Jesus Christ, but as Jesus of Nazareth. Quite a difference if one thinks about it. Well, even after all these years I remain a member of the Unitarian-Universalist Church in nearby Canton. But as my wife is quick to point out, I am now a "fallen away" Unitarian. That said, I still think of myself as a religious person, but one who questions and still seeks answers.

I was looking at some photos last evening that I'd taken a couple of years ago in the scenic village of Waddington, which overlooks the St. Lawrence River. The dominant subjects in these photos were Canadian geese in the midst of their annual migration. On the opposite side of the river is Morrisburg, Ontario, Canada. It struck me that the geese could care less about such a thing as a trifling international boundary. They fly back and forth like I go out to my mailbox, with impunity. And nobody really cares. And both Canadians and Americans share similar enthusiasm for these magnificent birds.

And then yesterday, on our usual route to Lake Placid, we passed by the statue of St. Peter in front of the Church of Santa Clara, almost a wilderness outpost with an Adirondack history dating back to the lumbering days. We ALWAYS wave at St. Peter, just for good luck -- and we've been doing it for many, many years. Even though he's not St. Christopher, I like to think that it would be downright wrong not to salute him. And I do not think of myself as superstitious, even though this simple act might be certain evidence of it.

Frankly, I respect the Establishment Clause; it is one of the bedrock principles of my nation. But I sure the heck am equally respectful of symbols and traditions that remind me so centrally of the culture in which I am immersed -- for better or worse. I truly hope that Big Mountain Jesus gets himself placed on the National Register of Historic Places. And I will be disappointed if it is determined that he must find a new home. Here in the Adirondacks we still have lean-to's and fire towers in "Forever Wild" designated lands. Sometimes preserving the best of our past means making an exception.

Carry on,

Paul in Potsdam

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Offer from Canada

Before anyone gets all riled up, today's blog is meant as good fun. As I said when I set down my own rules for blogging that I didn't really have many axes to grind -- and I don't. In the past week or so, however, I finally succumbed to the siren song of watching the Republican candidates yelling at each other. Whew! I'll be glad when all of that is over. And tonight we all get to listen to our President give the State of the Union Address. The evening news tells me that it's going to be populist in tone. I suppose that means our POTUS will have the advantage of his having his own podium and won't have to share it with any naysayers -- hopefully, this year without any on-air naysayers.

Well at any rate, today I watched a YouTube video from Canada. It sure stopped me in my tracks. At first I laughed, but then (and this is always dangerous) I started thinking. What if...

I do apologize for some of the language that exists in the video, and certainly for certain self-deprecating stereotypes that appear to also float through it. At any rate, I do think it's high time we start getting serious about who we really do want to run our country. We currently have a choice between blue and red, but just think if Canada joined in the fray. I won't go any further. You will have to decide for yourself. Think Maple Leaf.

So here it is: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrhA0sEkuaM>. And please don't complain that you weren't forewarned. Your feedback will be appreciated.

Carry on,

Paul in Potsdam

http://www2.potsdam.edu/loucksap

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http://madstop68.blogspot.com

The Quebec Connection

Today it was announced by the U.S. Government that it is embarking upon a revamped plan to "harden" the U.S/Canadian Border against an onslaught of drug trafficking. It will be called the "National Northern Border Counternarcotics Strategy," and will pinpoint several Native American Tribal Areas from Maine to Washington State.

Interestingly, one of the primary conduits of illicit drug smuggling in the entire country is right here in my own back yard. The new strategy will focus in our region upon the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation, where both drugs and aliens are moved across the St. Lawrence River on a regular basis. Part of the initiative will be to provide Tribal Police with additional resources, including better inter-governmental cooperation, financial assistance, improved monitoring systems and air/marine operations, especially during the winter months.

These days, it is impossible not to feel the increased presence of the U.S. Border Patrol. For instance, a week ago on our way to Lake Placid we were confronted with a road block on an Adirondack highway between Potsdam/Malone and Saranac Lake. Route 30 drops directly south from Malone, passing through considerable private timber tracts. It is a lonely stretch where mountain lions have been spotted in recent years. Then, on our way home from Burlington, VT this past Tuesday, and because of the inclement weather, we traveled north to Rouses Point (less than 40 miles from Montreal) and hence along the Canadian Border on U.S. Route 11 to Malone, etc. We saw several more Border Patrol vehicles but were not stopped.

Between Rouses Point and Malone, probably a stretch of 40 miles, there is nothing but woods and fields and a few secondary highways that simply shoot straight north across the border, a mere couple of miles away. One would think that monitoring here would be somewhat straight-forward, especially with the use of drones and small planes. However, the use of atv's and snowmobiles do complicate surveillance.

But beyond Malone and west along Route 37 to Massena and the International Border Crossing at Cornwall Island on the St. Lawrence River, one travels directly through the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation. And this reservation functions as a single autonomous territory in both Canada and the United States on either side of the St. Lawrence River. It is dotted with islands, large and small, and presents a very challenging landscape. Simply put the reservation is a porous sieve.

So one might think that with improved governmental assistance the Akwesasne Mohawks would be happy. So far, their silence is deafening. This is the same reservation where former Governor Mario Cuomo needed to place the New York State Police on 24/7 patrol for more than a year. That after he tried to collect cigarette taxes. Now his son Andrew is attempting a new and similar thrust to diminish the state's debts. But now the ante is up -- the Akwesasne Mohawks have a thriving tobacco industry of their own right on the reservation.

But that was then and now is now. The Mohawks currently have a thriving casino and bingo palace on the reservation, and seem to be a bit caught in the middle between a presumed geographical nexus for transporting illicit products -- high potency marijuana, ecstasy, tobacco and aliens -- and attracting visitors to come and gamble.

There was a time not very long ago when tensions between the Mohawks and Canadian Border officials produced drive-by shootings over Canada's decision to arm their border agents at Customs and Immigration. The Mohawks claimed sovereignty and imminent danger to their own citizens. They stopped traffic on the international bridge. Yet it doesn't take a genius to question the motivation of suddenly being so against guns when they themselves tote guns on a regular basis.

Our local Congressman, Bill Owens, and our U.S. Senator, Chuck Schumer, have worked hard to keep legal traffic and post-9/11tourism alive between our two countries. Now they have succeeded in obtaining more funding to help stem dangerous drug trafficking. Yet new passport regulations, and the blockage of the Canadian pipeline out west will undoubtedly create even more diplomatic problems. And locally, we have the ever-temperamental, contentious Mohawks right in the middle of the action. It's going to be an interesting spring in the North Country.

If you would like a bit more dramatic presentation of these complex problems, I would highly recommend that you Netflix a movie from a couple of years ago called Frozen River. Melissa Leo was nominated for an Oscar for her performance as a down and out salesclerk from Malone, living in a trailer with her two kids and working at the local Dollar Store. In an effort to improve the quality of their lives, she begins trafficking in aliens via the Montreal -- St. Regis Mohawk Reservation route across the river. I found it very authentic and riveting. Regardless of its toughness, it's a heart-warmer, and even comedic, if one can move beyond the bleakness of her poverty. Highly recommended.

There is one exchange in that film between mother and young son that goes something like this...

Son: "Mom, what will happen to our trailer when we move out and into our new double-wide?"
Mom: "Well, what they'll do is grind it up into little tiny pieces, put them on a boat in the St. Lawrence and send them all the way to China. And once there, the Chinese will stamp out new pieces of crap, send them back to the United States, and I'll sell them at the Dollar Store."
Son: "Really?"
Mom: "Yep."

Carry on,

Paul in Potsdam
<http://www2.potsdam.edu/loucksap>
<http://loucksap.smugmug.com>
<http://madstop68.blogspot.com>

Small Dog to the Rescue

If you live in Potsdam, NY, you don't live here for the shopping. After awhile, you get to know where you need to go when you need something more than a television or a new chainsaw. Probably the best civilized retail store in the county is the St. Lawrence University Book Store -- where one can definitely purchase important items other than books -- like art supplies for instance. However, if you need a new suit you have to drive to Syracuse or Albany. If you desire something other than a Ford Truck or a Prius, you must head everywhere else but north. Heck, I even use travel and vacations to purchase new underwear and shoes.

You can imagine the angst, even in a two college town, when the SUNY Potsdam Book Store lost its Apple franchise a year ago or so because they didn't sell enough machines. Aside from the not altogether unique alternative of on-line recourse and/or the Apple Help Line, you are stuck.

Since before the holiday season, my wife's little I-Book 4 had been heating up. Often, Safari would quit in the middle of a surfing session or a bridge game. She knew it was time, but procrastinated until she was on the verge of a complete crash. Each day, I'd say: "Ready to go to Burlington? We'll be taking off for Hilton Head soon..."

Well Monday morning, upon awakening she decided that the time had come. I welcomed the opportunity to get out of Dodge, especially since I had just recovered from a severe head cold, had been forced to chainsaw down my favorite front yard white birch, which Friday drooped onto our electrical service to the street, and I had to spend much of Sunday morning shoveling and then checking out neighborhood houses for other kinds of damage (our neighborhood was in need of such services this past weekend).

We were on the road by 8:30 a.m. The Republic of Burlington is just under three hours distant. Aside from Fletcher Allen Hospital at the University of Vermont, I think the next best thing is Small Dog Electronics <http://www.smalldog.com/>. Even with a very windy ferry crossing of Lake Champlain (with six foot waves and our minivan's first participation in a rodeo) we arrived at Small Dog in South Burlington before noon.

It didn't take us long to ascertain that my wife's choice would be a new 13 inch MacBook 2.8 GHz dual core/Intel core i7, with 750 GB for my photos in South Carolina. A neat, fast, little package with resolution matching the big dogs. And it was hard to believe that our new rep in training was a new rep in training; she didn't even fit the typical Apple sales person under 25 techno-geek persona. This mature woman quickly established rapport and didn't hesitate to ask her youthful cohorts whenever she had a question she herself couldn't answer -- and those were limited to cash register protocol. She then marched us to the service department where we were promised that all of the old files would be copied over and the new machine would be ready by noon today. No muss, no fuss and no charge.

As I sit here now writing up today's blog, my wife is already sitting on our couch at home going through today's news; nope I think she's now playing bridge. So here are my three hip, hip, hip hoorays for Small Dog Electronics, the best Apple store in New England. Yes they even have friendly dogs wandering around the store, but the dogs don't seem to answer very many questions. They're just kind of hanging out there to make you feel at home I think. Soon it will be my turn to make a hardware purchase there. It's going to be tough.

At any rate, we didn't drive home and then drive back again today. We stayed for dinner and then took in The Descendants, which the night before at the Golden Globes had just won Best Motion Picture Drama and netted George Clooney Best Actor. As beautiful as Hawaii is, it still gives me the creeps, and if you watch this movie you may just end up feeling like I do. That said, Clooney and the rest of the cast are terrific. Who says that the descendants of kings and queens aren't just ordinary schleps like the rest of us, and that paradise is just as **cked up as the rest of the USA? Go see it and decide for yourself. Clooney genuinely redeems his character. My wife compares him to Paul Newman. She might just be right.

Carry on,

Paul in Potsdam

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<http://loucksap.smugmug.com>

<http://madstop68.blogspot.com>

Race to the Oscars

Tonight begins the grand race to the 2012 Oscars and we are treated to Ricky Gervais as host. Last year, Mr. Gervais walked the thin edge, and for a few of his colleagues in the entertainment world it was a bit too much. Lots of skewering and few were spared -- especially the most prickable ones. I think Gervais may have paid a bit of a price for this, but here we are again with him. Frankly, I hope he remains true to his character, and lets the dialogue flow unfettered.

I have mixed feelings about these award shows. Part of me wants to race right out and see every nominee, and part of me says, who are you kidding? But, Hollywood and the entertainment industry need all the build-up they can muster -- especially this year. I guess I will go until 9 p.m. when the next episode of Season 2 of Downton Abbey appears on PBS's Masterpiece Classic. Even Ricky Gervais cannot overcome the draw of Downton Abbey.

So far this season, I have managed to see the following films beforehand: The Tree of Life, Midnight in Paris, The Adventures of Tintin, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, War Horse and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. I can only say that none of them can be compared easily with another. Interestingly, two of them are uniquely different Steven Spielberg movies.

Let me comment on all...

The Tree of Life. Malek's exploration of the meaning of life is pretentious and overblown. Brad Pitt is good but not great, and the photography was sensational. Enough said...


Midnight in Paris, the Woody Allen comedy is a complete triumph. Not only is this vintage Woody but Paris has never been lovelier. It looks like a winner to me.

The Adventures of Tintin is a remarkable 3D movie. We were fortunate to see it in Toronto at an Imax. The reviews are mixed, but for me it was a delight. The special effects were amazing -- the whole thing in my opinion is an animated Indiana Jones on steroids. And it is funny and fun. Spielberg's first attempt in the genre of animated films is entirely successful. Click, click, bam, bam. It will keep you going for at least an hour or so.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (American version) is edgy and brisk. Rooney Mara will blow you away. This one's a must see among my recommendations.


War Horse is also fresh in my memory. I was a little concerned that I'd be jumping back to Anna Sewall's Black Beauty, but this is a war movie like only Spielberg can create them, and it's based on a WWI book. And it is heroic, through and through. My wife told me to bring tissues, but I didn't need them -- well, maybe to wipe away a tear or two at the ending, but that doesn't give away a thing.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Well at least one person in my family liked it, but it wasn't me. My wife told me it was too bad that I kept slipping away. I thought it was too bad that I didn't slip away all together.

Now the three films that I'd like to be able to comment upon on are Hugo, The Artist and Moneyball. We probably won't see them, this being Potsdam, until we head south in February.

So tear yourself away from the football game for awhile and tune in nasty Ricky, at least until 9 p.m.

One last thing, I don't care what YOU think about the movies. I could not live without them. They are the last true magic in my life. I am transported. Ah, if only real life, even once in a great while, could emulate the movies. And this year there are some truly memorable moments in movie history.

Carry on,

Paul in Potsdam
<http://www2.potsdam.edu.loucksap>
<http://loucksap.smugmug.com>

<http://madstop68.blogspot.com>