Remember The Fallen

Not since 9/11 ...

Dear Governor Patrick,

While none of the 19 firefighters in Arizona who gave their lives to protect others were Massachusetts residents, any firefighter will confirm the profession is one big family, and  THAT includes a great many from Massachusetts.

When our state lost six firefighters in the horrendous Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse Fire in December of 1999, American flags nationwide flew at half staff as a symbol of solidarity, uniting us in shared grief. 

Quit frankly I'm surprised President Obama has not ordered US flags to half staff to remember and honor the fallen 19, the greatest loss of life in fire services since that awful morning of 9/11. 

Since the funerals are this week, could you please order Massachusetts American flags down to half staff to remember and honor the tremendous sacrifice these brave individuals gave up so selflessly?

Lowering an American flag to half staff takes only but a moment ... the solemn respect it shows lasts forever.  


Larry Kelley

Take Cover

 

East Pleasant Street, UMass water tower 3:00ish

After the storm 8:30ish

Water Safety

 Atkins Reservoir, Amherst/Shutesbury line

 How safe is our drinking water?

According to the recently mailed 15th annual Town of Amherst Drinking Water Quality Report -- fine reading on a hot summer day -- the public water supply for our little town is perfectly safe.  I'll drink to that.

Every major test parameter (Inorganic substances, radioactive contaminants, disinfection residuals) tested below "violation" level. 

Amherst has a "complicated" water distribution system: two surface reservoirs, one located on Amherst/Shutesbury border (Atkins) and the other in Pelham, and five ground wells located in the Lawrence Swamp.

Operating at full capacity the system is capable of pumping out just over 6 million gallons of treated water daily.

 

Pelham Reservoir system

Last year average demand was 2.65 million gallons per day with peak demand occurring on July 19th, a thirst requiring 4.185 million gallons of water to quench.  UMass is our #1 consumer of water absorbing 31.04% of total, although they were not in session on the day of peak demand. 

In 2002 the state performed a Source Water Assessment and Protection (SWAP) report for the town outlining common sense water protection methods for keeping the system safe, mainly by controlling/owning the land immediately around the water source (400 feet), called Zone 1.

In 2005 Tighe & Bond did a "Public Water Protection Plan" for the town which pretty much mirrored the SWAP report from three years earlier, where the main concern was dealing with inappropriate land use (industrial, farming, homes with septic systems, etc) too near the water supply.

Interestingly -- even though both studies are post 9/11 -- neither of them addresses sabotage.  Both reservoirs are located within spitting distance of paved roads, so it would be easy to drive a pick up truck almost directly up to the unguarded body of water and unload whatever you please.

 Atkins Reservoir with nearby road

Sure Atkins is pretty b-i-g with a maximum capacity of 200 million gallons.   However, if you dissolve in that body of water 1760 pounds (thirty-five 50 pound bags) of something, say arsenic, it would reach a level of one part per million.

EPA regulations for arsenic in drinking water set a maximum of ten parts per billion.

Massachusetts State Police briefly detained seven college aged trespassers (one of them from Amherst) around the Quabbin Reservoir almost two months ago, immediately setting off terrorism concerns.

Should you be concerned?  Probably not.  Highly unlikely anyone would try to poison an entire town.

But then, 12 years ago it was also highly unlikely anyone would hijack civilian commercial airliners and fly them into buildings.

 Atkins Reservoir

Freedom!

 

Commemorative flags downtown

" ... That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." 

"Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose ... "

Amherst post card 1909

DUI Dishonor Roll

Well, at least Matthew Carini did not kill anyone ... this time.

Maroon Musket "Unsung Hero"

#####

Coming Soon, To A Basement Near You

Well I guess it's official:  I really am somebody now.  I have a band named after me.  (Not that I play an instrument.)

Gotta love the advertisement that oozed up on Reddit earlier today.  How very patriotic.  Or should I say pathetic?

Didn't Lil Wayne run into some trouble not long ago for accidentally walking on an American flag?

Hey at least the upside down cross is not soaking in a jar of urine.  

Meanwhile Amherst police paid my young friends at 621 East Pleasant Street, aka "Babe Town," a visit around 9:00 PM this evening.  I heard Dispatch tell the officers it was for loud music in the back yard, which sounded like a band, and that this was the third or fourth noise complaint in the past week.

Hmm ...

And Another One Gone

 Jim Kelly looking good

This month marks the 40th anniversary since the Mother of All Martial Arts movies first exploded on the big screen.

"Enter The Dragon" introduced the incomparable Bruce Lee to a worldwide audience.  Unfortunately only days before its mega successful debut, he died in Hong Kong from an allergic reaction to a common medicine taken to relieve a headache. 

I could use up a lot of bandwidth posting about the influence Bruce Lee had on an entire generation of martial artists, boxers, wrestlers, and action movie aficionados -- but nothing could compare to simply watching a snippet of the amazing man in action.



Another star who briefly lit up the silver screen alongside Bruce in that  breakthrough picture was a black martial artist with a big Afro and, seemingly, an even bigger ego.  But as they once said about Bruce Lee: he was cocky, but he could back up the cockiness with physical prowess.

Jim Kelly died over the weekend.  He was 67.  But I will always remember him as that twenty- something fleet of foot karate fighter, one of the best of his time.

That was a time in America when Sport Karate was just starting to take off, where on any weekend anywhere in America you could find a high school gymnasium overflowing with men, women and children dressed in karate gis, grouped according to belt color awaiting a two-minute match.

When the bad guy, Han, confronts Williams (the Jim Kelly character) saying he needed to learn humility through defeat, Williams responds, "I don't waste my time with it. When it comes, I won't even notice ... I'll be too busy looking g-o-o-d."

As the bad guy then prepares for the climactic fight to the death, Williams sneers, 'Man, you come right out of a comic book."

Like most top tournament karate competitors at the time Jim Kelly hoped his martial arts prowess would lead to other lucrative opportunities, since the tournament wins usually paid off in over-sized trophies.

My favorite  Jim Kelly quote comes not from a movie but from an article in Black Belt magazine where he lamented, "Trophies don't put gas in my car."

Like tournament karate itself,  Jim Kelly never quite reached the sustained pinnacle of financial success so richly deserved.  But he could always be counted on for  "looking good."

Now, for eternity.