Reflective Demonstrator

Peace & Unity Rally: The Long View

(Click on image to enlarge.)

Batgirl To The Rescue!

The Dissenter

PLATTSBURGH CITY, NY - 11-19-16

This afternoon a boisterous but non-confrontational rally held at Trinity Park expressed progressive concerns through handheld signs: global warming, gay rights, etc.  The signs also expressed a willingness to reach out to others, trying to overcome political differences in light of Trump winning the presidential election: Unity, Love, Peace.  Drivers honked in agreement as they drove by. Someone with an opposing view across the street expressed his opinion with the classic throat-slashing gesture.


Update:  11/28/16  The man in the photo says he was provoked when someone in the Peace & Unity rally shouted "Fuck Trump."  He questioned the sincerity of the rally members regarding their message of unity.  As a Trump supporter he's against socialism and communism, for example, free college.

Racism Is Not A Plattsburgh Value

Plattsburgh City, NY - Nov. 18, 2016

(C) 2016 Luke T. Bush

A colorful sign drawn in large letters on the sidewalk catches my eye.  LOVE  ZONE.

I stop to photograph the sidewalk chalk message.  A woman -- the owner of a restaurant -- pauses to tell me the story behind the sign.  Her neighbor -- a fellow restaurateur -- has been the target of harassment by racists.

Online I learn more about the situation (see link below.)

Tenzin Dorjee is a naturalized citizen who co-owns the Himalaya Restaurant.  He immigrated from Bhutan, a kingdom in the Eastern Himalayas in South Asia.  Tenzin has felt welcome in the North Country -- that is until Donald Trump became President-elect. Since then the restaurateur has encountered racial slurs in public.  One time a car driver cut Tenzin off, shooting him the middle finger gesture.  Tenzin is concerned the harassment won't stop there.

Across the US ignorant bigots are emboldened by Trump's win.  Not surprising since the Republican stirred up so much hatred during his campaign with his Us versus Them rhetoric.

Lately Trump has taken the edge off of his extreme xenophobic rhetoric.  He stated that there should be no acts of discrimination. But his fervent white supremacist followers think: "He's just saying that for the public.  He's really one of us."

Be aware.  Amerika is rising.



Source: Harassed, afraid, a North Country immigrant fights back with love - Zach Hirsch

http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/32951/20161117/harassed-afraid-a-north-country-immigrant-fights-back-with-love

Series Kicks Off With Locally Lensed Movie

PLATTBURGH CITY, NY -- Nov. 16, 2016   The Third Lake Champlain International Film Festival opened its five day run with Frozen River, a crime/drama lensed in the North Country.  Writer/Director Courtney Hunt (pictured above) made a special visit to Plattsburgh to introduce her movie at the Strand.  

Actress Melissa Leo (pictured below) who portrayed the protagonist in Frozen River delivered a special message via a video recording to the audience.  She thanked locals who greatly helped with the film's production.

Only ten dollars provides access to all film showings during the festival. More info on the series at this link: http://bit.ly/2fXUqe5 
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The Mugger

Award

(C) 2016 Luke T. Bush

PLATTSBURGH, NY - Oct. 22, 2016

Saturday afternoon 30 City Community Center hosted a Harvest Party to unveil the outdoor mural created by artist Gharan Burton. The painted display covers a large expanse of wall in the alleyway behind the North Country Food Co-Op.  Outdoor Art: Plattsburgh Public Art Project sponsored the mural's creation. A master plan is set in motion to revitalize the alleyway area for outdoor dining.  During the Harvest Party Colin Read (left) gave a special award to Gharan Burton in appreciation for his work.

Cache Me If You Can

(C) 2016 Luke T. Bush

Time to find some hidden treasure.  You never know what you might discover.

My geocaching guide plans to spend the afternoon driving around, uncovering new treasure.  He's ready with GPS coordinates from online and his smartphone to aid him in zeroing in on each location.  A geocacher can be either a placer -- someone who hides treasure -- or a locator -- someone searching out the treasure.

A locator being in the general area of the treasure is only the first part. Geocachers place each treasure so that it's hard to find by searchers. The containers may be hidden inside a tree or pipe or maybe even hidden under a guard rail out in the countryside.

Geocache containers come in a variety of sizes and shapes.  Sometimes the container is hidden in plain view.  In one spot there's a few bolts embedded in a wooden post.  But one of them is not real.  My guide pops out the pseudo-bolt, unscrews the container to retrieve the list inside of others who have been there before.

He unrolls the list and my guide adds his name to previous geocaching sleuths.  Then he returns the list to inside the pseudo-bolt, caps it, and puts it back in the posthole.

After seeing how the game is played I manage to spot another hiding spot, this one concealed behind a red traffic reflector.  My guide tells me that before a container is placed on private property permission is needed from the land owner.  Sometimes there is some trouble when a geocacher doesn't follow the rules of the game, cutting across private property to get to a public area where the cache is located.  Online information tells if permission has been granted.

A container might hold little items for younger participants.  One cache contained tiny plastic toys and even an old cardboard pog.

A searcher can find a Geocache Buddy or travel bug, a metal tag that travels from cache to cache.  The tag comes in a variety of shapes and themes like a dog tag, ghost or animal.

My guide carries a travel bug shaped like a turtle, a cartoon turtle depicted on one side.  Flip “Tyler Turtle” over and stamped directions explain the Cache Buddy's purpose.  The geocacher is told to log online to www.geocaching.com and log the tag’s individual tracking number before relocating it to another cache.  This is like a game within a game, tracking a tag’s travels online.

How active is geocaching in Clinton County?  Some signature lists are long when revealed, crammed with names and dates. Looks busy to me.  

So if that guy you notice repeatedly searching in one spot it's not necessarily someone who lost his car keys.  He could be on the hunt for hidden treasure.

Just Humming Along

(C) 2016 Luke T. Bush

While the PlattInfo kiosks around Plattsburgh are supposed to offer information to tourists their screens remain blank.  Due to the agreement made to secure funds for the kiosks the units have to remain in place -- despite being dead -- for a specified time period.

Actually one of the kiosks isn't completely dead.  The one on City Hall Place near Macdonough Monument is humming, apparently drawing power.  You can distinctly hear the humming when standing behind the kiosk.  A small energy vampire wasting electricity and taxpayer money.

Just humming along, not singing a song,
bye, bye, money.

See and hear the humming kiosk with this link.

How many more useless hums will be bought with the $10 million grant awarded to the city?