Sunday, March 22, 2009

Idle Mills

Welcome to north country. The roads are flat and straight up here. You pass Ford dealerships and farms everywhere you go. Trucks are the personal vehicle of choice. Some are rusted out with the word “redneck” proudly decalled on the front windshield. Others are cherry mint, right off the lot. And many have Calvin pissing on the Ford or Chevy symbol depending on the drivers preference. Calvin and Hobbes was a fun cartoon. It taught me a lot about the power of imagination. Somehow, Calvin was highjacked by the 4X4 culture. Although the comic strip is retired, its legacy lives on in streams of urine on the back of many pickups.

Packing plants, cheese factories, and a pharmaceutical firm make up some of these communities alongside Lake Champlain. The most read periodical is the Church bulletin. The only news the local paper gets right according to the townsfolk is the obituaries.

Against this backdrop I saw for the first time, a wind farm. I was by exit 40 on the Adirondack Northway on my way to my parents house when I looked left and saw the huge white wind mills sprinkled all over a mountain. They must have been 40 miles away from me but I was still able to make out what they were. I told my dad what I saw. He asked me if I wanted to take a ride and see them up close. I said sure. We set off across the flat roads of north country. I was passed by a bunch of pickup trucks. They like speed up here even though there’s no place to go. I was on a road lined by evergreens when straight ahead, a windmill finally came into view. It was even larger than I thought it would be, and I was still miles away.

Finally, the trees cleared on both sides and we entered a town named, Churubusco, NY. The windmills were everywhere. To the left, to the right, in the middle of cornfields and on hills. They were in the backyards of a double wide lot and in the fields of a farm.

I pulled off the road at the only store in town. It was called, “Dicks Country Oasis. Guns Gas Groceries and Guitars.” In the parking lot of the store, I looked at the windmills some more. They were massive. I felt like an ant next to them. Some people think these contraptions will ruin America’s landscapes. I’ve got to disagree with them, they’re more pleasing to the eye than a smoke stack or a nuke plant.

Although it was breezy, the blades weren’t spinning. I asked my dad why. He said that with the economy tanking some banks pulled funding and laid off technicians and maintenance personnel. With all the infrastructure in place it seems a shame that they can’t just flick a switch, catch the wind and harness some energy for people to use.

The future of energy is no longer in the future. It stands idle, here in Churubusco, NY. The new grid is visible in the parking lot of Dick’s Country Oasis, guns, gas, groceries, and guitars. The mills stand tall and proud amongst cornfields, double wides, and tin roofs in north country, waiting for a switch to be flicked.
Excited to post but i can't cut and paste into BLAHG!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

We Are The Roots - Opening Day, Soon

We Are The Roots has finished announcing the core staff of writers for now. The site will be open for blogging starting Sunday, March 22nd. Thank you all for contributing.

The Roots Reach Oregon

The first member of the Oregon branch has been announced. By default, he is also team captain.



-Brandon Nikola-
  • Works as a Direct Care Provider
  • Studies at PCC, Geography major.
  • Political Affiliation: "Politics are in the mind, but help is in the heart."
Along with his team captain responsibilities, Brandon is also taking on the role of recruiter for the Oregon branch.

New York Branch Announced!

The roots continue their branching phase as three members of the New York team have been announced. They are:


-Mike Ferrara-
  • Currently Substitute Teaching.
  • Graduated from SUNY New Paltz, Education - Elementary, English major.
  • Mike has his own personal blog at TheApathyWar.Blogspot.com
  • Political Affiliation - No Comment

-Eric Duffy-

-Steve Plummer-
  • Unemployed
  • Sarcasm Incarnate
  • Political Affiliation - "Lemming"

More writers from New York are also to be announced. Next Stop --> Oregon!

Derek Lejcar Rounds Out Chicago Team

Derek Lejcar has become the final member of the Chicago branch. He currently works at a law firm and is attending National-Louis University and will be graduating with a degree in Business Management.

Political Affiliation: "Conservative Libertarian".

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Elizabeth Andonova Represents for Chicago

Elizabeth Andonova has decided to become a member of the Chicago Branch. She is studying at Loyola University of Chicago as a Psychology/Criminal Justice major. She's the second best looking writer on staff so far (see Sean Mallory).

Elizabeth aligns her political views with this quote from Dr. Kenneth Bisson,

"Libertarianism is what your mother taught you: behave yourself and don't hit your sister".

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Dan Cassettari Added To Team Chicago

Dan Cassettari has joined the group representing Chicago on "We Are The Roots". He, like Jade Bartlett, is a Frontline Representative for Greenpeace. We're psyched to add his name to the list of Chicago's own.

Chicago Branch Announced

We Are The Roots has announced the first five writers in the Chicago branch... Get it? Branch? Oh, nevermind. The list is as follows.


-Sean Mallory (me)-
  • Creator/Editor of "We Are The Roots".
  • Also a writer for the online Political Cafe, theREBUTTAL.com
  • Political Affiliation - "Independent in every single sense of the word."

-Ian Pajer-Rogers-
  • Green Jobs Field Organizer for MoveOn.org
  • Graduated from the University of New Hampshire, Political Science/English major.
  • Ian has his own personal blog at RationalEarthlings.Blogspot.com
  • Political Affiliation - "Somewhere between Anarcho-Syndicalism and Classic Conservative."

-Keeton Chamberlain-
  • Greenpeace Campaign Coordinator.
  • Political Affiliation - "Very Liberal."

-Jade Bartlett-
  • Greenpeace Frontline Representative/Team Leader.
  • Graduated from Lake Forest, Studio Art/Creative Writing major.
  • Political Affiliation - "Liberal."

-Jimmy Ray-
  • Former Greenpeace City Coordinator.
  • Graduated from Columbia College, Theatre major.
  • Political Affiliation - "Other."

More Chicago-based writers are expected to be added. Next stop --> New York.

We are still looking for writers. If you'd like to contribute, send an email to WeAreTheRoots@Gmail.com

Monday, March 9, 2009

Welcome!


Welcome to the new political-based blog, We Are The Roots.

This blog is for any political or environmental tantrum you want to go on. We don't care if you are Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Green Party, Independent, Socialist, or need help with your affiliation crisis. As long as you have something to say, we'd love to hear it.

We are currently looking for writers. If you would like to be a featured writer for We Are The Roots, send an email to WeAreTheRoots@Gmail.com

This is a free site and we try to keep the ads to a minimum. So unless something remarkable happens, you will not be paid for your writing. However, we will provide an awesome site to blog about your opinions concerning anything in the political arena.

Hope you enjoy the site. Questions or suggestions can be sent to the email address provided above.