SOLON & BEYOND: Somerset County 4-H Leaders Association to hold auction, activities on May 5

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Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percyby Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Good morning, dear friends. Don’t worry, be happy!

Was very pleased to receive the following very interesting news about Somerset County 4-H Leader’s Association 2018. Officers for this are Eleanor Pooler, president; Sherry Grunder, vice president; Lori Swenson, secretary and Karen Cornell, treasurer.

Ted Blum 4-H Center

The Somerset County 4-H Leaders Association is holding a fundraising effort: a “Luck of the Draw” Auction on May 5, in Skowhegan.

4-H is the largest youth organization in the world. Our 13 local Somerset County 4-H clubs and independent project volunteers/ members learn life skills and participate in community service activities. Research studies document that 4-H youth are more likely to go on to college than youth engaged in other out-of-school programs. We provide funds to enable youth to participate in programs like Engineering Day, the 4-H @ UMaine Conference, summer camps and various county educational activities along with awarding county scholarships to youth who attend college. In an effort to reach more youth, we are coordinating with local schools and teachers to establish afterschool programs.

Would you be so kind as to help by donating an item or gift card? Many people love gift certificates for services or fun events. We are collecting new items or gently used things; no used clothing please. Your cash donations may also be used to purchase gas cards, a popular item in the auction for much needed help to many local residents. Items may be dropped at the Skowhegan Cooperative Extension Office.

Your donation will help further the leadership skills developed and demonstrated by many youths participating in our county. We would love to acknowledge your contribution by listing your name or organization. The above letter was signed by Lori B. Swenson, Secretary, Somerset County Leaders Association, UMaine Extension Office, 7 County Drive, Skowhegan, Maine 04976. (207) 474-9622

Now for the monthly news from Solon’s Pine Tree 4-H Club from leader, Eleanor Pooler: The Solon Pine Tree 4-H Club met at the Solon Fire Station with three leaders, nine members and seven visitors in attendance.

Plans are being made for the club to do flowers for Mothers Day at the Solon Congregational Church. Several members are planning to attend to pass out the flowers.

The Somerset County Leaders Association is planning to have a “Luck of the Draw” auction on May 5 at the American Legion Hall, on Route 201, in Skowhegan. Anyone wanting more information can contact Eleanor Pooler at 643-2305.

Five members gave their demonstrations. This is something that members are asked to do each year.

After the meeting the members enjoyed doing a craft project. The next meeting will be on Saturday, May 12 at 9:30 a.m., at the Solon Fire Station.

Several columns ago, I shared a letter I received from the Somerset Woods Trustees. This is just a reminder that they would appreciate volunteers to help clear the Kennebec Banks Rest Area on April 22. Please bring whatever tools you may have to dig, cut, and trim. We should dig out the Japanese knotweed and honeysuckle. Please bring your gloves. We’ll supply the doughnuts and hot chocolates.

And so for Percy’s memoir entitled, “Life’s Adventure”:

Life is a great adventure,
Each day a new surprise,
So sweep the cobwebs from your heart,
And open up your eyes.
Sorrow flees the sunlight,
So throw the windows wide,
And watch the brightness flooding in,
Warm everything inside.
Life is a great adventure,
For those who would explore
The road winds upward and the wind
Taps lightly at the door.
And should the day be cloudy,
No reason to complain,
When trees along the avenue,
Are singing in the rain.
Life is a great adventure,
Each day that passes by.
A dazzling panorama
As broad as it is high.
Beyond all comprehension,
The wonder of the spheres,
When one by one the hours make
A ladder of the years.

(words by Grace E. Easley.)

FOR YOUR HEALTH: Reuniting Long-Lost Loved Ones

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(NAPSI) — Imagine your family members are caught up in an international disaster or armed conflict and you have no idea where they are or even if they are still alive.

Where could you turn? Fortunately, the world’s largest humanitarian network can help.

How It Works

The Red Cross can reconnect loved ones when:

  • Families are separated internationally as a result of conflict, disaster, migration or other humanitarian emergency.
  • Families have already tried normal channels of communication to reconnect.
  • The family member making the inquiry is a relative who had been in direct contact with the sought person before the crisis occurred.

The Red Cross’s family re-connection services are free and confidential.

“I Am Alive”

The three simple words, “I am alive,” can bring peace of mind after disasters. But after Hurricanes Irma and Maria slammed into the Caribbean, most people had very little opportunity to impart that crucial message to family members. So Red Cross teams there carried mobile hotspots along with relief supplies. “Witnessing people shed tears of joy when they connect with their loved ones has been the highlight of this mission,” said Colin Chaperon, American Red Cross’s Emergency Field Operations Lead.

A Century Of Reconnecting Families

In fact, the Red Cross has been helping loved ones separated by disaster, crisis and conflict to reconnect for more than 100 years. These days, thanks to technology, this type of humanitarian aid continues to evolve—bringing along with it hope and relief for families around the globe.

Through these services, the organization reconnected young refugee brothers in the United States with their mother in Africa; Polish twins who hadn’t seen one another in 68 years; and many others from Asia and the Middle East who had lost touch with family during wartime.

Learn More

If you’re ever looking for a lost family member who fits the criteria above, contact your local Red Cross chapter, call the free national helpline (844) 782-9441 or go to www.redcross.org/contact-us/international-reconnecting-families-inquiry-form.

To volunteer your time or donate money to help others, go to redcross.org/reconnectingfamilies.

SCORES & OUTDOORS: Pink flamingos, yes; but pink pigeons?

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pink pigeon

Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

I came across something quite interesting last week while watching the Animal Planet network. It was a story about Pink Pigeons. Now, you have your general, run-of-the-mill rock doves, or common pigeons, that we all know all too well, marking up our landscape and just making a plain nuisance of themselves in parks, parking lots, and at backyard feeders. But these guys, the pink pigeons, were a little different.

Pink pigeons, not classified as a true pigeon, are endemic to Mauritius, an island nation in the Indian Ocean about 1,200 miles off the southeast coast of the African continent.

The pink pigeon was on the brink of extinction in 1991 when only 10 individual birds remained, but its numbers have increased recently due to the efforts of the Durrell Wildlife Conservations Trust since 1977. While the population, estimated at 450 birds in 2011, is still of concern, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) downlisted the species from critically endangered to endangered in 2000. A healthy captive population is also kept as “backup.”

Reclassified with recent DNA tests, the pink pigeon is more closely related to the Madagascar turtle dove, and has been suggested that it takes its place with a genus mostly contained as turtle doves.

An adult pink pigeon is about 14 – 15 inches in length from its beak to tail. They have pale pinkish-gray plumage on their head, shoulders and underside, along with pink feet. The beak is a drak pink color with a white tip.They have dark brown wings, and a broad, rust-colored tail. Their eyes are dark brown surrounded by an eye-ring of red skin.

A related subspecies, the Reunion pink pigeon, that resided on the neighboring Reunion Island, became extinct around 1700. As of 2016, there are five locations where wild populations of the pink pigeon can be found. Four of these locations belong to Black River Gorges National Park and the fifth to the Isle aux Aigrettes.

The species is not migratory.

They prefer upland evergreen forests, although they can also be found in coastal forests as long as the vegetation is native and not dominated by introduced species such as Chinese Guava or the privet. Destruction of such primal forests has been a major cause for its decline in numbers.

There are more males than females in the population due to a greater life expectancy of the male – about five years more. One reason for the difference is that producing eggs is extremely taxing on the female. Female birds are nearly constantly producing eggs – similar to the domesticated chickens. This can end up totaling to a large metabolic tax on the female’s survival.

Habitat degradation, introduced predators and wildlife disease are the major ongoing threats to the pink pigeon’s survival. Only two percent of the native forest remains on Mauritius. Common predators include the crab-eating macaque, the small Asian mongoose, rats and feral cats. Invasive plants such as the Chinese guava and privet dominate native forest plants, preventing their growth.

Feeding stations that provide supplementary feed may accelerate the spread of disease between individuals, since they congregatge at greater than normal numbers at stations. An ongoing concern faced by the pink pigeons, as by many other endangered species that exist in small remnant populations, is inbreeding depression.

Several foundations and organizations have contributed to conservation efforts. In addition to direct conservation efforts such as captive breeding, genetic research, and supplementary feeding efforts, more general research on the species may aid in the formation of more applicable conservation actions.

It’s an interesting species of bird that exists in only a small area of the world, far away from central Maine. But it’s still interesting to learn about this wildlife that I had not heard of a week ago.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

Which MLB pitcher owns the distinction of having won the most games, and having lost the most games during his career?

Answer can be found here.

IF WALLS COULD TALK, Week of April 12, 2018

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Katie Ouilette Wallsby Katie Ouilette

Yes, faithful readers and all those that are eager for Spring, just remember that this is Maine and be especially happy that we all are in the state of our U.S.A. that is known for our being genuine. Yes, we are a genuine and caring population and there are writings by a variety of people that prove it!

You all know that I have two television programs by way of BeeLine TV-11, but somehow WALLS know that you who are faithful readers do not connect the dots.

The dots? Well, there are several schools in the Skowhegan Area that are not affiliated with SAD #54.

We have a charter school in downtown Skowhegan now, but have you thought about The Marti Stevens School has been across from the SAD #54 Superintendent’s Office for a long time. Actually, and it has nothing to do with the dots, but the superintendent’s office is located at what was the Horne Farm.

Yes, we all do get older and I have Horne’s Farm milk bottles on a shelf in our kitchen! Remember when milk used to be delivered at our doorsteps?

O.K., WALLS, we spent a minute reminiscing, but let’s tell everyone that Skowhegan Heritage Council has a new member. Yup, Barry Sites has joined us and, bet you guessed…he is a daily affiliate at The Marti Stevens School. So, the dots have been connected!

That reminds WALLS that so few younger folks are interested in history any more. Why? Yes, yes, we of yesteryear thought of our future and were set on preparing for it, but we also learned that our future was based on the information garnered throughout the past, for us to build on in the future. Students, this is for you…always remember that your present in your future exist because someone worked hard to make today happen and the future awaits for you. Take it from me, I haven’t forgotten Miss Thompson’s teaching me in the first grade at Lincoln School, on Leavitt Street, in Skowhegan….and I am now 87 years young.

I’m Just Curious: Medieval times?

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by Debbie Walker

When I was going to school I hated any mention of Ancient History (very old timie stuff)! Why would I care what happened that far back. The only history class I ever looked forward to was Maine History, supposed to be taught in my eighth grade. No! They stopped teaching it when I was in the seventh grade; that was the last year it was taught in our school! I’ll catch up to it sometime!

A friend of mine sat waiting for me to come out of the bionic knee surgery; she found me a magazine she thought I would be interested in. What terrible thing did I ever do to her that she would buy “Collector’s Edition Medieval Life?” It contains stories of ordinary people in the Middle Ages. It has just enough odd subjects to capture my interest! Some of the articles are:

Inside the Medieval Mind
Revealing Underwear
Medieval Postal System
Eight Dangers of the Medieval Period
Living With Leprosy
How to Send a Letter
Can We Understand the Medieval Psyche?

I suppose people have done a lot of research of ancient books, letters, etc. I would wonder how they managed to get up in the mornings. Depressing! “Fifteen Signs Before Doomsday,” just a little taste of their readings. Superstitions and reminders of death and what was feared to come after were ever present in their lives and art.

Where I don’t have the attitude for Ancient History I do have the attitude of interest for a different life and what appears to me to be a great deal of superstitions.

I read some of the information about clothing. Some of it was discovered under a floor and in fair shape. The thing that made me laugh out loud was women didn’t wear bras; they wore “breast bags”!

Some of their pets in Medieval Times were parrots, red squirrels and weasels.

I don’t know how Lene picked out this magazine but I was actually enjoying this reading today. It wasn’t full of … and this happened in 1492, test tomorrow!

The 8 Dangers of the Medieval Period:

Bad weather, Heresy, Famine, Childhood, Child Birth, Violence, Hunting and Early Death.

Then, of course, there was thievery, prostitution, bribery and murder.

(Is that different than now?)

It was said ‘Prostitution was as much a part of life as the saying of prayers and repenting of sins.’

So much for Medieval Times…..

I came across a couple of neat tidbits in my latest magazine.

You can use cooking spray to help speed dry your polished finger nails.

Polish nails, do top coat, 30 seconds later spritz with cooking oil.

A carpenter told me that you can use cooking spray to quiet squeaking hinges. I loved that one!

Clean your paint covered hands with it. Spray with cooking oil then rub it in.

Okay, I’m just curious if this will be our last snow storm, plleeaassee.

Contact me at dwdaffy@yahoo.com. Thanks for reading!

REVIEW POTPOURRI – Musician: Sidney Bechet; Albums: Charlie Daniels Band; Opera: Bellini

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Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Sidney Bechet

The Blue Bechet
RCA Victor LPV-535, LP reissue of 78 originals, released 1966.

Sidney Bechet

To call Sidney Bechet (1897-1959) an ornery cuss would be an understatement. He was COLD – willfully mean, self-centered, and capricious in his cruelty to others. One night, he was drinking tiny glasses of booze, one after another, while listening to a performer he didn’t like in a club. As he emptied each glass, he would throw it at the player.

He was also one supremely talented performer on the clarinet and soprano sax. His playing had an expressive beauty that was uniquely his own. There is not a single selection among the 16 on the above record that is less than good.

Charlie Daniels Band

In America; Blue Skies
Epic- 9-50888, stereo 45, recorded 1979.

Charlie Daniels

Now 81, Charlie Daniels and his band have carved out a significant niche in what could best be described as country rock, tinged with blues. He formed the group in 1955, shortly after high school graduation, but it didn’t hit pay dirt until the mid-’70s, later escalating in 1979 with The Devil Went Down to Georgia.

In America was a patriotic reaction to the Iran hostage crisis and a good example of the six member group’s thoroughly drilled ensemble. Still, for my money, the B side, Blue Star, is an even stronger number in musical content and precision teamwork. Yet it is not listed in the otherwise thorough discography of the band on Wiki, despite the band’s success since 1979,

Daniels’s health has suffered at various times – from an arm severely broken in three places by a spinning auger, prostate cancer, pneumonia, a stroke and the installation of a pacemaker. In 2011, tragedy struck when the band’s longtime keyboardist, Taz DiGregorio, died in an automobile accident at 67.

But Daniels stays busy touring and has been honored for his musical contributions by official membership in the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Bellini

Sonnambula- Ah! Non Credea Mirarti (Could I Believe), from Act 3
Alma Gluck, soprano, with Walter B. Rogers conducting; Victrola-74263, acoustic 12-inch 78, recorded 1911.

Vincenzo Bellini

Although I do have several operas of Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835) on my shelves, I have not ever connected with them on the deepest level, as I have with ones by Rossini, Donizetti, Ponchielli, Verdi and Puccini – these being the most representative composers/geniuses in the Italian tradition. This disc of the great Alma Gluck (1884-1938) may change my attitude.

First, some context on the opera – it was a hit from the beginning and, inevitably, been used as a vehicle for singers with high notes of steel and beauty; the most famous interpreters are probably Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland, whose recordings are readily available.

The aria is most often referred to as the Sleepwalking Scene in which the heartbroken heroine is, naturally, walking in a deep sleep along a precipice. There are exquisite, separate obliggatos for the oboe and cello in which they blend with the singer. Some good news – the lady does not jump or fall, except in her lover’s arms and happily ever after.

For sheer beauty of phrasing and sustained line, Gluck rose so eloquently to the occasion. Her other Victor records, no matter whether opera arias or hymns, were consistently enjoyable. A shellac from the mid 1900s of Carry Me Back to Old Virginny was the first record by a classical artist to sell a million copies!

Finally, she was the mom of actor Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.

PAGES in TIME: Maine is the main thing

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by Milt Huntington

Just when you think everything good about the State of Maine has been said or read, you come across another platitude from another source that makes your chest swell with pride. Here we go again.

Almost every time I look out the window or go for a ride in the car, I see something else that makes me thankful that I live here in the Pine Tree State. Before I attempt to wax eloquently about my personal love for this incredible place, let me offer my credentials.

I was born on Bay View Street in Belfast, Maine, a stone’s throw from the harbor. It was on those rocky shores I played with my toy soldiers, watched the tides come and go, and sat behind a sloping ledge pretending I was operating a ship. I caught flounders off the Belfast wharf and picked berries on the embankments leading to the beach. I observed the mail boat arriving each day from Castine and the humongous Boston Boat when it docked on the outside of the wharf to discharge passengers from away. No one ever had a better playground than I. We moved to Augusta when I was ten.

To add further to my Maine credentials, I had the enviable pleasure of working with the old Maine Department of Economic Development. Equipped with a typewriter and camera, I was charged with the responsibility of promoting Maine’s recreational, agricultural and industrial pursuits. Talk about a labor of love, I would have done it for nothing. Well, maybe that’s carrying my enthusiasm a little far.

I did, however, serve without pay, as president of the Maine Publicity Bureau. In my days of work and play, I got to know Maine pretty well. I think back on those days of joy and remember attending the New England Governors’ Conference, in Rangeley, which was set deep in the woods on Kennebago Lake.

I was afforded the opportunity to handle publicity when Maine officials went to Fenway Park on Maine Day, and when Governor John Reed went to New York City for the opening of No Strings. The Broadway play, starring Richard Kiley and Dianne Carroll, featured a song about the Pine Tree State. It was called Maine is the Maine Thing, by Rogers and Hart. One verse went: “The fields and streams are like a frozen cup.” It stunk! So did the play. It closed after a couple of weeks.

We also visited back stage during rehearsals with the likes of Perry Como, Carol Burnett, Don Knots, Gary Moore and a bunch of other well-known stars of the day. Perry Como didn’t like Maine lobsters, but I photographed him with a dead one anyway. We orchestrated a contest between Maine clam chowder and Manhattan clam chowder. Maine won in the judgment of a nutritionist from Harvard who also raved about the healthful values of Maine sardines.

As far as Maine Day at Fenway Park is concerned, the DED and Old Orchard Beach cooked up a scheme to promote that incredible Beach area. Old Orchard girls, during the seventh inning stretch, swept the outfield with brooms to accentuate the cleanliness of their white sand beaches. Best of all, however, a ten-foot-long hot dog was trucked from Maine but became impounded by Bay State troopers for some perceived violation of the Pure Foods Act. Imagine the publicity we got with a story about a hotdog from Maine that was arrested in Massachusetts.

I was there for the dedication of Two Lights State Park, in Cape Elizabeth, having written the speech for Governor Reed who delivered the message against the beautiful backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean. Lady Bird Johnson was a special guest when she was the wife of the vice president. I heard her say she didn’t like potatoes, and I heard her aide say, “Yes you do. You’re in Maine.” Lady Bird proceeded to fill her plate.

On another occasion, I escorted a Japanese film star and her crew along the length of our marvelous coast as they filmed it all because it reminded them so much of the coast of northern Japan. The cute little Japanese TV star ate lobsters raw in Tennant’s Harbor and filmed seagulls the same day on a Bar Harbor wharf.

My other publicity score was when I was publicizing Maine at the Eastern States Exposition, in Springfield, Massachusetts. We had somehow arranged to obtain as a model for the day – Tina Louise, who appeared as Ginger Grant on the TV comedy Gilligan’s Island. I got to drive her around in my family car and photograph her in a Maine potato sack. My picture went everywhere thanks to the Associated Press.

Milt Huntington is the author of “A Lifetime of Laughter and Things That Make You Grin.”

ERIC’S TECH TALK: On the internet, the product being sold is you!

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by Eric W. Austin

How does it feel, sitting there on the digital shelf? Have you checked your best-buy date? I think I’m still good for a few more years yet.

It may not feel like it, but on the internet, the product companies are selling is you. Facebook isn’t a social media company, it’s a people factory. It processes you, formats you, and wraps you up in a neat little database. Then it mass produces you and sells you at a discount to anyone with a credit card.

Four years ago, a British political consulting firm named Cambridge Analytica, colluded in a campaign to capture profile information from Facebook users. In the end, it would lead to a scandal involving the user information of more than 70 million Americans, the use of psychometrics as a new political tool, and an influence campaign that may have turned the tide in two world-altering elections a continent apart.

Let’s start at the beginning. In 2014, a lecturer from Cambridge University, Aleksandr Kogan, formed a UK company called Global Science Research (GSR). He then developed a Facebook app posing as a personality survey. He paid American Facebook users $1 to $4 to download the app and fill out the personality test, for a total of nearly $800,000. In the process, those users gave the app permission to collect their profile data. Whether Kogan did this on his own or at the encouragement of Cambridge Analytica is open to debate, depending with whom you talk.

In any case, around 270,000 people downloaded the app and filled out the survey. Next to America’s population of 325 million, that may not sound like many people, but under Facebook rules at the time (which were changed in 2015 in response to this incident), when users gave the app permission to collect their profile data, they also gave the app permission to collect the profile information of their friends as well. Since the average Facebook user has between 100-500 friends, this meant the app was able to collect the profile information of nearly 87 million people.

The data they collected wasn’t simply ordinary information like work history and places lived. They also pulled other user data which Facebook collects, such as the posts you’ve ‘liked,’ status updates you’ve posted, and the groups you belong to.

Kogan then began working with another company, Strategic Communications Laboratories (SCL), the parent company of the aforementioned Cambridge Analytica. Up until this point, Kogan had not done anything illegal or against Facebook’s terms and conditions. But when he shared the data with SCL, he broke Facebook’s rules, which stipulate data acquired through an app cannot be shared with another entity without first obtaining Facebook’s permission.

SCL is a private behavioral research and strategic communications company, purchased by billionaire conservative donor, Robert Mercer, in 2013. They analyze large sets of data and attempt to identity patterns in it for use in political marketing. Taking Kogan’s data, with information about pages you follow, posts you like and create, comments you leave, and much, much more, a team of psychologists and data analysts looked for ways to target people for maximum effect. It’s called psychographic profiling and it’s the new weapon in political warfare.

Let me give you a real-world example of the type of data these apps collect. If I go to my Facebook settings and select ‘Apps,’ I get a list of the apps that I’ve used on Facebook. Clicking on an app pulls up a screen that tells me what permissions I have granted. In the app “80’s One Hit Wonders,” which I don’t even remember signing up for, it lists nearly 20 different categories of information to which the app has access. This includes my hometown, birth-date, friends list, work and education history, religious and political views, status updates and more than a dozen other categories. I am most definitely deleting this app.

This is the type of information Kogan shared with Cambridge Analytica, through their parent company SCL. Cambridge Analytica, a subsidiary of SCL founded just after Mercer’s acquisition of the company, was the brainchild of Mercer political advisor and former Trump Chief Strategist, Steve Bannon. The creation of Cambridge Analytica was an attempt to harness the psychological techniques of its parent company for the domestic political scene, and was used by several important political campaigns, including those of Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, as well as the Brexit initiative which successfully withdrew the United Kingdom from the European Union.

What sets SCL and Cambridge Analytica apart from other similar data-marketing companies is the way they approach their influence campaigns. They employ a developing science called “psychographic targeting.” This is the process of tweaking your market-targeting based on the psychological characteristics of your intended audience.

Cambridge Analytica’s parent company, SCL, first honed its skills in cyber-psychological warfare by messing with the elections in developing countries: “Psyops. Psychological operations – the same methods the military use to effect mass sentiment change,” a former Cambridge Analytica employee told The Guardian in May 2017. “It’s what they mean by winning ‘hearts and minds.’ We were just doing it to win elections in the kind of developing countries that don’t have many rules.”

This anonymous former employee is speaking about the company’s work prior to 2013, before the success of SCL’s foreign influence campaigns attracted the interest of wealthy American hedge fund manager and tech entrepreneur, Robert Mercer, and his political ally, Steve Bannon, who were looking to bring those modern techniques of psychological warfare to the political battlefield back home.

Imagine targeting users who are members of the Facebook group, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), with ads depicting horrific car crashes and a message suggesting one of the candidates in a political race will go easy on drunk drivers. Would such a campaign be likely to sway some of those voters, even if its claims were untrue?

Now, in lieu of drunk driving, imagine instead targeting the darkest aspects of human nature: racism, hate, sexism, the worst extremes of political partisanship. Afraid someone will take away your guns? There’s an ad for that. Worried about your religious liberty? Don’t worry, there’s an ad for that. Hate immigrants or Muslims? There’s a – well, you get the picture.

And it gets even more deeply duplicitous than that. Not only did they target the most vulnerable people on the political fringe, but those targeted ads might link to articles on fake news websites which look eerily similar to real news sites like Fox or MSNBC. The whole idea is to trick visitors into thinking they are viewing an article from a legitimate source. The web address of the page might be “msnbc.com.co” but most people won’t even notice the extra “co” at the end. Even the links back to the homepage at the top of the article will likely take visitors back to the real MSNBC website, so that anyone leaving the page will think they’ve just read an article published and endorsed by a legitimate news organization. In this way, innocent people become unwitting conspirators in spreading fake news; and it helps fuel the public’s current distrust of national news sources.

This scandal with Cambridge Analytica has caused an identity crisis for Facebook, too. On the surface, Facebook appears to be a platform designed to facilitate communication, and that is the description promoted by the company itself, but a number of cracks have begun to show through this carefully constructed facade.

The scary truth, which nobody wants to talk about, is that Facebook is a company designed to make money for its creators and stockholders. It does this by encouraging the sharing of personal data by its users, and then making that information available for use by marketers who buy ads on the platform. The more users the platform has, and the more data those users share, the more valuable Facebook is to its investors. Facebook is confronted with the dilemma of needing to reassure its users that their information is safe, even as their business model is designed to exploit the information of those very same users.

Facebook itself is built to addict its users. The more people using the platform, the more ads that can be shown, and the more money Facebook makes. The constant endorphin-spiking feedback loop of likes, notifications and updates, serves to addict users as surely as any drug. “They’ve created the attention economy and are now engaged in a full-blown arms race to capture and retain human attention, including the attention of kids,” says Tristan Harris, a former Google design ethicist, who now serves as a senior fellow for the nonprofit advocacy group, Common Sense Media.

The internet has changed the face of commerce. But the most important product being purchased on the internet is not the latest toy marketed on Amazon, or the newest video streaming service. In the internet age, the most valuable commodity is you. Your information, your vote, and your efforts in pushing the agenda of those with money, means, and power.

Eric W. Austin lives in China and writes about community issues and technology. He can be reached by email at ericwaustin@gmail.com.

SOLON & BEYOND: Invitation for bids out for road projects in Solon

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Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percyby Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Good morning, dear friends. Don’t worry, be happy!

Now for some news from the Solon Selectmen’s Office, from a statement given to me: You have been invited to bid on our 2018 Road Project. Project: repave Meeting House Road and South Solon Road. Bid deadline: April 25, 2018 at 6:30 p.m.

Bids must be filed with the Town Clerk at the Solon Town Office in a sealed envelope with “Road Bid” written on it. If mailed, mail to PO Box 214, Solon, Maine 04979; 207-643-2541 or Fax 207-643-2864 and “Attention Selectmen – Road Bid.” If hand delivered, it must be in a sealed envelope with “Road Bid” written on the envelope. No bids will be accepted after 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 25, 2018. The job must be completed by October 1, 2018.

Bids will be opened and read aloud at the meeting of the selectmen at the Solon Town Office Conference Room on Wednesday, April 25, at 6:30 p.m. After consideration of all bids the selectmen will announce their decision. The selectmen reserve the right to waive all formalities and to accept or reject any or all bids.

We reserve the right to accept or reject any and or all bids.

The newly-elected selectman, Keith Gallagher, will be taking over the position of overseeing the Solon Transfer Station and Tree Growth. Kerry Evangelista is now on the planning board. There are openings for anyone interested on the Coolidge Library Board and planning board.

Several notices have been sent out for tax liens.

That seems to be all the real news I could gather up this week, always waiting for your e-mails and letters telling about what’s going on in your life to share.

Several times during the many years I have been writing for different papers, people have told me, “You should write a book!” The other day when I was going through some boxes I found an envelope with three little books, (3″ x 3″) that I had made out of folded paper and written stories in them, way back when I was a child in Flagstaff. The names of these books were, The Book of an Adventure, Pailsblue, A Book of the Color, and The Book of Adventures and Buckingbronkos. (As you can see, my spelling wasn’t the best way back then!)

The word buckingbronkos brought back many memories and wonderment that I’m still alive to tell the story! I grew up on a farm and one day two of my cousins and I were in a pig pen where there were also apple trees, (I figure we were after the nice juicy apples)….But ….the older cousin dared me to ride a great big fat old pig! He was certainly old enough to know better, but I never turned down a dare, and probably too young to know better. My two cousins caught the pig and proceeded to put me on his back. My short little legs were not long enough to reach very far around his big fat old body, and, of course, there were no reins. As I can remember, it was a very short rough ride until he bucked me off on a huge, hard rock! Maybe some day when I don’t have real news, I’ll share this little book with you, then I can say, it was published! (what do you say, Roland?) In my later years, I’ve wondered if maybe I hit my head on the rock and that is why I’m such a nut now??

And now for Percy’s memoir entitled Sunshine: Come out into the sunlight, Heart of mine; Why linger in the shadows And repine! Winter’s snows can’t last forever, Neither pain; Oh, come out into the sunlight Once again! In the blue the birds were singing Up above; Throw away thy gloom and sadness All is love! Oh, come out into the sunshine, Soul of mine; Never wert thou made for darkness, Love is thine! (words by Ralph Spaulding Cushman.)

Lief and I went snowshoeing one beautiful bright sunshiny day recently and it was a great feeling to be out and about in such glory to behold!

FOR YOUR HEALTH – Help Detector Dogs: Don’t Pack A Pest

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(NAPSI) — If you’ve returned to the U.S. from an international trip, you’ve no doubt seen beagles with blue jackets sniffing luggage in the baggage claim area. Visitors to Hawaii and Puerto Rico may also see these four-legged officers in green jackets helping to find prohibited fruits and vegetables hidden in luggage. As cute as they are, these detector dogs, who work alongside U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials and USDA, are performing an important job. They are helping to keep harmful invasive pests out of our country, including 19 called Hungry Pests, which can severely damage our crops, trees and landscapes.

Invasive pests cost our country $40 billion each year in damages and related costs. They come from other countries and can spread quickly, since they have few natural predators here. These invasive insects and plant diseases are the reason we are losing oranges to citrus greening disease, and ash trees—a popular shade tree in parks and communities—to the emerald ash borer beetle. But by knowing what not to bring back, you can help protect so much that we love.

Detector dogs help human inspectors catch incoming materials that may be otherwise overlooked. Through their keen sense of smell, the dogs can quickly scan unopened bags and alert USDA and Customs officials as to which ones should be hand-inspected. In fact, dogs are able to detect a single scent among many overlapping ones. And, on average, they have hundreds of millions of scent-detecting cells, as compared to humans, who only have five million.

Why are beagle and beagle mixes chosen for this role? Because of their smaller size and gentle disposition, they are good around people and tend not to be intimidating. They also have a keen appetite, so happily train and work for treats. Most of the dogs come from shelters. Those selected are sent to the USDA National Detector Dog Training Center in Georgia, where they go through rigorous training. Those who successfully complete the program become detector dogs.

Be thankful these dogs are trained to find prohibited items before they enter the States. A seemingly harmless piece of fruit could carry an invasive pest hidden inside. And if it finds its way to your neighborhood, your trees and plants could be its next target for destruction.

So, what is safe to bring back home? Small quantities of canned foods or foods packed in vacuum-sealed jars (except those that contain meat or poultry) are generally allowed. Some fresh fruits, vegetables, plants, flowers and agriculture items may also be allowed, but only after they’ve been inspected and cleared by USDA or Customs officials. Be sure to visit USDA’s “Traveler Information” page before your return trip to learn more and always declare all food, plants and other agriculture items to USDA or Customs officials.

When it comes to protecting our country from invasive pests, you can make all the difference. Be wise when traveling and know what’s safe to bring back, so you don’t pack a pest. Learn more by visiting www.HungryPests.com.