What do you think?
Cam’s blog for July 24, 2011
The news seemed quite full the other day. In a jarring snapshot of modern life, the Monterey County Herald placed five items on their front page:
· “Close the book on Borders”
· “Green Vehicles goes under”
· “Out-of-shape baby boomers facing future health problems”
· The Moto GP motorcycle races
· The Salinas Rodeo
Let’s review these one at a time.
CLOSE THE BOOKS ON BORDERS
Borders Books, an Ann Arbor, Michigan company founded in 1971 by brothers Tom and Louis Borders, went completely out of business, releasing its 19,500 employees into the already-flooded employment marketplace. Here in Monterey, California about 200 folks will be competing for slave-wage jobs at places like CVS and Jamba Juice.
Borders began as an 800-square-foot used bookstore during the brothers’ undergraduate college years and evolved into a chain of huge, we-have-it-all entertainment department stores with coffee kiosks. People had a chance to while away an afternoon studying or reading, but not buying anything more than a cup of coffee.
Amazon.com saw the opportunity and swooped in with anything you want at wholesale prices, frequently for half of what Borders charged. Did I take advantage of this? Hell yes. I got laid off two years ago. Money’s hard to earn and I spend it as efficiently as I can.
So adios, Borders. Maybe you just got tired, but it looks to me like you hit a dead-end and couldn’t adapt to the digital age. We’ll see how Barnes & Noble fares through it.
GREEN VEHICLES GOES UNDER
This one bothers me a lot more than Borders. It smacks of fraud and preying on the good will of people who want get off the gasoline jug and transition to something new.
Green Vehicles came to the city of Salinas in 2009 like the very breath of salvation. They took over the old Firestone plant with the (grant-funded) promise of manufacturing a fully electric, 3-wheeled car called the Triac, which had a 100-mile range and a top speed of (gasp) 80 mph. Everyone saw the possibilities: An advanced, highly-sought, clean motor vehicle made in the U.S. Hundreds of young Salinas people being trained to assemble the cars, giving them a decent life away from gangs. A thunderbolt to the local economy, housing, libraries, schools, hospitals. The American Dream comes home to Salinas. The leaders of that city believed it, and they ponied up more than half a million bucks.
But something wasn’t right. The cars were not appearing on the road. In my role as chief contributor to the Cedar Street Times “Green Page,” I contacted a man named Lee Colin—whose title with the company was unclear—and asked for a tour of the facility. Colin referred me to company president Michael Ryan, who referred me back to Colin. Colin said I would not be allowed to tour the plant, but I could see the car. That seemed odd to me. Regardless, I figured I would take what was offered and we set up a time for me to have a ride in a Triac.
On the appointed day, I called Colin to make sure we were still on. Colin said he thought it was for a different day and had made other plans. At that point, frankly, I lost interest.
Since they’ve closed I’ve become very interested again. What happens to the money? Will these modern-day carpetbaggers have to pay it back? Where are they now? There’s nothing out at the old Firestone plant except one Triac and some empty pallets. I want answers, and perhaps justice.
Because I write for a Pacific Grove newspaper, I’m not sure how much cooperation I’ll get out in Salinas. But as Al Pacino said in The Insider, “I am now two things: pissed off and curious!”
OUT-OF-SHAPE BABY BOOMERS FACING FUTURE HEALTH PROBLEMS
All I can do is laugh at this one. The last American president to really encourage physical fitness got his head blown off. A weak population is easily controlled. The boomers are a generation raised on television, McDonalds, faster cars, longer commutes and a dysfunctional health care system. Throw in computers, take away our pensions, bankrupt our 401 k’s, foreclose our mortgages and then force many of us into “early retirement” (unemployment). You bet your ass we’re facing health problems, and money problems.
MOTO GP
The international motorcycle races are in town and nearly every motel is full. Buses are shuttling race fans back and forth from CSUMB to Laguna Seca. The event brings hundreds of screaming motorcycles and huge revenues each July to an area hard-hit by a decline in tourism. It’s noisy and crowded, and then the town will become a dead, exhausted thing for the following week. I really have no gripe about any of this, other than concerns for safety. There had been two crashes on Highway One as of Thursday. I do wish there was more genuine interest in electric cars to balance people’s fanatical interest in racing and sports.
CALIFORNIA RODEO SALINAS
Kelli Uldall, lead photographer for Carmel Magazine, loves animals. Her magazine work is superb; but she really got my attention with a series of shots she posted on facebook last year from the Salinas Rodeo. Using a powerful zoom lens, she captured the terrified facial expressions of horses, calves and steers as they are hurled to the ground and dragged by the neck.
This year, I watched a video taken at the 2005 Salinas Rodeo. Again using a zoom lens, the videographer caught a cowboy in the act of shocking a horse with a stun gun before releasing the “bucking bronco” from the pen. The cowboy slips the gun into his back pocket, right under the nose of the “rodeo judge” who is there to make sure the animals are “handled properly.” More stories are surfacing about rodeo brutality.
This one bothers me the most, and there seems to be little I can do about it. Driving past the Salinas Sports Complex today, a line of vehicles ran a good half-mile down North Main waiting to get in. Rodeo is as American as apple pie. However, these folks are supporting the brutalization of defenseless animals in the name of sport, and then passing those values to their children. It will take a lot to change that. One guy can’t do it. Personally, I will not risk getting my teeth kicked in by a mob of cowboys to protect animals that will be brutalized anyway. This is a call to every animal rights group, every legislator, every law enforcement officer and everyone who keeps a pet. My part will be to investigate. I’m curious about the history of rodeo. For example, how did they get those horses to buck before stun guns were invented? Fire ants under the saddle?
As for the other four stories:
Borders: They got fat, dumb and lazy.
Green Vehicles: Shame on you, but the city leaders were gullible.
Out-of-shape boomers: We’re probably not facing any more health problems than any other generation hitting 65. Many didn’t live that long.
Moto GP: Please encourage your fans to be courteous and drive safely while they are visiting our home.
