Solon Economou

Sheriff keeps it clean for Shining Sea Bikeway

   Joe Doud pauses on the path as an inmate works at cleaning filth off the wall.

As Cape Cod citizens and dignitaries gather on July 2 for the Shining Sea Bikeway extension dedication ceremonies in Falmouth, it won't be evident what the Sheriff's department has been doing to prepare for the celebration.  And that's the way Sheriff Jim Cummings wants it. 

Political speeches at the event notwithstanding, Cummings is making sure attendees have a "clean" forum by cleaning up graffiti and other offensive or distracting sights.

Joe Doud, 74, an East Falmouth resident and frequent user of the town's Shining Sea Bikeway, pauses for a moment (above) near the conclusion of his three-mile walk.  Doud strolls the popular trail three or four times a week. 

Behind him a Barnstable County inmate, assigned to a supervised labor crew and dispatched by Cummings, is hard at work removing graffiti that was scrawled on a bikeway wall.  Unremoved, the graffiti would have surely put a damper on the upcoming dedication ceremonies. 

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Helping feed Bourne's hungry

Sheriff Cummings receives John D. Fox Award in Bourne

   Ann Marie Riley presents Sheriff Jim Cummings with the John D. Fox Award in Bourne.

Barnstable County Sheriff Jim Cummings accepts the prestigious John D. Fox Award from Ann Marie Riley, coordinator of Bourne Friends Food Pantry.  The accompanying ceremony, a late May Volunteer Appreciation reception, applauded the Sheriff for dispatching inmate crews to offload the pantry's weekly delivery of foodstuffs.  They have been doing it for about a year.

The plaque the Sheriff is holding (above) also singles out the three crew supervisors - Sgt. Joe Brait and Deputies Nick Bevilacqua and John Curry.  The award was named after John Fox, a Bourne resident who passed away several years ago after spending more than a decade as a pantry volunteer.  "When in doubt, give it out," was his motto on food distribution, according to the town's council on aging director. 

The council and its affiliate group, Friends of the Bourne Council on Aging, sponsored the reception.   

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Inmate workers ramp it up

Sheriff's community service crews build goodwill on Cape Cod

   Sara Putnam watches as inmate Fred Thompson builds a handicapped ramp for her front door.

Sara Putnam of Hyannis is 62 but she looks, sounds, and feels a whole lot older.  Four strokes, diabetes, and the grueling regimen of thrice-weekly dialysis treatments can do that to you.

But at least her frequent falls are largely in the past, thanks to Barnstable County Sheriff Jim Cummings and four of the inmates he oversees at the county correctional facility.  The Sheriff has dispatched the foursome, one of two community service crews, to build a handicapped ramp to the front door at Sara's Winter Street home.

"This is so nice of them," Sara explained from inside her home as the rap-tap-tap of hammers and the bzzz of electric saws floated through an open window.  "I really can't thank them enough.  I've fallen so many times.  And every year I seem to get a little weaker."

"The value to local property taxpayers and project recipients is self evident.  Inmates, meanwhile, have a healthy and refreshing outlet for their talent, a way to give back at least some of what we pay to incarcerate them." - Sheriff Cumming

Sheriff Cummings noted his stack of worthwhile projects grows longer, never shorter, "but that's better than having it the other way around."  Cape towns and other local public sector agencies are eligible recipients along with non-profit organizations.  Ms. Putnam's ramp was requested by the non-profit Cape Cod Organization for the Rights of the Disabled (CORD).

CORD helped Mrs. Putnam secure funds to purchase the wood, along with the other ramp materials.  That contribution, combined with a generous discount from Home Depot, accounts for about $5,000 worth of the job.  The value of the inmate labor is almost $6,500 when you include the sergeant assigned to supervise the four-day job.  That brings the bottom-line donation to about $11,500.  "I could never afford that," Sara acknowledges.

In a typical year, inmates perform in the neighborhood of 40,000 hours and normally do at least one project in each of the Cape's 15 towns.  Some communities get more than one visit and municipal projects - park and beach clean-ups, school paintings, housing authority fix-ups - top the list.

Only about 5 percent of the inmates are eligible for the work-crew program.  Automatically excluded are inmates awaiting trial, those named in a restraining order, and anyone convicted of certain violent crimes.  Major drug and sex offenders are also ineligible. 

Sheriff Cummings said, "the value to local property taxpayers and project recipients is self evident.  Inmates, meanwhile, have a healthy and refreshing outlet for their talent, a way to give back at least some of what we pay to incarcerate them."

 Sara is of course the biggest winner of all, having freed herself of a major worry.  She last fell in February and has had multiple spills in the five years since she suffered her first stroke.

"Those winter appointments for six AM dialysis treatments are the worst," she says.  "All that ice.  The trickiest part was trying to go down those front steps using this," she adds, nodding with her chin to her metal walker.

"No more of that," she grins.

Anyone looking to get an inmate labor crew for a project should call David Neal at the Sheriff's Department at (508) 563-4305.  In order to be eligible, the project must be for either a public-sector agency or a non-profit and must be headquartered on Cape  Cod.  No work is done for individuals or for profit-making entities.  Crews are already booked through early fall and even longer lead times are sometimes required.  So jobs that need to get done quickly normally go unfilled.

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Hacked by Jesus freaks!

Hallelujah brothers, hallelujah sisters!  It's happened.  My web site, www.solonicus.com, has been hacked and taken over by Jesus freaks.  I always suspected the Chinese Communists might come after me, or the Democrats, or the Republicans, or maybe Barney Frank and Chris Dodd.  But Jesus freaks!

The hacked web site was still active when I wrote this, but it may be gone by the time you can read it.  The gist is that some bozo's grandfather was a Presbyterian minister and now this bozo wants everyone to come to Jesus via my web site and about a thousand others that were similarly hacked.  The FBI has been called in.  Maybe they can pray they'll catch the hackers.  But it does me no good, as my site is irretrievably taken over and inaccessible . I have kept my domain name in case I want to have some one build me another one.

As a matter of information, the people I've been dealing with regarding the web site are catalog.com and webhero.com (What a misnomer!).  Maybe you want to deal with them, maybe you don't, but I believe web site security is lacking.  Webhero sent out a rambling letter sort of blaming Microsoft's FrontPage (which I use) and insecure passwords.  The latter point is somewhat disingenuous, as webhero gave me my 16-character password.

Well, that's all from here.  Just p------ off,  just a warning to others, and one last thing--if you want me to come to Jesus, use a more Christian approach.

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Cape Cod whales spur radical wind turbine blade design

 Cape Wind poised to provide nearly ALL of Cape Cod's electricity

For those naysayers who doubt that Cape Wind can produce the equivalent of 75 percent of the Cape's electricity, I have to agree that that figure is not exact.  Actually, Cape Wind could provide the equivalent of 93 percent of the Cape's electricity.  That figure is not Jim Gordon's--he is much too modest for that.  It is mine.  The latest research and facts bear that out.

The idea for a different turbine blade took root on Cape Cod years ago.  Dr. Frank Fish, a biology professor at West Chester University in Pennsylvania, was looking at the bumps on the leading edge of the flippers on a humpback whale sculpture here on the Cape and wondered why they were there.  Recognizing that there was a reason and that nature is rarely wrong, the question simmered for years, and then he decided to run some tests.

The result is a collaboration between Dr. Fish, and Dr. Paul Jacobs and Thomas McDonald, both of Technology Development Associates (TDA) of Rhode Island, to design a radical wind turbine blade that has proven, in actual performance tests, to increase electrical power generation by up to 25 percent over existing blade designs.

Historically, all blade designs have been streamlined, presumably to minimize drag and maximize efficiency.  It was curious, therefore, why nature had endowed humpback whale flippers with leading edge bumps, or tubercles, with which to glide smoothly through the water.  These bumps seemed counter-intuitive.

Preliminary laboratory tests comparing conventional blades with bumpy leading edge, or tubercle technology, blades showed promising results.  The tubercle technology blades demonstrated a reduction in drag, higher efficiency, less noise and less blade vibration.  This design showed the potential to significantly improve both the performance and economic viability, in dollars per kilowatt-hour, of wind-generated electrical power.

The next step was an in situ test, which was conducted by the Wind Energy Institute of Canada on full-size tubercle technology blades fabricated by the aptly named Whalepower Corporation of Toronto.  The tests were conducted on an actual tubercle technology wind turbine, running alongside conventional wind turbines, on a bluff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean on Prince Edward Island.

The results were obtained from a year of testing, with winds ranging from dead calm to gale warning.  The mean wind speeds of 5 to 7 meters/second pretty much span the mean wind speeds for Cape Wind's Nantucket Sound wind farm.

Newly released results show that the radical leading edge turbine blade alone increases electrical energy output by a staggering amount of 22 to 24 percent.  Those naysayers of Cape Wind's claim of generating 75 percent of the electricity for Cape Cod were right.  Using tubercle technology blades, it could now be closer to 93 percent.

This increase comes without taller towers, without bigger turbines, in fact without any change whatsoever in existing moving parts.  It can be achieved merely by using the radical new blades or retrofitting existing blades with a tubercle leading edge.

With the Cape Wind farm permitting process now in the final stages, it is possible that we will have the pleasure of being among the first to see these radical tubercle blade designs running right off our shores.

And as unconventional as they may seem, they will effectively serve to remind us what we all learned in kindergarten: that nature is seldom wrong.

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Sheriff looking for disaster relief volunteers

New round of classes to be held in Orleans.

Barnstable County Sheriff James M. Cummings is once again offering public-spirited volunteers a chance to join one of his highly regarded Community Emergency Response Teams.           

To qualify for CERT you must be at least 16-years-old and willing to attend nine weekly training classes.  The early evening classes will begin on April 7^th, end on June 2^nd, and be held at Nauset Community School in Orleans.  Residents of all Cape communities are eligible.            

An earlier round of certification classes, held in Sandwich between early January and early March, has concluded.  This second opportunity is geared for mid to outer Cape residents. 

More than 275 individuals have been CERT-trained thus far and of those about 225 remain active.

CERT responders do not replace but rather supplement professional emergency workers.  Said Sheriff Cummings: "They are an important part of this county's preparedness plan, especially when the professional response has been temporarily overwhelmed or is still being mobilized.

"They are a collective finger in the dike," Sheriff Cummings concluded, "and that can make a big difference." 

CERT follows a national model established 14 years ago by the Los Angeles Fire Department and made more relevant by the terrorist strike on 9/11.  Sheriff Cummings praises the teams in a story published in the January-February issue of Sheriff magazine, trade publication of the National Sheriffs' Association.

There is no charge for classes and seating is limited to 25.  The slots always fill quickly, as happened with the first round of classes in Sandwich.  If you are 16 or older and interested, check the Sheriff's website (www.bsheriff.net).

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Guv'ner Deval Patrick to tax gonorrhea!

I'm not making this up!  Bear with me, beer-drinking lovers!

We know Guv'ner Deval Patrick wants to impose horrendous additional state taxes on gasoline, meals, room occupancy, beer, yada-yada.  As if the burden of the poor struggling taxpayer were not already sufficiently onerous, his solution to everything is to impose an additional onerous tax burden on us.  Taxing the people, not patriotism, is indeed the last refuge of the scoundrel. 

Where does the tax on gonorrhea come in?  Politicians have been trying to do this for years.  Look at Patrick's proposed 5 percent sales tax on beer.  The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta has discovered an inverse statistical correlation between the incidence of gonorrhea and the tax on beer.  Specifically, they claim that an increase in tax of 20 cents on a six-pack of beer leads to a decrease in gonorrhea by 9 percent.

They've reasoned that teenagers drinking a lot of beer are more likely to engage in sex, thereby increasing the incidence of gonorrhea.  Duh!

I wonder how many hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars those deep thoughts cost us?  Ogden Nash said it in a two-liner: 

Candy is dandy,

But liquor is quicker.

The claim is that by making beer more expensive with a tax increase, teenagers will afford less, drink less, have less sex, and therefore contract less gonorrhea. Yep, more taxes solve everything, even venereal disease.

Quite obviously then, the proposed tax on beer is a de facto tax on gonorrhea.

Now gonorrhea is not a nice thing to have.  Or so I'm told.  It is not a nice thing to pass on to a friend--sometimes they get upset, go wild-eyed and start screaming like a banshee and try to shove a fork in your neck, no matter how much you swear you don't have any idea how it possibly could have happened!  Or so I'm told.  But to tax it?  That is outrageous!  Can't a person get stuck with a case of good old-fashioned gonorrhea without the government sticking everybody else for it?

Well, Guv'ner Patrick wants to tax everything else;  he may as well try to tax gonorrhea.  I'm sure the Guv'ner is a good man, but his headlong spiral into tax madness appears to be that of a man who is hell-bent on not getting re-elected.  Guv'ner Patrick really needs to learn how to practice safe tax.

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The Sheriff wants YOU!

Third Annual Citizens Academy to begin in March

Sheriff's Citizens Academy in session.  Photo courtesy of the Sheriff's website.

There are at least two ways to get into Barnstable County Sheriff Jim Cummings' Correctional Facility in Bourne.  One is to commit a crime, and the Sheriff will be glad to provide you with accommodations in his splendiferous establishment.  You may have to perform a little road clean-up work or the like, but it's a small price to pay for guaranteed room and board.

The second way is to sign up for the Sheriff's third annual Citizens Academy.  Sheriff Cummings announced the dates for the Academy today.  The eight-week course will start on Monday night, March 23rd, and run on consecutive Mondays till the middle of May.  The sessions will start at 6:00 pm and run for 2 1/2 hours.

Sheriff Cummings says, "Our mission is a lot more varied than...running a house of correction and jail.  This is a great opportunity for interested citizens to see exactly how we go about our business."

Space is limited to 30 attendees, and enrollment is first come, first served.  In the first two years of this popular course, the Academy had to turn applicants away.

The modern, 4 1/2-year old, Correctional Facility is currently home to more than 400 inmates.  Besides experiencing the popular (for those not obligated to remain) facility tour, Academy attendees will see how K9 teams sniff out drugs; observe Sheriff's criminal investigators and how they use state-of-the-art technology to help solve crimes; inspect the Emergency Communications Center, a mobile van that can take and send messages from the site of major ongoing incidents; and much more.

Sheriff Cummings says, "Our mission is a lot more varied than...running a house of correction and jail.  This is a great opportunity for interested citizens to see exactly how we go about our business."

To sign up for this popular Academy, go to the Sheriff's website at www.bsheriff.net.  There you will be able to access an application form as well as liability-release and background-check paperwork.  If you don't have access to a computer or have questions about the Academy, call Shaun Cahill at 508-375-6121 who will be glad to help you out.

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What kind of wine is this?

What kind of wine is this?  Here's what it says on the label:

Classically balanced, vibrant, and complex with a splash of fruit.

That's a trick question, and I'll get to it later.  But right now I want to talk about the pretentiousness of those who call themselves, and are accepted as, wine connoisseurs.  Now I don't purport to know one wine from the other when I smell it, but I can smell "pretentious" and "phony" from a mile away.

There was a time when the "connoisseurs" put their snouts in the air (after putting them in the wine goblets) and unanimously agreed that only French wines were good.  At that time, many moons ago, I used to say that this California wine or that New York State wine was pretty good, too.  Now, of course, these same connoisseurs put California wines right up there with French wines, and justifiably so, but generalizations are bad. 

Every wine is different.  Quality of wine depends on a number of things, only a few of them being the region in its country of origin, the composition of the earth the vines came from, the rainfall that year, when the rain came, the temperature fluctuations that year, etc. etc., and last, but not least, the knowledge and experience of the wine maker.

So once upon a time I put some snooty acquaintances to a test.  I brought out a decanter of wine, poured some for everyone and swirled the goblet under my nose.  Using terms I've heard, but don't fully comprehend, I said, "It has an interesting nose, with a hint of citrus."  Most around me nodded in assent.

Then I swirled a little around in my mouth.  "An exciting palate, with notes of berries and chocolate."  They nodded in assent.  Notes?  Is this music or wine?  Chocolate?  I didn't know chocolate came from grapevines.

Finally, I said, "It has a mellow and satisfying follow."  They agreed. 

Of course, we were swigging Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill.  I brought out the bottle and said, "And it's quite reasonable at about a buck ninety-eight a bottle!"  None of them put on airs after that--at least not around me.

Now to get to my "mystery wine," classically balanced, vibrant, and complex with a splash of fruit.  You can buy it at Shaw's or the Stop & Shop.  It's not wine.  The hype is from a package of Green Mountain Colombian Coffee K-Cups.

What a load of beans!  Good coffee, pretentious copywriter.

I guess what I'm saying is that, with wine or coffee, as with art, go with what you like.  Forget the "experts."  They exist only in their own puffed up imaginations.

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Just when is it "cold"?

Below zero isn't what you think it i

We New Englanders are so used to cold weather that many of us have fallen into the trap of not thinking it's "cold" till the temperature is "below zero."  We can thank German physicist Daniel Fahrenheit for that, who proposed his screwy Fahrenheit temperature scale back in 1724.

I call this a "screwy" scale--I won't even get into how he devised it, but if Rube Goldberg delved into chemistry, this was it.  In Fahrenheit's scale, the freezing point of water comes out to 32 degrees Fahrenheit, and the boiling point at 212 degrees, a total of 180 planned degrees between the two.   Therefore, zero degrees Fahrenheit is actually 32 degrees below freezing.  It is actually pretty damn cold at "below zero."

I have nothing against screwy scales as long as they make some kind of sense.  I love the English system of measurement, where we think in terms of inches and feet and yards and miles, while most of the world thinks in terms of the metric system of centimeters and meters and kilometers, etc. 

The metric system is based on actual measurements of the Earth and has a very rational basis.  The English system--well, I loved teaching that in physics class.  Traditionally, the foot was based on the length of the king's foot.  As my physics students used to say, "Of course.  They got it from a ruler."  The inch was purportedly based on the length of the king's thumb from the middle joint to the tip.  And so it went for the rest of English metrics.  For a little bit of fun, I would occasionally have my physics students calculate speed in "furlongs per fortnight."

In the temperature category, Fahrenheit got the jump on things in 1724, and his screwy system was in vogue before Andre Celsius, a Swedish astronomer, came up with the centigrade scale in 1742.  The centigrade scale, as the name implies, divides the temperature range into 100 degrees between the freezing and boiling points of water, zero being the freezing point and 100 being the boiling point, making a very rational temperature scale.  Degrees in this scale are called "degrees centigrade" or "degrees Celsius," in honor of old Andre.

A fact that very few people know (the number now includes you) is that Celsius developed the scale backward, from 100 degrees freezing to 0 degrees boiling.  In 1744, a Swedish botanist, Carolus Linnaeus, said "That's nuts, Andre," and reversed it so that freezing was at zero and boiling was at 100.

In Europe, when the temperature is zero, they know it's cold.  In America, we practically think it's warm at 32, which is the same temperature.

Let's see how the two scales compare:

Degrees F          Degrees C

212                       100              (boiling point of water)

72                         22

40                         4

32                         0                   (freezing point of water)

0                          -18

-10                       -23

I'd just as soon drop Herr Fahrenheit's misleading scale altogether and forever.  When the water turns to ice, I want that to be at zero, not 32.

Now did I mention there are also two more temperature scales, both used in science, the Kelvin and Rankine scales?  Can I expound on those?  Do you have time?  Let's get some coffee...

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