Charlie and Penny Crockett

Does Iran really Have a Nuclear Weapon?

Everyone is talking about Iran’s potential development of an active nuclear weapon. Before anyone gets too frightened at the prospect of this announcement, let me give you some food for thought.

Before we even touch on the technical stuff, we have to look the source of these announcements; which just so happens to be coming from ultranationalist members of parliament (you know, the MTGs of Iran). Now onto the real stuff. Building a functional uranium explosive device is no easy feat. It requires some seriously complex implosion tech, and don’t get me started on ensuring an accurate delivery of a nuclear explosion.

I’m still floating – so to speak – on the glory of my first day back out on RAVEN on Friday.

She’s running just fine and I had a wonderful new friend aboard with Penobscot Bay beneath us for a sumptuous long day. At times we didn’t have very much of Penobscot Bay under us as you can see in this picture of my makeshift docking technique at Isle au Haut, but when circumstances dictate, one does what one must.

I am going to simply allow a handful of images from the day speak for me….nothing particularly great, but still, a terrific start to getting out there where I so love to be.

Efforts to remove Camden dam are misplaced

The Montgomery Dam and its waterfall are a centerpiece to Camden’s beautiful and historic core along with the library, Harbor Park (designed by the world-famous Olmsted firm), and the amphitheater.

In 2017 voters allocated $50,000 for repairs to the dam. At the same time the Camden
Comprehensive Plan, endorsed and signed by the Select Board on behalf of the Town, included Montgomery Dam restoration in its suggested 10- year Capital Improvement Plan. Interestingly, the plan did not identify any problems along the Megunticook River.

But now Camden faces an imminent threat of losing Montgomery Dam because of grant requirements within the National Coastal Resiliency Program, a worthwhile endeavor designed to promote fish passage.

This resiliency program is administered by the Federal Fish and Wildlife Foundation, in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Defense and several private corporations.

Camden does not fit the grant requirements. In its attempt to meet them, the town parroted purposes of the grant, but without a sufficient statement of need.

Magic in a small city: Eastport

Eastport, established as a town in 1798 and incorporated as a city in 1893, is one of Maine’s more fascinating locales.

In this episode of Chasing Maine, Roger McCord travels back to Eastport to present a cross-section of Eastport by interviewing three very different people in the community.

Lack of attorneys keeps Maine parents waiting in child removal cases

Parents are supposed to have 10 to 14 days to respond to accusations, but instead are sometimes waiting weeks or months while their children are placed elsewhere.

My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it.

As I did at this time last year, I am treating myself to a bit of downtime…both in honor of Mother’s Day and giving myself some time aboard RAVEN to get her spiffed up for the season ahead. So, to that end I am recycling this “hug”…

Much Higher Interest Rates for Much, Much Longer. Or Maybe Not!

Who doesn’t love spending their morning trying to understand what the Federal Reserve is doing? Oh, no takers? Well, let’s at least look at inflation trends and where I expect interest rates to go.

Thanks to COVID-related supply chain disruptions, inflation has stabilized around 3% (instead of the Fed’s magic 2%). Those baby boomers are also part of the problem. As they age into retirement, capital availability is going to decline and the Fed’s going to have rethink their strategy.

The World Needs More Babies

Well, it looks like there’s something in the water in the US and it ain’t little blue pills. The recent US Census data shows a 40-year low in the birth rate – about 1.6 per woman.

With the birth rate well below the replacement level, there could be huge economic implications that follow. There are plenty of other countries facing similar demographic issues, so the US has plenty of case studies to read up on.

Best Photos? Peter Ralston VS AI!

Imagine the amazingly talented Maine photographer Peter Ralston being challenged by an AI program. Check out this interesting story.

Tik Tik Tik Tik TOK

A little over a year ago, we discussed a potential ban on TikTok in the US. Well, President Biden finally signed the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act”, which would ban TikTok or force its parent company, ByteDance, to sell it.

You can bet that TikTok won’t go down without a fight, so we’ll probably still be talking about this a year from now…but that still leaves Mets/Facebook to worry about!