I stopped by the 2nd St. site where an F.H. Stickles Concrete truck was seen a couple weeks ago dumping waste concrete on public land next to a stream a bare 100 yards from the Hudson River. This inspired to earlier posts here: Concrete Dumping – more than a local Hudson nuisance and Dumping Concrete: a law of capitalism in action – a local example.
New signs have appeared to discourage this unfortunate practice. Presumably the city put them up?
Thanks to GossipsOfRivertown for the image.
The May 3rd post “Unbelievable” on our favorite local blog GossipsOfRivertown.blogspot.com caught our attention. This F.H.Stickles concrete truck dumping waste concrete next to a stream running into the Hudson River is a local demonstration of one of the central laws of capitalism.
For more pictures of this incident go here.
Every company seeks to get someone else to pay for as many of its costs of doing business as possible. The laws of capitalism require this. If all of Stickles’ competitors are similarly avoiding the costs of disposing of their waste concrete they must do likewise. Otherwise their cost of doing business would be higher. In the short term their profits will be lower. In the longer term they will be forced out of business because they will have to charge higher prices. This is so regardless of the moral values or sense of community of the owners of F.H.Stickles. This how capitalism works.
Thanks to GossipsOfRivertown for the image.
Carole Osterink reported in her post “Unbelievable” on May 3rd about the dumping of waste concrete by F.H.Stickles Concrete on a site off north 2nd Street adjacent to a small stream that drains into the Hudson River perhaps a hundred yards away.
This practice is in violation of state and Federal regulations of concrete washouts of concrete trucks and other equipment used to deliver concrete at constructions sites. A quick internet search found EPA guidelines as well as NYS regulations about the handling of this hazardous waste.
Here is more from engineers in Wisconsin: “Why concrete washout is harmful to the environment“
8am
Karen informs that it was snowing at 3am. I was asleep. A few inches at 8 am.
Noon
Noon
3pm
6pm
Spent the day in the house excepting a couple of forays to shovel
#todo
☐ 6 underwear
☐ 6 socks
☐ 6 t-shirts
☐ 6 shirts
☐ 1 pants
☐ 1 sweater
☐ baseball hat
☐ sun glasses clip on
☐ bathrobe
☐ toiletry bag
☐ pill cases
☐ antacid
☐ laxative
☐ amoxicillin
☐ anti-viral
☐ viagra
☐ oil
☐ toothpicks
☐ nail clipper
☐ nose clipper
☐ sports coat
☐ rain gear
☐ lightweight jacket
☐ camera + case
☐ extra camera batteries
☐ camera battery charger
☐ iPad
☐ iPad case
☐ backpack
☐ iPad power supply
☐ iPhone charger
☐ iPhone earbuds
☐ notebook
☐ airplane cushion
☐ power outlet adaptors
☐ passport
☐ Black garbage bags
☐ Cardboard
Great start to the morning.
Cleaned up office. Paid bills. Added citations from Sachs book Building the New American Economy: Smart, Fair, and Sustainable. Getting ready to write a review.
15 degrees when we got up. Winter is back for sure. Bob’s Diner for breakfast followed by quick shopping at Price Chopper. Home for coffee then a walk up to the indoor Farmers’ Market for Berkshire bread. 18 degrees. Cold fingers and face on walk back going into a stiff wind.
Karen noted this house on S. 6th St. again. Odd arrangement; maybe complex elevations inside.
Read much of a new NYReview of Books.
Went to library at 4 to see how the Living Library program was going. Karen talked with Jeff Rigby about repairing a book; I made paper birds with Pamela Badilla.
Off to TSL to see BEHEMOTH (BEI XI MO SHOU) a 2015 movie. Very compelling scenes from strip mining for coal in Inner Mongolia. Workers and goat herders lives in a tumult. Moved on to iron production. Workers with lung diseases. Ended with scenes in a ghost city of apartment towers somewhere west of Beijing. A tour de force about unrelenting uncontrolled exploitation of the earth and people by Chinese state capitalism.
Received a call from David Ackerman early. Asked to see me privately before the 1:30 mtg w Seth and Ole about Open Telehealth. Karen dropped me off on her way to Boston.
David presented me with a document specifying UTM’s obligation to me for $110,000. This is my outstanding deferred compensation from UTM. He also mentioned the possibility of converting this sum into UTM stock. That might be userful. I need to follow up on that.
He also said that it had been agreed by Seth and Cameron Melville that I would take over management of the company in the event of David’s death (or presumably his incapacitation) His kidney transplant may occur within a month or so. He is getting weaker. Reported having to go home by 2 pm to take a nap.
UTM 2/27/17 from David Ackerman
Notes of meeting with David Ackerman 2/27/17
These documents will be put in my personal file for future reference. Interestingly David recognized that they could be useful to Karen if I should die.
Discussion of how to handle negotiations with Open Telehealth.
Yesterday’s joke transformed. In front of The Spotty.
Karen still quite sick with a cold. NYTimes with breakfast. Wrote a response to Joe Keenan then posted on currentmatters.markorton.com . “How Much Money Would It Take to Eliminate Poverty in the US.” – Spent much of the morning working on the search function for the volunteer site for the library. Then wrote instructions.
Walked up to Subway for sandwich and salad for our lunch. Stopped along the way to talk with Joan Damiani. Her art production is very high. She said that she sold two paintings in January. “Never happened before, probably won’t happen again. But, energizing.”
Also ranted about Trump.
New use of this term. Store on Columbia near chocolate store/
At 7th St. park. Had a medallion saying it is a Plymouth?
One or then worst looking buildings in Hudson
600 block of Warren. Reminds me of the student sculptures at the library
In front of The Spotty.
Two doors down from The Spotty.
Went on errands and took drive down Kips Lane in Greenport where there is a large trailer park. Deer herd grazing.
Very good results from Wednesday’s visit with PT for the vertigo. Symptoms almost entirely gone.
Sent note to various consulting clients announcing that I am winding down my consulting practice. Will only carry UTM and Matt Almeida going forward. Not clear whether I will entertain new clients from HVADC and Columbia Ec Dev.?? Kind of hard to entirely shut the door. Continue reading
Saw substitute eye doctor Everything is ok.
Emergency UTM meeting at Ole’s house videocon w Henrik Ibsen CEO Open Telehealth, Danish healthcare software company they have a well developed RPM product.
Are the History Purists on alert about this weird balcony on top of the oriel??
Another very ugly building.