Preserving The American Political Philosophy

In a recent blog post , I promised to continue the investigation into whether or not Andersen Design, a ceramic art, design and hand crafted production company , established as a free enterprise in 1952, can fit  NEA guidelines as part of the new "creative ecosytem"which connects the "arts" with the non-arts".and " investigates how support systems for the arts are changing, explores how the arts can connect with other sectors that want and utilize creativity, and invests in innovative projects to spark new, collaborative ideas " Of course not, because eligibility requirements for a NEA grant have remained unchanged for decades. National Endowment for the Arts’  " Legal Requirements " including nonprofit, tax-exempt status at the time of application. (All organizations must apply directly on their own behalf. Applications through a fiscal sponsor are not allowed.  See more information on fiscal sponsors .) ART WORKS Guidelines As the Nat...

The first in a collection of iconic wild life sculptures, The Andersen Design Floating Gull was created in the early sixties and has maintained its marketability ever since, establishing Andersen Design's work as genuine classics in their field. #GivingTuesday is NOVEMBER 21- Please consider this: I started this blog as an alternative voice, long absent in Maine's media, particularly since the Longley Doctrine of "a centrally managed economy by public private relationships" was established over and above our constitutional form of government in the mid seventies. In the tradition in which this blog was created, preserving the American political philosophy, which by its commitment to individual liberty, can be none other than a free enterprise system, I am defining one of the missions of the Andersen Design Museum of American Designer Craftsmen as shining light on the character of a  free enterprise system. While The Andersen Design Museum of American Designer...

First the News! THE OFF TOPIC NEWS !  This summer was a strange season for the garden. The field of poppies, a perennial subject of local social conversation, did not make its appearance. In the front garden, poppy pods dried up and fell to the ground without blooming. This fall there were hardly any fresh new poppy leaves in the front hill side garden. I foresee a scant display next spring. If the property falls into the hand of someone who will nurture the poppies, they will return. It is our hopeful dream that the Andersen Design flagship location can be bought back from the bank and made into a historically preserved location for The Andersen Design Museum of American Designer Craftsmen, similar to what has been done with Russel Wright's former home, Manitoga.org , preserving the memory of a culture receding from the Boothbay Peninsula to make way for the plans of new and well financed centralized development groups. Otherwise the house and garden may be torn down ...

Refundable tax credits (redistribution of wealth) came into use in the USA in the mid seventies. Look what happened. Is it time to start letting the economy manage its self? Quote from a Facebook conversation about the New Boothbay Round About : Here's the deal. I don't care one way or another whether there is a frigging roundabout or not but i do think we need to look twenty or thirty years forward when we plan because growth is coming whether we like it or not. I'm not pushing it but i accept that it is coming. A threat? No just just that we haven't even begun to see the changes that will come. Apparently you all have mistaken me for someone who actually gives a shit what happens on the peninsular . as long as my property increases in value I'm good- local Boothbay person on Facebook Many people and politicians conflate economic development with increasing property values. In that case the town is nothing more than a business investment for its stock ho...

The most honest statement to come out of the ringleaders of the Joint Economic Community Development Group in their first workshop program was "none of us are experts on economic development", which in my most humble opinion is evident in the fact that the JECD begins with the premise that economic development can be master minded by central management. The article in the Boothbay Register begins with this paragraph: The Joint Economic Development Committee master plan workshop on Thursday, Oct. 12 discuss findings from stakeholder interviews conducted early last month. The interviews centered around building an overall economic development strategy for Edgecomb, Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor and Southport. Who are the stakeholders?  A search for articles in the Boothbay Register comes up short. Why is the public not told who the stakeholders are. Since the taxpayers of Boothbay and Boothbay Harbor footed the bill for the JECD's consultants, why are they not the stakeh...

I have now driven around the new traffic configuration at the Boothbay Center from both directions, enough to know that even at times with no traffic I prefer to avoid it. The curves are cramped as the country road is transformed into a mini-turnpike, that driving experience I am so relieved to leave behind when one takes the turn onto the peninsula. Driving on our small town roads seems rational until one encounters this new web of yielding points with traffic converging from all directions. The first time I drove through the new turnpike was during the daytime hours There was an unusually long wait to get through a stretch of road which was formerly a breeze, especially when there were no events taking place in the park. I gave the traffic jam the benefit of the doubt, imagining that it was occurring from still ongoing construction taking place somewhere that I could not see. I waited a very long time for traffic to pass by so that the cars I was following could yield into the patt...

Is The Maine Public Retirement System Unconstitutional? According to the Maine Public Employees ComprehensiveFinancial Report of 2010 , the Maine Public Employees Retirement System was established in 1942 to provide services for retiring public employees. No information is given about how the Public Employees Retirement System was legally structured in 1942. In the report MPERS is described as “an independent public agency of the State of Maine that traces its history to 1942”. Wikipedia  uses the same term but when the link is clicked it reveals that Wikipedia has no idea what " independent public agency " means.  An online search for history of MPERS between 1942 and 1985 comes up empty.  In 1985 during the administration of Governor Joseph E Brennan, the Maine Legislature passed a statute announcing its intentions of using general taxpayer monies to provide for retirement funds and death benefits for public employees, a faction which, incidentally, includes th...