25||0|3196|0|
0|0|0|||1||Ask Gryphon Anything%2C Volume 2%2C Issue 1|Peter Eng||17:59:08|08/16/2016|In UF%2C did the United States Air Force re-form after the Exile%3F  %28I am assuming that Largo went after it as well%2C although I could be wrong.%29%0D%0A%0D%0APeter Eng%0D%0A--%0D%0AInsert humorous comment here.
1|1|0|||1||RE%3A Ask Gryphon Anything%2C Volume 2%2C Issue 1|Gryphon||18:28:53|08/16/2016|%3EIn UF%2C did the United States Air Force re-form after the Exile%3F %0D%0A%0D%0ANever disbanded%21  They were on a contract out on the Frontier when the thing went down%2C and pretty much disappeared.  Irregular operations under a variety of organizational aliases followed%2C all over top of a running shadow war with GENOM%27s hunters.  Picture %5Bi%5DThe A-Team%5B%2Fi%5D if both the A-Team and the guy who was after them were whole armies and you have a fair idea of the vibe.%0D%0A%0D%0A--G.%0D%0A-%3E%3C-%0D%0ABenjamin D. Hutchins%2C Co-Founder%2C Editor-in-Chief%2C %26 Forum Mod%0D%0AEyrie Productions%2C Unlimited  http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eyrie-productions.com%2F%0D%0Azgryphon at that email service Google has%0D%0A%5Bi%5DCeterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.%5B%2Fi%5D
2|2|1|||1||RE%3A Ask Gryphon Anything%2C Volume 2%2C Issue 1|McFortner||15:42:49|08/17/2016|Guerrilla warfare.  I like it.%0D%0A%0D%0A%5Bfont color%3D%22black%22%5DMichael C. Fortner%5B%2Ffont%5D%0D%0ASrA%2C 6949th ESS%2C USAF%2C 1989-1993%0D%0A%5Bfont color%3D%22green%22 size%3D-1%5D%22Maxim 37%3A There is no such thing as %22overkill%22.%0D%0AThere is only %22open fire%22 and %22I need to reload%22.%5B%2Ffont%5D
3|3|2|||1||RE%3A Ask Gryphon Anything%2C Volume 2%2C Issue 1|zojojojo||21:48:42|08/17/2016|%3EGuerrilla warfare.  I like it. %0D%0A%3E%0D%0A%0D%0AGuerrilla warfare %5Bi%5Dwith A-10s%5B%2Fi%5D%21%21%21%0D%0A%0D%0A-Z %5Bi%5D%5B%2Fi%5D%0D%0A%0D%0A%0D%0A---%0D%0ARemember kids%3A guns make you stupid%2C duct tape makes you smart.
4|4|3|||||RE%3A Ask Gryphon Anything%2C Volume 2%2C Issue 1|Wiregeek||02:14:34|08/18/2016|%0D%0A%3EGuerrilla warfare %5Bi%5Dwith A-10s%5B%2Fi%5D%21%21%21 %0D%0A%0D%0A%0D%0AMaking the Big Damn Heroes of the show the mechanics keeping those birds in the black%2C and the supply sergeants scrounging the supplies to keep %27em makin%27 whoopie.
5|5|4|||1||RE%3A Ask Gryphon Anything%2C Volume 2%2C Issue 1|Pasha||19:17:57|08/19/2016|%3E%0D%0A%3E%3EGuerrilla warfare %5Bi%5Dwith A-10s%5B%2Fi%5D%21%21%21 %0D%0A%3E%0D%0A%3E%0D%0A%3EMaking the Big Damn Heroes of the show the mechanics keeping those %0D%0A%3Ebirds in the black%2C and the supply sergeants scrounging the supplies %0D%0A%3Eto keep %27em makin%27 whoopie. %0D%0A%0D%0ASo%2C A-Team meets Battlestar Galactica %282004%29.  %0D%0A%0D%0AI%27d watch it.%0D%0A%0D%0A-- %0D%0A-Pasha%0D%0A%22Don%27t change the subject%22%0D%0A%22Too slow%2C already did.%22
6|1|0|||||RE%3A Ask Gryphon Anything%2C Volume 2%2C Issue 1|jonathanlennox||11:15:31|08/26/2016|Since it%27s up in your neck of the%2C well%2C woods%2C what%27s your opinion on this new National Monument that Obama just declared%3F
7|2|6|||1||RE%3A Ask Gryphon Anything%2C Volume 2%2C Issue 1|Gryphon||12:21:04|08/26/2016|%3ESince it%27s up in your neck of the%2C well%2C woods%2C what%27s your opinion on %0D%0A%3Ethis new National Monument that Obama just declared%3F %0D%0A%0D%0Aoh god someone asked about the fucking national monument%0D%0A%0D%0AOK%2C so.  That%27s not just %5Bi%5Din%5B%2Fi%5D my neck of the woods%2C in a lot of ways it %5Bi%5Dis%5B%2Fi%5D my neck of the woods%2C and I tell you what%2C it%27s been a hot-button issue here since at %5Bi%5Dleast%5B%2Fi%5D 2002%2C when I moved back to the state and went to work at what was then my local newspaper.  It touches on a lot of ingrained cultural forces in this region that go back to the year dot.  Around here%2C Roxanne Quimby %28the Burt%27s Bees lady%2C who bought up the land that she then presented to the feds to make up what%2C at the time%2C she intended to be a national park%29 is roundly hated as the quintessential Person From Away who wishes to protect the Maine woods from the people who live in it.  There are a lot of those%2C and many of them become noisy and troublesome activists of a particularly unpleasant%2C patronizing%2C paternalistic stripe.%0D%0A%0D%0AThey are closely associated %28and often explicitly aligned%29 with another group of people who are held in low regard by many of the people of the Katahdin region%2C environmentalists%2C who are widely %28if in large part%2C I would argue%2C inaccurately%29 seen as the primary reason why the pulp and paper industry in these parts %28which%2C I should stress%2C was the %5Bi%5Donly%5B%2Fi%5D industry of any note in these parts%29 died.  I think I%27ve talked about this before%3A a lot of people around here are out of work with no discernible skills and nowhere to put them to use if they had them%2C and as a consequence are desperate and angry.  Most of them are angry at environmentalists%2C recreational carpetbaggers%2C and Foreign Competition%2C and Roxanne Quimby is two out of three.  %28Some folks around here wouldn%27t be too surprised to learn that she owned a stake in a Russian paper mill or some such%2C too.%29%0D%0A%0D%0AAdding to that%2C this region has a rich tradition of disdaining outdoorsy tourists %28the only kind likely to come here%2C as there is nothing else %5Bi%5Dhere%5B%2Fi%5D but The Woods%29.  When we had a thriving industry in town%2C we didn%27t need them and they just got in the way.  Now that we don%27t%2C we kind of %5Bi%5Ddo%5B%2Fi%5D need them and resent them the way dependent people %5Bi%5Dtend%5B%2Fi%5D to resent the people they%27re dependent on.  Contra to that prevailing popular opinion%2C you have the locals who actually %5Bi%5Dwork%5B%2Fi%5D %28often as struggling entrepreneur types%29 in the hospitality industry%2C who%2C in pushing back against that tide%2C tend to become not a lot less strident and talk-downy than the environmental crowd %28with whom they are often in sympathy%2C since their business model depends on the Unspoiled Wilderness-ness of it all%2C and that makes them borderline to the skeptical local mind as it is%29.%0D%0A%0D%0AThere are deep divisions and a lot of anger %27round these parts%2C is what I%27m getting at%2C and for going on 15 years now%2C the %22national park%22 issue has been big jagged chunks of rock salt rubbed vigorously into the bloodiest parts.  Hell%2C there are straight-up %5Bi%5Dconspiracy theories%5B%2Fi%5D in circulation that old Great Northern Paper was put down specifically to make way for it.  Until very recently%2C over in Medway %28the neighboring town closest to the Interstate%29%2C a local business run by a second-generation immigrant with an imperfect but oddly eloquent grasp of English displayed a large sign reading%0D%0A%0D%0AWHY MILL%0D%0ATEAR DOWN%3F%0D%0AN. PARK%3F%3F%0D%0A%0D%0A%28Which always struck me as slightly futile%2C since the way it%27s worded you wouldn%27t have a blind clue what it was about unless you already knew%2C but anyway.%29%0D%0A%0D%0AAs for me%2C I don%27t really have a dog in the primary fight.  I was close enough to the hypocenter when the bomb dropped on Great Northern to know that the environmental movement didn%27t really have a hell of a lot to do with it%2C nor did the outdoorsy tourists.  GNP fell because it would have taken a genius management team to make a paper company work in northern Maine in the early 21st century%2C and what it had instead was a series of clownshoes and fraudsters%2C the best of which can charitably be described as %22well-meaning%22.  The cracks in the pulp-and-paper industry were showing as early as the 1980s%2C now that hindsight provides the clarity to recognize them%2C and while some of that was environmentally driven%2C most of it is down to what the right wing likes to misquote Adam Smith and call the Invisible Hand of the Market.%0D%0A%0D%0ASo I don%27t blame the Sierra Club or snowmobilers for the end of the industrial glory days%2C but on the other hand%2C I don%27t much care for them%2C either%2C because I believe the entire purpose of the last 10%2C000 years of human civilization has been making it so we don%27t have to be outdoors like a bunch of goddamn animals. %3A%29%0D%0A%0D%0AMy own concern with the idea of a national park %28or national monument%2C as they%27re now calling it%2C I%27m fuzzy on what the distinction is but I%27m sure there is one%29 on my doorstep is not connected to conspiracy theories about federal land grabs or Agenda Whateveritis at the UN %28the one some people around here think calls for a systematic depopulation of the state to make way for the displaced population of Somalia or Syria or whatever the fuck it is%2C seriously%2C people think this%29.  My concern is that I%27ve been to other towns that are the %22gateways%22 to national parks and they%27re %5Bi%5Dhorrible%5B%2Fi%5D.%0D%0A%0D%0ATake%2C for example%2C Gatlinburg%2C Tennessee%2C the last town before the entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  I%27ve been there%2C and it is the most godawfully tacky place you can even imagine.  It%27s all %22see the death car%22-grade wax museums and places selling %22Indian%22 trinkets and Ripley%27s Believe It or Not.  It%27s every Walmart-parking-lot stereotype you can think of.  The kind of place where you%27re glad to catch sight of a Hardee%27s for its reassuringly upscale atmosphere.  Millinocket is a bit of a hole%2C I grant you%2C but it%27s not %5Bi%5Dthat%5B%2Fi%5D and I really would prefer it not to become that.  I%27ll take %22crumbling post-industrial nowhere%22 over that shit any day of the year.%0D%0A%0D%0ASo yeah.  I believe I%27m not on that train%2C although not for quite the same reasons that a lot of my neighbors are not on it.  Unlike many of them %28for example%2C my sainted right-wing-loony mother%2C who voted for Richard Nixon in 1972 and would do so again tomorrow %5Bi%5Deven though he%27s a criminal and dead%5B%2Fi%5D%29%2C I do at least believe that the National Park Service provides a useful function to society and should not be dismantled as Liberal Nonsense.%0D%0A%0D%0A--G.%0D%0A-%3E%3C-%0D%0ABenjamin D. Hutchins%2C Co-Founder%2C Editor-in-Chief%2C %26 Forum Mod%0D%0AEyrie Productions%2C Unlimited  http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eyrie-productions.com%2F%0D%0Azgryphon at that email service Google has%0D%0A%5Bi%5DCeterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.%5B%2Fi%5D
8|3|7|||1||RE%3A Ask Gryphon Anything%2C Volume 2%2C Issue 1|Peter Eng||13:04:42|08/26/2016|That%27s useful to know.%0D%0A%0D%0AI wish there was some way to make a profit from commentary like this%2C primarily because you%27d be very good at it%2C although I have to allow that you%27re not in the best place to make use of such a skill.  %28Also%2C the sun is kind of warm.%29%0D%0A%0D%0APeter Eng%0D%0A--%0D%0ANews ain%27t what it used to be.
9|3|7|||1||RE%3A Ask Gryphon Anything%2C Volume 2%2C Issue 1|Pasha||16:43:01|08/26/2016|%3EMy own concern with the idea of a national park %28or national monument%2C %0D%0A%3Eas they%27re now calling it%2C I%27m fuzzy on what the distinction is but %0D%0A%3EI%27m sure there is one%29%0D%0A%0D%0AThere are two big differences.  The first has longer term impact%2C because it%27s basically who runs them. National Parks are run by the Parks service%2C natch%2C while National Monuments are run by various and sundry other federal services ranging from US Fish and Wildlife to the Department of Defense %28Which is think is just White Sands%2C but I could be wrong%29.%0D%0A%0D%0AThe other%2C and highly relevant one right now is that%2C due to the wording of the Antiquities Act%2C Congress creates National Parks%2C but the President has %22nearly-unfettered discretion as to the nation of the object to be protected and the size of the area reserved%22%5B1%5D.  %0D%0A%0D%0AThis means that Mr Obama doesn%27t need to get a hostile Congress in line in order to designate the area a National Monument%2C but would in order to get it made a National Park.%0D%0A%0D%0A%3EGatlinburg%2C Tennessee%0D%0A%0D%0AI can%27t read this and %2Anot%2A think of A Boy Named Sue.%0D%0A-- %0D%0A-Pasha %5B1%5D Wikipedia%0D%0A%22Don%27t change the subject%22%0D%0A%22Too slow%2C already did.%22
10|4|9|||||RE%3A Ask Gryphon Anything%2C Volume 2%2C Issue 1|Kendra Kirai||19:31:36|08/26/2016|The terrible cynic in my also thinks %28perhaps highly incorrectly%29 that the wording also makes it easier for it to be exploited should some resource or other be discovered in it. The whole %27drilling in national parks%27 bit. If nothing else%2C it should go over with the public easier because it isn%27t a %27park%27.
24|5|10|||1||RE%3A Ask Gryphon Anything%2C Volume 2%2C Issue 1|Pasha||19:49:40|08/29/2016|%3EThe terrible cynic in my also thinks %28perhaps highly incorrectly%29 that %0D%0A%3Ethe wording also makes it easier for it to be exploited should some %0D%0A%3Eresource or other be discovered in it. The whole %27drilling in national %0D%0A%3Eparks%27 bit. If nothing else%2C it should go over with the public easier %0D%0A%3Ebecause it isn%27t a %27park%27. %0D%0A%0D%0AMonuments are just as protected from exploitation.%0D%0A%0D%0A-- %0D%0A-Pasha%0D%0A%22Don%27t change the subject%22%0D%0A%22Too slow%2C already did.%22
25|6|24|||||RE%3A Ask Gryphon Anything%2C Volume 2%2C Issue 1|Kendra Kirai||23:26:20|08/29/2016|But the public is less likely to care about it since it isn%27t a %27park%27%2C making it potentially slightly easier to slip a change in...well%2C like I said%2C maybe I%27m just a horrible cynic. 
12|4|9|||||RE%3A Ask Gryphon Anything%2C Volume 2%2C Issue 1|TheOtherSean||00:59:29|08/27/2016|%3EThere are two big differences.  The first has longer term impact%2C %0D%0A%3Ebecause it%27s basically who runs them. National Parks are run by the %0D%0A%3EParks service%2C natch%2C while National Monuments are run by various and %0D%0A%3Esundry other federal services ranging from US Fish and Wildlife to the %0D%0A%3EDepartment of Defense %28Which is think is just White Sands%2C but I could %0D%0A%3Ebe wrong%29. %0D%0A%0D%0ATo add some additional detail%3A%0D%0A%0D%0AWhile other federal agencies can and do administer some of America%27s 123 National Monuments%2C about 70%25 are administered by the National Park Service %28NPS%29%3B 95%25 are administered by a Department of Interior agency%2C including the NPS. Since most are created on existing Federal lands%2C whichever agency was administering the lands beforehand usually ends up administering the monument%2C though there are exceptions.%0D%0A%0D%0AIn this case it is clearly going to be an NPS-administered unit.  I think it%27ll be their second largest unit in New England%2C after Acadia.
11|3|7|||1||RE%3A Ask Gryphon Anything%2C Volume 2%2C Issue 1|Mercutio||22:33:55|08/26/2016|[updated:LAST EDITED ON Aug-26-16 AT 10:45 PM (EDT)]This is especially germane because this particular creation happened the day before the 100th anniversary of the creation of the National Parks Service. I%27m not a big fan of Woodrow Wilson%2C who as a President was not skilled in the areas in which he was a good man and not a good man in the areas in which he was skilled%2C but he got some decent stuff done all the same.%0D%0A%0D%0A%3E is %0D%0A%3Eroundly hated as the quintessential Person From Away who wishes to %0D%0A%3Eprotect the Maine woods from the people who live in it.  There are a %0D%0A%3Elot of those%2C and many of them become noisy and troublesome activists %0D%0A%3Eof a particularly unpleasant%2C patronizing%2C paternalistic stripe. %0D%0A%0D%0AI%27m going to be That Guy again and note that%2C historically%2C it does often take People From Away in order to actually protect environmental integrity. If it were left purely up to the residents of Louisiana who live there%2C the Gulf Coast would be a blighted wasteland where nothing grows or swims. Ditto the Everglades in Florida. The Appalachians would be nothing more than blown-open mountains%2C strip mines%2C and decaying slag ponds. The Cuyahoga river would still catch on fire every summer. %0D%0A%0D%0AOut in the midwest%2C if those of us who don%27t actually live there don%27t enforce some fairly substantive changes in industry and commerce%2C the Ogallala Aquifer is going to be drained dry and%2For irreversibly polluted. %28The shit the fracking industry is getting up to in Oklahoma will blow your mind.%29 Further west%2C I am 100%25 convinced that by 2030 we%27re going to see actual for-real water wars over the decaying remnants of the Colorado River if the feds don%27t enforce a solution over the wishes of a massive patchwork of state and local incumbents%2C who all more or less take the position %22the water is mine and I%27ve got a shooting %27arn if anyone says different.%22 The State of California is going to have to tell some farmers they need to eat a loss%2C because they%27re sucking so much water out of the rivers that there%27s very real risk of salt backflow from the ocean flowing way%2C way upstream%2C and once a stretch of land is inundated with salt water it becomes relatively useless for farming.  %0D%0A%0D%0AI%27m not saying high-handed paternalism is necessarily an attractive trait in people%2C but%2C well. Sometimes %22no%2C we won%27t let you slash and burn%22 is sort of necessary thing to tell folks. People have a remarkable tendency to not just shit where they eat%2C but to get %5Bi%5Dreally mad%5B%2Fi%5D at folks telling them to clean up the shit.%0D%0A%0D%0A%3EThere are deep divisions and a lot of anger %27round these parts%2C is %0D%0A%3Ewhat I%27m getting at%2C %0D%0A%0D%0AMy understanding of Maine politics is that this sentiment is widespread throughout the state and a big part %28but far from the only reason%29 of why human bowling jacket Paul LePage has an office with official letterhead%2C rather than still running a discount chain outlet.%0D%0A%0D%0A%3EMy own concern with the idea of a national park %28or national monument%2C %0D%0A%3Eas they%27re now calling it%2C I%27m fuzzy on what the distinction is but %0D%0A%3EI%27m sure there is one%29 %0D%0A%0D%0AIn addition to what Pasha said%3B National Parks%2C because they are created by legislative acts%2C often have funding attached. National Monuments do not. %0D%0A%0D%0AHowever%2C in a twist of supremely black irony%2C the distinction has become somewhat moot over the past decade or so%2C because Congress refuses to appropriate sufficient money to the National Park Service %5Bi%5Deither%5B%2Fi%5D%2C with a few high-profile exceptions such as Yellowstone. So it%27s a bit moot.%0D%0A%0D%0A%3ETake%2C for example%2C Gatlinburg%2C Tennessee%2C the last town before the %0D%0A%3Eentrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  I%27ve been there%2C and %0D%0A%3Eit is the most godawfully tacky place you can even imagine.  It%27s all %0D%0A%3E%22see the death car%22-grade wax museums and places selling %22Indian%22 %0D%0A%3Etrinkets and Ripley%27s Believe It or Not.  It%27s every %0D%0A%3EWalmart-parking-lot stereotype you can think of.  %0D%0A%0D%0AIt%27s also possible to go the other way. A lot of resort towns in the Rockies that are making use of the fact that they%27re near national parks suitable for outdoorsy shenanigans of all sorts have become so gentrified that regular folks often can%27t afford to live there and have to resort to squatting out in the woods before they %22commute%22 into town to preform menial labor. This is causing lots of pollution and fire hazards. It%27s a bit insane. Frickin%27 %5Bi%5DLeadville%5B%2Fi%5D is becoming unaffordable and that place is basically built on top of poison and bodies.%0D%0A%0D%0AThe towns sure look super nice and fancy%2C tho. All those lovely chalets and whatnot.%0D%0A%0D%0A%3EThe kind of place %0D%0A%3Ewhere you%27re glad to catch sight of a Hardee%27s for its reassuringly %0D%0A%3Eupscale atmosphere.  %0D%0A%0D%0AOh%2C oh%21 Something Maine-related I%27ve been meaning to post about here but I needed an excuse.%0D%0A%0D%0APrior to this month%2C there were only two remaining Howard Johnson%27s restaurants in the world. %28The hotel chain is doing fine.%29 One in Lake George%2C NY%2C and the other in Bangor. %0D%0A%0D%0AThe Bangor will close on September 6th. The Empire State is in possession of the last HoJo%27s standing.%0D%0A%0D%0ASo yeah. Suck it%2C Maine. We are the one%21 GIVE US THE PRIZE.%0D%0A%0D%0A-Merc%0D%0AKeep Rat
15|4|11|||1||RE%3A Ask Gryphon Anything%2C Volume 2%2C Issue 1|Astynax||14:23:25|08/28/2016|%0D%0A%3EI%27m going to be That Guy again and note that%2C historically%2C it does %0D%0A%3Eoften take People From Away in order to actually protect environmental %0D%0A%3Eintegrity. If it were left purely up to the residents of Louisiana who %0D%0A%3Elive there%2C the Gulf Coast would be a blighted wasteland where nothing %0D%0A%3Egrows or swims. Ditto the Everglades in Florida. The Appalachians %0D%0A%3Ewould be nothing more than blown-open mountains%2C strip mines%2C and %0D%0A%3Edecaying slag ponds. The Cuyahoga river would still catch on fire %0D%0A%3Eevery summer. %0D%0A%3E%0D%0A%3EOut in the midwest%2C if those of us who don%27t actually live there don%27t %0D%0A%3Eenforce some fairly substantive changes in industry and commerce%2C the %0D%0A%3EOgallala Aquifer is going to be drained dry and%2For irreversibly %0D%0A%3Epolluted. %28The shit the fracking industry is getting up to in Oklahoma %0D%0A%3Ewill blow your mind.%29 Further west%2C I am 100%25 convinced that by 2030 %0D%0A%3Ewe%27re going to see actual for-real water wars over the decaying %0D%0A%3Eremnants of the Colorado River if the feds don%27t enforce a solution %0D%0A%3Eover the wishes of a massive patchwork of state and local incumbents%2C %0D%0A%3Ewho all more or less take the position %22the water is mine and I%27ve got %0D%0A%3Ea shooting %27arn if anyone says different.%22 The State of California is %0D%0A%3Egoing to have to tell some farmers they need to eat a loss%2C because %0D%0A%3Ethey%27re sucking so much water out of the rivers that there%27s very real %0D%0A%3Erisk of salt backflow from the ocean flowing way%2C way upstream%2C and %0D%0A%3Eonce a stretch of land is inundated with salt water it becomes %0D%0A%3Erelatively useless for farming. %0D%0A%3E%0D%0A%3EI%27m not saying high-handed paternalism is necessarily an attractive %0D%0A%3Etrait in people%2C but%2C well. Sometimes %22no%2C we won%27t let you slash and %0D%0A%3Eburn%22 is sort of necessary thing to tell folks. People have a %0D%0A%3Eremarkable tendency to not just shit where they eat%2C but to get %0D%0A%3E%5Bi%5Dreally mad%5B%2Fi%5D at folks telling them to clean up the shit. %0D%0A%3E%0D%0A%0D%0AThe reason behind that is actually quite simple. People from Far Away%28tm%29 are not making an often hand to mouth living more or less directly from whichever natural resource they are seeking to protect. It is all well and good to tell some farmers to %27eat a loss%27 but if you don%27t give them some way to deal with that loss that does not involve words like %27bankruptcy%27 and %27homelessness%27 they will have many choice words and a couple of upraised fingers to show you. %0D%0A%0D%0AIt is a short sighted but inescapable truth that survival today trumps any and all concerns for tomorrow. %0D%0A%0D%0A%5BP%5D%5Btable border%3D%220%22 cellspacing%3D%220%22 cellpadding%3D%220%22%5D%5Btr%5D%5Btd colspan%3D%222%22%5D%5Bhr size%3D%222%22 noshade%5D%5B%2Ftd%5D%5B%2Ftr%5D%5Btr%5D%5Btd%5Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv375%2Ferulogos%2Fv2%2FXSIG.jpg%5B%2Ftd%5D%5Btd%5D%5BFONT SIZE%3D%222%22 COLOR%3D%22%23000000%22%5D%5Bb%5D-%3D%7B%28Astynax%29%7D%3D-%5B%2Fb%5D%5BBR%5D%5Bi%5D%22The most common human response to being told %27no%27 are the words %27Fuck You%27.%22%5B%2Fi%5D%5B%2Ffont%5D%5B%2Ftd%5D%5B%2Ftr%5D%5Btr%5D%5Btd colspan%3D%222%22%5D%5Bhr size%3D%222%22 noshade%5D%5B%2Ftd%5D%5B%2Ftr%5D%5B%2Ftable%5D%5B%2Fp%5D
16|5|15|||1||RE%3A Ask Gryphon Anything%2C Volume 2%2C Issue 1|Gryphon||15:01:19|08/28/2016|[updated:LAST EDITED ON Aug-28-16 AT 03:02 PM (EDT)]%3EThe reason behind that is actually quite simple. People from Far %0D%0A%3EAway%28tm%29 are not making an often hand to mouth living more or less %0D%0A%3Edirectly from whichever natural resource they are seeking to protect. %0D%0A%0D%0AQuite.  They also tend to care more about the resource than the people%2C which the people quite naturally will be inclined to resent.%0D%0A%0D%0AThe thing about this area is that%2C Merc%27s counterexamples notwithstanding%2C we%27re not talking about strip mines or slash-and-burn agriculture happening if the Nature Conservancy wasn%27t Ever Vigilant.  The paper companies that used to operate in this region were%2C frankly%2C pretty good at the stewardship thing.  When I was a kid%2C Great Northern%27s managers prided themselves on the company%27s woodlands being in better shape%2C however foresters measure these things%2C than the unorganized territories still belonging to the state %28absent%2C e.g.%2C Baxter State Park%2C which was left unmanaged on purpose as part of its charter%29.  They had a massive woodlands department that was dedicated to things like scientifically managed harvesting%2C replanting%2C and so on.  It was all very judicious.%0D%0A%0D%0A%28Somewhere here I have the brochure from the grand opening of the company%27s brand new Engineering and Research Center in the 1950s.  It%27s full of the grandiose optimism stereotypical of the era%2C about how the state-of-the-art facility would help the company harness the boundless power of science to make everything better forever.  Kind of depressing to read now%2C when the building is a crumbling ruin and everything is not better forever%2C but at the time it must have been hard not to be swept along by the current.  I scanned it once%2C a few years ago%2C since as far as we know it%27s the last copy.  Maybe I should dig up the files and post them%3F%29%0D%0A%0D%0AAlso%2C because the company was run by people who lived where it operated%2C and not%2C e.g.%2C Quebecois venture capitalists or hedge fund executives from New Hampshire%2C%2A and those people not uncommonly did the same Outdoorsy Stuff as the locals who worked for them%2C they gave a shit about conditions out there%2C even beyond the obvious economic prudence of not ruining their own sources of raw materials %28the woods%29 and power %28the rivers and lakes%29.  That attitude went somewhat by the wayside in later years%2C when outside owners of various stripe came in and screwed the company up in various ways%2C but by then the whole enterprise had become so feeble they couldn%27t have ruined the woods if they%27d %5Bi%5Dwanted%5B%2Fi%5D to.  My point is that in its heyday%2C when they %5Bi%5Dwere%5B%2Fi%5D powerful enough to do some really substantial damage in the vein of Brazilian jungle clearance or open-pit coal mining%2C GNP and the other similar companies in this part of the world deliberately set out not to do so.%0D%0A%0D%0AAs such%2C the prevailing sentiment around here is basically that Maine%27s woods didn%27t %5Bi%5Dneed%5B%2Fi%5D protecting from Mainers%2C and we%E2%80%94myself included%2C even though I%27m not anything like as engaged with the Outdoorsy Parts as a lot of people%E2%80%94rather resent being viewed as somehow ecologically equivalent to Congolese cobalt miners.%0D%0A%0D%0AThe difference%2C perhaps%2C is between conservation%2C which a lot of people around here are fully on board with TYVM%2C and preservation%2C which is what a lot of people who call themselves conservationists are really into%E2%80%94the full John Muir %22untouched by human hands%22 business.  Those people don%27t see any difference between a working forest%2C which is what we%27ve always had around here%2C and a ruined one.  It%27s a lack of sophistication that%27s ironic in people who appear to think that the locals in these parts are all ignorant bumpkins.%0D%0A%0D%0A--G.%0D%0A%5Bfont size%3D%221%22%5D%2A Both of those happened later and were%2C in fact%2C just as bad as you were thinking.%5B%2Ffont%5D%0D%0A-%3E%3C-%0D%0ABenjamin D. Hutchins%2C Co-Founder%2C Editor-in-Chief%2C %26 Forum Mod%0D%0AEyrie Productions%2C Unlimited  http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eyrie-productions.com%2F%0D%0Azgryphon at that email service Google has%0D%0A%5Bi%5DCeterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.%5B%2Fi%5D
17|6|16|||1||RE%3A Ask Gryphon Anything%2C Volume 2%2C Issue 1|Mercutio||19:55:58|08/28/2016|%3E%3EThe reason behind that is actually quite simple. People from Far %0D%0A%3E%3EAway%28tm%29 are not making an often hand to mouth living more or less %0D%0A%3E%3Edirectly from whichever natural resource they are seeking to protect. %0D%0A%0D%0AIt%27s often less about protecting a natural resource per se than it is not completely fucking up the environment. Also too%2C many environmentalist these days are also supporters of things like robust social safety nets.%0D%0A%0D%0A%3EQuite.  They also tend to care more about the resource than the %0D%0A%3Epeople%2C which the people quite naturally will be inclined to resent. %0D%0A%0D%0AThis is not 100%25 untrue%2C but it is a bit of an unfair stereotype. Certainly radical environmentalists of this type exists%2C but mainstream environmentalism%2C especially of the kind that has actually managed to enact political change %28which is a heavy goddamn lift%29 has usually been massively people-centric. Because people and the ecology they inhabit are inexplicably intertwined%2C and despite our vaunted mastery of the natural world we don%27t actually %5Bi%5Dknow%5B%2Fi%5D how hard we can punch the planet in the balls before we discover we%27ve made a terrible mistake.%0D%0A%0D%0A%3E  When I was a kid%2C Great %0D%0A%3ENorthern%27s managers prided themselves on the company%27s woodlands being %0D%0A%3Ein better shape%2C however foresters measure these things%2C than the %0D%0A%3Eunorganized territories still belonging to the state %28absent%2C e.g.%2C %0D%0A%3EBaxter State Park%2C which was left unmanaged on purpose as part of its %0D%0A%3Echarter%29.  They had a massive woodlands department that was dedicated %0D%0A%3Eto things like scientifically managed harvesting%2C replanting%2C and so %0D%0A%3Eon.  It was all very judicious. %0D%0A%0D%0AI bow to your superior knowledge on this specific topic. What little I know about forest conservation and management in the mid-to-late 20th century involves either the west coast %28One of my good friends wrote a whole book on the environmental and labor struggles that happened there in the 80s and 90s%2C %5Bi%5DEmpire of Timber%5B%2Fi%5D which I don%27t recommend you actually buy because it is an textbook and therefore costs a lot of money%29%29 or%2C oddly%2C the UK. The UK had some real issues with conservation in the postwar era%2C because they thought they were engaged in responsible replanting efforts but it turns out they were actually fostering an unsustainable monoculture.%0D%0A%0D%0ABut I don%27t know a whole lot about forestry in New England. I do know that the forests we have now are radically different than the ones we had 300 years ago%2C and that the shipping industry is somewhat to blame for that inasmuch as the word blame is appropriate%2C but that%27s about it.%0D%0A%0D%0A%3EAlso%2C because the company was run by people who lived where it %0D%0A%3Eoperated%2C and not%2C e.g.%2C Quebecois venture capitalists or hedge fund %0D%0A%3Eexecutives from New Hampshire%2C%2A %0D%0A%0D%0AWhat the hell is the deal with New Hampshire%2C anyway%3F Maine and Vermont seem like relatively sane places%2C politically speaking. I mean%2C yeah%2C sure%2C LePage%2C but 62%25 of Mainers were smart enough to vote for someone who wasn%27t LePage%2C if not quite smart enough to all decide who the not-LePage would be. New Hampshire seems like it has a disproportionate number of %22I%27ve got mine%2C fuck you%22 types wielding power in it.%0D%0A%0D%0A-Merc%0D%0AKeep Rat
13|3|7|||1||RE%3A Ask Gryphon Anything%2C Volume 2%2C Issue 1|MoonEyes||16:05:00|08/27/2016|[updated:LAST EDITED ON Aug-27-16 AT 04:12 PM (EDT)]Ok%2C so%2C while this isn%27t related%2C as such%2C it isn%27t entirely UNrelated either.%0D%0AI was looking hither and yon on the vast %27net%2C and for some reason ended up at a site called %27thewire.com%27.%0D%0AThe thing I ended up reading was...rather nonsense%2C and so I started to wonder if this place was a joke%2Fsatire site.%0D%0ASo%2C I clicked the %27main page over here%27 banner%2Fbutton. And on the front page was a LARGE image-and-headline thing. Thinking I recognized the name in the headline%2C I clicked.%0D%0A%0D%0AYou know%2C I hadn%27t actually checked LePage before%2C despite you writing about him%2C but if even a FRACTION is true%3F Calling him %27Fuckstick%27%3F is FAR too weak. Stark raving slobbering moron mental case might be more to the point.%0D%0A%0D%0A...%21%0D%0AGott%27s Leetle Feesh in Trousers%21
14|4|13|||1||RE%3A Ask Gryphon Anything%2C Volume 2%2C Issue 1|Gryphon||16:36:44|08/27/2016|[updated:LAST EDITED ON Aug-27-16 AT 04:40 PM (EDT)]%3EOk%2C so%2C while this isn%27t related%2C as such%2C it isn%27t entirely UNrelated %0D%0A%3Eeither.%0D%0A%0D%0AAwright%2C look.  Here%27s the thing about Paul LePage.  He wouldn%27t be governor of a state where smart people wrote the constitution.  I%27m pretty sure I%27ve explained this before%2C probably in whichever context first exposed you to the word %22Fuckstick%22 in the context of Maine%27s one and only governor%2C but just to recap for those who came in late%2C Paulie LeP won his first gubernatorial election with %5Bb%5D39 percent%5B%2Fb%5D of the vote%2C which shouldn%27t even be allowed.  And the reason he did it%E2%80%94and then did it again four years later%2C with a slightly larger non-majority%E2%80%94is because first Maine%27s Democrats fielded weaksauce candidates against him%2C and second a colossally uncaring sack of ego%2A called Eliot Cutler jumped in as an indie%2F%22third party%22 %28in sarcasm quotes because the %22party%22 he claimed to be part of isn%27t really one%2C it%27s just a label for people who don%27t think they can hack it as completely partiless independents like Angus King to slap on themselves%29 candidate and split the Not Fuckstick vote.%0D%0A%0D%0AThe result both times%2C because Maine%27s constitution does not require the person who wins the governor%27s office to do so with a majority%2C is that we%27ve got Paul LePage.  So now the %5Bi%5Dcountry%5B%2Fi%5D has Paul LePage%2C and because most people outside Maine don%27t know how our gubernatorial election system works%2C they assume a majority of Mainers must want it that way.  Which is great%21  Not enough people outside the state thought we were all ignorant shitkickers before this.  It%27s always good to do some outreach.%0D%0A%0D%0AThere is also no recall mechanism for Maine%27s governor%2C so unless he were to get caught doing something that%27s actually an impeachable crime%2C we%27re stuck with him for the duration.  Just being shit at governoring is not sufficient grounds to get him out of office.%0D%0A%0D%0AAnd he %5Bi%5Dis%5B%2Fi%5D shit at governoring%2C make no mistake.  The fact that he%27s a public relations nightmare for the entire State of Maine is the smallest corner of the disaster that is Paul LePage.  He doesn%27t really understand%E2%80%94or care%E2%80%94what the governor of the state is supposed to be %5Bi%5Dfor%5B%2Fi%5D.  Often%2C he%27ll get a hair across his ass about someone or something in the Legislature and decide that he%27s just going to veto everything he%27s presented with for the next week%2C even if it%27s bills he caused to be introduced in the first place.  This is the executive-branch equivalent of holding your breath until your face turns blue because you didn%27t get an ice cream.  Once%2C he got into such a snit over a Democrat winning a bye-election to fill an unscheduled vacancy in the Legislature %28I forget which side%29 that he allowed the newly-minted legislator to make the trip to Augusta with her family and friends in tow%2C and then refused to swear her in until about 30 milliseconds before it would%27ve been illegal %28which was of course long after the time he%27d had his staff schedule it for%29.  It%27s like having the Burgess Meredith Penguin from the 1960s %5Bi%5DBatman%5B%2Fi%5D TV show as the governor of your state.%0D%0A%0D%0AA couple of years ago%2C when LePage first made minor national headlines for something %28I think it was his dismissal of concerns over bisphenol A in drinking water containers with words to the effect of%2C %22Big deal%2C so a few women might grow little beards or something%22%29%2C friends of mine from out of state compared him to New Jersey governor Chris Christie%2C lately newsworthy for the apparent ease with which he%27s settled into his new role as Donald Trump%27s chief hunchbacked minion.  Their tendency was to perceive LePage as a kind of minor-league Christie%2C but I have always maintained that they have it backward.  In terms of sheer fuckheadery%2C Christie is the bush-league version of LePage.  If he had done something like that George Washington Bridge thing%2C Paul LePage wouldn%27t have tried to cover it up%2C he%27d have called a fucking %5Bi%5Dpress conference%5B%2Fi%5D.  %22Enjoying your new traffic%2C Fort Lee%3F  You%27re welcome%21  How d%27ya like me now%3F%22%0D%0A%0D%0AThe man is quite simply a grade-A sonofabitch.  The fact that he was actually%2C legally elected governor of the state where I live%E2%80%94twice%21%E2%80%94through a convergence of badly written electoral procedures%2C misguided-at-best attempts to reform the two-party system%2C and evil being better at getting out the vote than good means I can%27t allow myself the luxury of thinking the current situation in re the presidential election is funny.%0D%0A%0D%0A--G.%0D%0A%5Bfont size%3D%221%22%5D%2A Or%2C to borrow a beautifully turned phrase I saw in a tweet directed at... I forget if it was Newt Gingrich or Mike Huckabee... one time%2C %22Hefty bag full of coleslaw%22.%5B%2Ffont%5D%0D%0A-%3E%3C-%0D%0ABenjamin D. Hutchins%2C Co-Founder%2C Editor-in-Chief%2C %26 Forum Mod%0D%0AEyrie Productions%2C Unlimited  http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eyrie-productions.com%2F%0D%0Azgryphon at that email service Google has%0D%0A%5Bi%5DCeterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.%5B%2Fi%5D
18|5|14|||1||RE%3A Ask Gryphon Anything%2C Volume 2%2C Issue 1|Mercutio||20:05:30|08/28/2016|%0D%0A%3E%5Bfont size%3D%221%22%5D%2A Or%2C to borrow a beautifully turned phrase I saw in a %0D%0A%3Etweet directed at... I forget if it was Newt Gingrich or Mike %0D%0A%3EHuckabee... one time%2C %22Hefty bag full of coleslaw%22.%5B%2Ffont%5D %0D%0A%0D%0AI was curious about this turn of phrase%2C so I turned to Google.%0D%0A%0D%0AThe originator of the quote seems to be a comedian from Philly I%27ve never heard of before named Chip Chantry%2C and it was directed at Gingrich.%0D%0A%0D%0AHowever%2C the interesting part was what he was responding to. It wasn%27t just a random angry insult at Gingrich%3B it was Mr. Chantry calling Gingrich out for the following tweet%3A%0D%0A%0D%0A%5Bblockquote%5D%22Washington elites mock Trump for mispronouncing Tanzania. They don%27t get it. He said the most important word correctly%3A America. He gets it.%22%5B%2Fblockquote%5D%0D%0A%0D%0AI would like to remind people that Mr. Gingrich is %5Bi%5Dsupposed%5B%2Fi%5D to be a writer and an intellectual. He has a Ph.D in history from Tulane%2C which is an R1 school. He wrote and published a number of books before he was famous.%0D%0A%0D%0AHuman bag full of coleslaw seems apropos.%0D%0A%0D%0A-Merc%0D%0AKeep Rat
19|6|18|||1||RE%3A Ask Gryphon Anything%2C Volume 2%2C Issue 1|The Traitor||20:33:22|08/28/2016|I blundered into this post just now and can confirm its origins. I was there at the time%2C because I made a Tanzania mod for Civ 5 and about%2C ooh%2C eleventy squillion of my friends %28i.e. both of them%29 thought I%27d not seen it before. Hefty bag full of coleslaw is a far more polite term than I would use%2C though I admit to screaming at La Gingrich to give himself a buckshot enema when I saw the tweet.%0D%0A%0D%0AThat I live three thousand miles away from Gingrich and the nation where he somehow managed to accrue political power is both blessing and comfort for the days I am forcibly reminded that our current Foreign Secretary is a xenophobic space hopper.%0D%0A%0D%0A---%0D%0A%22She%27s old%2C she%27s lame%2C she%27s barren too%2C %2F%2F %22She%27s not worth feed or hay%2C %2F%2F %22But I%27ll give her this%2C%22 - he blew smoke at me - %2F%2F %22She was something in her day.%22 -- Garnet Rogers%2C %5Bi%5DSmall Victory%5B%2Fi%5D%0D%0A%0D%0AFiMFiction.net%3A we might accept blatant porn involving the cast of My Little Pony but as God is my witness we have %5Bi%5Dstandards%5B%2Fi%5D.%0D%0A%0D%0A%5Bsmall%5DI view Boris the same way I view Jeremy Clarkson%3B not actually an idiot%2C and considerably more dangerous than they would be if they %5Bi%5Dwere%5B%2Fi%5D just an idiot.%5B%2Fsmall%5D
20|5|14|||||RE%3A Ask Gryphon Anything%2C Volume 2%2C Issue 1|BeardedFerret||08:32:25|08/29/2016|You poor%2C poor bastards. 
21|5|14|||||RE%3A Ask Gryphon Anything%2C Volume 2%2C Issue 1|jonathanlennox||15:30:11|08/29/2016|%3EHe wouldn%27t be governor of a state where smart people wrote the constitution.%0D%0A%0D%0ASo does this mean you%27re in favor of %5Blink%3Atheintercept.com%2F2016%2F08%2F29%2Fmaines-instant-runoff-proposal-could-banish-its-governor-from-state-politics%2F%7CQuestion 5%5D%3F  Or is that also screwed up somehow%3F
22|6|21|||1||RE%3A Ask Gryphon Anything%2C Volume 2%2C Issue 1|Gryphon||15:49:24|08/29/2016|%3E%3EHe wouldn%27t be governor of a state where smart people wrote the constitution.%0D%0A%3E%0D%0A%3ESo does this mean you%27re in favor of %0D%0A%3E%5Blink%3Atheintercept.com%2F2016%2F08%2F29%2Fmaines-instant-runoff-proposal-could-banish-its-governor-from-state-politics%2F%7CQuestion 5%5D%3F  Or is that also screwed up somehow%3F %0D%0A%0D%0AI%27m sure Maine%27s voters will find ways to screw up using it%2C but I%27m absolutely in favor of the proposal itself.%0D%0A%0D%0A--G.%0D%0A-%3E%3C-%0D%0ABenjamin D. Hutchins%2C Co-Founder%2C Editor-in-Chief%2C %26 Forum Mod%0D%0AEyrie Productions%2C Unlimited  http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eyrie-productions.com%2F%0D%0Azgryphon at that email service Google has%0D%0A%5Bi%5DCeterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.%5B%2Fi%5D
23|7|22|||1||RE%3A Ask Gryphon Anything%2C Volume 2%2C Issue 1|Mercutio||16:06:09|08/29/2016|Single Transferable Vote%2FInstant Runoff is far from perfect%2C but it has the %5Bi%5Dmassive%5B%2Fi%5D virtue in that it never elects a Condorcet loser.%0D%0A%0D%0A-Merc%0D%0AKeep Rat