[HCCN] Fwd: Cost of War in Maine

[Judith Robbins]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Lisa Savage <lsavage3 at gmail.com>
> Date: August 20, 2010 2:15:29 PM EDT
> To: Lisa Savage <lsavage3 at gmail.com>
> Subject: $1 trillion and counting -- what didn't get funded?
>
> Sharing my blog post for today. Mark and I will publish a more  
> complete photo essay soon. We welcome your participation in  
> documenting what didn't get funded in your community. peace, Lisa
> $1 Trillion and counting -- what didn't get funded?
>
>
> From the former school’s website. "Burnham Village School houses  
> four sessions of kindergarten. This small building offers a unique  
> experience for students. It is a Kindergarten Center with all  
> programs centered on the developmental needs of the five-year-old  
> child."
>
> The tally for combined price tags of the wars in Iraq and  
> Afghanistan reached $1 trillion this year (if you can stand it,  
> check the madly running counter here and note that we've added $38  
> billion to that figure already). It's such a large number, it's  
> hard to relate to it.
>
> Mark and I decided to come at it from a different direction by  
> documenting some of the things that did not get funded while  
> borrowing for more war spending raged on. We drove around  
> photographing elementary schools closed for lack of funds at the  
> end of the '09-10 school year.
>
> On our travels we spent the night at some of Maine's state park  
> campgrounds, where newish facilities to shower and wash dishes had  
> signs thanking the state's voters for approving a bond issue that  
> made the construction possible. This represents borrowed $ to be  
> paid back by state taxes that increase rather than decrease quality  
> of life.
>
> We also drove over an astonishing number of re-paved roads, several  
> of which boasted signs stating that the project represented federal  
> recovery act $$ at work. People in Maine joke that we have only two  
> seasons: winter, and construction. I imagine many of these road  
> improvement projects were "shovel ready" and had been put off for  
> lack of funds. There were so many of them, including Interstate 95,  
> state highways, and just plain county roads, it was hard not to get  
> the feeling that projects that stimulate demand for petroleum  
> products (and even use a lot of petroleum in the asphalt) were a  
> big priority for allocation of recovery funds.
>
>
> Palmyra Consolidated School was closed this year for an estimated  
> savings of $448,292. That's equal to the cost of about 10 minutes  
> of the war in Afghanistan.
>
>
> Mark in front of the former Monson (Maine) Elementary School,  
> closed June 2010. Isaac Crabtree turned up as our park ranger that  
> night. He lives across from the school, which is now a community  
> center for the town of Monson. When asked his opinion he said, "I  
> just think it's a shame for Kindergarteners to have to ride the bus  
> for 45 minutes each way."
>
> Our own local school district closed Embden Elementary, which had  
> the best test scores in reading in math of all the schools in our  
> district. Estimated savings: $200,000.
>
> The community school that got us started on our photo essay  
> project. It closed its doors in June. Some small family members of  
> ours and grandchildren of our friends were heartbroken.
>
> Bring our war $$ home!
>
> -- 
> ---
> Lisa Savage
> CODEPINK Maine Local Coordinator
> ☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮
>
> http://went2thebridge.blogspot.com (peace blog)
>
> CODEPINK is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice  
> movement working to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, stop new  
> wars, and redirect our resources into healthcare, education, green  
> jobs and other life-affirming activities. Won't you join us?   
> www.codepink4peace.org
>

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