Get Your Shovels, Hammers and Might, March to the Stream and See Your Property Values Rise Overnight
Well, “Huron” and “awesome” sort of rhyme. Brandon’s unfailing music-scouting skills bring us this gem of a video that uses the power of soulful folk to make the case for a greenway. Our best transcription of the lyrics to “The A-Squared Environmental Blues”:
We live in Ann Arbor
We are pure and green
Let’s unbury our stream
Free Allen Creek down to the Huron
Make our city more awesome
Get your shovels, hammers and might
March to the stream and break that bite(?)We’ve got the A-squared environmental blues
We’ve got the A-squared environmental blues
Can’t be green when we’ve got no stream
We’ve got the A-squared environmental blues
We helped the city grow
Now stormwater has nowhere to go
Runs from the roof, malls and pavement
Dirty water is in the basement
But our town gots to look nice
So shove that scum down into the pipe
That’s where it’s gonna rest
Hiding the problem is the bestWe’ve got the A-squared environmental blues
We’ve got the A-squared environmental blues
Can’t be green when we’ve got no stream
We’ve got the A-squared environmental bluesBricks and concrete continue to grow
Pack them pipes way down below
Grow and grow past the pipes
Send manhole covers out of sight
Flow through basements and streets
Mother Nature can’t be beat
Give up the fight
Watch the stream flow into daylightWe’ve got the A-squared environmental blues
We’ve got the A-squared environmental blues
Can’t be green when we’ve got no stream
We’ve got the A-squared environmental blues (repeat)
I think it’s “break that pipe.”
posted by Brandon on August 26th, 2007 at 2:08 pmWell, that makes more sense, at least as much as…everything else about the song.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on August 26th, 2007 at 2:10 pmOh my.
posted by Sarah on August 26th, 2007 at 2:21 pmI keep trying to write something snarky, but all I do is giggle. The only thing that could make this better? More cowbell.
posted by ryan on August 26th, 2007 at 2:42 pmDid anyone notice that all the “now” pictures are from winter and all the “future” pictures are from spring or summer? It’s like the lack of a greenway is some kind of Narnian White Witch keeping her spell of endless winter over A2 until the Friends of the Greenway break it, at which point we will have summer all year round.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on August 26th, 2007 at 3:26 pmAlso, highly-manicured flower gardens make for healthy ecosystems, obvs.
posted by Brandon on August 26th, 2007 at 3:36 pmIt would just end up being a park full of bums begging for change.
posted by JJdl on August 26th, 2007 at 7:20 pmwow. the ability to make a song about a dried up creek is overrated.
posted by nymbani yangu on August 26th, 2007 at 8:11 pmI’ve been rendered totally fucking speechless.
posted by (former) OFWinsurgent on August 27th, 2007 at 9:31 am“Can’t be green if we got no stream”
Huronologically speaking, we should bear in mind that only our doctor can tell us if our lack of stream is due to an enlarged prostrate and not another condition such as prostate cancer. But for god’s sake let’s try something like FloMax first, before we just willy nilly grab the nearest hammer and ‘break the pipe’. Ow-zers.
Be … cause … DOO doo, doo DOO, doo … doo
(with mucho gusto)
Why would you break our pipe, Glenn Thompson?
P’raps you envy A-squared’s Johnson?
Would you bust pipes unabated,
Til Ann Arbor is … Caster-rated?
Ann Arbor’s not a girl, you see
posted by UM Med stud on August 27th, 2007 at 12:30 pmHe’s a man, with manly needs.
So when he blows a man-hole cover
Just means he’s come on some new lover
G-d help us, but couldn’t ya kinda see this one coming?
posted by LittleB on August 27th, 2007 at 5:10 pmI want to know when the news about the boycott of Isreali goods at the People’s Co-op will show up here at AAIO??
I am not pro-Isreal but these morons at the People’s co-sop actually think they will get people to work there for their pitiful wage! See below…Oh right duh! I did! Ok they really sucked as an employer and I felt abused and treat very poorly so LET’S BOYCOTT The People’s Food Co-op!! Asses!
***************************************************************
Grocery Stocker
Reply to: buyers@peoplesfood.coop
Date: 2007-08-31, 8:42AM EDT
Interested in being a part of a team that values preservation of the environment and sustainable organic agriculture? Come fill out an application at the People’s Food Cooperative at 214 N. 4th Avenue by Kerrytown for a Grocery Stocking position we currently have available. Job Requirements: Attention to detail, repetitive, heavy lifting (up to 50 lb), fast pace pricing & stocking, good communicator with positive attitude, self-motivated and enjoys working in a team environment.
posted by Boycott People's on September 3rd, 2007 at 11:27 pmPart time availability from 24-40 hours/week. M-F days and some evenings - flexibility in schedule is a plus!
The above post has nothing to do with working conditions at the PFC. That post has everything to do with a small minority of misguided people who believe that by boycotting a small local business they will have a positive effect on the plight of the Palestinians. They have to portray themselves as an oppressed minority and actually lose the boycott vote to continue to have a soapbox on which to stand and complain.
Why do the boycott people continue to shop at the PFC during the boycott?
Why don’t the boycott people do something positive like finding and promoting Palestinian products for the PFC to sell that would actually help Palestinians?
Why don’t they boycott Krogers or Whole Foods, who sell many more Israeli products that the PFC?
Why do they use the swastika to hatefully associate the PFC with the Nazi’s?
Why do they only present one side of the violent conflict between Israel and the Palestinians? It takes two to wage war and the Palestinians are complicit when waging violence.
This is harvest season in Israel and many Palestinians work on the farms, if the boycott passes, this could actually make it harder for Palestinian workers to work.
Their boycott is so negative that it actually hurts the Palestinians and members of the PFC who might actually agree with their politics. People are turned off by the negative attitude and harassing nature of the boycott people.
What happens if the boycott vote fails? Will they stop harassing the PFC and the people who walk by the PFC? I doubt it, because they would lose publicity.
The boycott people only pick on the local churches, synagogues and the PFC for publicity. They aren’t seriously interested in positive change.
Get the facts and if you are a member of the PFC, use your common sense, see through the bullshit and vote against the boycott.
posted by Anonymous on September 4th, 2007 at 7:44 amWell, I’ve stopped shopping there because of the boycott vote (and as much as I’ve dissed the place, it was hard to give up the prepared foods.)
posted by ann arbor is overrated on September 4th, 2007 at 7:53 amLet me get this straight. You dis the PFC, but like the prepared foods.
They carried Israeli products when you shopped there, but then it didn’t make a difference. Only the boycott made the difference in your shopping choices. Did your newly found political correctness extend to other businesses who carry Israeli products or support Israel?
Regardless of how the vote goes, will your contradictory politics allow you to enjoy the prepared foods again, even though, if the boycott vote fails, the PFC will continue to carry some Israeli products that their members want and purchase?
Please remember that the PFC is member owned and is the ONLY business in Ann Arbor whose charter allows this kind of public political discussion to take place and then put it up to a vote by the members.
posted by Anonymous on September 4th, 2007 at 8:44 amUm, it sounds like people are all talking past each other.
I’m guessing that the person who posted the Grocery Stocker position really is aggrieved about wages and working conditions.
And probably AAIO is staying away from the co-op during the boycott vote because the vicinity has become a cacophany of screaming advocates. To say the least, during the month of September, it might well be seen as an uncomfortable place to shop, regardless of one’s views on the Middle East.
I’m a long-time member of the co-op who is voting “no” on the boycott. See ArborUpdate for way too many words from me about this. I’ll shut up now.
posted by Larry Kestenbaum on September 4th, 2007 at 10:02 amI’m staying away because I don’t think it should even be up for debate whether Israeli products should be boycotted unless the products of every other country with a more oppressive government are also shunned. I find a lot of the protesters’ rhetoric anti-Semitic, and I’m upset that enough members of the co-op have aligned with them to force this kind of vote.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on September 4th, 2007 at 10:33 amI have also stopped shopping at PFC, not really as a conscious decision, but more of a subconscious one — I find the anti-Israel activists supremely offensive, all up in my face their swastikas and such.
The last time I passed by PFC and was confronted, it was all I could do to not yell GET AWAY FROM ME YOU NAZI which would not be polite.
I prefer to shop in places where I am not angered by rude strangers.
posted by Former PFC shopper on September 4th, 2007 at 10:46 amThe protesters didn’t bother me at first — I thought, I’m going to shop here on purpose to annoy them.
But when the board decided to have this vote (I realize that they probably have to under whatever rules they have about member petitions), it made it clear that the protesters aren’t so much fighting the PFC as they are representing it. And that’s when I thought I’d be better off shopping somewhere else.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on September 4th, 2007 at 10:49 amFor information on the boycott, please look at the statements and voting info on the PFC website - http://www.peoplesfood.coop (look under news and events.)
The board was approached early in the year by the Boycott Israel Goods group, and chose not to respond to a request to boycott Israeli products. Similar to many Co-ops, we have a provision in the by-laws that allows for member referendums. The BIG group collected enough valid signatures to require the matter be put to a vote. So that is what we are doing.
It is a divisive issue, and many people are upset, as Board President I have had an unprecedented number of calls, e-mails and personal conversations with people who are mostly opposed to the boycott.
I would certainly hope that people would continue to support the Co-op during the process, and once the members make a decision then you can act accordingly depending on what the outcome means to you.
The board has been criticized for allowing the vote to go forward. The alternative would be to violate the bylaws and expose the Co-op to legal action which I would find impossible to defend. With a nearly entirely new board, a new GM, and a staff of very hard working people who have taken the brunt of the complaints and criticisms, we are doing the best we can.
Please go to the Co-op and let the staff know you support them and your local Co-op, which has provided healthy food and supported local farmers for over 35 years. I would be disappointed if the democratic process drove people away from such an imporant business that is a part of Ann Arbor.
posted by Linda Diane Fe;dt on September 4th, 2007 at 11:06 amHmm, when I went to the PFC this morning to cast my vote, the place was quiet. No protesters or counter-protesters or lurid signs or swastikas. Maybe they only show up during busy times.
Inside the store, I met, for the first time in person, a longtime participant in this web site. But that’s another story.
By the way, AAIO’s favorite National Review commentator has an item today about this controversy. He says of the co-op: “Their mission is to let it all hang out. I remember very well the hammer and sickle on their sign — may be still there.”
posted by Larry Kestenbaum on September 4th, 2007 at 12:13 pmYeah, nothing but shoppers when I went by in the evening to pick up some cabbage and cast my vote against making the PFC board hunt down all the evil Israeli couscous.
posted by Bruce Fields on September 4th, 2007 at 9:13 pmI keep thinking that Graham Chapman is going to enter stage left and say, “I’m sorry, but this sketch has become too silly. Let’s move on to the next one. Move along. Chop, chop”.
posted by todd on September 4th, 2007 at 10:59 pmSo we stop writing about things when todd says so?
If you think the boycott is a bad thing and could harm downtown’s only full service grocery store (necessary for continued downtown development). Don’t let the outrageous actions of a shrill minority keep you away. By not shopping at the PFC during the protest, you are only caving in to the boycott before it even gets voted on by the membership. Stand up for what you believe is best for downtown and our community!
The boycott organizers are trying to blackmail the PFC to the detriment of the entire community. They’ve already demonstrated their lack of respect for other community institutions, of which the PFC is one that shares their concerns for global peace and justice. But the protesters chose the PFC because of its democratic principles and knew that it would be a place where they could get on their soapbox and get publicity.
If you’re a member please vote, if you’re not, become one and support the PFC. It’s an Ann Arbor institution that differentiates itself from other businesses by living up to its democratic principles.
posted by Anonymous on September 5th, 2007 at 11:12 amDidn’t you hear Todd? All discussion on this needs to stop.
Seriously, I don’t see it as caving into the boycott. When a sizable subset of the owners of a store publicly support a position that I find repellent, I may not want to shop there any more, regardless of whether they take action on this position. With a co-op, the members are the owners.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on September 5th, 2007 at 11:22 amUhhhhh. I didn’t write that the discussion should stop. Have at it.
posted by todd on September 5th, 2007 at 11:28 amWhat does that leave you with, AAIO, Kroger? Kroger’s owners are unlikely to support ANY offensive decisions, since they are publicly traded, and don’t have an owner to do so. However, they have a whole lot more negative impact on the community (and probably even Palestine) than does a local company. The ‘problem’ with local companies is that they have owners with opinions which they voice, which is bound to annoy someone somewhere. (or in the case of the coop, member owners).
posted by Lisa on September 5th, 2007 at 12:05 pmWhy would a business who actually listens to it’s customers and acts in ways that tries to serve them directly without top down, profit motivated, corporate board interference, be repellent to anyone?
There are more than 6,000 PFC members. The PFC did more than $5 million in gross business last year.
Just because the protesters collected 600 or so sigs to have the issue brought up for a vote does not mean that even 10% of members support the boycott. That only means that members support the democratic process. Please don’t tar the PFC or individual members who do not support the boycott as complicit in the decision to act in accordance with the PFC bylaws.
As an institution, the PFC employees and board of directors are neutral regarding the boycott vote because decisions are made by the membership and not its board, unlike corporations. The PFC is legally bound to operate by it’s by-laws and democratic standards. I would think that’s something the vast majority of us would and should support.
Members may be the owners, but the PFC has long been supported by non members as well. You need not be a member to shop or support the PFC. Everyone pays the same prices for PFC products. Some people become members because they see the value in being part of locally owned and democratically operated institutions, but the PFC is by no means exclusive or closed in the way it does business.
I would hope that most people would feel good knowing that there does exist a democratically operated business in Ann Arbor that is not only member owned but supported by the community at large.
posted by Anonymous on September 5th, 2007 at 12:19 pmYou have to have been a full member since at least July 31 to be eligible to vote on the referendum.
Anyone who is eligible to vote and concerned about this should vote.
posted by Larry Kestenbaum on September 5th, 2007 at 12:32 pmI think most people set the bar for when to sign a petition extremely low. Experience with the people trolling arborupdate has made me a little more wary, but I bet most of the people approached by someone with a clipboard outside the coop this summer heard “civil rights” and “Israel” and said, ok, whatever, I’ll sign and we’ll find out what it’s really about when it’s time for the vote. If they’re guilty of anything it’s of not thinking hard, and after they’ve actually read a little about it they’ll vote differently.
Well, I guess we’ll find out. Cast a vote in any case–seems like it could be decided by very few people.
posted by Bruce Fields on September 5th, 2007 at 12:35 pmI meant to say that you shouldn’t tar all the members of the PFC as being complicit with the intent of the boycott just they support democracy in action, and certainly not with the repulsive actions of the the boycott proponents.
posted by Anonymous on September 5th, 2007 at 1:04 pmI’m sure Kroger’s owners make a dozen decisions that offend someone in Ann Arbor every day before breakfast.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on September 5th, 2007 at 1:26 pmI may have missed it if someone said, but when do the polls close? And when do they expect to announce the decision?
I’ll be in there tonight to sign, but Mrs. Structure-Dude won’t be able to make it in until later this week.
And for what it’s worth we’ve already decided that if the boycott passes we’re cashing in our share and taking our business to someone who doesn’t have a “conscience.” Alas, if only Costco sold couscous.
posted by Parking Structure Dude! on September 5th, 2007 at 1:50 pmThe polls are open until September 30. If you and Mrs. Structure Dude have one member number, only one of you (the member of record for that number) can vote.
It happens that my family’s membership is in my name, so I got to be the one to vote on this, and my wife didn’t. She and I have different last names, and we sort of vaguely take turns on who gets to be the name for this or that service.
posted by Larry Kestenbaum on September 5th, 2007 at 4:56 pmYou got Larry K. to say “Mrs. Structure Dude”.
Well done.
posted by todd on September 5th, 2007 at 5:04 pmThe best thing about this thread is that it makes me SO happy I don’t live in A2 anymore. Thanks everybody. I’ll be thinking of you when I’m buying milk this evening from my evil corporate overlords at Trader Joe’s.
posted by Nick on September 5th, 2007 at 5:57 pmIf you like this thread, you’ll love the one on Arbor Update.
posted by tom brandt on September 5th, 2007 at 7:55 pmFolks,
The violence in the Middle East will stand a much greater chance of ending when the US government stops fueling the violence by arming Israel to the teeth. Why is the US government even involved in this dispute? The fact that the US government has had a history of hosting peace talks should raise some red flags; it’s not our land which is involved in a dispute. I would be happy if the US government did nothing, neither condemn nor condone either side and certainly not send money to either side. The US government is getting ready to nuke Iran (I guess Iraq is no longer any fun.) I see de-funding Israel as a key to ending US involvement in Middle Eastern wars. BTW, if you think the nuking of Iran is academic, what impact will a US driven escalation have on international financial markets? It’s certainly possible a Great Depression type scenario could be the result of nuking Iran.
posted by Chuck L. on September 5th, 2007 at 11:07 pmDiscussions like these always bring out the uninformed tools (see Chuck L. for example) who have no historical perspective/knowledge. Israel and the post-war newly formed Arab nations have been manipulated by both the US and the former Soviet Union since the Cold War. The Soviets armed the Arabs to the teeth (and still do, as do the French and Germans) and the US funded Israel (and sometimes Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia). And as to who will nuke Iran, well, speaking of the Saudis, no one is more afraid of Iran than the house of Saud, holders of the most sacred Muslim hotspots. The battle between the Sunni and Shia will eventually be a battle for who has Mecca and therefore the heart and guts of Islam. But, you know, just boycott Israeli goods. And wave swastikas outside the coop. Don’t read a book or anything, you might hurt yourself.
posted by kt on September 5th, 2007 at 11:47 pmHee hee hee hee hee!
Thank God this has so much to do with the People’s Food Coop!
posted by Nick on September 6th, 2007 at 12:45 am“The polls are open until September 30. If you and Mrs. Structure Dude have one member number, only one of you (the member of record for that number) can vote.”
Thanks, Larry. I missed your answer at the end of the day but I stopped by the coop on my way home. Our membership is in my name as it pre-dates my courtship of Mrs. Structure-Dude!. So I got to do the voting. But like I said we had already agreed that we were on the same page. It felt so nineteenth century paying for the right to vote and then voting for the whole family.
posted by Parking Structure Dude! on September 6th, 2007 at 9:34 amPFC is a great place. As the intelligent folks pointed out, it is member owned and thereby run by the very people it provides for. Now, to my point, to single out and boycott goods manufactured by Israeli companies in order to send a message pointing out the Palenstinen plight is not just sad, but also anti-semitic.
posted by green meanie on September 30th, 2007 at 7:13 pm