Well there was a place like that in New Jersey for 50 years.

Out Route 46 west of Hackettstown at 20 Island Road in Great Meadows was Island Dragway.

It was a throwback. You pulled down the dirt driveway and, if you turned left, you could race your own car, your own street car, against others.

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If you wanted to just watch, you turned right, you parked the car, and looked at the Nitro cars going 300 m.p.h. You could actually feel the vibration of the deafening sound go right through your body.

You could go to the snack shack and grab a hot dog or some nachos and it was a great way to spend an evening.

But sadly, it has closed. The owner won’t say why.

But the story is often the same.

Andrew Wolf, who wrote about Island Dragway for the racing site Dragzine, said a lot of tracks are like it and were built before the mini-malls and subdivisions.

Historic Island Dragway Closes In Warren County

Island Dragway – Great Meadows, N.J. (file / credit: Google Maps)

“There was no one around, and that’s what’s happening with these tracks all over the country. The neighbors are moving in to an area that already had a racetrack. They knew it was there and they don’t like the noise,” Wolf told WCBS 880′s Wayne Cabot. “They claim, I guess, that there’s pollution issues, and there may be, but they move in and then they want the track closed and that’s what’s happening to a lot of places like Island Dragway.”

Fans are not giving up, using social media to get the owner to unlock the gates when springtime comes.

LINK: Help Keep Island Dragway (FB)

There are now only two drag strips remaining in New Jersey – Atco and Englishtown. Long Island used to have three. Now there are none.

We have all played together in different groups over the years

We had a great time at the 2nd annual New Orleans Latin Jazz Festival. The audience was great, Rock n Bowl is a beautiful space, Chris the soundman made it easy, there were so many friends I didn’t get a chance to take photos of everyone.

Like me, Andrew was dedicated to social justice in general and to youth education specifically. I love the teaching that I’ve been doing with the Modern Story, and being in India at this time allows me to be active in keeping Andrew’s spirit alive. My work is often on hold for holidays or student exams, though, and so being very far from others who knew Andrew leads me to the internet in attempts to stay connected. I need the support from long-distance communities to feel okay, but it’s easy to be de-mobilized by spending too much time online. Though lots of people are interested in me and my co-fellow when we’re out and about in Andhra Pradesh, I haven’t yet met many people who are working on projects and issues that I’m interested in—work I could get involved in to supplement my TMS activities and to learn more about what’s really going on in Hyderabad. I haven’t written much in my blog about my time here so far because…

1) This city contains so many absurd and beautiful moments to capture. I am exhausted before my fingers reach the keyboard.

And… 2) Most of my observations are really just from what I see on hectic bus rides and crazy street crossings. There’s so much I don’t understand and an infinite number of things I’m sure I’m not seeing. I haven’t found many people to give me social and political analyses that I trust, and the English-language newspapers are dizzying with their lack of clarity, typos, unexplained acronyms, and non-sequitir associations of complex issues.

I need to find ways to sort and process the world around me (as well as a backlog of experiences in Palestine). I am simultaneously paralyzed from doing this because of Andrew’s death and encouraged to do so knowing that is how he lived his life—with insatiable curiosity and unending commitment to learning more.

Andrew and I peering in the woods, January 2008

The reason I’m writing you now is because today a beautiful idea from the Toronto Otesha crew emerged. Otesha tour members carry so little with them on our, but they do carry their Otesha T-shirts, which are presented to them at the end of training week. These shirts unite us all in a very special way – I have on many occasions made new friends simply by recognizing folks as Otesha members via their shirts.

I’m taking this opportunity to learn how to quilt, and the process will be documented on my 52 Projects blog – I’ll keep you posted.

Please feel free to send this to anyone else who may want to contribute.

Also, the Otesha crew in London will be attending Critical Mass this evening in remembrance of Andrew. Do go along if you’re in town and join them – you’ll be able to recognise them by their shirts. 6:30pm, under Waterloo Bridge on the South Bank.

hanna ♥

Along with all the messages we have been receiving from the media, we have also been swamped with so many warm messages of support for Andrew’s family, his team and for our program.  Perhaps the most moving message was the one I just read from Hannah Thomas, my counterpart at our younger, hipper, better at writing-er sister organization in the UK on her personal blog, Hannamade.  Like her, I never had the chance to meet Andrew Wolf, but, she says,

…I do know some things about him, as each person who signs up to an Otesha tour has these things in common: An incredible spirit. A thirst for adventure. A belief that the world can change for the better. A belief in themselves. Strong thighs, strong heart. A deep sense of morality. A smile. An inherent optimism and appreciation for people, beauty, nature, life. The ability to meet a stranger and soon enough, call them “family”. An open mind. A need to prioritise what’s important in life – people, experiences, contentment, our earth – over prestige or money.  A good sense of humour. An ability to laugh at themselves. Playfulness. A desire to connect with young people and pass on what they’ve learnt. A desire to stand up and be counted.

The world has lost another who was trying to change it for the better. Please, please, let’s do all we can to make cycling safer for ourselves and our loved ones.

A number of alumni of the program are congregating on Facebook to plan signs of support by wearing their Otesha t-shirts and riding in their local Critical Mass bike rides in Andrew’s honor.  Many more are sending their thoughts and prayers out for Andrew and his most amazing and graceful family right now as well as to the whole Highlands and Islands team.  The following is a prayer by written by ‘Abdu’l-Baha.

O Thou kind Lord!  Graciously bestow a pair of heavenly wings unto each of these fledglings, and give them spiritual power that they may wing their flight through this limitless space and may soar to the heights of the Abhá Kingdom.

O Lord!  Strengthen these fragile seedlings that each one may become a fruitful tree, verdant and flourishing.  Render these souls victorious through the potency of Thy celestial hosts, that they may be able to crush the forces of error and ignorance and to unfurl the standard of fellowship and guidance amidst the people; that they may, even as the reviving breaths of the spring, refresh and quicken the trees of human souls and like unto vernal showers make the meads of that region green and fertile.

Thou art the Mighty and the Powerful; Thou art the Bestower and the All-Loving.

More information will be posted as it is made available on Otesha’s Twitter feed.

Illustration by Coast to Capital Tour 2010 alumni Nicolette Rignault

We got some awful news at Otesha UK yesterday – a cycle tour member on an Otesha Canada tour (our kind of “parent” organisation) was killed in a collision with a lorry and two others are in hospital with what we believe are minor injuries. It is so, so sad and I can’t even imagine what the team over there are going through, so my thoughts and love go out to them and to the friends and family involved.

The person killed was a 23 year old man from Brooklyn, NY, called Andrew Wolf. I had never met Andrew or heard of him until yesterday, but I do know some things about him, as each person who signs up to an Otesha tour has these things in common: An incredible spirit. A thirst for adventure. A belief that the world can change for the better. A belief in themselves. Strong thighs, strong heart. A deep sense of morality. A smile. An inherent optimism and appreciation for people, beauty, nature, life. The ability to meet a stranger and soon enough, call them “family”. An open mind. A need to prioritise what’s important in life – people, experiences, contentment, our earth – over prestige or money.  A good sense of humour. An ability to laugh at themselves. Playfulness. A desire to connect with young people and pass on what they’ve learnt. A desire to stand up and be counted.

The world has lost another who was trying to change it for the better. Please, please, let’s do all we can to make cycling safer for ourselves and our loved ones.

[T]he Powell Doctrine begins with the interest-based decision to intervene and formulates an operational catalogue of criteria for the “proper” execution of military intervention. Accordingly, the military should only be put to use when:

(1) The national interest requires it;

(2) The number of troops employed corresponds with the mission they are to execute;

(3) The mission is clearly defined, both politically and militarily;

(4) The size, composition, and disposition of the troops is constantly being reevaluated;

(5) The operation has the support of both the Congress and the American people; and

(6) There is a clear exit strategy.

The Doctrine, as it holds, is meant to hold off the possibility of mission creep–which struck a note for me, as Michael Cohen updated his Afghanistan Mission Creep series on Monday as well, before the speech. Michael said:

Going forward, it’s critical that progressives (and others!) hold the Administration’s feet to the fire on the strategy being announced tonight. I think a few things will be key: how closely is the Administration adhering to its own benchmarks denoting success, is there progress on getting the Pakistanis to crack down on Afghan Taliban safe havens, are there signs that Karzai is not only tackling corruption but devoting resources to a counter-insurgency fight and the performance of the Afghan military. Without significant progress on these fronts it’s hard to see the President’s strategy bearing fruit in Afghanistan.

I wonder: is the fear of Mission Creep assuaged with this renewed conception of the Powell Doctrine? Because during the West Point speech, Obama quite clearly laid out most of those points.

1. He made the case point by point that the national interest requires it. I make this decision because I am convinced that our security is at stake in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is the epicenter of violent extremism practiced by al Qaeda. It is from here that we were attacked on 9/11, and it is from here that new attacks are being plotted as I speak. This is no idle danger; no hypothetical threat.

2. The number of troops–forty thousand, with the newly announced addition of 7000 more from NATO is commensurate with McChrystal’s request, and reports have it that both McChrystal and Petraeus were satisfied that what Obama authorized would suffice to execute the mission.

3. That mission was defined in March, and reiterated again this week: Our overarching goal remains the same: to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and to prevent its capacity to threaten America and our allies in the future.

To meet that goal, we will pursue the following objectives within Afghanistan. We must deny al Qaeda a safe haven. We must reverse the Taliban’s momentum and deny it the ability to overthrow the government. And we must strengthen the capacity of Afghanistan’s security forces and government so that they can take lead responsibility for Afghanistan’s future.

4. This remains to be seen, but in one sense it seems like the transition deadline of 2011 would promote force review.

5. While initial signs point to Congressional favor waning and American public opinion diminishing (at least, for the moment), my personal opinion is that there is sufficient national will to meet this escalation, but it is a very precarious will. Things will depend as much on whether the climate bill eclipses public attention sufficiently to distract punditry–I mean, the news–away from Afghanistan as whether Operation Cobra’s Anger (which I can’t help but say in a movie announcer’s voice) is immediately successful at producing quantifiable, soundbyte-worthy results.

6. But taken together, these additional American and international troops will allow
us to accelerate handing over responsibility to Afghan forces, and allow us to begin the
transfer of our forces out of Afghanistan in July of 2011. Which, as we have discussed, is both clear and muddy. But it’s definitely an exit strategy.

Is this just an executive expression of logical thought? Or is the Powell Doctrine back en vogue? And if this is an iteration of the Powell Doctrine, perhaps it assuages some fears of mission creep. (But don’t stop writing critiques, Michael! Holding the administration accountable is one of the most important things going forward. )

*

Edited to add: Mis-typed the author of the paper’s name as Andrew when it was Alexander; corrected now. Apologies.

In his latest filing period, Thompson spent $1,040,000 on television ads, along with $309,887 on consultants.

Among Thompson’s notable expenditures is $400 for a makeup artist Sue Crystal. A campaign spokesman said it was for the debte in El Barrio, whose television sponsor, New York 1, did not offer the candidates makeup before appearing on air.

Thompson also raised $243,465 in the final days of the campaign. Late campaign money came in from Andrew Wolf, publisher of The Riverdale Review. He donated $88 on October 20. In an email, Wolf explained why he donated: “I was so incensed by the disgusting and unfair negative campaign by Bloomberg and the hugely disproportionate resources put up against Thompson, that I felt compelled to do this small part in helping to even the playing field — as a civic duty.”

On that one day, Thompson’s campaign raised $27,214.

The Campaign Finance Board estimated that Thompson has  $343,537  left on hand. That’s not counting expenses he has to pay, like fines for posting illegal signs.