This is what public radio is supposed to be about. Thank you for your contribution.

The humble Farmer

One wonders which political party these greedy bankers vote for.

The humble Farmer

All of Dr. Stager's pieces should be aired on your station.

From what I've read of his work in National Geographic, Curt Stager gets his information by digging it out of the earth and not from reference libraries. Climate change will continue to be a topic of concern and Dr. Stager is telling us what will probably happen and why.

Treat your listeners to regular visits with this brilliant young scientist.

The humble Farmer

Thanks for this. All my life I have been told that Hawaii has a perfect temperature. They need air conditioners? Myth dispelled.

This week I also learned that Hawaii and New York and Maine and Vermont have about the highest electric bills of any state.

humble at humblefarmer dot com

I was unable to make my comment without giving the piece a rating, which I didn't want to do because it wasn't downloaded at the time and I couldn't hear the piece.

The humble Farmer

I must admit that I don't know what intelligent design is. I missed out somewhere in school because I don't recall anyone ever calling intelligent design to my attention. And if something about intelligent design crossed my path in my recent years of reading, it didn't register. As I listened to this piece, I got the impression that it has to do with some kind of controversy and that Professor Fred would appear to be on the side of science. Nothing wrong with shaking up people with a bit of truth from time to time. Thirty years ago, that was what Public Radio was all about. Walk it to 'em Fred, but watch your back.

The humble Farmer

As usual, James McIntosh is on the money. His good advice this week can hardly be distinguished from some memorable quotes in Mario Puzo's The Godfather, and warrants airplay:

I once worked for a very successful team of executives.

They had one critical rule.

Never let anyone outside of the family know what you are thinking.

Members could disagree and argue among themselves all they wanted to inside the meeting, but not outside the meeting. Present a unified front to the outside world: every executive must act as if he or she believes that this is the right decision. Never get angry, never make a threat --- reason with people. Make them an offer they can't refuse.

The result: most of their decisions were executed well and had successful outcomes.

Among reasonable men problems of business can always be solved.

The humble Farmer

Great piece. I'm still laughing.

You're probably too young to remember when Boston Mayor Curley was reelected while in jail.

I remember hearing tell that if Curly heard that some poor person was cold in the winter, he'd send over a truckload of coal.

Curley looked out for people, and could probably have been reelected if he were dead.

From the sound of this piece, Stevens funneled a lot of federal money into companies in his home state. After all, what's a US Senator for? And wouldn't one certainly expect favors to be returned?

The only thing that surprises us is that we so seldom hear about it in the news.

The humble Farmer

There is no question that America would be a different place without Willie Nelson's "On The Road Again." There is no question but what Willie Nelson is admired and appreciated by millions.

We can, therefore, thank the producers for The Story of Willie Nelson and hope that it will make many more people familiar with the life and times of this American Icon.

Willie Nelson's music is what it is, and adults with a firm background in Bach, Mozart and Count Basie would let it go at that. But gifted children might not be so kind. While still in grade school, my brother's daughter listened to Willie Nelson on television for a few minutes, then turned to her father and said, "He doesn't seem to get any better, does he?"

Run this piece. I don't know anyone who wouldn't enjoy hearing it.

The humble Farmer

Today's topic, the fact that workers are hired for their energy and not for their time or skills, is not only right on target, but places my feet firmly on my new "sleep apnea" soapbox.

I've always been exhausted in the afternoon. Eating right, swilling water, 8 miles on my bicycle each morning followed by an hour of exercise class. Short afternoon naps. Long afternoon naps. Constant medical monitoring of my thyroid. Nothing helped. Every afternoon, ever since I was a child, I would suddenly lack the energy to do anything well until the following morning.

Then, at 72 I was diagnosed with sleep apnea and was told that I had not had any neurological sleep since Roosevelt was president. In one instant I learned why I never had the energy that is required to effectively hold a 9 to 5 job.

We hear that progressive employers now encourage their employees to exercise and to eat right. The extra dividends in energy more than compensate for company time spent on a treadmill. Employers interested in generating the maximum amount of energy from employees would do well to read up on sleep apnea. You don't have to be overweight or snore to have sleep apnea.

The cure is as simple as sleeping in a mask that regulates one's breathing.

Yesterday afternoon I was building a new doorstep and cried when the sun went down. My present employer, my wife, is also delighted with my new-found energy. When told that I hadn't had any neurological sleep since Roosevelt was president, she said, "Which Roosevelt?"

Public Radio is about educating our friends in an entertaining manner. James McIntosh has earned another five stars for his perceptive commentary on energy in the workplace.

The humble Farmer

The "Whatcha Gonna Do When The Well Runs Dry?" title in these days of the "drill, drill, drill," mantra is deceiving.

One expected a commentary on the fact that our oil reserves are finite and that --- drill where we will --- the oil powered engine will soon be a thing of the past.

Fifty or perhaps 60 years ago I recall seeing an ancient, tattered Weekly Reader that said we were running out of water. But many of us in many sections of the country are still getting along nicely because, unlike oil, water falls on us from the sky on a regular basis.

The world does have a problem which creates water shortages and hunger and pollution, so called "development" and the destruction of the economic base in small communities by big box stores. It is, of course, overpopulation.

Isaac Asimov said, "We can't continue multiplying at this rate for very long, no matter what we do."

So. Bottom line. The water crisis. The pollution crisis. The feed-the-hungry-children crisis. The whatever crisis. All of these are only secondary manifestations of overpopulation which is the world's only real crisis.

When we stop breeding like rabbits the water in the wells will sustain us.

Yes, Yes. James McIntosh is on the money: don't make assumptions. I assume this and that and I pay for it --- socially and certainly financially in lost time. My best friend is a fanatic for detail. Although he is a product of the same rural school I attended, he has 499 people working for him while I'm scraping by on Social Security. There is no doubt but what double checking everything has helped my friend become very rich. Young people. Listen to what James McIntosh is saying: don't make assumptions and you'll save yourself a lot of unnecessary grief.

Those of us with hearing loss are able understand his words because he doesn't clutter up the background with unnecessary elevator music. Young producers either don't realize or don't care that their trendy background music keeps many people from understanding what they are saying. They should be taught this in production school.

This is the kind of commentary that would be appreciated by your listeners. James McIntosh warrants a regular time slot on your station.

Sorry, but there are only five stars. I wish I had time to listen to all of this. It is a program I'd like to have on a CD so I could hear it -- many times -- when I'm driving. This is the kind of program that Public Radio is supposed to be about. By the way -- "Noam Chomsky, the famous linguist" is redundant. Never talk down to your audience. Re: how did lanugage evolve? We are familiar with the Bow-Wow Theory and the Ding-Dong Theory. But even more plausible is The humble Farmer's Itch Theory. I maintain that language evolved out of necessity when a man needed to tell his wife where to scratch his back: "Up, up, over, over more, up, up. Yes there. Right there. Ahhh."

This morning I listened to a humorous fundraising piece submitted to PRX by New Hampshire Public Radio. The summary to the piece said, "Add a little humor to your pitch breaks." I laughed when I read it because not everyone agrees.

On April 8, 1978 I was asked to produce my first weekly show for Maine Public Radio. Over the 28 years I spent as a volunteer, my old-fashioned-music and humorous social commentary became an early evening staple for the intelligentsia in Northern New England and bordering Canada.

So it was inevitable that I should eventually appear on MPBN television at fundraising time. My spot was sandwiched in between the showing of Hamlet. When they put the camera on me I opened with my usual deadpan: "I hope you'll stay tuned to this Hamlet thing. It is my understanding that it has a very happy ending."

I was never permitted to help out with fundraising again.

But if you've been in Public Radio for three decades you know that our radio friends have long memories and for years afterwards I would occasionally be accosted by a radio friend who would grab me by the lapels of my jacket and say, "humble, that thing you said about Hamlet was the funniest thing I've ever seen on Public television."

Yeah, add a little humor to your pitch breaks --- our radio friends love humor -- but make sure you have tenure.

I'm Robert Skoglund, The humble Farmer, and I'm still laughing.