TWF 358: No Kings Protests In Mineola, Elsewhere Tomorrow, 10/18/2025

 Hello, friends,

I hope this message finds you well, and that you weathered last weekend's storm well!

This is just a notification that on Saturday, October 18th at 11:00 AM-12:30 PM there's going to be a No Kings rally at the Nassau County Courthouse in Mineola in conjunction with many other events held nationwide.

I will say that as long as the protest goes off like every other protest there does, it's a pretty chill affair.  I've heard some truly unbelievable numbers may turn out, but that doesn't mean we can rest on our laurels.

I made a short video about it for my Dystopian Review Youtube channel, which you can check out below, that includes a few very basic amateur tips for protesting.

I hope you'll be able to attend.

TWF 339: Air Quality Warnings To Continue Due To Canadian Wildfires

Update 1:  Freeport Schools are closed tomorrow, 6/8/2023.

 Hello, friends,

I hope you're all okay, and I do mean that sincerely because of the air quality situation we have on Long Island.  And New York.  And at least ten other states, if my recent weather report on News 12 was any consideration.

I have to keep this post kind of quick because I have appointments, but I wanted to put out a short thing about the air quality situation we're facing.  After all, if you've taken a look outside your window, you've probably noticed that the sky is orange and the air smells like smoke.

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation put out an air quality warning not just for today, but for tomorrow (Thursday the 9th) as well.  News Twelve (I watched their live broadcast, so I don't have a link) said this could continue not just until Friday, but until Saturday as well.

But what's causing this?

First off:  It's mostly global climate change.  That area of Canada is experiencing a heavy drought combined with higher-than-usual temperatures, although supposedly the big fires were accidentally created by Human fires.

But as to this specific event: To my absolutely-amateur understanding, the Jet Stream is pulling the smoke from major wildfires in Canada down through New York, New England, and other states.  Here's what the jet stream looks like at the moment.

Image taken from https://www.netweather.tv/charts-and-data/global-jetstream#2023/06/07/1200Z/jetstream/surface/level/overlay=jetstream/orthographic=-78.61,27.26,712

That lines up pretty well with the New York Times' smoke map:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/us/smoke-maps-canada-fires.html

And, thus, we can't breathe well.

There's not much we can do about it at this point, other than to consider that we need to fix our environment as much and as fast as possible to minimize the number of times this happens in the future.

Mitigation efforts include not going outside  as much as possible (So for the kids in school that means not having outdoor recess), closing windows, making sure air conditioner filters are cleaned out, and all that.

You could also download an air quality monitoring app to your phone.  The Weather Channel just told us that New York's in 355, which is among if not atop the worst in the world.

Be safe.

Jesse Pohlman is a Sci-Fi/Fantasy author from Long Island, New York, born and raised in Freeport.  If you're interested in his writing, check out his website here.

TWF 333: NYS Attorney General James Sues Numerous LI Care Centers

Hello, friends,

First off, happy holidays for whatever you might celebrate!  Hell - celebrate more than one, if you're so inclined!

Now, then, on to business.  As first reported on her Twitter account, as well as her official website, and talked about by Newsday (which is behind a paywall), New York State's Attorney General Letitia James is out and about with regards to enforcing laws about how the people caught in such a place's 'care' are supposed to be treated.

And, honestly, that's basically all there is to say about it, right?  For example, CBS News reported on the Cold Spring Harbor case, citing the case of one victim whose wounds were deemed too horrible for TV.  There's more reporting out there, as well.

The bottom line is, Long Island is slowly getting older, especially as young people are priced out of the housing/apartment markets.  According to The Rauch Foundation's Long Island Index, between 2000 and 2013 the 55+ age range grew by about 2%/year.  It's legitimately hard to find data outside of the Newsday paywall, but according to this image that trend has only continued:

What that means is that there are more people who need care in a care home than there are people who can provide it, and that number is constantly growing more disparate.  When the need for care increases while the supply of it decreases, corners get cut.  Does that mean the wanton cruelty James has cited is necessary, or excusable?

Absolutely not!

But it does suggest that we need to make certain shifts in our economic system, on all of the levels (Local, state, federal) in order to retain young people, train them in how to take care of those who need it, and provide them a good lifestyle so that they can survive & thrive on Long Island.  I've talked about some things we can change on the federal level, like Medicare For All, and creating a "Care Economy," but those are Federal solutions that seem infinitely far away.  Passing the New York Health Act would help on a State level.

And for those who might say, "Well, my taxes will go up and I don't wanna!" there are two things to mention:

1 - You'll probably save more money off of not needing to pay premiums/copays/out-of-pocket bullshit.

2 - You'll be happier when you're 70 years old, break your hip, and have a care team that's experienced and well-paid so that they'll be extra patient and helpful.

Jesse Pohlman is a sci-fi/fantasy author, political commentator, and occasional journalist born and raised in Freeport, New York.  Got a bookworm in your life you want to buy a holiday gift for?  Check out his website!

TWF 332 - A Decade After Sandy

Hey Friends,

It's hard to really measure the timing of a decade, let alone the start of the events which happened beforehand.  We have leap-years which means something isn't *quite* 365x10 days after it happened.  Then, you have to ask whether the damage from an event starts accruing when - say - it generates waves that chip away at protective dunes; or, whether you start from the time a storm makes landfall.  It certainly doesn't depend on whether or not it's still called a "Hurricane," or if it's now a "Superstorm" or "Frankenstorm" because technically it doesn't fit the profile it used to.

If you're a Long Islander, you know I'm talking about Hurricane Sandy, a topic that's still hard for many to talk about.  If you're unfamiliar, I urge you to check the Wikipedia article to understand it's national impact.

If you're a reader of The Weekly Freeporter, you know that we (in this case, myself, and my friend/occasional co-conspirator Jason Bass, who controls the Youtube page) chronicled the storm from the first warning calls to being on the ground the day after the storm did its worst, all the way to checking in on the community when a Nor'Easter slammed us and froze us out right after Sandy.

I want to be up front:  I'm sorry for any offenses caused.  We've all grown a lot since then, and some of our approach/commentary may have been wrong and/or disrespectful.

So How Does The Anniversary Make Us Feel?

I can really only speak for myself, and a lot of it I've already said in a different way.

So let's start with the community.

To begin with, no, Freeport has not forgotten the damage that Mother Nature can do to a community if she decides to throw her weight into a punch.  Some people have surely got PTSD; I read one conversation on Facebook recently about how just telling the story is painfully taxing.  I completely understand that feeling.  It's hard to talk about what we went through, especially to those who might not understand the damage it did.

The community seems to have survived the incident relatively well?  But that sentiment comes with a question mark for a reason  Some buildings are now super-tall and it's a little hard to figure out why at first glance.  To be perfectly clear, there are still houses in South Freeport that are waiting to have their re-construction completed.  My dad lived down the block from one.  And, since this cannot be left unsaid, many people were permanently displaced from the community, being forced to move to other towns and even states, either because they couldn't afford to rebuild here, or because others they cared about had to move out. 

As far as prevention and mitigation goes...?  It's hard to say.  Sadly, we lack those (not-quite) futuristic, now-far-off sounding things like flood-prevention systems briefly discussed in this article.  I'm sure that the various dunes and ecological barriers we have to prevent us from having future flooding have been worked on and improved, but at the same time climate change has led to rises in sea level, offsetting their effectiveness.  We now know what to expect when a big storm is coming, and preparedness is important.

How About On A Personal Level?

Well, I...My thoughts immediately run to one thing:

As many of you are aware, my father passed away on December 3rd, 2021.  He fell to the eventualityof a liver disease he was diagnosed with in the immediate aftermath of Sandy.  He began getting sick soon almost exactly at the same time as the storm hit.  At the time, he had been working at the Freeport Schools as a maintainer, and he'd been lining up sandbags at Giblyn elementary (which would prove to be less-than-successful at keeping water out), so we feared maybe he'd contracted some kind of waste-water-bourne pathogen.

It turned out to be far worse; Hepatitis C-induced liver failure.  He danced with death more than once,.  He survived a liver transplant from a benevolent soul (Seriously, consider being an organ donor - I am!  And while we're at it, bring down the cost of drugs like Harvoni that cure Hepatitis C!!!), but it took damn near ten years for that shit to kill him.

Sadly, kill him, it did.

I have an awful lot of thoughts on the eventual outcome of Sandy's aftermath, and my experience post-Sandy.  It was one piece of a much larger mental puzzle that ended...Hmm.  For now, let's just say it ended BADLY.  Some day, maybe soon, I'll write more about that.

But I do still have feelings about it, and always will.  For me, it's heavily-compounded trauma from multiple directions at one critical point in my life.

All Of This To Say

With the ten year anniversary arriving to remind us of things lost - and, perhaps, still broken - it's worth giving you the reminder that it's okay to feel things.  It's okay to reach out to a mental health professional if you find yourself having trouble with the trauma that Sandy smacked us with.  That's all totally fine.

The best part of this entire disaster is that we have, as both individuals and a community, grown.  Freeport is far from perfect, and to my knowledge it still has at least one dystopian law it needs to change, but it's still a great community.  We come together in times of crisis and support one another.  You know, except for the seemingly-weekly debate over which pizza place is the best.

Here's a hint on that one, by the way:

Try 'em all, and then it's the one you like the best.

Jesse Pohlman is a sci-fi/fantasy author from Freeport, New York, and while The Weekly Freeporter is certainly no-longer weekly, it documents and reflects on critical events within the Village.

TWF 323: Big Winter Storm Approaching, Jan 28, 2022

 Hello, friends,

The below image is courtesy of the National Weather Service.

I mean, that says enough, doesn't it?  Well, Accuweather says this:

That's...Honestly twice as bad as the 6-12 we were predicted to get as of a couple days ago, which is why I decided it deserved an article.  That means it's time to review some of our usual winter weather tips!  If you've got one you'd like to share, leave it in the comments and I'll credit you and add it to the list.

(Yes, this list seems to repeat year to year for a reason, but it's been tweaked here and there)

- Try to stock up on anything you need before the snow gets heavy.  It goes without saying that if you can't drive safely, if you can't move well, then you are at risk of getting injured while walking around, or crashing your car if you risk driving.  I know it's kind of an old motif, but get your "bread and milk" now.

 - Keep your pets and beloved animals inside!!!  They won't be able to move through two feet of snow any better than you will, and if the temperature is cold out, they can get sick or even freeze to death.  Have some compassion.  If you can, put out a large styrofoam box/cooler/something, stuffed with straw, for local stray cats/animals to take shelter in; in these days, compassion is a must.  If you've got some spare pet food, put that out - staying warm burns calories.

 - Help your neighbors clear the snow from their sidewalks if you can.  If possible - and I mean unless you absolutely cannot - clear out a 3-feet circle around your nearby fire hydrants.  (via TJ Johnson.)  Make sure to dress warmly, wear sturdy and stable boots, and take your time shoveling!

 - If the power goes out, be careful with candles! Nobody needs a fire!

 - Keep a cell phone handy; a battery-powered radio is a good idea, too.  If you need to report a non-life-threatening emergency, call the Nassau County line at 1-888-684-4274.  For medical emergencies ONLY, use 911.  Charge it up as much as you can as early as you can.

 - Get your car off the road!  Park your cars in your driveway, if you can. (Via FFD member Robert Volpe).  Village lots are typically available for public parking if you can't.

 - Try to have cash available!  In the event that there is no electricity to run credit cards or operate ATMs, you'll want to have money around if you need to pay for anything.

 - Once the storm is over, call your friends and family and see if they're alright!

TWF 321: Hospital Update, A Story, And A Call To Action (CoVID Update #15)

Editorial note:  Opinions ahead.

 Hello, friends,

This is like the cliche freshman college essay:  I want to start with giving credit to News 12 on the germ of this article, which some beta-readers have identified as a bit of a rant, but there are serious problems afoot in Long Island, and it's due to our old pal the Coronavirus.  I'm opening with some data, I'm following that up with a personal story, and - at the end of this - I am calling upon Governor Hochul to take significant action to combat the Coronavirus pandemic.

Hospital overcrowding and overload has reached highs that honestly haven't really been seen, at least since the beginning of the pandemic.  With the Omicron variant in town, U.S. Case Positivity rates have skyrocketed.  NBC News reports that on January 3rd, over one million tests returned positive.  Just think about that:  1/330 people in the country came down with CoVID.  Child hospitalizations are at climbing rapidly, as reported by Reuters.  Seems like Freeport Schools going remote for at least this week was a good idea, now, doesn't it?

Oh:  And here's Nassau County's caseload.

Notice how it's kind of just going almost straight up?

News 12 is reporting that Nassau University Medical Center is overwhelmed.  That's no surprise.  60% of the hospital's population is there specifically for CoVID, and - if I'm reading the first link in this post right - the other 40% was positive?  That's, like, 100%.  I think they could have been clearer with their reporting, there, honestly.

At any rate, other hospitals are increasing their requirements for in-patient emergency admission.  Virtually anything that can be managed outpatient is being called upon to be handled outpatient, even if that's not exactly ideal for the patient.  Then there's the case of the Florida hospital turning away pregnant people because they're overwhelmed with CoVID.  You know, because that's a thing.

What's this all mean?

Well, dammit Jim, I'm not a doctor.  I'm just a part-time journalist trying to interpret data.  What it screams to me is that everyone is catching CoVID at this point, even though vaccinations are definitely keeping serious illness at bay for those of us who have paid attention to the science.  (If you've got a problem with that sentiment, just leave now, because we're going deep.)

As to the concrete effects of this new wave of hospitalpolicy changes, I'm just not sure.  They might mean that hospitals aren't going to accept non-life-threatening injuries, such as from moderate-to-severe car accidents.  "Oh,  your arm might be broken?  Too bad, get it treated outpatient."  It might not!  I know people who have had serious surgeries postponed, and while they were non-specific with their reasoning, I'm betting they didn't need to be clear about it.

And the more I write, the more concretely an idea forms in my mind.

I have a story I'm ready to tell:

I know that, due to CoVID, hospitals have put in place a policy in place where, generally speaking, you can't have guests in an emergency room.  There are limited exceptions, and this is where we get personal.  When my dad was in his last month of life, we decided to take him to the emergency room to see if there was anything that could be done to help him.  At that point, he was an immunocompromised cancer patient with suspected internal bleeding fresh off a first-time infusion of Cyramza, so he got in pretty quick - only, I wasn't allowed to go in with him.  I stressed that I was his healthcare proxy and power of attorney, that he could not advocate for himself in any effective manner, and they still wouldn't budge.  I was told to wait in the car.

Of course, being completely sick and disoriented, he was totally unable to provide a medical history for himself.  Totally.  I was called back within 10 minutes and sheepishly told they needed someone to help out with him.  It was only a short period of torment for a dying man, but it was terrible nonetheless.  I'm sure I'm not alone in this exemption regard, but I cannot imagine going to an ER when you're sick and being Goddess-damned alone.  It's a horrifying thought, to imagine going through that - and infuriating to imagine my wife going through it.  But people have to go through it, nonetheless?

And, in large part, people are going through that because other people are making selfish choices which damn them entirely?!

Enough.

No More.

A Call For Action From The Governor

The U.S. Supreme Court decided in the 1905 Jacobson Vs Massachusetts that states have the power to compel citizen vaccination in the face of a public health crisis.  The relevant overview is down below:

I am calling upon New York Governor Kathy Hochul to implement mandatory vaccination, either directly through executive order mandates, legislative mandates, and vaccine passports; or - at least - through existing requirements for school admission and any other mechanisms like mandates for all state workers to be vaccinated.  I am calling on all candidates for Governor, including Jumanne Williams and Tom Suozzi, to make this a part of their platform.  I am furthermore calling on all legislators to back specific laws being written to compel vaccination.

Yes, we are at that point.

No, I don't care about your self-assigned "Freedoms" in this case, because by refusing to get vaccinated all you are doing is hurting the sick and defenseless out of pure, unbridled selfishness.  Vaccines are safe, they will almost certainly not hurt you.  The science is well tested and established since the 1990's.  The disease is bad enough to warrant it, with one million cases in a day and overwhelmed hospitals.  The legal authority was established over a century ago by the highest court in the country.  I'm sorry, but you are not - and,  unless you are 115 years or so old, have never even plausibly been - "Free" to kill, cripple, and traumatize innocent people by turning yourself into a vector for disease.  You do, in fact, have a fundamental responsibility to protect your fellow Human being.

If you have a problem with this?  Don't bother arguing, here.  Give me an angry reaction and I'll tell you to kiss off.  This was and is something of a factual review of our situation, something of a rant, and definitely a sad story.

And I've seen enough suffering.

I'm done.

Jesse Pohlman is an author and recovering teacher from Long Island, New York, born and raised in Freeport.  He's currently furious at the state of affairs and the harm it's caused, both directly and indirectly.

TWF 315: Hurricane Henri Approaches Long Island!

 Hello, friends,

I hope you're all doing well.

Well, Freeporters and Long Islanders in general, it's that time of year, again!  We've got a hurricane coming our way.  It's name is Henri.  Say, "Hello, Henri!"  Anyway:  According to Accuweather, this is Hurricane Henri's most likely approach - and it's gonna broadside Long Island this weekend, predominantly on Sunday.

I feel like I used to have a handy-dandy list of hurricane tips, but to be honest you're all probably pretty well-acquainted with them - and, if not, you're certainly familiar with basic tenants of storm preparations.  If not, may I direct you to the CDC's website for hurricane and tropical storm planning?

I remember seeing the weather on TV and hearing that Henri was likely to head east of where it's now predicted.  I also remember, much more recently, seeing the phrase, "The 'Sandy' Hook" pop up on the internet as a reference to the devastation Hurricane Sandy caused and how it seemed to go out to see and then came back towards the island from the east.

This time, there doesn't seem to be a Nor'Easter colliding with the hurricane, though, so hopefully we'll be alright.

Jesse Pohlman is an author from Long Island, New York.  His website is at this link, where he hocks his sci-fi/fantasy novels that, hey, you can read during the storm!

TWF 289: Polls Open Until 9:00 PM, Election Day 2018!

Hello Freeport, and the rest of the world!

This is your yearly reminder that, in fact, you have a say over your government!  In fact, it's a right!  YOUR right!  That you should USE!  (Yes, today I am abusing capslock, a bit)  I realize I'm getting this out a bit late (I was voter number 274 at my polling place, for what it's worth!), but busy days are busy.  And you're probably busy, too!

So, here's some helpful information to answer most of your likely questions!

Here's a guide to help you figure out how to vote!

 - "What if I'm not sure that I'm registered to vote, or where I'd even go to do it!"  Don't feel bad, you're not alone.  Nassau County's Board of Elections Website has you covered, just check in here to see your registration status and polling place!

Now, it is too late to register in New York State (we don't have what's called "Same Day Registration," and in fact have some pretty terrible registration laws...), but even if you haven't voted in an election or two, New York isn't too bad about keeping you registered, so don't be afraid to take a minute and check!

 - "What if I can't get there?!"  Especially with bad weather like we have today, it can seem really difficult to get to the polls, especially after a long day at work.  My suggestion is to look to Facebook first, and see if any of your friends are offering rides.  If that fails, look to apps like Uber and Lyft - if they are operating in your area, they may be giving free rides to polling places.  If all else fails, though, get on a waterproof coat and hoof it!


 - "I'm not sure who is running!"  As we've discussed previously in this publication, Freeport is something of a Gerrymandered community, so it's understandable that you might not be sure who is running in which part of town.  You might be planning to vote for a candidate that, it turns out, isn't on your ballot because you're in the wrong district for that position!  Nassau County's BOE maintains a list of candidates, but it's honestly quite confusing unless you're used to reading spreadsheets.

My advice in this situation is to - yes - take a minute to scroll through the spread sheet and match up the various districts you live within to the candidates thereof.  Also, while it's not always fair to match up the behaviors of a party-in-general with those of an individual candidate, for the big-name races you can probably expect that their lower-ticket party-members will probably support that candidate's agenda.  In Freeport, specifically, there are State Legislature races of significant interest given Earlene Hooper's defeat in the primaries, so don't think that there's nothing of local importance on the ballot.  This is just as much for your state-level government as it is your federal representation!  (Pst.  This also includes redistricting in 2020, so maybe we can un-Gerrymander things a bit)



 - "What if I'm afraid to get there late?"  The law, as I understand it from having seen many an election in my not-quite-youth-anymore, is that once you are on line to vote, you can NOT be denied the right to vote.  As long as you are in line by 9:00 PM, you can't be forced off of the line.  You have your right to vote, so don't be afraid if you get out of work at 8:30 and get at the polling place by 8:50.


 - "What if something goes wrong when I vote?"  The most common problem I've seen reported by Freeporters so far is that there have been some concerns with people not being on the voter rolls.  This is a potentially serious problem, but there are many other possibilities such as voter intimidation (either directly or through posters left deliberately-close to a polling place with hate speech, etc), or other ballot spoilage issues.

If this happens to you, BE CALM.  First of all, in case there's some kind of administrative problem, ask for an Affidavit/Provisional ballot.  That way, they can get your vote down with a sort of, 'we'll check into this problem and if it clears, count it' promise.  Contact the Voter Protection Hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE, and listen to some advice the ACLU has provided.  Don't let this go, don't wait, make the call and get the process working in your favor.


 - "Am I just voting on candidates?" - That depends on your district, but ALWAYS, as a rule of future Election practice, check the back of your ballot for any ballot initiatives that might be relevant to your district, town, or county.  Many states, for example, have public referendums on whether or not Marijuana should be legal recreationally.  These are ballot initiatives, and they would be on the back.


Happy voting!!  Remember:  You're a citizen of a Representative Republic.  It's not necessarily ideal, but if you want to keep it, vote.  Otherwise, you may lose even that.



Jesse Pohlman is the writer/editor of The Weekly Freeporter, a non-partisan enterprise, and does not endorse any candidates as a rule.  If, however, you'd like to read his thoughts on the over-arching theme of and verdict for the 2018 election, you may do so at this link.