Welcome to Vacatia

[JGRobinson]

The Pilot has turned on the Seat belt indicator; please move your seats and trays to their full upright position and Welcome to Vacatia International Airport with direct connections to excitement and entertainment for every member of the family. Just a few interesting facts about this fascinating region:

Vacatia is the Gateway to H.O.M.E. and a perfect combination of three Progressive yet Historic County’s; Herkimer, Oneida and Madison, the E is for “Excellent”, the Fun and Excitement you want and need; all right here in the geographic Center of New York State. We were the first multi County Consolidation in the nation; our streamlined, efficient and effective Tri-County Cooperative Administration has lowered local taxes 55% and our unemployment by 70% in 10 years. The H.O.M.E. Capital District is a 5 minute ride from landing and provides 24 hour drive through Permits, Licenses and Visitor Information. Hop a free Shuttle to Hamilton, Herkimer or Utica to start exploring all H.O.M.E. has to offer, 5,000 attractions less than an hour from the front door.

Founded in 1791, H.O.M.E. is Historic; Native Americans, Revolutionaries and Freedom Fighters lead the way in building and shaping the USA. Early Settlements, The Underground Railroad, Abolition, Woman’s Rights, Forts and National Battle fields fill your senses with sights and sounds of our past today.

As far as the eye can see, H.O.M.E. is 3,200 Square Miles of prime land, fresh air and abundant clean water with 10,000 pristine views. Our fields, mountains, valleys, forests, lakes, ponds, rivers, streams and canals provide 4 full seasons of unparalleled natural beauty and enjoyment.

Celebrate the world at H.O.M.E., we’re as Diverse as our 360,000 citizens, 120 cultures, 76 Languages and 350 Eateries offering Ethnic and Traditional H.O.M.E. cooking, a flavor for every taste! Most of the fine ingredients are H.O.M.E. grown from 400 local Farms, many organic. They produce over 1000 varieties of Fruits, Extracts, Herbs, Vegetables, Spices, Beef, Pork, Seafood, Poultry and Dairy products.

Get around with ease on our 5000 miles of highly maintained Roads, Rail, Harbors, Trails, Locks and Canals and 4 private and commercial Airports. H.O.M.E. town Flavor with all the elegance 1,000 Museums, Galleries, Operas, Broadway Musicals, Cinemas, Concerts, Comedians, Festivals, Fairs, and World Class Entertainers can offer. Year round Multi Cultural Activities, Temples, Churches, Synagogues, Mosques can offer those with discerning tastes!

H.O.M.E is Clean and Green with 550 Wind Turbines, 40 Hydro Generators, 9,000 Solar Panels, Nuclear Plant, 30 Thermal Siphons’, 200 Natural Gas Wells and 6 Bio-fuel facilities; less than 7% of our energy needs are imported. We export Millions annually in sustainable clean Electric and Fuel alternative to 16 County’s, 20 States and 8 Countries and lead the Nation in Energy Research and Development.

Learn at H.O.M.E at our 250 State, Community and Private Universities, Colleges, Technical Schools, National and International Training facilities and Convention Centers. Our public school’s rate among the top 5% in the Nation graduating 94% before age 19 and with those with special needs nurtured.

Stay Healthy at H.O.M.E. with over 200 Hospitals, Urgent, Clinics, Extended and Retirement facilities offering state of the art diagnostics, treatment and living alternatives for intervention, comfort and care.

Play at H.O.M.E. in our Casinos, Racino’s, Harness Races, Auto Races, Woodsman Competition, Rodeo’s, Tractor and Horse Pulls, Hall’s of Fame, The Boilermaker road race, Sporting events Galore.
Test yourself at H.O.M.E. with PGA Golfing, Tennis, Water and Snow Skiing and Boarding, Cross Country and Downhill, Ballooning, Gliders, Ice Skating, Fitness Centers, Hang Gliding, Scuba and Sky diving, Trophy Fishing,

Ive been thinking about this forever. Tiz a dream Ive had, I wish it could come true! You ask what we have, lots, but what will we do with it?

[dgriffin]

It's a nice idea, but it may be too sensible to happen in NY State.

A town or county or state isn't built in the instant of a single idea. Instead it takes place over time and gets built like a strange board game where the playing pieces are suspended in air just above the game board. After each player moves his piece, the game board is slid out from under the pieces and replaced by an entirely new and different game to be learned and played. Your piece may have been on Boardwalk before the board changed. You can't predict where you'll wind up.

[JGRobinson]

I know Dave, thats why I called it a dream because we think so tiny around here, there is no chance in hell of getting them to work together as a region instead of protecting their little Fiefdoms. The Buggy-whips must be replaced with Remote Controls, We have thousands of Government Agencies duplicating services within 20 miles of each other, that is such a waste.

We have so much allready in place as well as gargantuan potential in such a relatively small region; nobody has ever connected the dots, they tried it with the Leather Stocking Region Designation but that is DOA now, I guess Wall Street was a bit more interesting to Albany. The OIN, Vernon Downs, Enchanted Forest, Canal System and our Vast Natural assets are treated way to Half-Vast!

Yes we do have it all up here, everything except Visionary Leadership from Our Elected Representatives. If Chuck Schumer spent as much time promoting this regions strengths as he spent courting Private Sector Unions via his powerful voice in Washington, we could be Vacatia Someday.

Alas, I suppose its time to go back to dreaming, its never going to happen...

[dgriffin]

Just some thoughts.

Central New York has a lot going for it, but tourist attractions will make the area no more politically important or powerful than Coney Island. (You hear politicians extol the virtues of tourism only after every other business has left. Such happened here in the Catskills, where there wasn't much of anything else to begin with until international technology firms built plants along the river. They've since dwindled in numbers of employees.)

In the 21st century for a geographic area to move ahead it needs powerful politicians who come from a base of intelligence and novel approaches. I don't mean for the purpose of thinking up new business ideas, but rather for dominating state and even national politics to the extent that they can bring home the bacon from Albany and Washington. The day of the better mousetrap is all but gone. Today it's the better politician who fights for his district and wins that most affects the fortunes of a geographical area. The paradigm of building up a new industry to provide jobs in a locale is still workable, but becoming less viable now that the government has most of the money, or at least control of it. Sure business is needed to supply cash to the people who will turn it over to their rulers in the form of taxes, but look at the drastic difference today in where people's money comes from, far less from employers and far more from the government. That change indicates an unbalancing of the old understanding of the sources of wealth.

While most of us sit around thinking it might be nice to elect a state legislator from our area whose humanitarian sensitivities appeal to our natures and who might bring home enough bacon for a Double Stacker, the smart folks are gathering together in a political party and laying plans to invade Albany and Washington in order to bring home the entire pig lot. Can they do it? Depends. But yes, it's possible. Look at Lincoln. Look at Bill Clinton. Even Jimmy Carter. Up from nowhere to prominence

The reason why New York City has control of the state isn't because of all the money down there; it has control because it has half the population and statistically will produce more shakers and movers than Ilion, as an example. True, the banks and other financial institutions in NY City certainly don't hurt the plans of the politicians.

Today a crackerjack Central New York politician is like the Roman general who when he wished to succeed in the society of the day when Rome already controlled the known world. There was nothing left to provide him with the opportunity of becoming a conquering hero. Every nearby country had been subjugated and its riches carried off to Rome. He had to carefully search out a country to steal by invasion. Most were now too far away to prove profitable. Somebody had to figure out how to get to Britain, milk it and make the venture profitable. Nano could have been Central New York's spoils had there been a Vespasian or even a crazy Caligula to take it. (Big if.)

I don't know who your state legislators and leaders are in Central New York, but if they don't have the guts, organization, money, support, brains and cut-throat political genius to upstage the other "generals" and lead the Legions to rape the spoils of their counterparts in Albany and Washington (poor mix of metaphors), my advice is for Central New York to settle for living with its dreams.

My humble opinion, of course.

Am I off topic?

[JGRobinson]

No your not off topic, your quite an eloquent writer also. RiseAFOTHREmpire is relative but not so ubiquitous I think. We have breached the Communication barrier that was always the show stopper for a million years. No matter how far, I can let you know instantly what is going on, we can actually change direction before the cliff not just after gravity takes over.

Tourism is only one part of the puzzle. some of the other pieces include revitalized agriculture. Enhanced educational opportunities in new NRG Production and carefully recovering and selling our natural resources, especially the sustainable ones. Modern Day Technological Pennsylvania Dutch likenesses are more the type of visions I see, producing and selling goods not just entertaining.

The Amish and Mennonites have been buying up vast areas of upstate and building entire communities in a short time. Even they see the value in our property where we do not.

[Clipper]

It was not too many years ago that every town and village in the area had a "milk plant" where farmers took their milk. Most of that milk was sold in NYC by the co-ops such as Dairyman's League, but there were also plenty of dairy plants in the area that bought and bottled milk. Hameline's, Sunset, Muller's, Flannigan's, Dari Del, Belvedere, and others. Sad to see the majority of those places gone now, along with the small dairies that supported them. Farms cannot survive on the 50 to 100 cow herds that the family farms had back in the 50's and 60's.

Our own "Countrygal" and her husband and his family run a large dairy farm in Marcy. They have a huge herd, a modern milking parlor operation, and they plant and harvest over 1000 acres of feed and forage crops on owned and rented land. It is no longer just a small farming operation. It is massive in scope and size, and with fuel prices, combined with the low price being paid for the milk, they struggle to survive.

[JGRobinson]

The Amish are succeeding with the tiny farms because they work as one community, Kind of like the Borg! My Brother in law has a small farm (80 head) in Deruyter and is barely holding his head above water.

We could be much more powerful as a region working together than 3 Counties fighting for the scraps from Albany.