(ht FB User “Political Humor” – origin unknown)

(One thing among many that Julie was always good at was administering a good, sharp poke to those who need it the most. This was one of my favorite pieces she ever wrote. As always, Julie tells it like it is.   – promoted by kestrel9000)

Hi homophobes.  

We need to talk.

You’ve been kind of busy lately, and you’ve had a few victories.

But I’m here to tell you something:  

It. Gets. Worse.

I’m in my 40’s.  

When I was growing up, there was one obviously gay kid in my high school.  Almost everyone mocked and teased him.  I came out in college, and I received personal threats on a routine basis; nasty phone calls in the middle of the night, hostile and vicious notes left on my door.  

You know the drill.  Some of you probably even made those calls, with your buddies, up late drinking, thinking “hey, that will be fun!”

Friends of mine have had it worse.  Some of have actually been gay bashed or threatened with violence.

And then there was Matthew Shepard.  

And I think that may have been where things started to change; this image, frozen in time, of a kid beaten so brutally, so badly, but still taking almost a week to die.  And the picture of him, just suspended there, so public and open in the brutality that people recoiled at it.

And things have been changing, faster than you’d ever imagined.  Just over a decade ago, we had a bitter, brutal, fight in Vermont over civil unions, the 2nd class citizen version of marriage equality.  We won that fight, and it cost some good members of the house and senate their seats.

And then, in Massachusetts, over the course of days, civil unions became something else– they shifted from this horrible, terrible, idea, and transformed into the conservative alternative to marriage.  It started with “protect marriage at all costs” and shortly veered into “…but of course everyone deserves equal rights…”

And you lost, then.  And you tried to enact a constitutional amendment (in a state where frankly it’s not that hard to do) and you lost then, too.

I know the numbers for us are small, but that’s how things like this work.  We’ve won in other states since then.   Vermont now has full marriage rights.  You tried to run primaries against one of the Republicans who supported them, in an extremely conservative district.  

You failed.   Again.

New Hampshire is teetering, but even with an extremely conservative legislature, you’re not making headway with same sex marriage.  You know why?

Because they’re a lot more scared of us than they are of you.  

They feel this way with good reason.  You go from state to state, finding small crowds of bigots to come complain about us and testify in your own vicious and bitter fashion.  We talk about hope, and family and the future, and we do it without bitterness, with clarity, with love.

And all you really have is “this will destroy marriage.”

But it won’t.  And I think you know this: the desperation in your voice, the laughable testimony in California during the trials over proposition 8 (not to mention some of the problems with your witnesses).  

You know about trials, right?  They’re the places where you actually have to support your ideas with evidence.  And fact.  

But you don’t have that.  You’ve got “the sky is falling.”  You’re telling people that same sex marriage will destroy things.  

We’ve got Vermont.  

And New Hampshire.

And Massachusetts.  

And Connecticut.

And Iowa.  

(Yes, Iowa).

And New York.

And we’ve got those states as examples of places where same-sex marriage is not only legal, but where it’s just there, and soon enough will fade into the background.  No one seems to be confused these days when I fill out forms indicating my status as “married” and have a woman’s name listed as my spouse.  

In other words, it’s becoming normal.

And yes, I know that scares you.  Hell, my whole life I’ve been told I’m abnormal, and suddenly no one seems to feel that way, and even I’m confused some of the time.

But there it is.  

And last night, a New York sate senator who ran in opposition to same sex marriage, released a statement and voted “yes” for marriage equality.  

Saland, a long-standing senator, who previously voted against same sex marriage had his own statement, explaining how important it was that he vote his conscience.

And these two senators?  They’re in very conservative districts.  They know what they’re doing.  They may lose their chances at reelection because of this.  

They don’t care about this, because they’re doing what’s right not what’s politically expedient.

So you lost.

Again.  

So you’ve got a choice here.  You can, of course, hold onto your ideas.  You can keep fighting for your right to be afraid of gay people, and you can cloak it in such terms as “protect marriage” or use words like “sanctity” and other catch phrases that are, over time, going to just lose their meaning.  

You can waste time and energy with your bigotry and hostility.

But before you decide… just take a deep breath for a moment and think about this:

You know those people in their 70’s who talk about interracial marriage with that sneer in their voice that everyone else rolls their eyes at?  The ones who people just kind of forgive for their hideous prejudices because they’re too old to learn to be any better?  

That’s you.

Maybe not today.  Maybe not in five years.  But in ten years?  Possibly.  In 20, almost definitely.

You’ve got a limited window here to be on the right side of history.  It’s your choice to decide where you want to be here, but that chance won’t last forever.  And I’m telling you now, that if you don’t get it soon, you’re going to be left in the dustbin of history, without any real opportunity for redemption.

Because for you, from this point on?  

It. Gets. Worse.  

UPDATE; MARRIAGE EQUALITY PASSES, 33-29.

If you've been following the news you know that the big question on marriage equality in New York is whether the Republican conference in the Senate will allow the bill to come to the floor.

They decided earlier this evening to allow the bill to be taken up, and it is now being debated, and the Republican leadership is showing signs that they don't have the votes to block it.

“After many hours of deliberation and discussion over the past several weeks among the members, it has been decided that same-sex marriage legislation will be brought to the full Senate for an up or down vote,” the majority leader, Senator Dean G. Skelos of Long Island, said in a statement. “As I have said many times, this is a very difficult issue and it will be a vote of conscience for every member of the Senate.” 

 In case you're wondering, “It will be a vote of conscience” means the leadership doesn't think they can hold the caucus together.

Here's the live stream from the floor of the Senate. You can check back here for the results. They're voting now, with each senator giving a speech explaining his vote.

Shay Totten reported earlier this week that Dr. Melinda Estes may be stepping down as CEO of Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington. Today, Estes ended the speculation with an email to FAHC employees announcing that she was indeed leaving:

I want to share with you that I will be leaving Fletcher Allen later this summer to become the chief executive officer of the Saint Luke’s Health System in Kansas City, Missouri.

The last eight years in Vermont and at Fletcher Allen Health Care have been some of the best in my life.  Through my experiences here, I have had the opportunity to grow tremendously as a person, a colleague and an executive.  All jobs have a finite lifespan and I have come to the realization that it is time to hand over the reigns of this organization to a new CEO.  It has been the most difficult professional decision I have ever made, but I believe it’s time for a fresh perspective, a new set of eyes and new ideas.  The next CEO will guide Fletcher Allen as we move into the world of health care reform at both the state and national level.  The organization is in a strong position to be successful moving forward.

According to Totten, Estes had been reciving a “total compensation” package of at least $1.9 million (that from 2009, presumably there have been raises since).

(This is interesting. I haven’t checked the numbers, but they sound right. A reminder, though: none of these master plans for districts amount to squat, as the Legislature will be doing whatever it wants. Also – Dubie’s home town was Essex (which had to affect the returns), so the writer’s conclusions about the dynamics of that district are not necessarily accurate, but a worthy point of discussion regardless. – promoted by odum)

This is mainly just some observations I made on my DKOS elections account, but I thought I’d post here, where people might care a bit more:P

http://www.burlingtonfreepress…

To look at the numbers, I used the 2010 gubernatorial election numbers, as it shows what the state looks like under a close election.  I then used that data to compile the new districts, as described in the above article.  Note, I’m only going on the names and data provided by the article and some of the terms (islands, including arbough) aren’t very specific, so there might be some errors.

Looking at the numbers, republicans could win an extra 1-2 senate seats from the chittenden area under this map.  The current configuration is 5-1 in favor of the democrats.

Vermont gubernatorial election 2010 statewide

Shumlin 50%

Dubie: 48%

Chittenden County

Shumlin: 53%

Dubie: 46%

The two person Bolton, Richmond, Hinesburg, Huntington, Shelburne, Charlotte and South Burlington seat is

Shumlin 54%

Dubie 44.5%

the burlington two seat district is safe D.  

Shumlin: 67%

Dubie: 26%

For the Colchester, Winooski, Milton and the islands including Alburgh 2 person seat, as mentioned, i was unclear by what it meant by “the islands.”  to substitute, i included all of grand isle county, thus these numbers may not be exact if i made the wrong assumption about what “the islands” meant.

Dubie: 56%

Shumlin: 42%

For the 2 person Essex, Jericho, Underhill, Williston and St. George district it comes out to be an inverse of the heinsburg district.

Dubie:54%

Shumlin:44.5%

Depending on the candidates and the year, it seems possible, even probable that a republican will be elected to the colchester and essex seats.  Snelling could keep winning in the heinsburg S. Burl. seat.  this could also change depending on how many people run in each district and strategic voting.  

This means a grand total of 8 seats, with three districts where a republican can win at least one seat.  this would change a 5-1 democratic advantage into a 5-3 democratic advantage, resulting in a net loss of two democrats statewide.  of course this depends on campaigns and candidates, but at the moment this looks like a boon to republicans.  If anyone would like the spreadsheet I made of the data, I’ll try to figure out a way to post it.

The Unbearable Fecklessness Of Being

(Like man the young can teach the old–Words of wisdom about the ‘karma’ of Fukushima from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s new twenty-something PR DUDE.)

well like all this responsibility

stuff is like soooo sixties man

so the fucking reactor broke a little?

no biggie  haven’t you ever

had your coffee maker glitch-out?

and what about the brakes on your car?

man like shit happens  get over it

you didn’t get your Social Security check?

hey man those people are really stressed

it’s all this responsibility crap

that makes all the world’s problems

you ought to lighten up and chill

go with the flow and stop bitching

like times have changed man

you have some kind of superiority complex?

you ought to sign up for my Workshop

it’s very Zen  all about how responsibility

is responsible for making people uptight

and nervous and prone to fuck-up even more

throw the Earth’s karma out of whack

make everybody feel like they’ve got to

fix everything  man if it ain’t broke

don’t fix it  and if it is broke

well who fucking like gives a shit?

look at our leaders  do you see them

getting all ripped about every little thing?

like this global warming?  so what the fuck?

you fucking like winter man?  and the wars?

those are because everybody’s telling

everybody about being responsible

like they’re somebody’s mother or something

when you go with the flow you don’t

get all stressed and then you don’t fuck-up

and like everything takes care of itself

cause I’m telling you man…I don’t need

to hear another goddamn radiation rap man

I’m doing maybe the best I can at this shitty job

they’re not paying me enough for more stress

I like think Barack Obama is really cool

he’s not into this responsibility trip

he’s going with the flow and I’ll bet you

he takes a few good hits now and then

maybe that’s what you need man?  I can get

you some really good shit  mellow your stress

make you hip and hop into the twenty-first century  

and look at things the way they ought to be

looked at  like who gives a fuck about anything

anymore?  right?  you need to get laid man

like I know this seventeen year old chick…

man…responsibility?  some kind of word they

ought to politically correct out of our language

radiation?  like I give a flying shit-fuck

it’ll just go away  like everything else does

man don’t you have more important things

to worry about?  like going to the mall

and buying yourself some duds that don’t

make you look so frigging OLD man?

I’ve got to go now  and like if I hit someone

driving home or cause a ten car pile-up with

people killed or whatever…well shit happens

I work for the fucking government  you think

I’m going to get fired from this shit-eating

job because somebody got dead?  get real man

you can’t change the whole fucking world

so forget about it  only fucking God can like

change the world and I guess if He wanted to

the dude would have done it already

why don’t you get on His case about radiation man?

and make Him stop all this fucking rain  

for some reason it’s making me itch  go figure    

Peter Buknatski

Montpelier, Vt…man

The NRC has never met a relicensing bid they couldn’t love, and industry shills have managed to maintain protective cover over its peccadillos for ever so long; but the tide appears at last to be turning.

In the wake of an AP investigation that effectively demonstrates how weakening NRC safety standards have enabled the continued operation of failing nuclear plants, it is nice to see members of Congress finally sitting up and taking notice.

Our own Bernie Sanders is one of three senators who are pressing this issue on behalf of the American people. The other two are Barbara Boxer of California and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.  

If you wonder why more congress-folk aren’t lining up with them to storm the NRC barricades, consider how powerful the nuclear lobby…or any energy lobby…is in this country.  With 2012 shaping up to be a real bone-shaker of an election, we are unlikely to see a lot of heroics among the incumbents.

Too bad.  

It sounds as if a congressional investigation into safety standards and federal oversight at the NRC, such as Bernie and friends are calling for, could potentially bring to light evidence not only of dereliction of duty but also of criminal conspiracy.  

Per Daily Kos:

In a 6-3 decision today, the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional Vermont’s Prescription Confidentiality Law, finding it to unconstitutionally burden the speech of pharmaceutical marketers and data miners without adequate justification.

Yes.  You heard that right.  We’re violating the freedom of speech of people who wish to engage in marketing by not allowing them to mine data for marketing purposes.  The law didn’t restrict what they could say.  It restricted their access to information that has nothing to do with health or policy.  It restricted their ability to use a slimy tactic to engage in targeted marketing to health care professionals.

In short, the Supreme Court just decided that corporate freedom of speech is more important than the practice of medicine.

Or, even shorter, ALL YOUR PRIVACY ARE BELONG TO US.

As I step back onto the merry-go-round following a two-week hiatus, I want to take a moment to say “good-bye” to St. Albans Zoning Administrator, Jim Tischler who is leaving after too few months in transformative service to the Rail City.

I’m not known for having fond words to say about City administrators, but Mr. Tischler has broken the mold.  

Barely two short years ago, in a moment of remarkable clarity, the City hired Jim to disentangle the rats’ nest that City zoning had become after years of mismanagement and neglect.  What they got in the bargain was a skilled visionary who would plot a course of rebirth for the troubled City through enlightened planning and responsible development.  

The new atmosphere of exploration in the City seems even more promising, as Mayor Marty Manahan will be stepping down in 2012, and popular Democrat Liz Gamache has announced her candidacy for the office.  Liz has plenty of City experience, having served in several capacities including as interim City Manager.  She is currently chairing the downtown revitalization effort and is therefore a natural to further Mr. Tischler’s ambitious agenda for civic rebirth.  Sometimes our prayers do seem to be answered!

Not surprisingly,  Mr. Tischler has now been given the opportunity to apply his planning strategies on a much grander scale, to his home state of Michigan; and it must be admitted that they need him even more than we do.

It remains to be seen whether the (few?) visionaries in City government who supported his efforts here can maintain the momentum he has created.  St. Albans’ power structure is still primarily in the heavy hands of those who have no faith that the City can be anything more than a drive-through to big-box shopping at exit 20 in the Town.  

Before departing, Mr. Tischler launched his legacy to the City with a three day public forum, “Create St. Albans” to introduce interested citizens to a fresh concept in zoning which, if adopted, will mean a new era of rational growth and civic planning.   Referred to as “Form Based” zoning, this approach has the potential to preserve what is best and most appealing about a traditional small town plan while facilitating ease of permitting for appropriate development.  The objective is to maintain public engagement in an harmonious, human-scale environment of mixed uses.

Best of luck to Jim Tischler in his Michigan endeavors; and here’s hoping his efforts in St. Albans have taken firm root, to flower in the years to come.

This is reality, folks, by way of Matt Taibbi. It should be tattooed on the inside of every lefty-with-a-blog’s eyelids (emphasis added).

Bachmann is a religious zealot whose brain is a raging electrical storm of divine visions and paranoid delusions. She believes that the Chinese are plotting to replace the dollar bill, that light bulbs are killing our dogs and cats, and that God personally chose her to become both an IRS attorney who would spend years hounding taxpayers and a raging anti-tax Tea Party crusader against big government.

Snickering readers in New York or Los Angeles might be tempted by all of this to conclude that Bachmann is uniquely crazy. But in fact, such tales by Bachmann work precisely because there are a great many people in America just like Bachmann, people who believe that God tells them what condiments to put on their hamburgers, who can’t tell the difference between Soviet Communism and a Stafford loan, but can certainly tell the difference between being mocked and being taken seriously. When you laugh at Michele Bachmann for going on MSNBC and blurting out that the moon is made of red communist cheese, these people don’t learn that she is wrong. What they learn is that you’re a dick, that they hate you more than ever, and that they’re even more determined now to support anyone who promises not to laugh at their own visions and fantasies.