( – promoted by GMD)

(Crossposted at http://www.mulishbehavior.blog…

Anyone who pays attention to the U.S. Supreme Court knows that for the last generation an epic battle has been taking place over the role of constitutional interpretation. The old Warren Court and its progeny read the Constitution as a competing body of rights and laws that, taken together with specific facts of individual cases gave us a broader understanding of constitutional rights (e.g., a view that “separate” is “not equal” and/or, for example, a “right to privacy”). Conservatives, notably the Federalist Society led by Justice Antonin Scalia, have been trying for years to whittle away at our rights by interpreting the constitution as a “literal” document, something they call “originalism” which would greatly limit the Court’s ability to protect many of the rights and responsibilities many Americans have come to believe are bedrock principles of our jurisprudence.

But even Justices in the middle are pushing back on this excessively narrow and limited view of the Constitution. That is, a limitation on the essential core of “judging.” Most notably recently retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter.

The Washington Post ran a recent opinion column by E.J. Dionne on a speech given by Justice Souter at Harvard University’s commencement ceremony. Souter, was the “quiet” Justice from neighboring New Hampshire, appointed by George H.W. Bush in 1990, who retired in June of 2009. He now continues to serve on the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals as an active Justice.

The press, rather simplistically, has mistakenly characterized Souter’s remarks as a defense of “judicial activism,” when really it is a repudiation of the judicial activism practiced by those on the right — the theory that the Constitution must be read as a static, literal document, inflexible, inviolate, and irrelevant to our times. In short, Souter’s remarks are a clear refutation of the illogical approach of the Federalist Society and others on the right with respect to constitutional interpretation (what they like to think of as “originalism” or the philosophy that we can (and must) resolve all of modern society’s legal conundrums by a strict “fair reading” (Souter’s words) of the Constitution).

Souter’s point is that the Constitution sets out many general legal and moral principles that are frequently in conflict with one another (e.g., “liberty” vs. “security” and/or “equality”) thereby precluding a simple literal reading. Rather, judges are required to weigh these principles against one another in the context of the facts of a given case and contemporary legal, moral, and ethical norms. That is, taking into account our societal values, not as a determinative factor, but perhaps as context for a decision based on the law, but also not so disconnected from the reality of society that you couldn’t have, for example, a decision like Brown v. Board of Education, which would not have been possible from an originalist perspective. Does that mean, according to Justice Scalia, the Federalist Society (and others) that Brown should be overruled? It is troubling that this is the logical extension of originalist theory in the context of important decisions like Brown.

In fact, the “originalist” philosophy, far from being a mainstream judicial philosophy, is more akin to the views espoused by people like Rand (and Ron, for that matter) Paul and the Tea Party Movement. Paul, who recently won a primary contest in Kentucky for a U.S. Senate seat flatly stated that the federal government had no business ending segregation at lunch counters and other private establishments serving the public through the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

And no that’s not a quote but an interpretation … you decide.

Remember this post (my own post promotion alert): Barre Mayor lauzon … local prick and bully …? The article discusses lauzon feeling so full of himself that he, the Barre City Mayor, can damage a Barre City employee’s property in public no less! ‘”Your phone was vibrating so I took care of it for you,” [lauzon] said without elaborating.’

Now the prick comes out and basically says poor people suck and don’t belong in Barre.

“It’s just imperative that landlords and tenants understand that we’re serious,” Lauzon said, suggesting the city is still paying for some landlords’ decades-old response to a spike in vacancies that predictably accompanied an infusion of new rental units in the city.

Rents dropped, recalled Lauzon, who noted so did the caliber of tenants and the cash reserve landlords needed to keep their properties well-maintained.

(Barre council to examine rules on rentals, Barre/Montpelier Times Argus, 06/07/10)

That’s right … in lauzon’s little world all those people who finally had a chance to pay the rent on their homes are nothing more than low caliber tenants who collectively are responsible for trashing the city of Barre.

(Wonder how much of lauzon’s complaint has to do with him having to drop rents too and bring in lower profits?)

Barre City Mayor lauzon: local prick and bully who thinks poor people suck!

Sometimes the day just gets a little odd:

It was a bit of a surprise to look out the kitchen window and see a red [oops: grey, not red –Julie] fox under the bird feeders.  Our feeders are a bit of a distance from the house and our screens don’t come off our windows, so this was the best I could do of photographing the fox thorough a screen window, but I think it came out pretty well.

Here’s a pair of Tom Turkeys that we found displaying on our way to a bird walk a few weeks ago:

Last night I recorded this:

and this:

Last week we were out Kayaking and I managed to get this photo:

I’d never tried getting a photo from a Kayak before.  It was cool, but a little scary and tricky.  Without realizing it I started drifting towards a nest and had to act very fast not to intrude on their territory.  

Yesterday, I was working on some web design work on the porch.  As usual, I made sure I had my camera.  In the course of about half an hour I saw a Baltimore Oriole, a Pileated Woodpecker, an American Redstart, a Red-Eyed Vireo, and this black and white warbler:

But really, I’m writing to post about the new line of note cards I’ve developed, including:

You can see them all at my new site, http://chickadeecards.com/

I’ve tried some new stuff on that site: a javascript which allows for previewing of the cards when you mouseover the thumbnail (does not work on IE 8 or handheld browsers) and some other cool bells and whistles, but I’m especially proud of figuring out how to make the site look completely different on an iPod than it does on a desktop browser.  

Feel free to check out the site, give feedback on the usability, etc.

In the meantime, I am getting heavily back into music again and doing major skill honing, learning how to program some design stuff I didn’t know was possible– learning a lot more about CSS then I knew a month ago– dramatically improving my skills with complex cross join sql queries– I’ll find some new work eventually, and I’ve still got part time work teaching and picked up a new web client last week, so I’m good, and kind of enjoying the Summer vacation.

One of the very fun random things I learned how to do this week is to take a collection of images and combine them into a collage.  If you check out the links from any of those photos, you’ll see a website banner at the top (this won’t happen on iPods and small-scale browsers but on desktops it should be fine, except possibly for IE 8).  Every time you reload the site you’ll get a slightly different version of that banner.  The bird image sequence is chosen at random.  I did the same thing with a different banner for night photography:

http://juliesmagiclightshow.co…

First of all, full disclosure: I am an active member of the Northwest  Citizens for Responsible Growth (NWCRG), a local grassroots group that opposes the location of a big box Walmart store on a tract of farmland just north of Exit 20 of I-89 in St. Albans.

The interests of the Vermont Natural Resource Council, NWCRG, Marie Frey and Hudak Farm are represented by Jon Groveman of the VNRC.  This week, the VNRC issued a press release announcing the appeal.  In an earlier Motion to amend the Environmental Court Decision by Judge Durkin to permit the project, the VNRC cited several important factual errors in the Decision with regard to the location of Hudak Farm, and a serious omission of evidence on the part of the applicant:

We also contend that conflicts of interest exercised early in the permit process corrupted it sufficiently to influence the ultimate outcome.

Emotions surrounding the issue run high in Franklin County.  Supporters of the project insist they represent “majority” opinion; an assertion we have reason to seriously doubt.  Be that as it may, we live in a representative democracy, where we have learned that the tyranny of mob rule does not necessarily exercise the best interests of public good.  If, for instance, the question of recycling were put to a popular vote in Franklin County, it is doubtful that the majority would support it.

Arguments in favor of the Exit 20 Walmart  range from those that have some rational basis to the patently absurd.  We have responded, ad nauseum, to the more rational arguments; but there is no countering the absurd ones.  Our favorite oft-repeated myth about St. Albans is that you can’t buy socks or underwear here.  It conjures up a modern day Dogpatch, where the residents go about their daily business barefoot and buck-naked. The fact is that you can buy both men’s and women’s socks and underwear in several stores throughout town; some every bit as inexpensive as Walmart.  As the Tea Party pundits know so well, if you repeat a lie often enough, it eventually will be accepted as truth, even in the face of all the evidence to the contrary.

We’re all sick and tired of the never-ending battle; and in weaker moments I must confess I almost wish the proponents would get their Walmart at Exit 20, so they could finally appreciate the truth in all the warnings we have patiently repeated.  Of course the unavoidable reality is that we would suffer the decline in quality of life just as surely as would all of those who think they have to have that particular Walmart.

To make matters worse, the Mayor of St. Albans (who cut an ill-advised  “deal” with the developer on behalf of the City, a couple of years ago) put in his own two-cents worth in response to the announcement of our Supreme Court Appeal.  Braying to the Messenger about how our appeal is costing the City money in terms of the declining value of its settlement with the developer,  Mayor Manahan was quoted as follows:

Peyton’s response to a question of Genetically modified food labeling..

     I am a purist, who believes that food should come from ‘happy’ sources, in other words, the crops should be and need to be honored, prayed over, and blessed, and the spiritual energy recharged.  The animals that feed us should be living as happily, and unconfined as possible and respected. I am a candidate because I want the funding to continue the growth of spiritually aware economy to grow, and I have ways that redirects the flow of money to the honorable people of Vermont who are mindful of the sacredness of the Earth connection.  

   Of course I believe in open and honest labeling, so that people can have choice, and I do my best to educate others to only buy what is sustainable and organic. Inclusive of the happy fact that organic farming with biochar removes our carbon problem,

   My work continues to enlighten my friends in Vermont to the means we have to discontinue our enabling of corporate destruction of the planet.   WE have means to create economic growth that do not require that we go into debt, or raise taxes !  Now we begin to heal the practices that have been going on for the past 100 years (and before) that abuse the appropriate role of money.   It is my concern.  Money acts as,and should be recognized as, a verb of trust and faith.  Those who have personality disorders  use it incorrectly on purpose and others are simply yet to be enlightened.

   In order to heal the Earth we will need to invest our time and energy into small family farms or household lots of organic production. To heal ourselves, we will need to have more rest, more hemp curative methods, and more natural means to balance the spirit with the experience of being an American Vermonter.  

    It is my suggestion that the few people who are abusing money, power and control are in fact starving for spiritual wealth and balance, and it is our responsibility to recognize that they are a member of our collective unconscious, and thus, an extension of our thinking.  Where do we find the peaceful unity to engage in peaceful productive paradigm shift, such that we can experience ourselves as an evolved collective ? How do we encourage the end of war when opposing it is confrontational?

  I know it appears that we have gotten off the subject of genetic modification of foods, it is, however a completely integrated problem/solution when for-profit corporate interests are imperiling the Earth and the inhabitants who have yet to empower themselves as creators of links between the spirit of the food,  the money, the peace, and community that we intend to grow.

   The honorable suggestion that genetically modified foods enable feeding the masses must be asked the question of if the masses are victims?  The next question is, what can we do to dissolve victim consciousness and grow empowered peaceful selfconsciousness?

   My candidacy for Governor  has come about because of questions like these.  Myself, as a member of the collective unconscious, looks for the means I have that will encourage more people to experience happiness, for the simple pleasure of experiencing greater joy myself.  I see the abuse, and misuse of money, and the lack of education about money as a source of great angst and trouble in the world, needlessly.  To be your Governor, I would be able to create an experience of abundance, where we  begin a spiritually active engagement in healing ourselves, inclusive of those who experience addiction to control and greed.  

A lot of news on the electoral front to report. The first round of primary endorsements from a constituent interest group arrived this morning at 10 AM from Vermont’s AFL-CIO. They include:

• Governor: Sen. Doug Racine
  
• Lieutenant Governor: Rep. Steve Howard
  
• Secretary of State: Jim Condos
  
• Auditor: Doug Hoffer (who will run in the Democratic primary and seek the Progressive party endorsement as well)
  
• Treasurer: No one. Jeb Spaulding was not backed bacause of his support for lowering public employee pensions.
  
• Attorney General: No one. Union delegates reportedly expressed concerns about Bill Sorrell’s positions on IRV and campaign finance regulations.
  
• US Senate: Patrick Leahy
  
• US House: Peter Welch

Anthony Pollina also made it official; he is running for State Senate from Washington County. It is unclear from the report whether he will engage with what is shaping up to be a crowded Democratic Primary, but recent indications have suggested he will not.

In an active, primary-driven year, this AFL endorsement could make a difference – as could expected endorsements from other organizations in the coming days. Stay tuned.

Discover Jazz Fest Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars Photo by Maggie Gundersen

The weather was beautiful and the music was superb.  And as you can tell from the photo, we had a bird’s eye view of Sierra Leones Refugee All Stars, and their music was incredible.

Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars are a group of musicians who escaped the horrific violence of Sierra Leone’s civil war, landed in a West African refugee camp and formed a band to keep their spirits up and their hopes alive. From these humble beginnings the band has now grown to be an international musical sensation.

People were dancing in the street. It was fabulous, and they are a group of have wanted to hear and see for many years.

I was lucky that my friend, Kennon Young of Vermont Gem Lab at 22 Church Street invited us to his office for a birds eye view of the concert and the type of jazz music I love.  While sipping wine and listening to great music, I also got to peruse the latest jewelry he is designing and fabricating.  I am definitely longing for some of his own creations.

The Discover Jazz Fest 2010 began last night and runs until June 13.  Every day is chock full of fabulous events.  Unfortunately with my work schedule, I can’t see them all!

 

My afternoon started out in an amazing manner.  I had a meeting in an office above Leunig’s Restaurant at 5 pm, so we were lucky enough to get serenaded by a terrific band while we were doing media work with Kevin Hurley at Polaris Media Works.  

For me it was also especially great to see the cow statute back at Leunig’s.  I wish I had taken a photo last night to post here. It is my favorite cow statute in this incredible series of community art that may be seen throughout Burlington.  

The Leunig statute had been cow tipped in a wanton, drunken action by vandals who outraged the Burlington community and entire art community as well.  WPTZ Cow Art Becomes Target For Church St. Vandals.  You’ll just have to stroll through Burlington yourself and have your own stroll with the heifers, but a little different than Brattleboro’s live event and parade today.

The Discover Jazz Fest, is not just an evening event.  Today’s Burlington Farmers’ Market was a plethora of tastes, smells, sights, and sound as jazz from the festival was also a feature.  This is Burlington Summer at its best.  Make sure you enjoy this event next Saturday and every other Saturday through October.

Burlington is filled with so much talent.  Tonight I am ignoring jazz to attend Switch On – Grand Opening Theater Festival – Day 4 at Off Center for the Dramatic Arts is Burlington.

Vermont’s newest black box theater: Located in the heart of Burlington’s Old North End. Off Center provides an affordable, accessible performance and rehearsal space for productions by local community theater artists, as well as a venue for educational opportunities for area students. The concept of a dedicated, professional, yet affordable theater space is a unique one in the city of Burlington, Vermont.

Tonight State Rep Jason Lorber, also known as one of Burlington’s finest comedians is MC for the evening, hosting Firefly Productions – Fringe Festival Excerpt, dug Nap – A Monologue Excerpt,

Actors Anonymous – Monologues, and Lee Anderson – Rebound.  Who’s Afraid of Edward Albee  

8PM – June 16-19, 23, 25 & 26 is next on stage at the Off Center for the Dramatic Arts.

All I can say is don’t sit home tonight get out and begin summer in Burlington.

Every June, Brattleboro has The Strolling of the Heifers, a parade celebrating southern Vermont agriculture and most of all… our cows. Sorta modeled after Pamplona, Spain’s “Running of the Bulls,” this event is drawing tens of thousands each year and is gaining worldwide notoriety.

The parade starts around 10 am. So be sure to watch it. Here.

Webcam chat at Ustream

Living in Boston, Richard Dyer was thrown out of his home at 14, by his father. His parents were decent, caring people but it would seem, had reached the end of the proverbial rope and had no alternatives.  The same could be said for Rick himself; throughout his teens and early 20’s, he earned one felony conviction after another, his crimes being driven by his addictions to drugs and alcohol.  For several years, his time was split between prisons and shelters.  His mother showed her ongoing love and support during those times, probably in the only way she had left; by showing up at the court holding cell with a clean shirt and tie, no matter what.

In speaking with Rick, the most common human response toward someone who is suffering, compassion, was frequently replaced by disgust and intolerance.  He was labeled, and harshly so, for behavior that he himself wanted to change and was viewed as a loser despite his pleas for help.  We’re all well versed in responses to bad behavior, criminal behavior; but most of us have no clue when it comes to judging human potential in these circumstances. We fail to see the person.  We foolishly see only one response; prison.

However, it would seem that for Rick,  there was at least one person willing to use a degree of logic and see the person as much as the behavior; A judge (in Brighton, Ma.) would opt for treatment programs despite the recommendations from prosecutors and probation officers for harsh sentences.  I imagine this judge (Charles Artesani) could see not only the potential of the young man who repeatedly stood before him, but must also have recognized that he was looking at someone who could beat the odds stacked against him.  

Bit by bit, Rick was also given some snippets of wisdom.  One of the more significant came from a Black Panther, a fellow prisoner who told him that a key to success was in education, and gave him information about scholarships and named the reasons he’d qualify.  A nurse, in response to Rick having commented about feeling badly over a life sentence that had been dished out to a partner of past crimes,  pointed out to him that he was doing “life” on the “installment plan”.  Throughout his arduous journey, these and other caring examples, short and to the point as they were, infrequent as they probably were, stayed with Rick and remain with him today.

Rick hung onto the words of the few caring people he met along the way, and eventually pulled them all together and found his way out of the bottomless black hole called “corrections”. With a G.E.D earned while in prison, he went on to graduate with honors from Boston State College.  Full steam ahead on a pathway that first came into his view,  thanks to the words of a Black Panther,  he forged on after graduation to first make a failed round of applications to law schools, but reapplied the next year and admitted to Northeastern.  By the time he had earned his degree at Northeastern, he had another thing going for him; a new history of education and sobriety.  

Armed with this and with the help of others he had met along the way, including a lawyer who had previously defended him and that one insightful judge, Charles Artesani, Rick applied for and received a governor’s pardon in 1983 (Gov. Dukakis).

As an attorney, Richard Dyer is now fervently helping some of the very people still living the life that he was able to escape.  Still suffering the trauma and experiences of prison, he is able to see what so many people fail to see; relapse is part of recovery; no man is an island and human potential cannot continue to be ignored. Success can become a reality if we all believe in each other, no matter what, and go on to communicate that belief to those who need it most. The means to achieve the end needs to be more readily within reach for those who don’t already know they matter,  and that they, too, can be treated, educated or trained and move ahead toward individual successes of their own.

Rick has many advocates for a judgeship of his own, and what a dream this would be for the lives he would be able to touch as a judge.  He has shown us that if not for the bits of faith and sincere words of direction, much of it right in the courtroom, he could have easily been forever swallowed into a life behind bars.  He has also shown us what works; acknowledgment of the person behind the behavior. Human potential.

Countless people are living life sentence in Vermont and elsewhere, once they’ve earned a felony conviction, and there is no escape for most of them.  There are lost opportunities in education, employment and even housing for people with a record.  They’ve been ostracized, banned and barred from success in most cases, for life. Many of those with addictions are simply abandoned altogether,  and left to die. This should not be allowed to continue.  

A pardon for ongoing sobriety or betterment through education subsequent to felony convictions for crimes that are drug or drug related should be commonplace, especially when the pathway to such change is made without any help, but accomplished entirely alone.  Not only has a prison sentence already been served for felony convictions, but the sentence unfairly continues for a lifetime, even for those who have managed to overcome addiction or educate themselves.  

In June of 2007, there were 2,165 inmates in the Vermont system, which includes 5-700 incarcerated in the for-profits prisons in other states: http://www.whitehousedrugpolic…

Investors are profiting on the incarceration of Vermont inmates and there are plans to send even more into these for-profits systems.

2,221 is the most recent count I can find http://www.pewcenteronthestate…

•Vermont Incarceration rate grew 80% (1996-2006) vs. 18% national increase

•23% more growth projected 2007-2018

•Cost estimate as high as $206M

•Property and drug offenders are more than half of 2000-2006 felony prison growth – (NOTE: Property crimes are generally addictions driven; This percentage is counting felony offenses only; what happens to the percentages when misdemeanors are included? A rise to 80% and higher!)

•77% substance abusers; only 13% treated http://www.ussc.gov/AGENDAS/20…

Notable quotes:

MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2008 from the U.S. Senate, Committee on the Judiciary, In the OPENING From PATRICK LEAHY:

During “2005 to 2006; Violent crime in Vermont rose nearly 10 times–let me emphasize that, 10 times–the national average”

and from PETER WELCH:

What I’ve learned is….Rutland is not at all alone in this struggle with drugs and the violence and the crime that is associated with it. It really does extend to all corners of the State.

From BRIAN DUBIE: February 18, 2008;

I was shocked when the plant manager told me that 7 out of 10 people who interview for jobs there fail the company’s drug test. Last Friday, I learned that a Franklin County company sees the same rate of drug test failure among job seekers. We know that education, deterrence and treatment of drug abuse are a big part of the solution. Drug abusers need compassion and help.

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/C…

Living in Vermont, given the recent discussions concerning drugs and crime on our streets and in our neighborhoods, isn’t it time to plan a different response toward those people we seem to view as disposable?  Chasing them from one neighborhood or area and into another is not solving a problem.  Neither is incarcerating hundreds and hundreds of our population.

Addiction and the consequence of logic will result in the realization of human potential.  Here in Vermont, this potential exists for thousands.  It is said that no one succeeds alone and that no man is an island; I therefore (and logically) conclude that no one fails alone, either. We are all accountable to some degree for sticking to an archaic notion of what corrections really means, or should mean. If we are not demanding of change, then no change will come.

We must keep those with drug and drug related crimes out of our prisons and into treatment and educational and training facilities.  We can’t afford to see people as disposable, as the cost for doing so goes far beyond the projected 206 million in real money, not to mention real and deserving lives. Even if the totality of loss could be counted in dollars, 206 million is just the beginning. We have no meaningful results to show for all the money being thrown into the system as it currently exists.

Not looking to be criticized or accused of being naive, perhaps it’s a bad idea to introduce a prison called Halden, in Norway, but I can’t help but feel a stinging wake-up slap in the face when I read about Halden and realize the stark difference not just in the system they have, but in the attitude of those who are in their system, both inmates and employees.  These are the attitudes that bring hell and damnation to anyone in this country who would agree or approve of a focus on human rights and rehabilitation, but they are attitudes and actions that work.  The guiding principles of their penal system is that repressive prisons do not work and treating prisoners humanely and recognizing their potential makes the defining difference between their system and ours.

“We want to build them up, give them confidence through education and work and have them leave as better people.”, says the person in charge of the newest prison.  They focus on human rights and respect and they don’t see that as “unusual”.  It is said that although our country tracks recidivism differently, even an imperfect comparison shows that their system works.

I understand that change is difficult, and I certainly do not have all the answers, but I do know there is an answer and it exists somewhere within the words that have been written or quoted here, and within rare and amazing people like Richard Dyer.

Besides being committed to advocating and representing people like himself, Richard Dyer speaks on a regular basis at drug and alcohol programs, schools and juvenile seminars to kids and adults from all walks of life about what hope and opportunity look like.

Help spread the hope..and bring the change we sorely need.  Bring Richard Dyer to Vermont.

Shay Totten of 7 Days provides us with the following tidbit in his Fair Game blog (Switch and Bait, 7 Days, 06/02/10):

Battle Scars

More than 100 people gathered in Battery Park on Monday to take part in Burlington’s annual Memorial Day ceremony hosted by the VFW Post 782.

. . .

Missing in action was Burlington Mayor Bob Kiss, who was not formally invited to the event.

“Why?” asks Totten; and then answers with:

A Kiss surrogate upset vets and their families with an antiwar speech delivered at a November Veterans Day ceremony. Kiss never vetted the speech, and after it created a firestorm of public criticism, he apologized – more than once – to local VFW Commander Bob Colby.

So that’s what it takes to talk to those who’ve served in the military and their families? A deep devotion to and appreciation of the brutality of war? Well f**k you too.

Personally I think it was extremely selfish of the complainers involved. They don’t, after all, have a lock on how the public – military service or otherwise – views organized slaughter and destruction.

Oh, and according to an earlier posting regarding the event of the non-patronizing to war speech on a former Veterans’ Day:

Hausrath is a veteran and conscientious objector.

(Under the Influence, Fair Game blog, 7 Days, 11/18/09)