( – promoted by odum)

I’m running and …

Greetings to all at Green Mountain Daily

I’ve occasionally diaried on GMD and lurked alot.  I’m running for the Vermont House of Reps in Bennington/Rutland (1) – Dorset, Peru, Landgrove/ Danby, Mt. Tabor.  I am a democrat and running against Patti Komline.  I was a last minute candidate in ’06 and didn’t have much of a campaign.  This year, I have more time.  And so… tell me what you think a candidate should be focusing on.  The district is a real mix of rich and poor, residents/second homes, gold towns and out-in-the cold-towns.  Tell me what you think.  Have at me!!!

Ed Weissman, writer, poet, librettist, lyricist.  Middlebury College grad.  Most recent work: Co-author, Episcopal Haiku (2007) and “Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys Invent Vermont,” a musical (book and lyrics).  

Al Jazeera broadcasts Vermont channel and Burlington Telecom.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…

…or aren’t there a lot of Dubies here ?The Vermont National Guard is in the process of preparing for deployment overseas perhaps to Afghanistan by 2010.

In an effort keep the capacity at levels adequate  to met an at home emergency officials are contacting retired veterans,this according the Times -Argus. Won’t some one ask the Governor about this ?

Alert orders issued by the Pentagon in April indicate that as many as 1,900 Vermont soldiers and airmen could be heading to Afghanistan sometime in 2010. The deployment, if it happens, would halve the Guard’s approximately 3,650-person membership and strain its ability to respond to in-state disasters.

“We need to be cognizant of what could happen with a flooding situation, or an ice storm, or some disaster in which the state of Vermont would need our assistance at a time when a lot of our Guard soldiers might be gone,” Maj. Gen. Michael Dubie, head of the Vermont National Guard, said Friday.

The Vermont State Guard, a military unit that operates under the auspices of state government, could assume some of those duties. And efforts are under way to recruit more retired Vermont veterans into the 900-person force.

http://www.timesargus.com/apps…

(Important stuff here, folks. This should not happen. – promoted by JDRyan)

Civil Disobedience is an invaluable tool for any people and an inalienable right of a free and democratic society.  From those who rebelled against the rule of the British crown to create the world’s first democracy to great social commenter’s like Henry Thoreau to social justice leaders like Martin Luther King Jr, civil disobedience has been seen and used as an incredibly powerful and meaningful way to work towards achieving a redress of grievances from the people to their rulers and exploiters.  For as many people there are in the world, there are probably an equal number of opinions and comfort-levels with CD, yet it is hard ignore the tactics effectiveness: the founding of a government which is meant to represent ‘the people’, the end of laws which legitimize racism and sexism, the end of wars, the achievement of worker’s rights and workplace and product regulations…. as a tool for outraged citizens acting in rebellion against the way things are, in hopes of making society better and more equitable, CD has done us a whole lot of good (not to say that CD has done all the work in achieving such things- but to note that CD has been an effective tactic in all such campaigns).

Yet, Burlington-area activists who recently engaged in acts of CD at General Dynamics in Burlington in hopes of drawing attention to what they consider to be the immoral actions (and political powers) of that corporation have been circulating a letter in which they reveal a shocking betrayal of the public trust: Chittenden County State’s Attorney Donovan, in prosecuting these activists, is seeking unusually severe sentences for them, and has declared his intent to “put an end” to civil disobedience in his district.  His stated motivation: the City of Burlington, in these tough economic times, lacks the financial resources to handle such things.

Writing about their experiences in this recent case of civil disobediance, the activists note:

While, for the most part, our interactions with the Burlington Police Department were pofessional and even quite amicable (some police even voiced their support for our cause) our dealings with the State’s prosecutor have been less so.  Threats and needless acts of intimidation greeted us at our arraignment.  While the district attorney’s office was not successful in forcing $1,000 in bail to four of those arrested, District Attorney Donovan expressed his desire to seek from us over $6,000 in “restitution” costs: $4,043 to pay for City of Burlington police and fire personnel, $890 for the Chittenden County Sheriff and (outrageously) $1,228.17 in cleaning costs to General Dynamics themselves.

Perhaps Mr Donovan would have liked to see the perpetrators of the Boston Tea Party charged for the tea they threw in the Bay, or Southern African Americans forced to pay restitution’s to the Birmingham transit system for lost revenues following their boycott of segregated buses; perhaps factory workers should have been made to pay for the bullets fired at them as they went on strike, demanding safe working conditions, fair pay, and an end to child labor.  Perhaps Ghandi should have been made to pay for all the clubs that were broken over the heads of Indians demanding their own freedom.

None one (that I know of) is disputing the fact that these are tight economic times, and that acts of civil disobedience and public protest do use public resources (police, courts, etc).  However, a free people’s right to protest, to act out of conscience for the greater good of society even if it is in defiance of the law, is an invaluable right and tradition that must be protected.  Over-burdensome fines and prosecutions are by no means a reasonable way to “protect” the community from itself: rather, it is an unjustifiable use of (economic) force against a people, wielded by those with power against those without it.

Do our community a favor and call Mr Donovan and let him know that civil disobedience is a valued aspect of any healthy democracy.

1937-2008

R.I.P. George

Nobody (I mean NOBODY) gave us the low-down on the “bullshit department” like George Carlin.

Thank you George, I miss you already.

— 

Folks, please post your favorite Georgisms.

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I have mixed feelings about “Best of” contests, but let's be serious – who doesn't like to be a winner? Even though its down to the last few days of voting, making paper ballots unlikely to be filled out and mailed in in time, I think I will make a pitch for Green Mountain Daily to get your vote. GMD is never at home field advantage with the Burlington-based Seven Days contest. For whatever reason, we've never had a front pager from Chittenden County (not for lack of looking), so a wide swath of our reader base is not aware of the Daysies, or doesn't feel they can answer the minimum 33 of the 100 questions needed for the ballot to qualify.

So this diary is here to help, by god. I've included suggestions below the fold, many of them are Montpelier-centric, as I live in Montpelier, but feel free to make other suggestions (and I haven't made suggestions for all the ballot items). There are links to the ballot as well, which will open in seperate browser windows so you an refer to the list.

Why GMD? Along with providing a public soapbox and bringing you interviews with the likes of Matt Taibbi and Howard Dean, over GMD's existence, we have – I think – done some extraordinary things for a bunch of activists working in their spare time. We've broken stories and actually impacted Vermont – such as when we uncovered the State Police program to illegally obtain Vermonter's presecription drug records, forcing them to backpedal within days. We've pushed issues the traditional media isn't interested in (such as race issues in the state). Our forums have brought out legislators into the comments section from the Democratic, Progressive and Republican Parties. We've taken point in the traditional media on issues of free speech (such as our high profile on the iBrattleboro case), and we've impacted the public debate in many ways (forcing the discussion of a legislatively brokered Governor's election into the mainstream). And we've enhanced the Democratic Process while being internet innovators (such as through Vermont's first online debate between Lt. Gov candidates Matt Dunne and John Tracy). All in our spare time. We are fiercely independent, and have served – as Caoimhin Laochdha said – as “the kidney of the Vermont Democratic Party” and the progressive left.

And this week we hit a major milestone with mydog's (Nate's) citizen journalism video which hit the front page of the papers and became an immediate point of debate in the Gubernatorial race. The first time GMD has hit the papers in this way through a piece NOT generated by one of the front pagers, but a regular citizen taking advantage of this platform to make themselves heard. I can't tell you how thrilled that has made me.

And that speaks to our most significant accomplishment – we have built a community unlike any other in the Vermont blogosphere. And for that I am very, very grateful. I hope you'll consider voting for us, and emailing a link to this diary to others. Use the list below if you like, or just tell me how full of crap my choices are in the comments. It's all good.

CLICK HERE FOR BALLOT (Opens in a new window so you can have this list handy)

4. Best place to have dinner
 a. Inside Chittenden County

Of course there's “A Single Pebble.” There's also “American Flatbread”

 b. Outside Chittenden County

Mmm… “Royal Orchid.” Yummy Thai food. Also the Wiatsfield “American Flatbread”

5. Best breakfast/brunch
 a. Inside Chittenden County

How about “Penny Cluse?” 

 b. Outside Chittenden County

C'mon… “River Run” is taking this.

6. Best place to do lunch
 a. Inside Chittenden County

“Ali Baba's!” Falafel – woo-hoo! 

  b. Outside Chittenden County

I'd say if you don't have a favorite, give “Rhapsody” a boost. Or “Kismet.” Groovy food in Montpelier.

7. Best late night food

I'm not out late anymore.

8. Best Asian fare

“Royal Orchid” in Montpelier again. Mmm. I'm getting hungry.

9. Best veggie fare

“Rhapsody” in Montpelier again. Lotso stuff. 

10. Best pizza

Lots of good pizza out there, but its gotta be “American Flatbread.”

11. Best burger

Hm. I don't know. In Montpelier, its probably “McGillicuddy's”

12. Best cheap eats

“The Wayside!”

13. Best brew pub

“The Alchemist” in Waterbury. Great place.

14. Best Vermont brewery

I voted for “Long Trail.”

16. Best bar

C'mon. You don't need any help with that.

18. Best place to get caffeinated

“Gesine” has the best coffee I know of in my town.

19. Best bakery

Gesine again.

20. Best natural foods market

Healthy Living. 

21. Best take-out

Uhh… “Royal Orchid!”

23. Best wine/spirits seller

In Montpelier, I voted to support the fledgling “Uncommon Market.”

24. Best farmers' market vendor/farm stand

How about “Jing Ji”, who sells those great dumplings!

25. Best Vermont bread

A lot to choose from here. How about “Manghi's?”

26. Best live music venue

It's not the best venue for hearing music, but “Langdon Street Cafe” gets a lot of great musicians who otherwise wouldn't get to play in front of crowds. Very cool.

29. Best vocalist

You know Grace Potter is going to win this.

30. Best Vermont band

If you're not going to vote for Grace Potter's band, you could try “The Goat Broke Loose” or the “Dave Keller band”

31. Best new band

Sugar Shack!

34. Best performing arts venue

I guess the Flynn, eh?

35. Best fiction writer

Philip Baruth!

37. Best craftsperson

How about my old landlord – Georgia Landau?

Lazy pear.

40. Best movie theater

Gonna be Montpelier-centric again and say The Savoy Theater.

41. Best museum

Montshire Museum.

42. Best fest

Solarfest.

49. Best print journalist

This is tough, but I'm gonna say Dan Barlow this year. 

50. Best VT publication

Why – Green Mountain Daily, natch! 

51. Best TV newscaster
 
Stewart Ledbetter

55. Best radio station

VPR! Great Vermont coverage.

56. Best Vermont Blog — political (please enter url)

www.greenmountaindaily.com. Duh.

57. Best Vermont Blog — NON-political (please enter url)

Oh, I dunno… how about Bosox Wally at www.redsoxwill.blogspot.com? (except you know you secretly wanna vote for Mistress maeve's sex blog at Seven Days – 7d.blogs.com/mistress)

61. Best shoe store
 Inside Chittenden County

Pass.

Outside Chittenden County

The Shoe Horn

63. Best secondhand stores

One More Time 

65. Best children's clothing

Cheshire Cat

66. Best designer jewelry

Lochlin Smith

Guitar Sam

70. Best record store
 Inside Chittenden County

Pure Pop

Outside Chittenden County

Buch Spieler

71. Best bookstore
 Inside Chittenden County

The Flying Pig in Shelburne

Outside Chittenden County

Bear Pond Books

72. Hottest housewares

Homeport.

77. Best computer store

Computer Barn! (Okay, maybe they're not the best… but again, just out of principle)

8. Best wedding venue

Lareau Inn/American Flatbread in Waitsfield.

80. Best stationer

Capitol Stationers! (What's a stationer?)

81. Best auto dealer

Racine, naturally.

83. Best outdoor outfitter

EMS Sports.

Onion River Sports in Montpelier.

86. Best Internet provider

SoverNet, just out of principle. Even if they're not the greatest.

90. Greatest garden center

Gardener's Supply, natch

91. Best place to get body art

Aw geez. I can't remember the name of that place in Burlington that I got my tattoo. From a very young woman who was very into snakes. It was next to Nectar's.

92. Best place to rent a movie

Downstairs Video in Montpelier 

96. Best public restroom

The new Williston rest area bathrooms are very nice and clean.

98. Best thing that could happen to Vermont

A new Governor. 

CLICK HERE FOR BALLOT (Opens in a new window so you can have this list handy)

Everybody knows this type of information gathering is certainly growing in leaps and bounds.I am not ready for the tin foil hat yet but given the trends lately it’s always option .Reality Mining a new term for a system to gather ,track and make sense of the data patterns from cell phone ,GPS and personal electronic gadgets.This particular system is at present they say only tracks broad patterns not specific behavior of individuals.The business innovators originally had the idea to pay people for their data but that proved too complicated .Certain aspects of our concept of privacy are evolving quickly before everyone’s eyes.

We’re in the midst of a boom in devices that show where people are at any point in time. Global positioning systems are among the hottest consumer electronics devices ever, says Clint Wheelock, chief research officer at ABI Research, a technology market follower. And cellphones increasingly come with G.P.S. chips. All of these devices churn out data that says something about how people live. Just this month, the journal Nature published a paper that looked at cellphone data from 100,000 people in an unnamed European country over six months and found that most follow very predictable routines. Knowing those routines means that you can set probabilities for them, and track how they change.

It’s hard to make sense of such data, Sense Networks, a software analytics company in New York, earlier this month released Macrosense, a tool that aims to do just that.

The Macrosense tool lets companies engage in “reality mining,” a phrase coined by Sandy Pentland, an M.I.T. researcher who was also a co-founder of Sense and now advises it on privacy issues.Sense is not the only company engaged in reality mining. Inrix, a Microsoft spin-off, uses traffic data to predict traffic patterns. Path Intelligence of Britain monitors traffic flow in shopping centers by tracking cellphones.

Reality mining raises instant questions about privacy, especially when cellphone data is involved. In the United States, it is illegal in many cases for cellphone companies to share customers’ location data without their consent.

NY Times Business  section

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06…

Per the Brattleboro Reformer:

According to police, Pratt and passengers in the car he was driving allegedly shouted racial slurs and threats at a group of black teenagers on Flat Street.

Pratt and the passengers, according to a witness, also threatened a girl in the group, saying they would shoot her in the face.

The car drove to the top of the Transportation Center, police said, where the passengers got out and allegedly continued to shout at the teens below.

“Knowing about the NHRA (Nigger Hating Redneck Association), in which Pratt is a member,” police wrote in an affidavit, one teen allegedly spit on Pratt’s window.

In response, Pratt allegedly pulled a handgun from the center console and displayed it, allegedly leading one of the teenagers to believe that it was directed at him without actually pointing it at him.

According to police, this alleged altercation was recorded on the Transportation Center’s video camera.

A couple things I should explain about this: I know the specific area that’s being discussed here.  It’s not the best part of Brattleboro, but it’s right in the center of downtown, near many businesses, and not the sort of place where you expect someone to be posing threats with a handgun.  

The police seem to be handling this well, being very proactive with it, but still, I find it intensely disturbing that this would happen in Brattleboro.  I know lots of places in Vermont where I would fully expect this sort of thing, but Brattleboro isn’t one of them.

I guess I’m writing about this to follow up with earlier conversations about race and racism in Vermont, to say “yes, most definitely: Vermont has a race problem” and it goes beyond a few isolated incidents.  If there’s an active group in the Brattleboro high school which plays at race baiting, this is a serious problem, not just for the black students who live here (though they bear the brunt of it) but for pretty much everybody.  

One stupid kid with a gun is dangerous.  A group of stupid kids with a gun is an accident waiting to happen.

(Good activism comes from capitalizing resources we already have. Check it out! – promoted by Christian Avard)

Remember the controversial and ethically questionable mobile phone images of Saddam Hussein's execution?  While that was a pretty extreme example, it really demonstrated how easy it is to make a visual record with a push of the button on your mobile phone.

I don't have a cell phone myself.  For the recent bridge report, I used a $50 Vivatar digital camera which happens to have a video feature.  Most cameras have the same feature if you spend $50 or more.

Well, here comes iPhone expanding our imagination of the possible once again, offering a new concept called the “Mobile News Network” a la Steve Jobs.

Below the fold, a brief report on this development from Cairn's blog.  But before we get there, let me put out this nugget:

There's a future here in Vermont for citizen journalism using photos and video.  Rest assured, you'll hear more about it soon.

iPhone to Enable Citizen Journalism