crossposted @ www.vermontbloggernaut.blogspot.com

Today, 3/21/08 the Grand Isle Drawbridge was reopened to two-way traffic, no more one way! This was a VTrans success as the bridge is the heart of Grand Isle County, the connection between all 5 towns. Finished well before the navigational season on Lake Champlain begins, with north and south of the bridge still frozen.

A big kudos to the diligent crew from Engineers Construction Inc, who was contracted for the repair. They worked through extreme cold, wind, snow, driving rain, and a mini-ice storm. After the ice they had to break apart everything that had frozen to the bridge before they could recommence their work. Everyone is now safer who travels over the bridge, even is it is only a temporary fix. A more permanent replacement will be needed in the future.

Without this drawbridge Grand Isle County would literally be divided into a north and south. VTrans did a hell of a job formulating a plan and enacting it.  People no longer have to worry about dropping through into the lake when they pass over the bridge!!

( – promoted by odum)

The Vermont Democratic Party website kindly led me to this article grading Vermont in terms of management.It’s a short concise thing to read.

Here are two quote I chopped from it .It is probably things most people know but good to see it all spelled out …The grade ? B-

Vermont maintains its buildings, roads and bridges as well as any state, but even the infrastructure management is tainted by an inability to plan. Most years, agency budget requests are simply rolled into a capital-plan master list. This year, the manager who usually compiles the list was temporarily reassigned to a different department and no master list was compiled at all. The dearth of talent at the top means that planning in one area requires a game of musical chairs in another.

The rub is that Vermont’s poor planning puts kinks in the things it does well –

http://www.governing.com/gpp/2…

(Thanks for posting this! – promoted by JulieWaters)

112 State Street
Montpelier, Vermont 05620-2601

Telephone (802) 828-2811
FAX: (802)-828-2342
TTY (VT) 1-800-724-8390
E-mail: Stephen.wark@state.vt.us

Contact: Stephen Wark

(802) 828-4021

Public Meetings on Vermont Yankee Scheduled

Montpelier, Vermont – Pursuant to Act 160, the Vermont Department of Public Service is required to convene pubic meetings to gather public information and input regarding the continued operation of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Facility in Vernon, Vermont. The following are the dates, times and

locations of the meetings:

Date Time Location

Wednesday, March 19, 2008 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM Black Bear Inn 205 Hastings Street  -St. Johnsbury, VT 05819

Wednesday, April 2, 2008 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM Red Roof Inn 1380 Putney Road -Brattleboro, VT 05301



The meetings will consist of a brief presentation by members of the Vermont Department of Public

Service, and then will invite public participation in facilitated workgroups.

As an early Richardson supporter, I am very proud that the Governor of New Mexico is now putting his support behind Barack Obama, specifically citing the Senator's speech on race in America.

Here is the meat of his letter to supporters:

Earlier this week, Senator Barack Obama gave an historic speech. that addressed the issue of race with the eloquence, sincerity, and optimism we have come to expect of him. He inspired us by reminding us of the awesome potential residing in our own responsibility. He asked us to rise above our racially divided past, and to seize the opportunity to carry forward the work of many patriots of all races, who struggled and died to bring us together.

As a Hispanic, I was particularly touched by his words. I have been troubled by the demonization of immigrants–specifically Hispanics– by too many in this country. Hate crimes against Hispanics are rising as a direct result and now, in tough economic times, people look for scapegoats and I fear that people will continue to exploit our racial differences–and place blame on others not like them . We all know the real culprit — the disastrous economic policies of the Bush Administration!

Senator Obama has started a discussion in this country long overdue and rejects the politics of pitting race against race. He understands clearly that only by bringing people together, only by bridging our differences can we all succeed together as Americans.

His words are those of a courageous, thoughtful and inspiring leader, who understands that a house divided against itself cannot stand. And, after nearly eight years of George W. Bush, we desperately need such a leader.

(Because this is too damn funny and totally Annikee!

UPDATE: Check in with iBrattleboro today for all the antics at Brattleboro’s town meeting! – promoted by Brattlerouser)

cross-posted to iBrattleboro.com:

I’d just like to know why the Democratic Caucus was called to be in the middle of the Brattleboro Town Meeting at 4 p.m. on Saturday?

Is this yet another chance for leftists to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory? What geniuses are responsible?

Beautiful. No friggin wonder why nothing means anything anymore. Way to go, idiots.

And they wonder why we drink.

Cross-posted from Rational Resistance.

Not too much to comment on here. I got it from PZ tonight, and not a moment too soon.

So remember, if you are planning on crucifying yourself or otherwise mortifying the flesh tomorrow, remember these simple tips:

==>Get a tetanus shot before you flagellate yourself;
==>Check the condition of the whip you're going to use to lash your back;
==>And above all, before you nail yourself to the cross, make sure the nails are properly disinfected by soaking them in alcohol!

And don't say you never got any useful health advice from Green Mountain Daily. 

First a caveat: I don’t think today’s mortgage crisis is the cause of our current economic regression. It is, in my opinion, merely a deliberately caused symptom of modern day cheap labor capitalistic theology. But that’s been discussed before on this board, and I’m sure will be again  … just not here and now.

In a previous discussion folks were asked to list their top five items regarding what should be done to improve Vermont’s economic condition. In my interpretation of the ensuing posts and replies the general consensus was to work with today’s list of Acronyms such VEDA and others.

I argued that we needed to change our way of thinking about our economy … and today’s Washington Post provides a great story that illustrates (in part) why I feel that way.

Now that the Federal Reserve has pledged billions of dollars to rescue Wall Street bankers from possible default, lawmakers and regulators are turning their attention to helping average citizens — from homeowners in danger of foreclosure to people who want to buy a home.

(Democrats, Bush Square Off Over Housing Relief, Washington Post, 03/20/08)

The short version of this story, and the story of all the proposals regarding this issue, is simple: we’ll buy our way out of our debt hole by making it easier to go further into debt.

I know … it makes absolutely no sense! But that is exactly what has been, is being and will be proposed by big business and big government.

The thinking behind this is extremely simplistic: we need to “grow” the economy. And that is the mantra … “grow” the economy even when this “growth” is really nothing but an upwards transfer of wealth or destroys our only source of food, water, air and shelter (aka the physical environment), wrecks our health or poisons our minds with gobs of useless pandering information.

So here is MY economic question: at what point should we say “Fuck phony growth: let’s get strong!”

While the greater Vermont journalism world noted the retirement of columnist Peter Freyne, of even greater impact to the teeny Vermont blogosphere (political and non-political) was the retirement of Seven Days’ 802 Online by longtime blogger (and Seven Days online editor) Cathy Resmer. Cathy’s blog has been an electronic foundation, of sorts, that the developing weblog ecosystem in the state has grown from, on, and around over the past few years.

Unlike Freyne, however, Cathy isn’t going anywhere. Rather, she’s simply retooling the way she manages and develops the newsweekly’s rapidly developing online presence, continuing to do an extraordinary job of interfacing the traditional media outlet into the realm of new media. Nevertheless, the passing of 802 Online suggests the passing of an era for Vermont bloggery, and for that reason, we tip our collective hats to Cathy and 802, looking forward to what comes next.

At this Saturday’s Representative Town Meeting in Brattleboro, a Resolution calling for no pre-emptive strikes on Iran will be put up for the vote in a non-binding Resolution.

Several months ago I spied a story about this happening last March in Gary, Indiana. I shopped it around to several of the lefty crowd and got no interest. They were all working on the Indictment. After Dora Bouboulis decided to not run for re-election to the Selectboard, she volunteered to present it at Town Mtg. I’ve received some criticism for it on iBrattleboro, and this evening posted this piece below on why this Reaolution should be adopted:

Cross-posted from iBrattleboro.com:

To my mind, the bottom line that seems the obvious objection to any more spread of invasion we’re doing is practical: death and taxes. Deaths of our own countryfolk and the mideast’s countryfolk, and taxes that our children’s children will be paying from their WalWorld paychecks. But that’s the practical side. I’m a fiscal realist, and I hate death. It’s all wasteful.

In the larger, moral picture, I just think it’s imperative that we do every single thing within our grasp to stop this war machine before more veterans come home ruined for life; before parents, spouses and children send their loved ones off to some other place to receive back a folded flag and silence. I saw enough of that with Vietnam, waiting every day for the two officers bearing news about my brother, or sighing with relief when it was someone else’s door they went to, then feeling like crap when you heard the family in that house wail. I was lucky, my brother came back alive.

So yes, I have an agenda in pushing for this Resolution. I don’t want anyone else to go through losing anyone, anymore. Not for a fake “wah on terrah”, not for a bunch of lies, not for big business, not for the Rapture. These are false reasons.

Gary, Indiana, is not known for its progressive politics, but it passed a much more inclusive Resolution. When I shopped it around to friends, the same suggestion came back; shorten it. So Dora Bouboulis and I cut it down to what would cause the least argument. That text is on another post:

http://www.ibrattleboro.com/ar…

If you are a Town Mtg Rep, please consider your vote to be a Yes on this Resolution. We don’t need any more death and taxes.

Thanks to Christian for posting the breaking news that iBrattleboro has been dismissed as a target in their high-profile defamation suit. You know the one – where iBrat was sued over the content of a user comment? The one that got national attention for its free speech implications? The one that legal analysts across the country dismissed out of hand? (from the Citizen Media Law Project):

This is not even a close question… Moreover, immunity exists even if a defendant edits comments (so long as the edits do not materially change the meaning of the statement) or otherwise exercises discretion in selecting which comments to post or remove.

(That’s for the very reasons Caoimhin discussed here, for those paying attention). The same suit that was dismissed as bunk by virtually every media observer?

Yeah, that suit. The one that Brattleboro Reformer editor Randy Holhut had this to say about:

“…”If what gets published or what gets posted or what gets aired doesn’t meet the standards, then you’re legally liable for it.”

This quote coming after the Reformer’s comparably-toned editorial the Citizen Media Law Project specifically referred to as “odd” and “simply wrong as a matter of law.”

But of course, the Reformer piece was nothing. The Times Argus and Rutland Herald (who, on occasion, needlessly make little offhand pokes at the blogosphere and citizen journalism) apparently had truly unique wisdom. Grandiose wisdom, in fact (emphasis added):

It hits at the center of a gray area in electronic law, and as such, may well wind up in the U.S. Supreme Court before all is said and done.

…well, almost unique, as WCAX ridiculously agreed:

It targets a gray area of media law and could potentially end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Good grief. Putting aside the borderline plagiarism on display between those two quotes above – there was no “gray area.” Why did everybody else in the known universe seem to understand that? Now that this nonsense has been unceremoniously tossed out of the courthouse on its ass (as everyone predicted), these “professionals” should be ashamed of themselves, waxing excited as they were over a meritless assault on the free speech rights they themselves depend on.

And now that there’s a little egg on their faces (egg not shared by their more even-keeled, rational counterparts in the other traditional media outlets from Seven Days to the New England Press Association), maybe they can take the media envy somewhere more appropriate: to a therapist.