Thanks to Seven Days, Vermont's liveliest alternative weekly newspaper, for giving Bill McKibben (arguably Vermont's most prominent intellectual) a platform to hold forth on Vermont independence this week. in his "Independence Fray" article.

I could spend time quibbling with some of Bill's observations here. To name but three:

1. His selective re-telling of the winter 2007 SVR/LOS brouhaha and Mr. Odum/GMD's role in it...(no comment - time to move on.)

JULY 20, 2008 - Gubernatorial Debate Questions - and Candidate's Closing Statements.

Local economies purposefully restrict the region from which we source the
goods we need.  Instead of relying on cheap transportation to import the
skills of others--in the form of products--we are required to cultivate and
nurture the necessary skills in our neighbors.  Nothing illustrates this
point more poignantly than a local food system.

The one hundred mile diet is a useful way of defining an economic region.
If no one within a hundred mile radius grows cantaloupe it is likely that we

Throughout human history, there has been a persistent yearning among ordinary peoples to live under comprehensible social, political, and economic conditions that afforded them shared customs and memories, agreed-upon standards of right behavior, recognized status, security against brigandage and invasion, and reasonable prospects for achieving economic security.   

“North Star” On The Long Trail– An Interview with Dana Dwinell-Yardley

conducted by Rob Williams, webeditor

VC: Tell us a little bit about yourself.  

Dana:  Well, I'm a 20-year-old Montpelierite and eighth-generation Vermonter. I take real pride in being born of our Green Mountain State, of having roots here. I love being outside. I was homeschooled for my entire life and now I work in the "real world" as a graphic designer.      

BIG TOP REVIEW - Smirkusology: The Science of “Circus Smirkus”

I’ve always liked the circus, and, like many, have considered running away to join it from time to time, as the old adage goes.

For those who haven’t seen Vermont’s very own “Circus Smirkus,” it is a unique one-ring show, featuring teenagers trained at the Greensboro-based circus camp in all kinds of Big Top-related activities – juggling, clowning, tumbling, and hanging by various parts of one’s body from all manner of contraptions suspended from the top of the tent.

A sobering article from one of the U.S. Empire's newspapers of record.

Read to the end - burning one's furniture, a sign of "intense economic anxiety," indeed.

I reprinted the letter here, with the link at the top.

Senator Sanders has spent his political career listening and chronicling the
desperation of poor Vermonters - one wonders, with the U.S. Empire
approaching a crossroads, what anyone in DC can possibly do to "fix"
the brokenness here.

At Tuesday's meeting of the Vermont Rail Advisory Council (VRAC), VTrans revealed that the Douglas administration had put up a new hurdle in the state's race to purchase new Amtrak cars. The state-of-the art train sets -- lighter cars with smaller engines -- will save fuel and double the departures each day on the Vermonter route, which runs from St. Albans to Brattleboro and on to New York and Washington.

Last year, the legislature authorized the purchase of the new trains, which have not been used in the US yet. Amtrak was so eager to see these new trains in service that it was prepared to contribute money toward their purchase and postpone future increased charges to Vermont for running the train.

Unfortunately, the Attorney General and Treasurer nixed the deal. The legislation contained a "highly unusual" clause, directing that the Treasurer and the Attorney General must be satisfied that the manufacturer could sufficiently guarantee that it could buy back the cars at 90 percent of cost after three years. The AG and Treasurer weren't sure that the young company, Colorado Railcar, would be financially capable of the repurchase in three years, so the deal fell through.

The legislature took a crack at it again this year, with only the Treasurer in the review loop and less strict language about his assignment. Sam Lewis, Director of Operations at the Agency of Transportation, reported to the Vermont Rail Advisory Council on Tuesday that the project's fate is once again uncertain. Because the legislature also passed other bills requiring bonding, the state's Debt Affordability Committee is now scheduled to review the Amtrak purchase before the state moves ahead with it. The committee doesn't meet until the fall.

Members of VRAC were outraged that this long-delayed project would be delayed yet again.

Victory!

Good to see the Guv coming around on this one.

For details, visit VNRC's web site.

VNRC's Johanna Miller wrote a feature article, entitled "Who Owns Vermont's Water?", about this vital issue in our spring 2008 issue.