Episcopal Diocese of Vermont wins environmental award

Episcopal News Service reports:

Members of the Diocese of Vermont's Earth Stewards Committee accepted an Environmental Merit Award from the New England Office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at a ceremony at Boston's Faneuil Hall on the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, April 22.

The annual EPA awards recognize "outstanding environmental advocates who have made significant contributions toward preserving and protecting our natural resources," according to a letter from Curtis Spaulding, director of the EPA's New England Office.

A 2007 diocesan convention resolution required congregations to conduct energy audits, develop implementation plans for addressing energy inefficiencies, and to report the results to the 2009 diocesan convention. Bishop Thomas Ely appointed an environment committee -- now the Earth Stewards Committee -- to assist congregations in meeting these requirements. The group uses its page on the diocesan website to share results of congregational efforts, as well as resources.

The diocese's church buildings are typically more than 50 years old and are either stone or wood frame with little to no insulation. Vermont Interfaith Power and Light estimated that energy consumption could be reduced by 15-20 percent in churches where opportunities identified in the energy audits are implemented.

"Winning this award is very exciting for us, as it pays tribute to the teamwork of the Earth Stewards Committee that has been built on a 'green' foundation in the Diocese of Vermont," said the Rev. Anita Schell-Lambert, Earth Stewards Committee chair. "This foundation is seen in environmental resolutions over the past few years that underscore our commitment to live more simply and to decrease our carbon footprint one vital step at a time."

It's Official: No IRV in Burlington

Governor Douglas was in town on Saturday - not for a ribbon cutting ceremony - but to sign H.773 into law. A low-key affair - I got there just in the knick of time - about a dozen or so Burlington residents watched the Governor with approval. Absent were Burlington state reps Mark Larson and Jason Lorber, who had lead the effort to keep IRV in Burlington and were co-sponsors of H.773 to make the charter change official. Saturday's event was not reported by the major Vermont news organisations, but Shay Totten was there, covering for the local pro-IRV "Progressive" newspaper. As Lea Terhune, one of the movers and shakers to remove IRV in Burlington wrote today in Facebook,

"IRV is over in Burlington. Localvores, take note: IRV is like other fast food fads -- not healthy (for democracy), not real (fake, manufactured majority), promoted by corporate marketing (FairVote, TrueBallot), advertising financed by national groups (FairVote, VPIRG probably a pass-through donation from an individual or group that wanted to remain secret). Repeal IRV was a local, grassroots campaign, ideas put forth in debate were local, not canned FairVote marketing promos, and traditional run-off elections may take a little longer and cost a little more -- but they are like home-made meals, made from scratch using home-grown foods. Celebrate democracy, and if necessary take a little more time to vote thoughtfully in a real runoff election."

Hey! Watch Your Language!

"The Belgian government is on the brink of dissolution for the fifth time in three years. A bilingual electoral district, an old culprit, is to blame."

Yes, there are mountains in Holland

Letter: Slaughter in the Champlain Islands

Deb Loring writes in Seven Days (04/21/10):

Who regulates Vermont slaughterhouses? Some require both state and federal inspectors on the premises during “processing.” So what went wrong at Bushway Packing in Grand Isle, where Humane Society workers managed to shoot a video of seemingly routine animal abuse? Seven Days readers respond to Andy Bromage’s original March 24 story about the slaughterhouse, “Emails Suggest Vermont Meat Inspector Knew About Bushway Abuse,” and also a March 31 letter from state meat inspector Randy Quenneville.

Ever since Bushway Packing’s horrific animal abuse was exposed by the Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS), the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) has denied knowledge and responsibility, and blamed everyone who did take action. They continue to blame HSUS, Dr. Wyatt and now Senator Giard (D-Addison), who are the only ones who did take action. How about blaming the abusers, and taking some responsibility for this?

Of course the state knew about the inhumane handling and food-safety violations that resulted in plant shutdowns in May, June and July 2009 when they occurred, because a state inspector was assigned as the inspector in charge at Bushway during those months.

It is incomprehensible that VAAFM took no action when they knew that the plant was shut down for the same, repeat violation in three successive months. VAAFM also knew that when Dr. Wyatt was no longer at the plant, the inhumane handling violations stopped being reported. Did they think that, all of a sudden, Bushway Packing saw the light? It took an HSUS undercover investigation to force VAAFM to act.

To risk Vermont’s food safety and allow animal abuse to continue in this manner is negligent. They need to stop making excuses and blaming others, admit their culpability in this fiasco, and come up with a corrective action plan that protects Vermont farmers, businesses, animals and consumers from the lasting damage that has been done to the reputation of our state, to the Vermont brand, and to our agricultural businesses.

Deborah Loring
Burlington

Flicka

“I don’t feel sad,” she said. “I feel emotional, but not sad. I’ve been so lucky, and I’ve had such a ball doing it. And there comes a point when you think, to want to go on even longer is just greedy if you’ve been given such a good time. I’ve had the most wonderful colleagues, and the most wonderful managers and agents and accompanists, and most wonderful orchestra partners. I’ve just had a great time. There’s no blow there. The blow doesn’t need to be softened.”

I wish I were in NYC tonight! Frederica von Stade's farewell concert is at Carnegie Hall tonight. Here's snippet of an interview with Jason Victor Serinus in Playbill:

JVS: As a singer, what was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome?

FVS: First of all, you have to put up with imperfection, and the number one imperfection is your very own voice. I think the times I’ve been happiest in my career are when I’ve forgiven my voice for all it can’t do and been grateful for all its miracles.

JVS: Which have been your favorite opera roles?

FVS: Probably Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro)—that kind of optimistic, almost annoyingly joyful person. The other would be Mélisande (Pelléas et Mélisande), the other side of my soul. She’s the personification of innocent sadness—the pure sadness children get that they can’t explain.

JVS: That’s one of the extraordinary things about your voice and about you as an artist: On the one hand, you’re filled with such joy, yet your ability to evoke grief and sadness is extraordinary.

FVS: Life is the agony and the ecstasy. Where I think we get into trouble as humans is that we expect all ecstasy, and we think there’s something wrong if we’re not happy.

JVS: This will be your farewell at Carnegie Hall. What do you want to say to people?

FVS: The biggest thought, energy, inspiration behind this particular evening is thank you. It’s been a fabulous time.

Frederica von Stade photo by Robert Miller.

History: Earth Day and Fluoride

PhillyBurbs. com:-

The Donora Smog that killed residents of a Pennsylvania town in 1948 was the first in a series of environmental disasters that led to today's environmental consciousness.

Cathy Milbourn, air quality spokeswoman for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said the "fluoride fog" was one of the key events that prompted a cry for pollution control legislation.

"That supposedly triggered the first Clean Air Act," she said. "It's been said that if the smog lasted another day, it would have killed 1,000 instead of 20."

It was 40 years ago today...that the Earth got its Day

"Our work’s not done." - Senator Gaylor Nelson, in a 2004 interview, the year before his death at age 89

Earth Day, which was first celebrated 40 years ago, was largely created by Gaylord Nelson, a Democratic senator from Wisconsin who fought hard for environmental laws. From an essay in High Country News,

He then presented 11 measures he hoped would create what he called a national "ecological ethic." Citing the powerlessness of the era’s citizens to combat pollution, he proposed a constitutional amendment that would guarantee the right to a clean environment. He called for environmental curricula at every level of public education, and he urged a ban on the worst pesticides, the protection of wetlands, investment in mass transit and laws to protect and promote clean air.

As Nelson pressed his agenda, the Earth Day movement grew, and on April 22, 1970, over 20 million Americans -- fully 10 percent of the population -- participated in demonstrations and teaching events. Rallies occurred in scores of cities, over 12,000 schools held events and Congress recessed in honor of the day. The whole thing was as American as apple pie.... MORE

In the above April 22, 1970, AP file photo “Earth Day” demonstrators trying to dramatize environmental pollution conclude their rally at the Interior Department in Washington, leaving spilled oil in their wake. The oil was used to protest pollution by off-shore oil drilling.

Over and Under in Europe

From Radio Netherlands, How to weave round a volcanic cloud:

Europe's airspace has been divided in to three zones: a no-go zone, a safe zone and a zone where extra caution is required. The borders between the zones are continually monitored and, if necessary, adjusted by Eurocontrol, the European flight control authority.

In any case, passenger planes will now be taking off with a cloud of volcanic ash still hanging above Europe. Special security measures and procedures have been introduced. The chairman of the Dutch Civil Pilots Association, Evert van Zwol, explains how you go about flying with ash in the air.

"Partly matter of sight. You have to realise that there is, thankfully, only a relatively small amount of ash in our vicinity. It is concentrated in layers which you can see quite easily. There are areas where there is a kind of grey veil and other areas which are much clearer."

Rollercoaster
That means it's a question of evasion: flying around or over or under the ash. And because you can normally spot a ribbon or a layer in the air well in advance, the passengers needn't be subjected to a roller coaster ride. There is time to take gentle evasive action.

"So you start to turn the aircraft. There's a great deal of 'banking' involved in take-off procedures any way. When you're taking off in a westward direction, but actually heading east, you'll need to negotiate a number of turns. In that sense, there's no real difference."

The lamp still shines

I'd read Cecil Woodham Smith's classic biography of Florence Nightingale years ago. Last year I read Mark Bostridge's book, Florence Nightingale : the making of an icon, so this article in the Guardian interested me:

"But when the Florence Nightingale museum in London reopens after a £1.4m rebuild on her birthday next month, an installation by artist Susan Stockwell will remind visitors that the pioneering nurse actually lived on for another half century until 1910 – and spent most of that time in her bed.

"For the sculpture, funded by the Guy's and St Thomas's hospital charity as a gift to the museum, Stockwell has taken a Victorian brass bed and made a ghostly mattress pressed down by the weight of an invisible figure out of thousands of furled pages from books.

"The pages convey the fact that though Nightingale was in bed, she was not inactive. She wrote more than 200 books, pamphlets and articles, including pioneering work on hospital planning, and her 1860 Notes on Nursing, regarded as the foundation of modern nursing."[...]

"There is a final joke hidden in the bed which may not have amused Nightingale, a woman of sharp wit but apparently without a frivolous bone in her body. Stockwell had hoped to make the mattress from old copies of Nightingale's books, but the idea proved too expensive. Instead, while the outer layers are from Notes on Nursing and Cecil Woodham Smith's classic biography, the core is made from 700 copies of Mills & Boon romances Stockwell bought on eBay, including hospital romances in which fragile nurses are eventually crushed against the manly chests of handsome doctors – as Nightingale certainly never was."

McVeigh then and McVeigh now

Timothy McVeigh's one-time defense lawyer, Jeralyn E. Merritt of Talk Left writes,

"Liberals are shooting themselves in the foot if they think they can may hay with connecting McVeigh to current times. What they will get is more anti-terror laws that we don't need, more government surveillance and less freedom -- and it won't make the country one bit safer.

"Our civil liberties must be assiduously protected. Once they start to slip, they go quickly. Once we remove them for one group, it becomes easier to do it for the next group. Once we begin making exceptions for catastrophic events, the exceptions will become the rule."

An 'epic' list of Obama's shortcomings...

Read it here.

Zoom!

Amazing panorama photo of the gala performance (April 15) in celebration of the 70th birthday of Danish Queen Margrethe II... Zoom up, zoom down, zoom in, zoom out. Zoom!. I love the technology linked with this celebration.

A nice music groove...

An Extraordinary Situation

"Tens of thousands of passengers have been left stranded across northern Europe as a cloud of volcanic ash led authorities to ground planes."

I feel for the people in Iceland who were evacuated because of the volcano-eruption and I am very well aware that all the poor people on airports all over Europe who are uncertain about when they will be able to arrive at their destination.

A joke from an Icelandic man in Aftenposten... "....You pay our debt...we stop the ashes."

There's always the train!

Oh right, the newsworthy Tiger Woods

[Confession: I'm no golfer and only knew about Mr Woods' trials and tribs because Yahoo "trended" him... Ha!]

But here's an interesting follow up to that "breaking," important News - but was really tabloid stuff - about the golfer on NPR, CNN and the other corpress. It's more a cultural observation:
"By His Wounds We Have Already Been Entertained: Tiger Woods, The Masters, and the Ritual of Celebrity Disgrace"

Evidently, however, the Chairman of the Augusta National Golf Club is not attuned to the rhythms of this Great Ritual, for he chose the eve of the Masters to issue a public condemnation of Tiger—for his “egregious” actions that let “our kids and grandkids” down.

Did the Chairman not know that, according to the Great Ritual, the days of righteous anger over Tiger’s immoral ways are now far behind us?...MORE

Of course not, Nero

"Vatican spokesman says he doesn't feel under siege"

Trouble with a Capital "T" right there in Vatican City

Pluralist (Adrian Worsfold writes about Pope Benny:

"If he had any decency he would resign himself, because he is providing cover for others not resigning. Their fingers can point at him. He won't, so presumably he will limp on as Pope until the Vatican sees the need for a thoroughgoing internal reformation. He cannot do it. The period of John Paul II's charismatic conservatism, and this pope's rational conservatism seems to have run its course into contradiction, in that this pope's smaller and purer Church is now bankrupt, in that it is instead smaller and self-serving."

VERMONT ACTION ITEM! Stop Agribusiness Power Grab

To my Vermont friends - check this out then call your Senators (it's really easy - they expect your calls)! The state's response to animal abuse is to appoint a board full of industry tradespeople and pass laws about the board, instead of just prosecuting the fuckers who've committed crimes of animal cruelty in factory farms. So please call!

Selma Engel-Wijnberg, Holocaust survivor, finally receives an apology from the Dutch government

Today is Shoah day in Israel and also the 65th anniversary of the liberation by Canadian troops of Westerbork, the Nazi transit camp in the east of the Netherlands. As Radio Netherlands reports, one of the survivors of the death camps has finally been recognised by the Dutch government,

As part of the commemorations, Selma Engel-Wijnberg was made a Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau. Presenting the royal award, Dutch Health Minister Ab Klink praised her continuing determination to tell her story for the benefit of future generations. He also offered a formal apology on behalf of the Dutch government for the way she was treated after the war.

Now 87, Selma Engel-Wijnberg was one of the few Dutch survivors of Sobibor extermination camp in Poland and the only one still alive. On her return to the Netherlands, she had problems with the Dutch authorities. Because she had married a Polish man, Chaim Engel, they no longer regarded her as a Dutch citizen and attempted to deport her. The couple later emigrated to Israel and then to the United States.

For more on Mrs Engel-Wijnberg's story - with an astounding video description of her arrival at Sobibor, click here.

"...When they opened the doors, these big doors that we had to go out, they start screaming and hitting with the whips, and, uh, we had to go out and out, and, all, all the people, and there was a little trolley, a little wagon what, uh, the coal miners use that goes, you can, uh, uh, rip it open that people can easy go out, so all the people that couldn't walk, they throwed them in there, and also children what got lost from their parents, they had to go in the trolley, and this trolley went straight to the gas chamber."

More on Sobibor, click here. On the right above is a photograph of the Himmelfahrtstrasse, or road to heaven, which led to the gas chambers in Sobibor. (Photo Jacques Lahitte)

Appreciation: Corin Redgrave, 1939-2010

John Bird, found of The Big Issue, remembers Corin Redgrave in the Guardian,

He wasn't one of those fair-weather revolutionaries who did it for a while and then said: "Sod it, I've got my four or five chapters in my autobiography. I've got a lot to talk about at dinner parties for the next 50 years." He got in and got dirty and he probably would've made a bigger mark in the theatre or the movies if he hadn't done that. But he chose a bigger stage than the West End stage and, in my opinion, a much more important one.

You can read all of Bird's appreciation here and further Guardian coverage about the life of Corin Redgrave here.

First time I saw Corin Redgrave was in A Man for All Seasons, one of the best films ever.


In 1999, living in London, I saw him in a revival of Noel Coward's A Song At Twilight co-starring his sister Vanessa Redgrave and his second wife Kika Markham. Wow, watching three of my favourite actors perform on stage!

Photo: Brother and sister performing in Song at Twilight in London. Courtesy: Haydn West/Rex Features

R.I.P. Dixie Carter

Here she is as Julia Sugarbaker on Designing Women:

Justice John Paul Stevens is no "liberal"

Justice Stevens was never as liberal as the lamestream corporate press (and a lot of progressive bloggists) would have you believe. He was and has always been a moderate, even as the SCOTUS has moved (not tilted...)... moved extremely to the right. Paul Campos:

During the 35 years that John Paul Stevens has served on the Supreme Court, the liberal federal judge has become something of an endangered species. Nothing illustrates this better than the absurd idea that Stevens has been a “liberal” justice. That a moderate justice like Stevens is now considered the leader of the court’s “liberal” wing really just goes to show that the Roberts court doesn’t have a liberal wing at all. [...]

What has changed, of course, is the rest of the court. In 2010, a life-long moderate Republican, appointed to the bench by Richard Nixon and to the court by Gerald Ford, is a “liberal” in much the same sense that, in a nation where Tea Party rallies draw large crowds, Barack Obama is a “socialist.” Since Stevens joined the court, every single new justice has been more conservative than the justices who were more liberal than Stevens at the time of his appointment. Over the past 34 years, Stevens stayed put while the entire court moved to his right. (One ironic consequence of this is that speculation regarding whether Obama will nominate someone who will “excite the left” to replace Stevens often ends up focusing on candidates who, on many important issues, aren’t actually to the left of Dick Cheney.)... MORE

Jacques Brel - Ne Me Quitte Pas

Belgian-born singer Jacques Romain Georges Brel would have been 81 years old today.

DUTCH NEWS BRIEFS: Dogs and Cooking

RADIO NETHERLANDS: Canicross racing in Holland - "More than 40 highly enthusiastic teams took part in the first canicross race in Hilversum this past weekend. Canicross is the sport of running with your dog in harness. Everyone, young and old, can take part." ... MORE



________________

"Eet smakelijk" | Enjoy your meal | "Bon appétit!"

24oranges: - An extremely rare 17th century Dutch cookbook, entitled ‘Het Koock-boeck oft Familieren Keuken-boeck’ (Cook Book or Family Kitchen Book) is now part of the Special Collections institute of the University of Amsterdam Library. According to Radio Netherlands, it is the oldest known cookery book in the Dutch language. ... MORE.

Bennis on Tavis Smiley: Afghanistan 9 Years Later

From PRI/Tavis Smiley: Mid-East expert
Phyllis Bennis breaks down the war in Afghanistan & assesses where
America stands 9 years later.

Murdered photographer’s brother denounces US military crimes

PULSE:

WikiLeaks, a website that publishes anonymously-sourced confidential documents, has published a previously unseen footage showing a US helicopter firing at civilians in Iraq, killing a dozen of them.

Among the dead were two journalists, Namir Nour El Deen, a photographer, and Saeed Chmagh, a driver, both employees of the Reuters news agency.

Namir’s brother, Nabil Nour El Deen, tells Al Jazeera after watching the footage that it is clearly a crime committed by the US military. (Apr 6, 2010)

How many Iraqis have died?

Left I on the News:

A few days ago it was the story of the coverup of the murder by U.S. forces of civilians in Afghanistan, today it's the story of a 2007 massacre in which U.S. helicopter gunships fired on civilians in Iraq. WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange and Salon.com blogger Glenn Greenwald were on Democracy Now! this morning, drawing the (hopefully obvious long ago) conclusion that you can't trust a word the U.S. military says, and also the conclusion that these type of events are absolutely daily occurrences, with only the tip of the iceberg of them being exposed to the public.

All true. But I'd like to point readers to an additional conclusion. Over the years I've written a great deal about the number of people killed in Iraq, and one of the points I have made repeatedly is that when you look at various statistics, some of them (e.g., Iraq Body Count) want to count only "civilians", while others (the statistical surveys) count all the dead (and some count only "violent" deaths, while others count all deaths, e.g., deaths from lack of medical care or poor public health conditions caused by the invasion).

And so one point that can't be emphasized enough is that, whether you agree with me or not that all the deaths, be they of members of the Iraqi armed forces, members of the Iraqi resistance, or "innocent civilians" are equally reprehensible, and all the result of the U.S. invasion, is that the numbers for "civilian" deaths are completely and utterly skewed and rendered meaningless by the kind of false reporting represented by these two incidents. I'm not going to look up this specific incident in IBC, but it's an absolute certainty that a huge number of deaths were excluded from that count because they were reported (first by the U.S. military, and then by the U.S. press stenographic pool) as "insurgents" or perhaps "terrorists" (or maybe "suspected terrorists"). Which is just one more reason why the numbers to focus on are the total number of Iraqis killed, not the bogus and almost completely arbitrary "civilian" totals.

Notice I'm not dwelling on the actual numbers in this post. I've been over that ground before, and for the purposes of this discussion the actual numbers really don't matter. Needless to say they do matter to the actual people involved, those no longer living and those still mourning (and suffering from in very real ways) their loss.

Fluoride Among Top 10 Household Toxins

TIME Magazine: Fluoride is Neurotoxic and potentially tumorigenic if swallowed.

Easter Greetings!

Collect for the Feast of the Resurrection:

Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Triduum

Kelvin Holdsworth, Provost of St Mary's Cathedral, Glasgow, writing about the challenges of the Triduum,

The Stripping of the Altar was particularly brutal this year. Furniture dragged around, lots of noise and lots of unease. Many servers and clergy involved and a choir ready to pitch in and shift the altar and platform as well as their own stalls. The inadequate lighting which we currently have (to be fixed next week) simply added to what was happening.

I was struck when it was all going on that such a rabbling is in our DNA as a congregtation. More than once, a mob descended on the Episcopalians and ripped up their meeting house and ran them out of town.

One of the ways I often think about Holy Week is to think it through in terms of the fickle mob. That mob seemed very real as everything lovely was taken from the altar of the Lord.

There was much to think about as we gathered in a lovely garden of repose at the end to keep watch until late into the night.

Thus it was that we gathered in a bare, stark space today for what worship we could muster. God is gone. The font is closed. There will be no sacraments now.

This morning, we venerated the cross. A touch, a kiss, a look.

Ian Tomlinson's Murder - Still No Charges a Year Later!

Seriously, this is not an April Fools Day post!

Please read RickB|Ten Percent: Makes Fools Of Us All

Guardian|Letters

It has now been one year since the tragic death of Ian Tomlinson during the G20 protests in the City of London on 1 April. While we appreciate a fair and thorough investigation takes time, Ian's grieving family has been left in limbo for a year waiting for a full explanation about the circumstances of his death. There is now very real concern as to whether the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) proposes to charge anyone in respect of the assault and death of Ian.

The CPS has been in possession of the provisional Independent Police Complaints Commission investigation findings since August 2009. We understand that these findings, at least in part, will provide the basis for a decision on whether to prosecute anyone for Ian's death. We also note that the director of public prosecutions said in a Guardian interview (21 September 2009) that he hoped the CPS would reach a decision "within a few months".

Delays in the investigation and charging decisions increase the suffering for families of victims leaving them unable to gain closure and move on with their lives. Families are greatly concerned not to prejudice the process and are therefore effectively silenced from expressing their views publicly about the death of their loved one. They are desperate to ensure any potential future legal proceedings are not undermined nor an excuse found to abandon any cases that might be brought. The Tomlinson family has endured a year of public scrutiny unable to respond to questions about Ian's death, with little they can do but wait for the outcome of a decision. The delay however is now intolerable.

The policing of the G20 protest caused widespread public concern around use of excessive force by police officers. Proceedings against many protestors arrested on the day, as well as a number of reviews and investigations into the events of the day, have all been concluded. In the case of Ian Tomlinson, there is a heightened need for the statutory investigating body to be seen to be carrying out justice in a robust, transparent and timely manner to address public confidence. One year later the public, like the Tomlinson family, are still left with unanswered questions about how and why Ian died at the G20.

In the absence of any updates from the CPS, we have growing concerns about the investigation into Ian's death. There has been a complete lack of communication and transparency about the delay into concluding the investigation into Ian's death that calls the CPS's credibility into question.

As we have already set out, we do not wish to prejudice any investigation or potential proceedings but believe that either a decision or public explanation is due. We call on the CPS to fulfill its public duty regarding the investigation into the death of Ian Tomlinson.

Julia Tomlinson, Ian Tomlinson Family Campaign

Estelle du Boulay, Newham Monitoring Project

John McDonnell MP

Dr Caroline Lucas MEP

Jean Lambert MEP

Bob Crowe, RMT

Mark Serwotka, Public and Commercial Services Union

Shami Chakrabarti, Liberty

Deborah Coles, Inquest

Vivian Figueiredo, on behalf of the family of Jean Charles de Menezes

Samantha Rigg-David, on behalf of the family of Sean Rigg

Penny Green, professor of law and criminology, King's College London

Samantha Patterson, sister of Jason Mcpherson

Terry Stewart, The Friends of Blair Peach

Jenny Jones, Green party Metropolitan Police Authority member

Peter Herbert, Society of Black Lawyers

Cllr Duwayne Brooks, Liberal Democrat for Downham Ward

Pete Firmin and Andrew Fisher, Labour Representation Committee

Darren Johnson, Member of London Assembly

Frances Wright, Camp for Climate Action

Val Swain and Emily Apple, Fit watch

Pragna Patel, Southall Black Sisters

Sukhwant Dhaliwal, Women Against Fundamentalism.

Christine Shawcroft, Labour Briefing

David Rosenberg, Jewish Socialists' Group

Patrick Ward, United Campaign Against Police Violence

Estella Schmid, Campaign Against Criminalising Communities

Professor Gargi Bhattacharyya, sociology and public policy, Aston University

Councillor Romayne Phoenix, London Green party campaigns co-ordinator

Joseph Healy, Green party regional councillor for London

Andy Hewitt, co-chair of the Green party trade union group

Teresa Delaney, co-chair of the Green party trade union group

Frances Webber, human rights lawyer

Harriet Wistrich, solicitor at Birnberg Peirce

Ronan Toal, barrister, Garden Court Chambers

Hossein Zahir, barrister, Garden Court Chambers

David Watkinson, Garden Court Chambers

Anya Lewis, Garden Court Chambers

Richard J Harvey, Garden Court Chambers

David Emanuel, Garden Court Chambers

Yasin Patel, 25 Bedford Row Chambers

Rajiv Menon, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers

Professor Mick Ryan, former chair of Inquest

Zoe Mercer, When No One is Watching Campaign

Dr Emma Williamson, Research Fellow, Centre for Gender and Violence Research, University of Bristol

Professor Phil Scraton, Queen's University, Belfast

Dr Sacha Darke, senior lecturer in socio-legal studies and criminology, Department of Social and Historical Studies, University of Westminster

Mohan Ambikaipaker, University of Texas

Yasmin Khan, War on Want

Camilla Graham Wood

Alastair Morgan

Doctor Sheila Preston

Nick Moseley

Zareena Mustafa

Jill Phillips

Guy Williams

Simon Mercer

Lochlinn Parker

Sally Stanton

Jack Gordon Harris

Rachael Horner

Chris Heatley

David Mery

Sam Walton

Fiona Harrington

Bruce Benjamin

Quote of the Day

"So are Catholics who criticize the church over pedophilia and want Vatican officials prosecuted being called "self-hating" too?" — maxblumenthal

BUMPED UP & UPDATED: Fuckin' Hell! -- NRC/Vermont Yankee Shenanigans!

UPDATE I I - NEW FLASH - as reported by Shay Totten in Blurt/Seven Days, at 1:44 p.m.

Under Pressure, Feds Open Private Meeting on Vermont Yankee

In response to mounting public pressure from state officials and the public, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission today reversed its decision to hold a closed-door meeting in New Hampshire with local officials from the tri-state area surrounding Vermont Yankee.

UPDATE I ON 03/30/10: Maggie Gunderson reporting in GMD: Vermont Delegation Calls on NRC to Reconsider Closed-Door Vermont Yankee Meeting
__________________________________________________________
Maggie Gunderson writes in Green Mountain Daily all about the latest bull shit (read: malice aforethought) to be hidden from Vermonters - all planned in secret! Goddamn corporate scumbags and their obsequious government lackeys!

Once again the NRC is up to its old antics of creating secret meetings for the privileged few it deems as stakeholders. NRC's alleged Government-to-Government meeting is in direct violation of federal and state Sunshine Laws, the NRC Chair's commitment to NRC transparency and inclusiveness, and President Obama's promise for Change to the electorate to usher in a new era of openness in our federal democracy.

This is an ace scoop from Maggie! Read it all.

(Health) Disaster Capitalism

Make a buck, make a buck with your organs. It is not a 'donation' if you're going to make personal gain from someone's illnesses. Reported in USA TODAY, a study found that the possibility of receiving fees for organ donations increased the number of those who are willing to donate a kidney to a stranger. The study called for a test of a regulated payment system for organ donation. Some medical ethics experts, however, have raised concerns regarding this proposal. "I would not be against a reasonable trial to see how it works ... (but) we do not want a society in which the rich literally live off the bodies of the poor," one expert said. Yeah, right.

The Men's Club

From Religion Dispatches, a thoughtful analysis: "An Unholy Holy Week: Is the All-Male Rule of the Roman Catholic Church
Self-Destructing?"

'In fact, the all-male rule of the Roman Catholic Church is self-destructing. Ordained men from priests to the Pope are proving that it wasn’t a good idea to leave church governance to an old boys’ network. They have been focused on forgiving each other and covering up crimes “to avoid scandal”—that is, to protect each other, their power, and the church’s wealth.'

Oh yes, hiding behind that clerical collar. My ex, who's a PK, always complained about that! This also happens to a certain extent within some Protestant denominations and certainly within the Anglican Communion (with a smattering of women clergy, it's still a white men's club), whose leaderships remain unaccountable and self-protecting!

Highly Recommended: "We Count! The Black Agenda is the American Agenda"

This is one fucking helluva program I recommend watching. Yeah, call me passionate.

Earlier this month, PBS Talk Show Host Tavis Smiley hosted african american leaders for a forum titled, "We Count! The Black Agenda is the American Agenda." Panelists included, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL), Cornel West and Nation of Islam Leader Louis Farrakhan. Great program: watch the rebroadcast here.

Helen Thomas on her one question for Obama

Helen Thomas, the quintessential journalist, was testing Obama's credibility. As you'll find out, the president, the quintessential pol, didn't attempt to answer her question. He didn't take Ms Thomas au serieux and didn't measure up.

Bruce Graham, an architect with integrity

If I had the talent, my life would have taken another course and I would have been an architect. Bruce Graham has died at aged 83.

"Quick-witted, curious and always alert, Graham seemed to capture the spirit of the age from the mid-1970s to the 1990s. In a sense, he reinvented the role of the architect, recognising that the job is just as much about city-making and power-broking as it is about pure design talent, which Graham possessed in spades."

I love the above photo by Linda Nylind.

"... the exposed structural arches of Exchange House (1990) that effortlessly span 80 metres above the railway tracks leading to Liverpool Street station in London..."

I frequently took trains into and from the station when I lived in London 10 years ago and was always amazed by those arches. I love buildings with that kind of integrity!

From an interview in 2002:

"Let me describe the difference between my idea of architecture and a lot of other architects. Number one, architecture is not painting or sculpture. Architecture is much more like music, which has an element of lime. Architecture is about space and movement. It's four-dimensional. I learned that very early when I went to Chartres Cathedral. I walked up the hill and found the square and then the church and walked in, and this fantastic space opened up. There was a funeral, and they were playing Mozart's unfinished Requiem. I had to cry. Moving through that space with that music was unbelievable. Space is what architecture is all about. Not only interior but also exterior. And the movement of people. That's true whether you go to Greece, or to Karnak, or to any other place and see any other great architecture of the past. I believe that modern architecture should do the same. In Chicago our advantage was that we had engineers. Structure is still essential to the creation of space, just as it was in Chartres Cathedral."

[Purely subjective and personal opinion: Graham's designs stand among other buildings I admire; there are so many - Piano's Menil Collection and Centre Pompidou; Moneo's Audrey Jones Beck Building at Houston's MFA; Van der Rohe's Seagram Building; Kahn's Kimball Museum in Ft. Worth; Johnson's Glass House in New Canaan; Rietveld's Schroder House; Koolhaas's Seattle Library; Bollulo's George R. Brown Convention Center; Burgee's Pennzoil Place (now Bank of America).]

Citizen's Arrest

It's a case of journalists acting as citizens.

Remember back in 2004 when RTE (Irish television) journalist Carole Coleman asked George Bush tough questions about the death toll in Iraq and European opposition to the invasion? This week, another Irish journalist - David Cronin - went further than Coleman.

On Monday, Tony Blair, Bush's lackey and "Middle East Peace Envoy," was in Brussels to report to MEPs about his current role in the Middle East. Cronin was close by Blair and rather than ask questions, he arrested him for "crimes against peace and the crimes of aggression." Radio Netherlands correspondent Vanessa Mock asked Cronin why he confronted Blair. It was no publicity stunt.

Burlington Bans Smoking in Parks & Beaches

On Monday the Burlington city council voted unanimously to ban smoking at beaches and parks and has future plans to include a total ban on Church Street. (In 2004, the city banned smoking in restaurants and bars.) Explaining Monday's ruling, councilor Joan Shannon and current chair of the ordinance committee writes in her local Front Porch Forum, "there will be cleaner air in the areas of our parks where people tend to congregate." Surely this will displease some smokers and civil libertarians. We all know about the dangers of smoking and second-hand smoke in enclosed areas. While it may appear as common sense to ban smoking outdoors, scientific studies on the effects of second-hand smoke outdoors remain inconclusive.

Everyone hates smokers anyway, so the city council ruling was an easy, feel-good change to the city's ordinance.

How to enforce this new law is another matter. That's not been worked out. The smoking ban at the Cherry Street CCTA bus stop has not been enforced. (It should be noted that neither the city's pesticides ordinance nor the dogs-on-leash law is enforced to their full extent.) Appearance matters. The news of Monday's ruling is certainly a diversion from the bad press city council got from the Burlington Telecom mess (councilors knew what was going on and didn't do anything about it), so Monday's ruling gives the temporary positive impression that the council is doing some work.

The city allows car idling for three minutes. If the intention was to promote better health, what about cars idling while stopped on streets crossing the pedestrian Church Street? Exhaust is linked to increased rates of asthma in children and contributes to air pollution, too - probably more than SHS. What about the plethora of cars that park at beaches and parks. City Hall Park is surrounded on three sides by parking. What about run-off into our precious Lake? A total pedestrian zone downtown is unlikely. The tourists and merchants would complain and the city would lose lucrative revenue.

[Over a year ago, the Board of Health recommended to city council that Burlington stop water fluoridation, in light of new findings in the NRC Report on fluoride in drinking water, citing particularly its effects on infants, kidney patients, diabetics and the elderly. There have been a couple of hearings by the public safety committee, but the recommendation has been untouched by city council. Politics and priorities are at play here, of course. Common sense would tell us that a decision to remove fluoride should be easy as the one the council took on Monday evening, but I won't hold my breath.]

Lovely Lullaby

EMBED-Dog Sings To Soothe Crying Baby - Watch more free videos

Just Plain Pathetic

DutchNews.nl

Church abuse: 'Wir haben es nicht gewusst'

The Catholic church in the Netherlands was simply unaware about the abuse of children in its care, cardinal Ad Simonis told a tv show on Tuesday night.

'Wir haben es nicht gewusst, (we did not know)' the cardinal said. 'It is a loaded term, but it is true.'

The phrase was used by Germans after the Second World War as the horror of the death camps unfolded.

Many bishops in the 1950s, 60s and 70s did not know about the abuse, Simonis said. He himself was a bishop in various places for 38 years.

The number of abuse claims made to the church organisation Hulp & Recht has now reached over 1,100.

'A bishop does not have direct say over religious orders and congregations, so a lot remains hidden from him,' the cardinal told tv talk show Pauw & Witteman.

The cardinal said there is no direct link between the abuse and celibacy laws for Catholic priests. 'It can be connected to poor preparation for celibacy and poor choice of candidates,' he said.

Simonis is lying, of course.

More details on Dutch victims of abuse within the church.

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the death of Archbishop Oscar Romero.

Andrew Plus

"We remember Oscar Romero, a Roman Catholic bishop who was killed by an assassins bullet while he celebrated a mass. That was 30 years ago today. We also remember the martyrs of El Salvador, the priests, nuns, and lay people who were murdered, raped, jailed, and who simply disappeared because they gave voice to the poor and ministered to them. They spoke out against the injustices that robbed ordinary people of food, shelter, land and the ability to make a decent living and basic human dignity. They spoke out against a government that favored the rich to the exclusion of the poor.
[...]"On our own every day level, what we do in this parish and diocese may appear very mundane by comparison to standing up to a military junta. But being a friend and apprentice of Jesus among his people is still costly, a little scary, and very important. It may involve welcoming a mentally ill young man into your church who has walked through the rain from his group home into your congregation with open arms. It may mean choosing to welcome the homeless into your church when it gets too cold outside. It may mean driving around bringing meals to the homebound who would otherwise go hungry. It may mean standing up to the media no-nothings and pot-stirrers who tell us mean-spirited lies that Jesus had nothing to do with the poor--or at least gently but firmly correcting those who are taken by their harangue.

"I am certain that Romero's own journey was not easy. He was not raised to be a radical. He was raised in privilege and was appointed to care for the church in his archdiocese in a rather conventional way. Appoint priests, oversee schools, manage the books...don't rock the boat. But he had a heart for faith, and was willing to go where Jesus led him. At first tentatively, and later boldly, he began to connect the dots. He believed that the job of the church was to care for the weakest of God's people. For Romero, this was a death sentence.

"The thing about walking with the poor is that may feel like death. Maybe we won't get beat up by goons, or shot by an assassin. It might mean that we are not invited to few parties or considered a little crazy by our relatives. But we are going to the places where Jesus went, we are seeing the faces that Jesus sees, and we learning love from the people for whom Jesus died and rose again."

Almighty God, you called your servant Oscar Romero to be a voice for the voiceless poor, and to give his life as a seed of freedom and a sign of hope: Grant that, inspired by his sacrifice and the example of the martyrs of El Salvador, we may without fear or favor witness to your Word who abides, your Word who is Life, even Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be praise and glory now and for ever. Amen.

Tricky Dick's Dream Come True

Weird, huh? The Dems pass a Republican health care bill and the GOP hates it. Only in America....here's Taylor Marsh in HuffPost:

'When you have Speaker Pelosi's office inviting only the boys, so called "progressives" who are insider Democrats whose only goal it is to prop up the presidency instead of focusing on strong policy, the current health care bill is what you get. Even when you go beyond the issue that Democrats willingly eroded women's rights, the fact that ... See moreDemocrats didn't even try to push for a public option reveals the fundamental failure of Democrats, because they ignored what the majority of the American people want.'

It just shows how far to the right the Democrats have gone. And the wimpshit "progressives" lost their soul to ObamaCorp and didn't have the cajones to stick up for the people!

'From throwing the American people into a system without any choice, providing private insurance companies with new customers, to using women's rights to get it done while progressive Democrats enabled it to happen, what Democrats have done is produce a Republican health care bill that Richard Nixon would have loved.'

American Public Health Champion Receives 2010 Stockholm Water Prize

Dr Rita Colwell is announced as the 2010 Stockholm Water Prize laureate, for her exceptional contributions to control the spread of cholera. On September 9, during Water Week, H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden will present the award. Read more.

TruGreen is not so Tru and not so Green, but we already knew that.

**Breaking News II**: TruGreen Fined for Pesticide Misapplications in New York State

This is not surprising. We had a similar situation in Burlington a few years ago and were forced to put a moratorium on TruGreen's application of chemicals within 500 ft of Lake Champlain, until the company showed the Board of Health its SOP on notifying residents about applications:

Beyond Pesticides, March 22, 2010:

New York State has fined TruGreen, the world’s largest professional lawn and landscape company, half a million dollars for numerous violations for misapplying pesticides and inaccurate recordkeeping, according to the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) consent order filed last week. Seems hard to believe that the Earth Day Network is even considering keeping TruGreen as a sponsor of the Network’s National Earth Day events.

New York State is demanding a civil penalty of $400,000 be paid by TruGreen before April 15, 2010. As part of the consent order agreement, $100,000 of the civil penalty is suspended as long as TruGreen meets the requirements of the order which requires the company to retain an independent third-party auditor to conduct an Environmental Management Systems review of TruGreen statewide operations. TruGreen is then required to create and implement an Environmental Management Systems manual.

The violations took place between 2007 and 2009, with the most egregious occurring in 2009.

**Breaking News II** Included is an Update in the link above. Beyond Pesticides received the following statement today from Earth Day Network regarding their partnership agreement with TruGreen:

Beyond Pesticides received the following statement from Earth Day Network regarding their sponsorship agreement with TruGreen: “Earth Day Network had previously announced an educational sponsorship with TruGreen in respect to organic and sustainable lawn and landscape care. Due to unanticipated events, Earth Day Network and TruGreen regrettably announce their relationship for the 40th anniversary event has been suspended. TruGreen continues to respect the commitment Earth Day Network is making to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, and Earth Day Network recognizes TruGreen’s efforts on behalf of organic and sustainable lawn and land care.”

Related: Johann Hari has written a piece in The Nation takes mainstream environmental groups to task for selling out their principles, often in exchange for money from the worst polluters. He also appeared on Democracy Now!

Today is World Water Day: Stand with Haiti

... and PIH's partner charity: water have launched Unshaken, a campaign to support new clean water projects in Haiti. Learn how PIH and charity:water will bring clean water to eight new communities this year:

A Story of Hope: Improving Access to Clean Water

Haitians have lacked access to the very basic right to clean water long before the January 12 earthquake. It was this need that first brought charity: water, a New York City-based nonprofit, together with Partners In Health (PIH) and our Haitian sister organization Zanmi Lasante (ZL), in a partnership to build community water projects. Over the past two years, our partnership has improved access to clean water for over 20,000 people in some of the poorest and hardest-to-reach communities in the Central Plateau of Haiti by providing latrines and household and community-level water.

Following the earthquake, charity: water knew that Haiti needed their support more than ever. So in February, we trekked out to eight more communities in desperate need of improved access to potable water. In some cases, these particular communities have grown tremendously in population--since the earthquake, the average household size in these areas has grown from seven people to ten people. Over the next year, PIH and ZL will be expanding our water and sanitation program by implementing projects in these eight communities--nearly triple what we have historically completed in a given year.

Ex-Gen. Sheehan's homophobia

Not that I really give a damn about the US policy of DADT. Note to Gen. Sheehan: Gay soldiers are not an issue in The Netherlands.

Radio Netherlands:

Retired US Marine General John Sheehan got one thing right in his testimony to the US Congress: gays serve in the Dutch military. But it takes a foreigner to point that out. Here in The Netherlands, gays have served in the military for decades.

General Sheehan blamed the fall of the UN enclave in Srebrenica in 1995, which led to the massacre of thousands of Bosnian Muslims, partly on the fact that homosexuals served in the Dutch military.

"That was the largest massacre in Europe since World War Two. The Dutch army allowed homosexuals and you know what happened there."

The retired general made these comments during a hearing considering whether to lift the US 'don't ask, don't tell' policy that allows homosexuals to serve in the military only if they keep quiet about it.

What?

The reaction here in The Netherlands has been a universal, 'huh?' From the current Foreign Minister to the Defence Minister at the time of the Srebrenica massacre; from leaders of unions representing soldiers to the former army commander; all have said that General Sheehan's remarks do not have the slightest basis in reality.

The Dutch caretaker Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen said via Twitter that he was amazed at the ex general's comments - saying they reflected more about the discussion around homosexuals in the US army than anything else.

Sullivan: "When will this Pope step down?"

Andrew Sullivan, via The Lead,

"...
The current moral authority for all Catholics personally put the interests of the hierarchy above the welfare of vulnerable children. He heard a case of a priest forcing an eleven-year-old to perform oral sex on him, and he did not take that priest to the police, as he should have, or removed him from his duties immediately. He sent him to therapy and allowed him to continue molesting children in future parishes, and never informed the parents of the priest's past. Would you have done that? Would anyone you know have done that? Would anyone you know who had done that be able to sleep at night?
...
"When will this Pope step down?"

In Burlington - March 20th - Anti-War Forum and Action to Mark the 7th Anniversary of Iraq Invasion

War Without End in the Obama Era:
Understanding & Challenging U.S. Empire and the War Economy
Saturday, March 20th
Burlington City Hall, Church Street
1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Introduction: Nancy Lynch, Director Peace and Justice Center

Panel and Discussion 1: The War Abroad: Resisting war and occupation in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine

Panel and Discussion 2: The War at Home: How the wars undermine Vermont's public services, unions and working families, and health care

Rally and March to follow on Church Street.

Event Organizers include: Iraq Veterans Against the War, Vermont Action for Peace, VT Chapter US Labor Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, Will Miller Green Mountain Veterans for Peace, Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine and Israel, International Socialist Organization, WILPF and Peace & Justice Center

It's Poison Prevention Week! Lose the Pesticides for the Kids!

From Beyond Pesticides:

Numerous scientific studies that show children carrying a body burden of pesticides used in homes and elevated rates of childhood cancer in households that use pesticides, given children’s special vulnerability to pesticides.

“Proper and safe storage, use and supervision of all household products can substantially reduce exposures in the home,” said Steve Owens, assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances. “Poison Prevention Week serves as a reminder for everyone to keep pesticides away from children, and to read and follow all labels to minimize the potential dangers from pesticides.”

However, EPA fails to alert the public to the limitations of the pesticide regulatory process, such as no evaluation of endocrine disrupting effects, low level exposures, the effects of mixtures and synergistic effects between pesticides and with pharmaceuticals, etc. EPA chooses to focus on pesticide poisoning of children associated with accidental ingestion which, while important, does not capture the many other ways through which children are exposed to chemicals. For instance, a wide range of consumer products such as deodorants, soaps and toys contain the antibacterial pesticide triclosan, which is an endocrine disruptor and has been shown to affect male and female reproductive hormones, which could potentially increase the risk for cancer. Fetal exposure to triclosan, which accumulates in the human body, can impair brain development and long-term neuropsychological development.

Secondary exposures to pesticides and other toxic chemicals should not be ignored. Studies have found pesticides in household dust and persists in homes, even after removed from the market. In 2008, a study found significant amounts of pyrethroid pesticides in indoor dust of homes and childcare centers, while another found that 75% of homes with pregnant women were contaminated with pesticides. Hazardous wood preservatives, still allowed for use on utility poles, continue to be found on children’s playgrounds. In a tragic case earlier this year, two girls, aged 4 years and 15 months, died after a toxic pesticide drifted into their home. The agency stresses the importance of reading the product label, which is misleading in suggesting that compliance with the pesticide label instructions is fully protective of children, the public and the environment.

EPA promotes poison prevention each year during National Poison Prevention Week to increase public awareness of the potential danger to children from pesticides and other household products. In 2008, the American Association of Poison Control Centers reported that more than half of the two million poisoning incidents each year involve children younger than six years old. Leading causes of poisoning include cosmetics such as perfume and nail polish, deodorant and soap, household cleaning products and medications.

If you have been exposed to a pesticide or other toxic substance and may be experiencing non-life-threatening symptoms, call your local poison center hotline at 1-800-222-1222. Call 911 in case of more serious exposures. EPA urges the public also to report all exposures to the product manufacturer (including the registration number found on the product label of all pesticide products registered by EPA).

For what it's worth: On Health Care

From Undernews, a piece by Rose McKinnon of the Medical Committee for Human Rights - "published almost forty years ago, in November 1971,when Dennis Kucinich was 24 years old. Those who consider him radical or impatient might want to bear this in mind."

(1) Health care should be universal. By this we mean that it should cover all people residing in the U.S. and should be treated as a right, rather than as a privilege; and must be available to all people, regardless of their ability to pay.

(2) Health care should be comprehensive, i. e., it must include all forms of care. It must not exclude drugs, dentistry, mental health care and preventive medicine, which to one extent or another, all of the present proposals exclude.

(3) Health care should be financed by national progressive taxation.

(4) Costs must necessarily be controlled in order to curtail the present run-away inflation; the increased demand a financing mechanism will generate would make such control imperative, and it is likely to involve government regulation of health-related industries.

(5) There should be no coinsurance, deductables, or other complex formulae, for these become almost incomprehensible, and tend to discourage the seeking of preventive care.

(6) The supply of health care must be expanded and a greater effort made to see that minority groups and women are adequately represented among every category of health care personnel; present imbalances must be eliminated.

(7) The health delivery system must be reorganized to produce a more efficient allocation of resources among and within geographical areas and cities.

(8) Last, and most important, there should be a much greater degree of public accountability within the health care system, so that those who receive care also have a part in controlling matters of quality, priorities and ethos (e.g.

The Death of a Dutch Minister of State: H.A.F.M.O. (Hans) van Mierlo

My dad always admired this man. Dutch politician and former government minister Hans van Mierlo has died on Thursday, March 11, in an Amsterdam hospital, aged 78.

From the obituary in NRC/international

He himself has now become part of history. Henricus Antonius Franciscus Maria Oliva van Mierlo -- or Hafmo, as his party members affectionately referred to him -- was a philosopher, a bohemian, a romantic, an orator, a bon vivant, a master of paradox, an eternal doubter and yes, of course, also a politician.

Above anything else, he was the political embodiment of the Dutch cultural revolution of the 1960s. The movement that never really became a revolution, because the Netherlands was a country where so-called 'repressive tolerance' quickly made D66 and Van Mierlo himself a part of the system they so maligned. Van Mierlo, who started out a critic of the state, died an honorary Minister of State. He himself would undoubtedly have appreciated the paradox.

Martin Wisse has written an assessment, particularly of Van Mierlo's role as founder of the political party, D66.

Photo: Hans van Mierlo (red scarf) with H.D. (Herman-Diederik) Tjeenk Willink, Vice President of the Council of State, on their way to the Royal Palace, 2009; courtesy P.P.E.

Congress has voted for war, 356-65-9

Only 60 Democrats voted yes to end the war in Afghanistan; among them was Rep. Peter Welch from Vermont!

A plain reading of yesterday's vote on the Kucinich war powers resolution is that an overwhelming majority of the House has authorized the Afghanistan war, including a majority of Democrats. The war now has greater legitimacy. The vote was 356-65-9.

[If Rep. John Conyers had been present, the dissenting bloc would have been 66, including just five Republicans. Few members took the option of abstaining.]

Please call Peter Welch's office - Phones: (802) 652-2450 or toll free at 888-605-7270 - to thank him for his vote yesterday for H CON RES 248 [a privileged resolution introduced last Thursday by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (Ohio)],directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove the United States Armed Forces from Afghanistan.

WCAX: IRV repeal expected to sail through legislature

WCAX: Montpelier, Vermont - March 8, 2010:

IRV repeal expected to sail through legislature

Democratic leaders in the House and Senate say they are going to follow the will of Burlington voters and approve a charter change repealing Instant Runoff Voting. Some had been pushing for a delay on the vote.

When Burlington residents voted to repeal Instant Runoff Voting, it still needed to go through one more step to become final. The legislature must approve any charter change, and both leaders in the House and Senate say they will take it up and pass it.
"Our hope is to bring it forward as quickly as possible," said Rep. Shap Smith/D-Vt. House Speaker.

Sen. Peter Shumlin/D-Vt. Senate President Pro Tem: "I expect the legislature will move and support the will of the voters."

Reporter Kristin Carlson asked: "And that includes you?"

Sen. Shumlin replied, "Absolutely."

"It seems to me that the people of Burlington have spoken on this issue and I would concur with them on their viewpoint," said Rep. Smith.

A united front that hurts the effort of people still fighting to save IRV, and bolsters IRV opponents who had worried Progressives would seek a delay. Some had talked behind the scenes about trying to stall a legislative vote for a year, so Instant Runoff Voting could be brought back to Burlington residents. Both House and Senate Leaders say if there's a change, then they'll simply hold another vote.

"It's our job to follow the will of the voters and that's what we do here in charter change requests," said Sen. Shumlin.

In response Burlington Mayor Bob Kiss says he remains disappointed in the outcome of the IRV vote, but that the charter change is not his decision, it's the legislatures, and he will leave it to them.

Chris Hedges: "Calling All Rebels"

Yet another brilliant column by Chris Hedges:

"There are no constraints left to halt America’s slide into a totalitarian capitalism. Electoral politics are a sham. The media have been debased and defanged by corporate owners. The working class has been impoverished and is now being plunged into profound despair. The legal system has been corrupted to serve corporate interests. Popular institutions, from labor unions to political parties, have been destroyed or emasculated by corporate power. And any form of protest, no matter how tepid, is blocked by an internal security apparatus that is starting to rival that of the East German secret police. The mounting anger and hatred, coursing through the bloodstream of the body politic, make violence and counter-violence inevitable. Brace yourself. The American empire is over. And the descent is going to be horrifying.

"The engines of social reform are dead. Liberal apologists, who long ago should have abandoned the Democratic Party, continue to make pathetic appeals to a tone-deaf corporate state and Barack Obama while the working and middle class are ruthlessly stripped of rights, income and jobs. Liberals self-righteously condemn ...imperial wars and the looting of the U.S. Treasury by Wall Street but not the Democrats who are responsible."

Read all of "Calling All Rebels" here.

Lance Corporal Joe Glenton jailed for nine months

From Friday's Guardian,

A British soldier who became a hero to anti-war activists after refusing to return to Afghanistan was jailed for nine months today, despite claims that he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

"There are many soldiers in the army who have extremely unpleasant experiences, who watch friends die or suffer appalling injuries, but they have to return and do their duty," Judge Advocate Emma Peters told Lance Corporal Joe Glenton.

Glenton, 27, fled to Asia in mid-2007, before he was due to start a second tour in Afghanistan, staying abroad for two years before returning to speak at Stop the War rallies. He wrote to Gordon Brown to denounce the conflict and urge the return of all British troops.

The court martial in Colchester, Essex, sentenced him to nine months in a military jail for going absent without leave, after he pleaded guilty. He was also demoted to private. His family and supporters said Glenton, who served in Afghanistan for seven months with the Royal Logistics Corps in 2006, had been singled out because of his activism and would appeal.

From New Left Project,

A spokesperson for Stop the War said: "This extremely harsh sentence ignored many of the facts of the case; that Joe had post-traumatic stress disorder, that he had raised concerns about the war with his superiors and been bullied as a result, and that he had voluntarily returned to barracks after going absent without leave.

"The judge herself made it clear the sentence was not based on the facts of the case but on a desire to deter other members of the military from taking a stand of conscience."

She added: "Joe is a brave and defiant man. He left the court under guard with a clenched fist held high. His outspoken defiance and the national campaign to defend him had already forced the authorities to drop the much more serious charge of desertion."

Send messages of support to:

Lance Corporal Joe Glenton
Military Corrective Training Centre, Berechurch Hall Camp
Colchester CO2 9NU, UK

UPTATED: IRV has been repealed in Burlington

UPDATE BELOW

The vote tally has yet to be certified, but unofficial results from yesterday's city election show that citizens voted to repeal IRV by 52% (3,972 to 3,669). Question $5 to repeal lost in all wards except 4 and 7. In Ward 6 it was pretty much a 50/50 split. Here's the breakdown by ward (thanks to Shay Totten):

Ward 1: 405 to keep, 264 to repeal
Ward 2: 428 to keep, 185 to repeal
Ward 3: 510 to keep, 292 to repeal
Ward 4: 1203 to repeal, 606 to keep
Ward 5: 793 to keep, 545 to repeal
Ward 6: 490 to keep, 477 to repeal
Ward 7: 1006 to repeal, 437 to keep

The winning margin is not overwhelming. In fact, it shows there are plenty of citizens who are still split about the way Burlington chooses its mayor. Clearly, the two groups outside Burlington that campaigned against Question #5 are embarrassed; the money they donated to their efforts didn't match up to the grassroots organisaton and enthusiasm of the Burlington citizens.

Shay interviewed Jason Lorber (50%matters) and Sandy Baird (Repeal IRV) for their analysis of the vote on Channel 17's election coverage.

The Lege in Montpelier will have to approve this vote since it is a Charter change.

UPDATE:

Side Note: En route to the Repeal IRV post-election gathering in the NNE, I received a phone call from VPIRG, one of the state organisations opposing Question #5. It was a solicitation phone call for another donation. (I've been a long-time supporter of their environmental activism.) But I thought it was strange that they were phoning on election night and told the nice woman just that. I also told her that I did not appreciate an outside group meddling with a local citizen initiative and that VPIRG should stick to their environmental activism, but not expect another annual contribution from me. "Would you like me to pass on that comment?" she asked. "Sure," I replied, "but I don't think it will do any good."

Town Meeting Day!

From A town meeting lesson, an editorial in today's Rutland Herald:

Vermont is called the most rural state because the highest percentage of its residents lives in small towns and rural settings. Today is the day when this dispersed but civic-minded populace meets in schools and town halls throughout the state to take care of local business. Town Meeting Day is both ordinary and extraordinary — as commonplace as the town's road salt budget, as meaningful as democracy itself.

[...]

One should not underestimate the importance of what to the outsider looks totally mundane. Veterans of town meeting know how townspeople can tie themselves into knots discussing issues that seem small but which are intimately tied to local personalities and to long histories of controversy. Voters are not making decisions in the abstract; rather, they are working out a town's complex and all too human history.

City voters will decide repeal question

Indeed, the 50%Matters folks have establishment state and local politicians and state political organisations listed on their website as endorsers of continuing IRV. The audacity of it!: Trust us, we know better than you! This approach of deceiving the voters is much like what the pro-fluoridationists - CDC, ADA, etc. - used a few years ago in the Burlington referendum to remove fluoride, asking the voters to trust their authority - when the science was not on the side of water fluoridation. Repeal IRV in Burlington is a citizen initiative and not funded by groups outside Burlington.