I spoke with someone who attended the graduation ceremony at West Point where Dick Cheney gave the commencement speech. Cheney then stood on stage and shook hands with each of the 1000 graduates: wait, make that 999. Because one courageous and principled cadet faced Cheney, looked him up and down, decided not to offer his hand and walked on. Cheney was visibly taken aback, and turned to glare after the parting cadet. (We can only imagine the repercussions that this cadet may now face.)
  A West Point cadet is the epitome of honor, duty and respect. That this graduate was willing to show the assembled gathering that he would not deign to honor this dishonorable Vice President with a handshake should have sent tremors of excitement through the crowd. This is probably the first time in six years that anyone has had the temerity and honesty to face down the man whom we could arguably call the Big Evil. Cheney should be getting this treatment from every person he encounters, as should Bush, Gonzales, Rice and the rest of this renegade administration. Of course, these corrupted leaders have insulated themselves from almost any contact with the general public, to the extent of even blocking off the side streets as their armored motorcades (reminiscent of images of  dictator governments the world over) take them from home to work. If they were regularly exposed to common Americans they would discover that there are many who would dare to tell them that this emperor has no clothes.
  This dovetails beautifully with a recent call by Scott Ritter for Americans to ?repudiate? this administration and its policies. Unfortunately, Ritter feels compelled to preface his call with an imperfect and misleading understanding of impeachment efforts, leading him to dismiss the idea and call for repudiation instead. However, repudiation, as explained by Ritter, is more of a concept than a plan for action. How exactly do we go about it and how does it have an effect? The point he misses is that impeachment, a formalized and proscribed Constitutional method to curb executive abuse, is the perfect complement and comrade to whatever ?repudiations? that we can muster.
  Very few of us will be given such a golden opportunity, as was this cadet to repudiate this administration. But we now need to ask ourselves, what do we have available? How can we take a stand every day in every act we take that says, No More Business as Usual? How can we turn our everyday acts into statements of defiance and patriotic dissent? We need to start to look at the connections behind every transaction or exchange that we make. We need to explain to every clerk who takes our money that we are sliding into early stages of fascism and they need to be worried. We need to figure out how to disrupt business as usual in our own neighborhoods. It is likely that any disruptions of business or blockading streets, flash mobbing town council meetings etc. will inconvenience and even anger some folks who are not directly responsible for the current occupation and erosion of rights. But at this point in the game, that will be a necessary cost of dissent. We need everybody to be angry. If they have to start by being angry at us for bringing this to their attention in an uncomfortable way, so be it. As they see how widespread our discontent is, and they understand how many of us are only going to escalate the disruptions, annoyances and inconveniences, they will start to understand the reasons behind our actions.
  The next time that you say to yourself that ?this isn?t the time to mention the occupation or constitutional crimes because it?s not the right setting?, know that you are fooling yourself. From today onward, there is no place where loud dissent is inappropriate. We need to make ourselves ungovernable, pure and simple. Let the bravery of one West Point cadet be your inspiration to take this struggle out of your heart and put in on the table front and center wherever you may be.
  Democratic leaders like John Conyers are starting to soften their resistance to the calls for impeachment. They are asking us to show them that we really want accountability. We can make daily life so uncomfortable and unpredictable that impeachment will be a welcome balm to smooth the roiling waves. We can?t hold investigations and file articles of impeachment ourselves, but we must show our representatives that we no longer consent to be governed by them as they now operate.
  It is time for a Constitutional Restoration. It is up to us to make it happen.

(I’ve been pushing VNRC to post here for a while – hopefully other nonprofits will follow suit… – promoted by odum)

Crossposted from the Vermont Natural Resources Council website

A large-scale commercial bottled water operation is being proposed in central Vermont.

The Montpelier Spring Water Company has, in recent weeks, approached the East Montpelier selectboard and the Montpelier City Council for general statements of approval and right-of-way permissions for the project.

Landowner Daniel Antonovich and project manager Steve Kerr (who is the former secretary of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture) want to capture water from a spring off North Street in East Montpelier and, using a pipeline they hope to build, transport the water to an industrial park in neighboring Montpelier. There they would bottle the water and send it out on trucks.

Vermont must be careful about putting its groundwater up for sale.

For several years, VNRC, Vermonters for a Clean Environment, Water 1st! and others have been sounding the alarm over corporate commodification, privatization and potential depletion of groundwater, one of Vermont’s most important natural resources. Big withdrawals of groundwater threaten neighbors’ wells (more than half of Vermonters get their home drinking water from groundwater) and also endanger nearby streams and ponds that are fed by groundwater.

Vermont lags far behind many states, including neighboring New Hampshire, in protecting its groundwater and until Vermont has a groundwater protection program in place, Vermont is a sitting duck, vulnerable to big water withdrawals, like the one proposed in central Vermont.

VNRC sits on a governor-appointed task force studying the groundwater issue. By January of 2008, the task force will make recommendations to the Legislature for consideration in crafting a groundwater protection program. This timeline, however, leaves proposals like the water bottling operation in Montpelier moving forward with limited public scrutiny and potentially insufficient analysis of the impact it could have on the resource and community.

So far there aren’t many specifics on this East Montpelier project, but VNRC will continue to ask the questions and evaluate the science on this and similar proposals that could affect this finite and fundamental resource.

Montpelier and the state of Vermont must move forward swiftly and thoughtfully as opportunities to commercialize, bottle and sell the state’s water unfold. In an increasingly thirsty world, communities have a lot to lose with lack of foresight and caution on how the state’s fresh water resources are used.

Read the Times Argus story about the recent meeting at Montpelier City Hall here:

http://www.timesargu…

For more information about VNRC’s work to protect groundwater in Vermont or to get involved, contact Water Program Director Jon Groveman at 802-223-2328 ext. 119 or jgroveman@vnrc.org

Hilarious Bush on global warming by Will Ferrell. Scary how accurate he is. Enjoy and have a good weekend!

(A great opportunity to get together with other progressives to network, learn, and have fun. – promoted by mataliandy)

DemocracyFest is coming soon! June 9-10 near Manchester, NH.

http://www.democracy…

DemocracyFest is an annual educational and inspirational festival that gives grassroots progressives the knowledge and skills they need to take our country back! Participants return home to their communities with renewed commitment, and new skills to help them make a difference.

Speakers and trainers include Gov. Howard Dean (speech free & open to public), Sen. John Edwards, Sen. Mike Gravel, Granny D, Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, Bev Harris, Mark Crispin Miller and more! Plus lots of networking opportunities, sponsor exhibits, films, and live entertainment!

Previous DemocracyFests have been held in Massachusetts, Texas, and California. Don?t miss it this year near Manchester, NH on June 9 and 10!

http://www.democracy…