(The following is the last piece I wrote for the UK Guardian’s online coverage of the Democratic Convention, but it got to them apparently just too late to get posted. Rather than see it languish in oblivion, I thought I’d post it here, even though its not so timely…)

It’s safe to say that most of us who are reasonably civic minded get a thrill out of the first time we vote in a major national election. To the new voter, it is a new experience that blends one’s voice with those of millions of other voters’ to collectively make one of the most important decisions that can be made, while also tying us to a tradition of Democracy that spreads out over centuries. It’s at once empowering and humbling.

But come middle age, many of us may have problems remembering the particulars of that first election in which we cast a ballot.

That likely won’t be the case for Vermonter Taylor Bates who, in his first year of voting eligibility is not only being introduced to the Democratic process through the ballot box, but by being a floor delegate to the Democratic National Convention. Bates, 18, only just graduated from High School in Vermont and found himself in the midst of an experience very nearly unique to one of his age.

Bates, who campaigned tirelessly and effectively to be elected a delegate, was encouraged to make the unlikely effort (which put him up against party regulars and officeholders) by his high school debate coach. “I attended meetings across the state, sent out a mailer, bought an ad in the program, and baked about 600 brownies for the other state delegates.”

After the historic nomination acceptance speech by Presidential candidate Barack Obama, an apparently exhausted Bates was clearly inspired. He was pleased that Obama had “addressed nearly every challenge to the Obama candidacy: attacks on his patriotism, his experience, his celebrity status, and most of all his ‘vague’ speeches. I was thrilled by the enormous amount of time devoted to policies and contrasts with McCain.”

Bates is also a star of Vermont delegation for reasons beyond his age. He alone in the delegation responded to a national challenge for delegations to attain carbon offset credits for collective carbon neutrality.

“I bought the carbon credits for all 27 of our delegates myself, which cost me about $200, for which our state received special recognition.”

If there is any doubt as to whether this will be his only foray into the political world, Bates added “I love politics the way most people love sports. For me, this is the Olympics, the World Series, the Super Bowl, only instead of being just a spectator I can make a difference in what happens on the field. In politics, the team with the best supporters wins, something I can appreciate as a Red Sox fan.”  

No operation smooth ride for 6,000 people that need this bridge for their daily transportation .As with the last bridge closure commuters ,commercial vehicles and more importantly emergency equipment will need to take detours around the deteriorating bridge .The bridge’s priority for repair has been advanced from 99 to 17 after being declared unsafe.The situation seems to demand that we do more rather than continue with do less as a policy .

State transportation officials shut down Richmond’s main bridge over the Winooski River Thursday evening after discovering that steel under the structure had deteriorated to the point it was no longer safe for vehicles.

…Filkorn said the bridge is used by about 6,000 people each day coming in and out of Richmond. Its closing will add at least a dozen more miles to commutes, he said, and threaten to leave the downtown businesses looking like ghost towns.

And perhaps even worse, the shut-down bridge creates major headaches for local emergency officials. The local fire department has stashed one of its trucks on the other side of the river just in case, Filkorn said.

http://www.timesargus.com/apps…

Cross-posted from Rational Resistance:

After the Harold Ford campaign two years ago, and, for that matter, forty years of Republican tactics, we knew that the racist attacks on Obama were on the way. Arguably we've seen them already in the commercials juxtaposing Obama with young white women like Paris Hilton.

Still, you have to figure that they weren't planning on being this blatant about it. This comment by a Deep South Republican inadvertently reveals what they really think about the idea of having a black president:

Georgia Republican Rep. Lynn Westmoreland used the racially-tinged term “uppity” to describe Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama Thursday.
 
Westmoreland was discussing vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's speech with reporters outside the House chamber and was asked to compare her with Michelle Obama.
 
“Just from what little I’ve seen of her and Mr. Obama, Sen. Obama, they're a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they're uppity,” Westmoreland said.

Asked to clarify that he used the word “uppity,” Westmoreland said, “Uppity, yeah.”

You know what word usually comes next.

Another of Bush’s departments may be finding a way out of enforcing  consumer and worker protection laws. Perhaps this has potential Vermont implications. The whistleblower protection law part of Sarbanes -Oxley Act may have a hole worn in its enforcement by the Department of Labor .The Labor Dept. is claiming that employees of corporate subsidiaries aren’t covered under the law .

Sharon Worthy, a Labor Department spokeswoman, said the agency “believes that there is no legal basis for the argument that subsidiaries of covered corporations are automatically covered” under the Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower provision.

With another view is Senator Leahy who was involved in the writing of the law quoted saying that the law was written to be broadly interpreted “It prohibits publicly-traded companies or “any other officer, employee, contractor, subcontractor, or agent of such company” from retaliating against employees who provide information or assist in investigations related to alleged fraud.”

The government has ruled in favor of whistleblowers 17 times out of 1,273 complaints filed since 2002, according to department records. Another 841 cases have been dismissed. Many of the dismissals were made on the grounds that employees worked for a corporate subsidiary, says Richard Moberly, a University of Nebraska law professor.

This may be a stretch and a needless worry.More likely just another added ,maybe unforeseen benefit of forming Enexus.Enexus will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Entergy maybe immune from the whistleblower regulation as the Bush labor department sees it .Who knows how this could play out in the event of a whistleblower coming forward with some grievance .However given the Bush Labor Dept’s enforcement it might make it unlikely if not impossible for someone to take that risk without protection under law .If ever an industry required complete whistleblower protection it is nuclear power as practiced at Vermont Yankee.

http://online.wsj.com/article/…

Congratulations from your dir7yf(_)ckin64ippi3 friends.

Giorraionn beirt bothar

ps. (below)