802 Online

The Vermont soldier in Iraq who was blogging "anonymously" at Roger's Blog has taken down his site. I got an email from his wife today, letting me know the blog — which she didn't want linked — is now offline.

Says "Sarah": It was taken down because of issues about Roger with the army and I'm not really at
liberty to discuss them at the moment. Maybe when he's home next summer and no longer under the army's control, we can share the details of his situation.

I'm not surprised, but it's too bad.

From the anonymous substitute teacher/lesbian/tarot reader who blogs prolifically as New York Ex: 

 Tails on Heads

New trends in Vermont middle schools: tails. On boys. Braided.

Isn't that so, like, 1986?

I just want to go up to to them and say, no, no, no! No tails!

I got a little choked up when I saw this AP story, by Ken Thomas:

RosaParks, the seamstress whose act of defiance on a public bus ahalf-century ago helped spark the civil rights movement, will joinpresidents and war heroes who have been honored in death with a publicviewing in the Capitol Rotunda.

Parks, whodied Monday in Detroit at age 92... would be the first woman and second black American to receive theaccolade. Jacob J. Chestnut, one of two Capitol police officers fatallyshot in 1998, was the first black American to lie in honor...

"Themovement that Rosa Parks helped launch changed not only our country,but the entire world, as her actions gave hope to every individualfighting for civil and human rights," said Senate Democratic leaderHarry Reid of Nevada. "We now can honor her in a way deserving of hercontributions and legacy."

What the hell is reality porn? Do I really want to know?

From Jessamyn's personal blog, Abada Abada:

Lastly, I got to spend the last leg of my trip amicably chatting with agal who does "reality porn" who was travelling to Vermont with the castand crew to do some location shooting. More interesting than you canimagine. We talked about the digital divide and about giving blowjobsto 15 guys at once. I led the first discussion, she led the second.

It's off-topic, but I wanted to take a moment to remember Rosa Parks, the civil rights pioneer who died yesterday in Detroit. I'm originally from the Detroit-metro area, and remember hearing about her now and again in the local news, apart from learning about her in the history books.

Coincidentally, Ann-Elise and I recently visited my parents in Eastpointe, and toured the bus on which Parks made her famous refusal. It's now on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. If you're curious how it ended up there, read this informative story from the Detroit Free Press. The museum has had the bus restored, and it looks great. I highly recommend going to see it if you're in the area (and if you can afford the pricey admission to the museum).

The museum actually lets you get on the bus, and invites you to sit on the same seats where Parks sat. It's impossible to get on board and not feel a sense of awe. I was actually reluctant to get on at first, but the tour guide inside encouraged me. Like most of the patrons of the museum, she was white. She explained how the bus had recently been restored, and gave some historical background for the incident involving Rosa Parks.

While I was there, another woman stepped into the bus. She was probably just over 50. White. She had on denim capri pants and flip flops. She listened to the tour guide's spiel, then shook her head, as if to say, tsk tsk. "What a world!" she said, as if to distance herself from the racism of the past (ever the reporter, I was taking notes). "Well," responded the guide, unwilling to let this woman off the hook, "it was only 50 years ago." It sounded a little like a reprimand to me.

"I know," responded the tourist abruptly, as if to end the discussion. But the tour guide continued. "That's the worst thing about it," she said. "This is recent history."

Ernesto hasn't moved out yet. Yesterday, he got some snow. Wow, that's way more than I saw on the ground yesterday in Huntington.

This AP story reports a Pittsburgh conference addressing how elderly folks can learn to use computers. 

The...conference is a look into the region's latest innovationsinvolving technology and aging. From virtual communities on the Web toremote medication monitoring, technology is something that can be usedto empower the elderly, said Judith Tabolt Matthews, one of theorganizer's of Friday's meeting...

"Older adults are very accepting of technology," Matthews said, "as long as it is intuitive to use and reliable."

I found this story on My Way, a news aggregator I check frequently.

I know my posts about the fate of the newspaper industry aren't the most popular posts on this blog, but it's a national conversation that interests me, and I think it's relevant. I just read this article by Mark McGuire, of the Albany Times Union, in which he relates his recent talk with high school journalism students. He was speaking to 55 students. Only one wanted to go into newspaper reporting.

Newspapers are in crisis in this country, and I don't think that's such a good thing, especially since I have no clue what could realistically replace them. So I keep bringing this up, in hopes of stimulating discussion.

Anybody who wants to eavesdrop on the national conversation among journalists should visit Jim Romenesko's blog at the Poynter site.

I wanted to put this post in the paper, but ultimately, I decided I didn't want to embarrass these people any more than Yankunian has. From the Vermizzle, an account of a house in Waterbury that goes all out for the holidays.

Here's something of interest to those readers living in Burlington — I just got a press release on my desk from the fabulous Ita Meno at CEDO. It says the city has started a Yahoo email group to announce winter parking bans. Smart! "This will allow people to join the group and when a ban is in place, they will receive a message to move their vehicles off the street."

The email address they give is: [email protected]