Freyne Land

Was sitting on a window stool at Capitol Grounds on State Street in Montpeculiar yesterday while the House Democrat Caucus took its lunch break.  Commiserated with Steve from Chelsea. Old dudes lamenting the absence of a voice of any kind emanating from the youth of today.

And sharing a smile over how sweet it was to pick up the Gannett-chain daily paper - Le Freeps de Burlington - and read the story about the high school kids protesting the Iraq War at the National Guard recruiting office in Williston Friday afternoon - 13 arrests for trespassing. The Freeps even has some excellent video of it all on its web site.

It was a Sixties flashback for the two old guys sitting in the window sipping coffee and swapping stories about the Vietnam War protests of our younger days.

Finally.

Then comes more good news this morning from Montpeculiar!  Montpelier High School has not only been picked 5th best in the friggin' country by US News, but grad Garrett Graff's first book has hit the street!

Yes, that Garrett Graff. The high-school "kid" who set up Gov. Howard Dean's first website 10 years ago in 1997 when all this internet stuff seemed so new,

Garrett's book is titled The First Campaign.

Subtitled: Globalization, the Web, and the Race for the White House

As his book website notes, Graff:

"comes from a long line of journalists: His grandfather, Bert McCord, was the drama critic for the New York Herald Tribune; his father, Christopher Graff, was the long-time bureau chief of the Associated Press in Vermont, and his mother, Nancy Price Graff, is a historian, children's book author, and former magazine editor."

Bravo!

The Montpelier kid also has an interesting article in today's Washington Post.

Nothing better for this non-skier to do this sunny and frigid Saturday than to hit the Vermont Statehouse to catch the House Democratic Caucus in action!

Ah! How we've missed the Legislature, Vermont's House of Commons, eh?

It was the annual pre-session preview for the majority party that "controls" the 150-member House. Plus the legislative "pages" and their parents were there for their introduction to some interesting times ahead come January. 

Here's current House Speaker Gaye Symington {2005-present] of Jericho having a wee up-close and personal little chat with former House Speaker Michael Obuchowski [1995-2001] of Bellows Falls in Room 11 under Montpeculiar's beautiful Golden Dome.

More on the behind-the-scenes and between-the-lines later.

The show started at 10 am and wrapped up around 3:30 pm. Nancy Remsen was there for The Burlington Free Press and Louis Porter for the Rutland Herald/Barre-Montpelier Times Argus.

Ch. 3's Andy Potter, my old radio-news sidekick from the days of President Ronald Reagan, popped in for a quickie. He did a stand-up with Speaker Symington.

His went a lot smoother than mine...

Pinch me. It was the Democrat Caucus, not the Republican, right?

Nice to hit the online edition of The Burlington Free Press, my favorite local daily, this morning and catch Matt Sutkoski's article about the antiwar protest on Friday at the Vermont National Guard recruiting office in Williston.

Everyone from local high school students to soldiers who fought in the Bush-Cheney madness in Iraq participated. The Freeps reports 13 people were arrested and charged with trespassing.

Yours truly had other items on the Friday agenda including checking out the new TV news operation our local Fox affiliate will be offering local TV news junkies starting Monday at 10 pm.

Protest-wise, however, I did swing by what has become a Monday-Friday ritual at the top of Church Street in front of the Unitarian Church. An older bunch of protestors have been "religiously" demonstrating their antiwar feelings Monday-Friday from 5 pm to 5:30. It's an antiwar protest that one of its regulars, author Marc Estrin (with the "got fascism?" sign) told me "has logged more person-hours than any demonstration of its kind."

They started the daily antiwar protest, said Marc, way back before Dubya even launched his Iraq invasion - on September 13, 2001 - more than six years ago.

That's persistence, eh?

The parking-ban lights were blinking this morning down here in the South End of the Queen City. I trust Ol' John King is giving 'em a tester. King John's a former Burlington Police officer/sergeant/commander who's now in charge of all things related to parking enforcement and the winter parking ban.

Then this press release arrives from John "Be Prepared" via email. Hey, remember fax machines? Don't them seem ancient? The picture's from last winter. Wasn't that long ago, was it?

With the possibility of a snow storm Sunday night, it’s time to think about winter parking.

When conditions require the City of Burlington to plow city streets, or in anticipation of a snow storm the City can declare a parking ban.  Parking bans start at 10:00 P.M. and last until 7:00 A.M. during which time vehicles are not allowed to park on any city street or city owned parking lots.

When a storm has been declared the yellow snow lights must be turned on prior to 3:00 P.M.  When the lights are on, the ban is in effect for all city streets, not just the street the lights are located on.

Vehicles on city streets or parking lots during a ban will receive a $95.00 parking ticket and are towed to another street.  To prevent your vehicle from being towed, it is suggested you make arrangements now where you will park your vehicle during a storm.

You are allowed to park in any City owned parking garage from 10:00 P.M. to 7:00 A.M. with no charge.  Please do not park on the top (roof) of any garage.

Remember to avoid a tow call 658-SNOW for updated information. 

An honor to be replaced in the print edition this vacation week by the one and only David Sirota. First met David when he was a [young] press secretary for a certain Vermont congressman with a Brooklyn accent. Thanks, David.

And here's something a little different. Marie Claire, pictured with her dad Tim Whiteford,a St. Mike's prof, manages Speeder & Earl's on Pine Street to payher bills. But at the moment, she's on one of those month-long other-side-of-the-world vacation trips to visit a friend in India, notIndiana the state,  but India the country -  you know, where Gandhi preached a gospel of nonviolence.

We knew Marie Claire inherited some of her Scottish father's musicaltalent - Tim's the organizer of Richmond, Vermont's Celtic New Year -but the young lady picked up some writing talent somewhere as well, asevidenced by her entertaining online reports from India posted on herMySpace.com blog.

Here's a taste:

... you find your breaking point and pass it.

...when the taxi driver is trying to rip you off and tells you no he can'tput the meter on because it's broken and you've heard that line ahundred times you look at him and yell "THAT'S A LIE!" and you can tellhe knows it by the succeeding gleeful peals of laughter.

... your snot is black.  one day in Delhi and your snot - is - black.  we won't even discuss the q-tips in the garbage can.

...your rickshaw driver lets you off a block early because the street isheavily congested with traffic.  due to a wedding.  complete withgroom-on-horse, marching band, hand-held lamps powered by a generatoron a wagon, dancing indian men a la Elaine from Seinfeld.

...fifteen minutes after noting (out loud) the bad teeth and annoyingindoor smoking habits of the large and curiously well-groomed party ofBrits seated next to you at dinner, the restaurant manager stands upand announces to the dining room at large that it is their distinctpleasure this evening to welcome the mayor of London and hisentourage.  whoops.

... oh well, as you sit and enjoy theevening's "entertainment" hired in his honor, you become certain thatthe belly dancer who is now gyrating around him while he tries to enjoyhis meal is making him much more uncomfortable than your verbalfaux-pas, which he probably didn't hear anyway.

... i hope.

... you really want to go to the beach.  good thing you're heading there tomorrow!

Wednesday morning on your Champlain Valley FM radio dial: Louie Manno & Jim Condon, the star radio duo who took the town by storm in 1986 on Q-99 will be together again - though only for a day.

Manno's recently slid in behind the mike at 102.3 FM "Best Country" WLFE as the replacement for the late, great G.G. Griggs, killed in an untimely single-vehicle accident in Swanton a couple weeks ago. His pickup slammed into a tree. No seat belt, said the police.

Manno & Condon hit The People's Republic of Burlington during Bernie Sanders' third term as mayor in 1986. The boys were the hot morning duo on Burlington's radio dial well into the 1990s. They finished up on the AM dial at1390 WKDR with former Burlington Free Press city hall scribe and talk-show man Mark Johnson in 2001.

Jim and Louie next started up and operated the Radio Deli on Pearl Street in Burlington for a few years. They sold the deli.  Condon [whose almost 20-year-old intro still prefaces Mark's morning talker on WDEV, 550 AM and 96.1 FM] has found a second life in politics - he's a successful Democratic state representative from Colchester!

Wednesday morning it'll be Louie & Jim - together again on WLFE/St. Albans, Vermont...

Funny how this works.

Scary, actually.

Do you think if The New York Times and the Washington Post and CBS and CNN and the rest of the nation's corporate-owned-and-operated news crowd had actually done their journalism jobs right, we'd be in such a mess?

A senseless military bloodbath in Iraq. Environmental crises locally and globally. A crumbling dollar. And the crooks and liars still in command.

First Amendment?

Use it or lose it, eh?

Vermont's one-of-a-kind Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders was recently the keynote speaker in Atlanta, Georgia at the annual convention of The Democratic Socialists of America annual convention.

Did the American corporate media notice?

Are you serious?

The only press coverage we could find was on the website of the Atlanta Progressive News:

"We’re not radical. You know who’s radical? George W. Bush," Sanderssaid in his remarks. "Bush says we can’t afford money for foodstamps... but we can afford $10 billion a month in Iraq, we can affordto repeal the estate tax. If anybody tells you we can’t afford healthcare for all or getting all children out of poverty... you look them inthe eye and say Bernie Sanders is on the Budget Committee and it justain’t so."

More here.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
— The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Ever wonder why they made it the very "First," eh?

Made on the Vermont radio airwaves Monday morning by John Nichols [right], distinguished progressive writer for The Nation and a telephone guest on today's Mark Johnson Show on WDEV AM-FM:

"Impeachment is not an option but a necessary response to a presidency that so dramatically mismanaged and misguided this nation. If we can’t impeach now, then we can never impeach because I guarantee to you that every president will always tell you that the times are too extraordinary to allow that president to be held to account.

"On this one I’ve got to go with Jefferson and say that the times are never too extraordinary to uphold the Constitution."

Nichols was on the panel at this evening's "Impeachment Teach-In" at Dartmouth. More on John Nichols here.

Location: The harbor in Burlington, Vermont near the U.S. Coast Guard station. The boatless boat-access ramp.

A bit of a chill. Windy, too.

Yours truly was the only homo sapiens. Haven’t been down there all year. These guys had been sitting and floating along the shoreline having a little chat when I pulled up.

I popped out of my freshly inspected 2000 edition motor vehicle {McCaffrey’s Sunoco at North & North] and they came right over.

“Where you been,” asked the babe on the left?

“Slight life-style change,” said I. “2007’s been my year off the bike. It wasn’t just the cancer, it was time for a change of the routine. People still tell me they saw me on the bike the other day somewhere. I’ve stopped telling them I’ve been out of the bike saddle since December. People, after all, will see what they want to see.”

“You don’t have to remind us of that,” quacked the dude on the right.

“Sorry,” said I. “No bread. I just came down here on an impulse.”

“We’ll survive,” he replied. “After all, we ducks do not live by bread alone.”

Right.

“Just explain to us,” asked the female on the left, “why George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are still in charge, quack, quack?  In our little world, one-legged liars just don’t cut it, know what I mean?”

I told her I did. I also told here that “Justice in the human world often doesn’t get delivered as quickly as in the duck world. Especially in a ‘democracy’ which has rules and regulations and procedures and timelines and elections!"

“You people are so pathetic,” said one of the guys on the right.  “They stole the 2000 election. Your Supreme Court stopped the Florida vote recount that would have put Al Gore in the White House. An inconvenient truth, eh?

“Then the Bush-Cheney ruling team makes up bold lies to con your Congress and your 'media' and your crazy population into believing wild lies about Iraq so they can justify an invasion in 2003. And the bloodbath continues. For what?”

"Good question," I replied.  "Look, I’ve always wished human brains were as smart as duck brains. C’est la vie. You play the cards and the species you’re dealt, right?”

“I hear ya,” quacked one of the dames on the left.

"But,” says I, “it’s not like all human brains are dysfunctional. You guys probably aren’t going to fly cross-state, but Monday at 7 p.m. there’s going to be a big Impeachment Teach-In at Dartmouth’s Moore Hall.

“Among the participants in this human reality-check are Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Nation magazine writer John Nichols and Newfane Selectman Dan DeWalt who started the impeachment ball rolling a couple years back with a Vermont Town Meeting Day resolution.

“Hey, guys, we’re only human,” I told them.

Quack, quack, quack...

All year long, I've been caffeinating, chit-chatting and reading the daily newspapers in print, down at Speeder & Earl's on beautiful Pine Street. And all year long, I've been sitting under the beautiful stained-glass creations in the window, not knowing who was behind them.

Would you believe an ex-lawyer?

No shit!

Finally met the face behind the glass on Wednesday. Chris Jeffrey told us he's a graduate of Northeastern Law School and spent 17 years practicing law, primarily as an advocate over at Vermont Tenants. But life has its different chapters, doesn't it?

"I decided being a lawyer kind of sucks," he said.

In 2000, Chris rented a little studio in Barre, Vermont and followed his passion and his talent - creating custom stained glass.

The rest is Mr. Jeffrey's evolving story - check him out here.