Take two thick slices of Noonie's day old bread, smear Honey Cup honey mustard
liberally over both. Cover both slices with green leaf lettuce. Then on one slice only lay smoked turkey on the lettuce,
a tomato slice on the turkey and sprinkle it with shredded carrot. Then on the lay a slice of provolone cheese over the
carrot then a green pepper ring on top of the cheese. Sprikle with sprouts. Cover with the other slice, lettuce side down.
The letuce should be stuck to the bread with honey mustard so it doesn't fall off when you turn it upside down to cover the
sandwich. Slice sandwich in half with a knife. Wrap in tightly in plastic wrap. Use too much wrap. Tape on label. Tadaaa!
Weighs one pound. Costs Four Bucks.
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses
yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your
teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed,
to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door."
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers,
and effects,
against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and
no warrants shall issue,
but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and
particularly describing the place
to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Ethan Allen Tower
"During the 1992 campaign, Bill Clinton
sometimes spoke of a 'twofer' (two for the price of one) presidency,
implying that Hillary would play an important role in his
administration."
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Duis ligula lorem,
consequat eget, tristique nec, auctor quis, purus. Vivamus ut sem. Fusce aliquam nunc vitae purus.
Whatever things
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Duis ligula lorem,
consequat eget, tristique nec, auctor quis, purus. Vivamus ut sem. Fusce aliquam nunc vitae purus.
Oh and by the way...
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
If the GMOs and pesticides in your food don't bother you, how about some delicious clone meat?
...So sickening and wrong. What's the point of having a Christian-Fascist as president if he's not going to prevent clone meat from entering our food supply?
Why did both of these presidents flash a satanic hand symbol shortly their inaugurations? Clinton did it just seconds after being sworn in. I watched Clinton's first inaugural on an old portable Motorola B&W TV in the Living and Learning Center at UVM in 1993 and remember thinking it was odd that he did that.
Theories, explanations, hidden links and messages can be found at
Below the row of stars are Kevin Ryan's comments of Dec 21, 2006 1:43 pm. The message is reprinted without permission from bvtdailynews
At the end Kevin Says "...I feel this issue is one of opportunism on Haik's part to encourage drama..."
This is exactly correct. This blog needs material and Kevin has helped me generate my last thee posts out of thin air. It was also a boon for last night's chat at bvtdailynews, the yahoo forum he abandoned "Burlington Open and Honest" for. Although I was expecting the lawsuit to be an opportune way of encouraging drama, I never had a problem with Kevin. He's a kook, but he's reasonable.
After returning to the forum this morning, I see this thread has continued all evening. This morning I will simply set a few facts straight.
1. This entire incident stems from the effort to establish Burlington Daily News & Post as a community resource, rather than an argument festival.
2. Wikipedia Editor Atlant Schmidt is specifically the person there who had an issue with the link. His views are not those of Wikipedia. Atlant and I have settled that issue and chosen a course of action. There is no criminal issue.
3. Haik Bedrosian has said a number of unkind and untrue things about my character and this course of events.
4. Haik Bedrosian was contacted once by phone. This call was made to his home number and taken by his wife, who was asked to have him return the call.
5. I have never been convicted for any criminal activity. Nor do I have any reason to believe there is any concern with any legal authority regarding this page.
6. Despite comments made on Haik Bedrosian's page, I am not now nor have I ever been on parole or any other form of supervision by the Department of Corrections.
7. The comment, "I'd join the Progressives for a sandwich" , made two years ago, was an attempt at humor, and indicated I was hungry at the time. It did not reflect either my financial status nor my political leanings.
8. At the time I told Haik that I was considering contacting the police or my attorney for advice, the headline from Burlingtonpol.com indicated that I had committed the crime of stalking. Haik was simply informed that he was giving me little choice as he felt accusing me of criminal behavior in public was acceptable.
9. Haik was at no time threatened with a lawsuit. I would not discuss a lawsuit, I would simply file one. I do not file suits because someone "double dares" me.
In closing, this entire series of events has been unfortunate. At this time, I feel this issue is one of opportunism on Haik's part to encourage drama, and not something I condone or support.
Below the row of stars is the text of an email I just got from David Agro. I love when people send me stuff. It makes blogging easier. I just throw up whatever somebody sends me and I don't have to think. Aaaaahhh.
This think...er...er...thing, is about a movie called "Red State Voices." To me that title sounds a lot like "The Vagina Monologues," or that Doors album the three surviving band mates made after Morrison drowned in puke in France, called "Other Voices." Whores.
Does anybody else remember when during the 2004 race for the Democratic presidential nomination race Howard Dean said he was planning on speaking more openly about religion in order to reach out "in the milieu of the south?" Anybody else find the phrase "milieu of the south" vaguely ironic? This blog has an audience of literally dozens. Somebody has to remember that.
Anyway, so "Red State Voices..." For some reason all I can hear is that guy from Deliverance saying "squeal like a pig!" but if you have a more open mind than I have tonight, please feel free to read "Agro's" email...
Without further milieu...er...er...er...adieu...er...ado, here's the email.
********************************
I hate to admit, but this e-mail is an attempt to help promote a project I am working on in Vermont. I hope that you do not mind. Blogs are a great way of reaching the public- since I am trying to reach the public, I am contacting you.
So here comes the plug; I am working on promoting a documentary called "Red State Voices" by a philosophy professor at Marlboro College, Vermont. We are just beginning-The documentary is meant to help create a dialogue between people of "red" and "blue" ideologies- with the hopes we might be able to mediate the current polarization that is plaguing politics. You can find out more about the film on our website, and you can even check it out when it airs on Vermont Public Television at 10pm on December 22nd 2006.
If this project is success- it will be screened throughout Vermont and maybe the USA with accompanying discussions. We would love it if you could help spread the word about the Vermont Public Television Showing, about the "Red State Voices" documentary in general, and or help by participating in the dialogue itself (since that is what we really need). It would be great if you wanted to discuss the film on your blog/ - but we totally understand if you do not want to. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.
Thank you for your time and again I hope you do not mind this e-mail!
Al Gore won the 2000 Presidential Election. He can win again in 2008 and GOVERN this time! I hope he runs. I promise I'll volunteer for him if he does.
It's Monday. Let's pick a fight with the Associated Press.
Did you know that all AP reporters can be reached via a single email mnemonic? First Initial, Last Name at AP dot org. I email the people that write the top stories on Yahoo headlines all the time. And they write me back. It's incredibly easy to contact these people. And it's fun! But, don't abuse the power, or they'll shut it off, just like all good things.
Here is what happened Monday morning. That's yesterday to you if you're reading this Tuesday. The AP runs a story about how US CITIZEN (and terror suspect) Jose Padilla was essentially being tortured by OUR GOVERNMENT while being held for YEARS WITHOUT CHARGE!!
*** From: Haik Bedrosian [mailto:haikbedrosian@yahoo.com] Sent: Monday, December 04, 2006 10:08 AM To: Anderson, Curt Subject: Jose Padilla
Dear Curt Anderson,
Why did you fail to include the fact that Jose Padilla is an American citzen who was held without charges for three years in your story this morning?
Don't you think that's an important aspect of the story, or do you work for the Bush Administration?
Wondering, Haik Bedrosian Burlington, VT
*** Subject: RE: Jose Padilla Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2006 10:20:21 -0500 From:"Anderson, Curt" To: "Haik Bedrosian"
I believe that information is in the story. Did you read all the way to the bottom?
Thanks for your interest,
Curt Anderson AP
***
Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2006 07:29:28 -0800 (PST) From: "Haik Bedrosian" Subject: RE: Jose Padilla To: "Anderson, Curt"
I read it to the end. It's not there.
***
Mon, 4 Dec 2006 08:21:11 -0800 (PST) From:"Haik Bedrosian" haikbedrosian@yahoo.com Subject:RE: Jose Padilla To:"Anderson, Curt"
Well? Are you going to quote me the part you "believe" is in there. or are you going to admit you were wrong?
*** Subject:RE: Jose Padilla Date:Mon, 4 Dec 2006 11:32:01 -0500 From:"Anderson, Curt" To:"Haik Bedrosian"
This is our latest version. I have added the words "U.S. citizen" in the third-to-last graf, in case the "Chicago gang member" reference does not make that clear. You obviously are following this case quite closely. I appreciate your pointing out flaws in our stories. It's not necessary, though, to be confrontational about it. I am just a journalist trying to do a job. I have no agenda.
Best, Curt
***
Date:Mon, 4 Dec 2006 09:16:45 -0800 (PST) From:"Haik Bedrosian" haikbedrosian@yahoo.com Subject:RE: Jose Padilla To:"Anderson, Curt"
Thanks for adding "US Citizen." That's extremely important. "Chicago gang member" hardly means "US Citizen." I'm sorry if you don't appreciate my tone, but if the president isn't going to fulfill his oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, then I'm afraid the rest of us have to do it, niceties be damned.
Keep up the good work.
***
Date:Mon, 4 Dec 2006 09:23:12 -0800 (PST) From:"Haik Bedrosian" Subject:RE: Jose Padilla To:"Anderson, Curt"
The story is off Yahoo's front page now. It's under "US News" with the following title:
Images show Padilla in chains, goggles By CURT ANDERSON, Associated Press Writer 9 minutes ago
The word citizen still does not appear. I'll keep watch for it.
By the way, were you born here, Curt, or are you a naturalized Chicago gang member?
That's a joke, obviously, but I think you get my point.
************** Post Script-
Later Monday Night I caught Brian Williams's Shit eating broadcast version of the 'Padilla Was Tortured' story on NBC. Of course Williams didn't say "Padilla was tortured" and like the first version of the AP wire story, never mentioned the fact Jose Padilla is an AMERICAN CITIZEN which, if I'm not mistaken, is why his story is in the news in the first place.
As a CHILD I learned that America is unique because a king can't just throw you in his dungeon without proving you committed a specific crime. That's what makes America. That's it. Bush should be impeached. He's the madness of king George and he thinks he's all that, but he was lying when he took the oath of office. We don't do kings in America.
An Urgent Appeal From Megan J. Humphrey, advocate for Senior Citizens.
Dear Folks,
I have been an advocate for the Champlain Senior Center for 25 years. My first internship upon my transferring to the Social Work Department at the University of Vermont in 1979 was at Champlain Senior Center (then Interfaith Senior Center). Many years later, I encouraged Syndi Zook to hire me as the Program Director when I learned that the McClure MultiGenerational Center was in the planning stages. I loved my job there and have continued to donate time and money since then.
Now, as a public citizen passionate about services for seniors in our community, I am appalled by what is happening at the Champlain Senior Center. Here is a brief historical perspective on recent events:
In 1997, Champlain Senior Center Inc. and Chittenden County Senior Citizens Alliance (dba The Heineberg Senior Center) entered into a lease agreement. The Champlain Senior Center leased the Heineberg building for $1 per year and, in turn, provided programs and a director at the Heineberg site. Revenue generated at Heineberg was given to Champlain with two exceptions, a Prudential Mutual Fund and a savings account for small building needs. Champlain assumed responsibility for operational expenses at Heineberg, except for maintenance of the elevator lift and small repairs at the building. (Chittenden County Senior Citizens own the building at 14 Heineberg Road, which is exempt from property taxes.)
Seniors at Heineberg were provided a safe and secure site to obtain essential services, as well as programs to remain civically engaged and healthy and mentally challenged. They remained the owners of the building. The Board of Directors at Heineberg acted in an advisory capacity to the Director and agreed to follow the policies set by the Board of Directors at Champlain.
In September, the arrangement was reviewed by the current Executive Director, Kathy Maieli, and the Board of Directors at Champlain Senior Center. The former lease agreement had lapsed, and it was agreed that some changes would be needed. On November 15, 2006, a new lease agreement was presented by the Champlain Board to the Heineberg Board. The Heineberg Board felt the new agreement was more restrictive and less empowering, and suggested several changes to the agreement. The Champlain Board rejected the changes and explained that, if the lease was not signed within 24 hours, support would be withdrawn.. The Heineberg Board refused to sign the contract and Champlain pulled their support on November 30. This withdrawal of support included the immediate removal of files, computers, network access, other supplies, and has been cloaked in threats and intimidation against seniors at Heineberg.
This has left Heineberg seniors in the position of uncertainty and without some vital services. In one example, the Soup and Salad Bar was a daily meal option, but is no longer available.
Without an exit strategy, the abrupt departure of Champlain’s support has created obvious stress on the seniors there. With the recent departure of Gail Moreau as their Program Director (see below), the board at Heineberg is trying to maintain programming at the most difficult time of year for many seniors.
Two staff members at Heineberg Senior Center have recently resigned because of philosophical differences with this new and disturbing direction at Champlain Senior Center. Gail Moreau, Program Director at Heineberg Senior Center, was a treasure at the heart of the senior community, whose loss is most deeply felt by the seniors themselves. The VISTA/Americorps staff person there has also left for the same reasons.
Personally, I was very disappointed when Kathy and the Champlain Board chose not to accept my offer to provide a free holiday dinner for seniors there on Christmas Day, complete with donated food, volunteer help, transportation, giftbags, and a visit by Santa. Regardless of their lack of support, the dinner will be held and transportation will be provided, courtesy of the Burlington School Department and Burlington Parks & Rec, both of whom were thrilled to participate. We're expecting 100 seniors who would otherwise be at home alone that day.
When basic services are discontinued for low-income seniors, I believe that our local community has a right to know. When priorities shift in a negative direction within an organization, I think that folks who donate their hard-earned financial support should be made aware.
And so, with a heavy heart, I must acknowledge that I can no longer support Champlain Senior Center. I am concerned about the ability of the Heineberg Senior Center to continue to provide important programs and services for low-income seniors and pledge to help raise an awareness about their need for financial support from this community.
I encourage you and your friends to send a donation immediately, so that the doors at Heineberg can remain open. Please send your financial support to:
This is the year that broke the camel's back. Nobody's getting a gift from me. Everybody's getting an inexpensive card with the following holiday greeting...
"Merry Christmas. A payment has been made in your honor toward the gift I got you last year.
I was born on January 18, 1973 at the Mary Fletcher on Colchester Avenue. That makes me 35 going on 36...
First a little about the family I was born into (anachronistically including my younger brother.)
My Dad (born 1899) is an Armenian who after being conscripted into the Soviet army, captured by Nazi Germans, surviving a concentration camp and spending two years of WWII as a slave laborer- came to Ellis Island on a boat in 1950. My father's grandfather was the last in a 900 year line of priests that ended when the Bolsheviks came.
My Mom (born 1937) grew up on a farm in Sudbury, near Brandon in Rutland County, went to Castleton State College and had a long and successful career as a teacher, culminating in a 30 run- first at Wheeler, then at Barnes. My mom's ancestry can be traced throughout Vermont and New England history, includes several of those who sailed to Plymouth on the Mayflower, then back to England all the way to William the Conqueror. Her blood is 15/16 English or Welsh and 1/16 Dutch.
My older brother (born 1963) -my father's from his first American marriage (to a German woman,) whom my mother adopted at nine, has spent the last 20+ years climbing the ranks in the US Army.
My younger brother (born 1977) is a local rock star bass guitar player who has played with such acts as Concentric, Gordon Stone Band, Outer Bass Project and Rumble Doll. He also teaches bass. You may have seen him play.
Now about me- here's some bullets. They are not in order and this is not a complete list.
*I've lived in Burlington my whole life, except for the last four months of 1991 when I lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and from June 1997 until November 1998, when I lived in Austin, Texas. Neil Cleary was in Austin the same time I was. We randomly ran into each other there twice. Once while we were both waiting in line at a post office. Once while we were both waiting in line for a urinal after the world-premier of a Jonathan Demi movie. While there, I was among a small minority of Texans eager to vote against Governor Bush's re-election. Unfortunately his democratic opponent in that race, Gary Morrow, was too weak to get my vote either. I voted for a fringie instead.
*Once I took a flying lesson in a small plane. I actully took off myself by pulling back on the handles. The instructor had the same name as my younger brother, which is rare. I took that as a good omen.
*Poopsie, Koko and Yanna are the fake names I give my wife, son and daughter respectively when I blog about them.
*I dropped out of UVM and started Haik's Secret Sandwiches in 1993. I had a cell phone, a cooler full of sandwich and "the fastest delivery in the world" as late as 3am. First alone, then with a partner, I worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week for about a year. It paid the rent and fed me, but I ate a whole lot of sandwiches. Ten years later in 2003, I finally got my BA from UVM.
*The day I graduated High School in 1991, my friend I flew to Europe and toured around for a month. That was awesome. We visited Jim Morrison's grave in Paris, Chipped at what was left of the Berlin wall until a cop caught us, and took a 36 hour train ride from Athens to Budapest. That's from A to B.
*I have shaken hands with Bill Clinton three times- Twice on the same day when he campaigned at Perkin's Pier in 1992 and once at Burlington International Airport when he came here for the National Governors Conference in 1995.
*Early in 2001 I accidently set myself on fire. My brother had just dropped me off and I wasn't feeling well. It was freezing outside. When I got in the door of my apartment on Loomis Street, I cranked up the heat, put the kettle on the gas stove and started running a hot bath in the tub. I started to warm my hands by the heater which was about a foot from the stove. After a couple of seconds I felt things were getting a little too hot and suddenly realized the back of my shirt had caught fire from the gas stove behind me. Like an idiot I tried to reach behind me and beat out the flame with my hand. My hand caught on fire too. Within a few seconds, my entire back was engulfed in flames. I tried to roll against the wall (small kitchen-not enough room to "stop, drop & roll") and that didn't work. I was alone in my apartment. Nobody was going to help me. My mind raced. "If I don't solve this problem right now I'm gonna die." I thought. There was only one answer. I threw myself back-first and fully dressed into the scalding hot bath water I was drawing. Thank God I was. With the fire out, I pulled myself out of the tub. Then the pain hit. Worst I've ever felt. I made sure no fire lingered and lumbered to the phone. I called my brother who had just dropped me off not ten minutes ago. "Uh...can you come back to my place please?" I spent two days in the hospital with second and third degree burns over most of my back. Some resident kept trying to muscle me into getting a skin graft, but I was like "Forget it!" I had to go over this guy's head to the chief burn doctor just to get out of the hospital. I had to wear a huge maxi-pad over my back for about a month, but within a year I was totally healed.
*I have run for office three times. When I was 18 I ran for mayor against Peter Clavelle and came in second in a field of four with 11% or 865 votes. Jane Sanders was essentially my campaign manager that year. She taught me how to run a political campaign and I still remember a lot of it. In 1995 I ran for city council from ward three as the Progressive Coalition nominee and won against a democratic former councilor who had lost his seat because his house was redistricted out of his ward. I was the youngest person elected to the council in Burlington’s modern history. There may have been someone younger way back in the “City Fathers” days. In 2001 I again ran for mayor against Peter Clavelle. This time I came in third in a field for four with 1% or about 87 votes. I haven't been a member of a party since 1997. I'm an Independent.
*When I left the city council in 1997, I spent two months in India and Nepal. While in India I was fortunate enough to shake hands with the Dalai Lama in Dharmsala where the Tibetan Government in Exile is seated.
*Because I have a friend whose father lives there, I have hung out on Rockaway Beach in Queens a good number of times. Once I saw the Concord leaving JFK from that Beach. It was huge and loud in the sky and very surreal.
*When its towers were still standing, I went to the top of the World Trade Center twice. The first time I had walked all the way there from Washington Square Park. I love New York City.
*I have also been to The Coliseum in Rome, The Leaning Tower in Pisa, The Taj Mahal in Agra, The Ganges River at Varanasi, The Eiffel Tower in Paris, The Acropolis in Athens, The Grand Canyon in Arizona,the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Mount Rushmore in South Dakoda, Disney World in Orlando, The Capitol in Washington, Hollywood and Niagra Falls. Still, the number of places I’ve seen will always be dwarfed by the number of places I haven’t seen. I've never seen an Aztec or Egyptian Pyramid. I made my first trip to Armenia in 2009.
*I have taken two great American round-trip cross country road trips. The first was in a 1981 Honda accord that cost $600. The second was in 1980-something Subaru GL that cost $650. On the first trip I met an Italian guy and we drove together to Las Vegas, down to Ensenada, Mexico and through the Canadian Rockies. On the second trip I soaked in a hot spring in Idaho.
*I drove the night shift for Benway's Taxi during the summer of 1995. I only had two pukers that whole time- one out the door, and another on himself but not the cab. I was lucky when it came to passengers vomiting. I took one woman to a safehouse where she was hiding from the 'father of her children' who had bound and stabbed. "He stuck me like a pig." she told me. I drove one guy to the jail behind Denny's, he was using a lighter to seal the plastic from a cigarette pack around a nug which he explained would be going up his ass. Ah.. the night shift.
*I used to read a lot more than I do now. I’ve read Vonnegut the most, followed by Dostoevsky and Hunter S. Thompson. Before I read books, I was largely raised by television. On Friday nights in my youth I would watch The Dukes of Hazzard in one room, and then when it ended, I’d go watch Dallas with my parents in a different room. I was fully into Dallas when I was seven and eight years old. Decades later when I lived in Austin, my older brother was stationed in Oklahoma. Once my parents visited him there and followed him to a Pentecostal religious convention in Dallas. I met them there and took my parents out to the Southfork Ranch set where the show Dallas was filmed. That was neat. Before I left Dallas I visited Dealy plaza and the Sixth Floor Depository Museum.
*Poopsie were engaged within three days of meeting in late 2003. We were married on July 31 of 2004. Less then two years after that she was pregnant with our second kid. Hey, why beat around the bush, right?
*I started this blog in January of 2006. I hope you enjoy reading it.
*My all-time favorite movie is Wall Street, but Poopsie and I love to watch The Big Lebowski a lot. It also think the film Network is highly prescient.
*I want to build a marble staircase from Batterry Park down to the waterfront. Tricked out with plateaus, benches, landscaping... what a place to watch the sunset. Instant tourist attraction.
Monday, November 27, 2006 6:30pm Burlington College Community Room
Please attend this important community discussion. Encourage family, friends, and colleagues to join you and other citizens working together toward the prevention of violence against women and girls.
Guest Speakers / Burlington Pols: T.J. Donovan, Chittenden County State's Attorney
Kurt Wright, VT State Rep. and Burlington City Council Member
Sponsored by: Gender Studies Program Pro Se Legal Clinic The Caroline Baird Crichfield Fund for Women in need
The very "ballsy" role of Borat's sidekick Azamat is played by Armenian actor Ken Davitian, who while supposedly speaking Kazakh is actually speaking Amenian to Borat. (Borat's "Kazakh" is a Hebrew, Polish, Armenian, gibberish.) Poopsie caught on first, but soon even I, with my rudimentary knowledge of Armenian, could recognize phrases Azamat was using, like "let's go," "no," and "very good." By my calculation, the wild and richly deserved success of Borat may make Ken Davitian one of the most famous Armenians who ever lived.
Sacha Baron Cohen takes a lot of heat from Kazakhstan for his Borat character, but White American culture is also a prime target of his satire. The movie deftly teases out mainstream White America's enslavement to conformity, fear of strangers, bigotry and constant readiness to call the cops. Blacks, Gays and Jews in Borat are portrayed more sympathetically. In a subtle nod to his own tribe, Cohen depicts the old Jewish Couple who open their home to Borat and Azamat as the most compassionate characters in the Movie.
This film is great, important art. It is also extremely funny. It might make some people uncomfortable, but there's no need to throw it down the well.
The world is privy to less than one percent of my thoughts. I deliberately censor most, if not all of what I say. I do not feel free. For one, I don't want to lose my job, unless or until I have another one, and then I won't want to lose that. Two, I don't want to go to jail. Not that I would ever use words in an illegal way, but I'm sure there are those who may in error deem my words illegal. Three... ah! Whatever the fuck!
I'm so tired. And I've had an ear infection for a month. CHC should give my money back. The friggin' Dr. even told me he didn't see my ear drum because of 'debris blockage' (his theory) or swelling (my feeling). Even if his weak ass drops did solve the outer ear-infection, he should have had me come back so he could look at the drum.
I just found out Saturday from a better doctor at Given-UHC that there's a nasty infection behind the eardrum, too.
I've fucking been walking around, half-deaf in my right ear, with loud ringing at night, dizzy, in pain! Because some dude was more interested in God-knows-what than he was about healing me that day.
I paid retail $78.23 for my visit to CHC on 10/24. The vinegar drops the duck-call prescribed were another $19.99.
I paid retail $53.41 for my visit to UHC (Degosbrian) on 11/11. The thirty 500mg amoxicillin caplets the doctor prescribed me were $13.78.
I've been taking a gram and a half of amoxicillin per day since Saturday, and I'm starting to feel better. I suffered for about a month prior to Saturday...
Oh FUCK talk about Saturday- after I saw the doctor I dropped my wallet in the UHC lot. Frantically looking for it, I accidentally locked Koko (pseudonym for my 2 year old son.) in the car along with my wallet, phone and keys. That was a low moment, with the ear infection, and all.
Luckily Koko's a genius and didn't have any trouble climbing into the front seat and unlocking the car. Then I called lost-and-found and they had my wallet- so it all worked out.
The point is, my blog totally rules now. I just throw shit together a lot of people probably don't "get." EG- The whole Bernie=Rocky thing I built up culminating in the bronze statue of rocky canonizing Bernie in front of the classical architecture in the mode of the Capitol, in the city (Philly) where America was born, with a Latin ode to the public good- Nobody fucking realizes how brilliant that is. Woooo!
(By the way- "America," "Patriotism," "The USA," "Our Way of Life," "Freedom," "Liberty," "Justice-" These things mean the Constitution. They are just words without that goddamn piece of paper. )
And it has to be- because I have to condense the brilliance into the time it takes to lift a picture off the net and post it back up. I have no time for this! Why do I do it? Uh oh... Dean Scream....
Tabloid Trash Talk: Was the vast right-wing conspiracy correct when they called Pelosi A Terrorist? Look at these ads for the opposing sides of the smoking debate...
Then: You Make The Call!!!
I changed blog templates finally. Think of it as me moving into a new apartment. Half my shit is here in boxes. Half my shit is back at my old place all over the floor. This place is obviously not set up yet. I like it here though. This extra column is going to come in handy, and someday when I get my act together I can use these green boxes to really organize my links. Yep. If this new format were an apartment it would have southern exposeure and a loft. I've had my own blog for almost a year now. I figure I've earned an upgrade. To quote Little Orphan Annie, I think I'm gonna like it here. Please bear with me while I'm unpacking and setting up.
Vote. Go HERE to talk about it and/or use the comments here to say whatever you want. Vote. You may want to heed Bernie's counsel and fill up your gas tank, too. Vote.
No. Just kidding. Anybody see the VPT Senate Debate? You gotta love crazy fringies like Cris Ericson, Peter Moss, Craig Hill and Peter Diamondstone. They all went after Bernie for being too far right.
Tarrant proved he was developmentally arrested at least when he tried to make Bernie repudiate John Kerry's botched joke about Bush being a dumb ass who got stuck in Iraq. Are you kidding me? Hey Tarrant. You're an asshole. An Ass. Hole. Not only that, but you suck, Suck at politics. You Suck. Also Politics Vermont is Fake.
I'm voting for Bernie Sanders for Senate. Welch for House (so he can finally get over that close loss to Dick Snelling.) On Governor I lean toward Douglas. Gov. Lite: Marvin Malek. Auditor: Martha Abbott, State Senate- Hmmm- Maybe Dennis Delany. State Rep- I like Mark Larson. Oh and Charity Tensel for Justice of the Peace. She wants to be a government official and take your hard-earned money.
As Haik pointed out in a recent blog entry, Rich Tarrant had a twenty-year old letter up his sleeve that he tried to read at a debate. I happened to be watching the VFW debate on the Internet, and I noticed that there was something else on Tarrant's sleeve.
I know that Republicans usually wear their religion on their sleeves, so, at first, I thought that he had an inspirational spiritual message. I took a screen-shot, which is attached, but it is pretty hard to see exactly what it says on his left cuff. After very close analysis of the entire debate, I was able to determine that Rich Tarrant has his initials, RET, monogrammed on his shirt.
When a tailor makes a custom-fitted shirt, they will frequently put your initials on the cuff. That shirt probably costs at least $200. I wonder how many Vermont farmers have tailored shirts with monograms. Somebody could make a really nice ad out of this information. It would say:
Monogrammed Custom-Tailored Shirt: $200 Tarrant's Campaign for Senate: $7 million Bernie wins the election: Priceless
...There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's Rich Tarragant...er...Tarrant.
Click Picture for Debate Video from WPTZ (Under Most Popular)
Bernie hit every pitch out of the park. Stephanie Gorin bitch-slapped Tarrant and made him put his lame ass trick back up his sleeve, as it were, when he tried to read a 20 year old letter from some GE employees who had a beef with Bernie when he was mayor. Can you say desperate?
Top Three Richard Tarrant Quotes from the debate:
Number Three:"When I started IDX I didn't know from week to week if I was going to lose my job."
That's because his job was with IBM and he was building his own company on their time. (See Monday morning's Parking Garage post.) IBM should sue Richard Tarrant.
Number Two:"I will be ineffective." Obviously he was trying to say the opposite and his tongue wasn't cooperating. I'll give him a break here. It was toward the end of the debate and he was probably weary from the non-stop ass-kicking he'd been taking.
And the Number One Richard Tarrant Quote from the Debate (Drum Roll...)
"Mr. Sanders is correct."
Ta-daaaa! Yay! You're goddamned right about that one, you Cow-Pie!
Guest Blogger: Deep Throat! In case it might be interesting to you, here is an article from Deep Throat concerning the way IDX was actually founded:
Inside Story about how IDX was Founded
We've all seen the television ads that describe Rich Tarrant's rags to riches story. But, what really happened? Did Rich Tarrant use Hollywood to embellish his story? Here is what Rich told me about the way IDX was founded.
Rich Tarrant and Bob Hoehl both worked at IBM. When they decided to start their own company, they did it secretly, while continuing to work at IBM. Their company was called Burlington Data Processing (BDP) and, initially, did payroll processing. While IBM thought that Rich Tarrant was working for them as a salesman, he actually was trying to make get business for his own company, BDP. Similarly, Rich's partner, Bob Hoehl, was working on starting BDP while employed at IBM. Unfortunately, Bob Hoehl made a mistake when he ordered his BDP business cards. The cards were delivered to his office at IBM! When IBM realized what was happening, Bob Hoehl was fired.
Rich and Amy Tarrant had dinner with Bob and Cynthia Hoehl to launch their new venture. Amy Tarrant offered the following toast:
"Life is a bitch, But we don't care, Because we're going to be rich!"
Naturally, this story is not told in Tarrant's ads. Rich never gives credit to the role of his first wife, Amy Tarrant. But there is a reason why Amy is the one who made that toast. It was Amy's family money and real-estate connections that helped to launch Rich Tarrant.
I wasn't there at the time, and I can’t tell you what definitely happened. I can only tell you what Rich told me. In general, Tarrant enjoys talking and enjoys putting people down. I heard Tarrant tell people this story multiple times, laughing at the way Bob Hoehl got fired and laughing at Amy’s toast. -D.T.
OK this blogger device we use called "...er.." where somebody will say something like..."This chocolate milk is chocolaty and...er...milky" is totally played. All bloggers go to it and it's time to...er...stop.
The problem is it works so perfectly in some cases where a writer wishes to reenact a thoughtful pause at the crossroads of honesty and verbiage. Of course, like all writing it is a reenactment of reality, not the reality itself. I believe including such a pause, as projected by "...er...," is on some level necessarily disingenuous. You don't have to grope for words out loud in first-person prose. You grope for the words, then you write them. You're not really thinking of the word in real time as "...er..." would imply to the reader. You've had plenty of time to proofread since then and you could have taken that out. That's why I find "...er..." somewhat grating, no matter how seemingly apropos it may be in a given phrase.
So what should we do? You want to go back to "...uh..." with all the same problems? You want to just skip to the word and toss out "...er...?" You want to keep using "...er...?" What?
Ivan Jacobs left a comment on last Sunday's post entitled "WCAX Sunday Night Senate Debate." The comment was rather lengthy, so I decided to exercise the right to edit-for-brevity, as outlined in BurlingtonPol's Disclaimer, a link to which was posted on this blog at the time the comment was made.
I thought I did a skillful job paring down superfluous wording, while keeping the original intent and meaning of the comment intact. Quite honestly, I thought there was a good chance the author himself wouldn't even notice the very minor and benign changes.
I guess I over-estimated how inconspicuous the changes were. Today on that same post, that same commenter left these remarks:
WHOA! You edited my comment. That's so weak. I even used my real name. Return my comment or delete it altogether.
All I can say to young Mr. Jacobs is:
You sir are very astute. Not only that, you're not afraid to speak your mind, make demands of the media and hold it accountable- all with your real name.
As a reward, five FREE Genuine "Demand Democracy" bumper stickers are now racing their way via the US Postal Service to your home in Burlington.
You are also invited to submit five FREE posts to this website, on any subject, of any length and with whatever links you wish- all guaranteed to be completely uncut and unedited in any way!
This blog has a local and world-wide following of as many as 100 people! The audience is yours if you want it! If inteterested email haikbedrosian@yahoo.com for details.
This show is the first one to really talk about this election in depth. The whole one-hour live broadcast from 7:00pm to 8:00pm on Monday October 16 was amazing.
Stop saying it is and get to work. You in particular, Freyne. Stop "calling" races. Don't count your chickens before they hatch. It makes you look stupid. That goes for all of you.
PS- I am Samuel Adams's first cousin, nine times removed.
It was a good fight. Tarrant helped himself quite a bit, but Bernie did what he had to do. Note, both men oppose tying federal highway money to a drinking age of 21.
Again I got nuthin’. The blog has just seemed less important to me lately. All I got now is ennui and melancholia. Everyone dies and virtually all are forgotten. A million Tibetans here, A million Armenians there. What’s difference?
I have to be honest with you. I’ve been afraid to fly since the summer of 1997 when I watched the horror of the crash of Korea 007 in Guam while in a state of delirium, brought on by a severe ear infection in Austin temperatures for several days. The news had shots of the wreckage burning at night. I told myself I’d never fly again and bought the lie for nine years, until last week when I flew to New York.
Now I just feel strangely numb. There happened to be an interview with the same soldier who raped and murdered that fourteen year old Iraqi girl, written before the crime occurred. In it he told the reporter that he had come to Iraq because he wanted to kill people. Pure and simple. He said before coming to Iraq, he had built killing someone up as some big thing in his mind. He said the now that he had been to Iraq and killed people, he considered it no big deal. I think I feel the same way about flying. However with flying, this feeling is healthy and positive. With killing, it certainly is not.
So whatever. Things are getting tougher, what with Koko’s onset of "the terrible twos" and the Poopsie preggers, and all. Remember "My Favorite Year?" Try "My Favorite Trimester." I mean I’m sorry but blogging is lame and stupid. Do me a favor and "Get a life will you people?!" William Shatner is not impressed. I’m sick of this shit and I don’t have anything to say right now.
But still about one hundred of you people come check BP every day (ok, seventy five without the worldwide hits from people looking for pictures of Mr. T.) So this is the update. I hope you’re happy. You people are weird. From studying my site meter statistics, I know there’s a small but insane mix of people who read this blog regularly, so I feel some responsibility to update it.
I wish I could be more like Brian Brown. Look at iburlington. The same ‘need audio video of Douglas press’ has been top story forever. And still I keep my link up and I always will. Assuming there hasn’t been a tragedy, iB must give so little of a shit. Please believe me when I tell you that's my goal. Brian Brown’s the originator.
Now leave me alone until I write something else. Bah!
HayesGroup Hayes Group Hayes HayesGroup The Hayes hayesgroup.com Group Matt Hayes
Thursday, September 28, 2006
The Hayes Group The Hayes Group The Hayes Group The Hayes Group The Hayes Group The Hayes Group Bad PR Bad PR Bad PR Bad PR Hayes Group Hayes HayesGroup The Hayes Group Bad PR Bad PR Hayes Group Hayes HayesGroup The Hayes Group. Negative Publicity. Negative Publicity. Negative Publicity. Negative Publicity. Negative Negative Publicity. Hayes Group Hayes HayesGroup The Hayes Group Hayes Group Hayes HayesGroup The Hayes Group. hayesgroup.com hayesgroup.com hayesgroup.com
The Hayes Group is Bad for your business.
Matt Hayes. Matt Hayes. Matt Hayes. Matt Hayes. Matt Hayes. Matt Hayes. Matt Hayes.
Bad for business. Negative Image. Negative Image. Bad PR.
Hayes=PolVT Shill Blog= Tarrant. Don't go with Hayes. Cheap tricks. Smoke and Mirrors. Bad Press. Poor Marketing. Shills. Liars. Negative Impression. Bad for Business. Lies. Lies. Lies.
The Main Event: Saturday, September 30th at Champlain College's New Gym, 163 South Willard Street in Burlington at 7:00 pm. …In the Yellow corner, weighing in at two hundred, fifty million dollars, the man who uses fear and manipulation to get what he wants, the man who turns a blind eye to fraud, the man with the Hollywood lie machine…Rich "*#%#!$$@*!!" Tarrant!
…And in the Red corner, weighing in at twenty-five years of civic experience, the man who stands up for the little guy, the fighter who takes on corporate interests on behalf of veterans, the poor and the elderly…Bernie "Our Man" Sanders!
Here is a previously unpublished photograph of Bill Clinton. I took it at Burlington International Airport in 1995. Click here for the YouTube video of the interview with Mike Wallace's kid.
Poopsie, Koko and I will be in New York City until Tuesday. I won't be blogging there. We are baptizing Koko at St. Illuminator Armenian Church Sunday. Armenians have worshiped Christ longer than any other people. Comments are off, too. I thought this would be a good time for BurlingtonPol's 9/11 memorial and moment of silence.
Five years ago, when the disaster was just a couple of weeks old, I visited the site of the World Trade Center. Feel free to look at some images of that trip by clicking on the link or the picture of the old skyline.
The last sentence said: "After some major event, like the Bush or McCain visit, another American Research Group poll will magically appear that will show Tarrant has cut Bernie's lead even more."
Well, there's been two major events. Barbara Bush visited, and Tarrant won the Republican primary. And, now, my prediction has been fulfilled. Magically, American Research Group has published a new poll that shows Tarrant has reduced Bernie's lead to 15%.
Nobody knows who paid for this poll. The people at New Hampshire based American Research Group won't identify their sponsors. Like the last poll, these results are radically different from all other polls.
Here are my next two predictions:
* Tarrant's Fake Blog PoliticsVermont will have a real nice story about how this new poll shows Tarrant is progressing well.
* There will be another American Research Group poll in about a month that shows Bernie's lead down to single digits.
Tarrant is obviously engaged in the practice of Astroturfing. He is trying to engineer the appearance of a grass-roots movement and show support when that support does not really exist. His actions are dishonest and perhaps even criminal.
Republican US Senate nominee Rich Tarrant has released a new ad going after ("going after" PolVT never says Tarrant’s "attacking") Independent Rep. Bernie Sanders vote on a bill dealing with victims rights.
(Note: PolVT calls Tarrant "Republican US Senate nominee" and Bernie "Independent Rep." Why not "Independent US Representative?" Why not "Republican Senate candidate?" PolVT writes it to make Tarrant sound more important, and Bernie less important.)
This is a pretty heavy ad. ("Heavy." Read: It, thus Tarrant has political gravitas.) Expect a strong response from Sanders' campaign. (PolVT Raises expectations of Sanders’s camp vis-à-vis this ad in an effort to diminish the impact of whatever that response is. If there is no response, then Sanders is derelict. Clever.) Click on the picture to view the ad.
Part II- An Analysis of the Propaganda Per Se
In the ad the woman asks "Bernie, who’s right’s are more important- the rapist’s or mine?" Does this mean this woman is a rape victim? If she is and has gone public about what happened to her for the sake of victims’ advocacy, then I applaud her courage. If she has not been a victim of rape, then she’s misleading us when she says "or mine." Is this a real victim being interviewed? Is she being paid for her work on this commercial?
According to the Ad the woman speaking is Lesanne Vincent of Burlington, who has been a resident of Vermont for 43 years. If you just glance at the ad you might think she has lived in Burlington all that time. Like she might even know Bernie personally…. (it’s sick, but this is where SPI, Inc. is leading us.)
Part III- Good Reason to vote "Ney"
Here is the text of the bill this commercial flashes on the screen:
WOMEN’S RIGHTS * HIV TESTING –PASSAGE "Canady, R-Fla.: Motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill that would allow sexual assault victims to find out the HIV status of their suspected assailant immediately after the charges are brought." H.R. 3088, CQ Vote #505: Octob
Libertarians? Bueller? First of all we’re talking about suspects here, not convicts. You can’t go taking a person’s blood and medical records just because they are accused of something.
Secondly, this runs right up against science. I’ve always had to wait two weeks to get the results of an AIDS test. Maybe results can come back faster now, but there is still that period of between six weeks and six months when the virus could be incubating and undetectable by the test. And that’s only if you have no sex during that interim between tests. You can’t force six months of something on someone who is merely accused. Who and how would you enforce that anyway? And of course the last thing you want to do is tell a woman who was just raped the guy who did it checks out clean, when he really doesn’t.
This commercial is an outrage and it makes me feel physically ill. Literally. Shame on everyone involved, excepting Lesanne Vincent if she really is a rape victim. If that’s true, she gets a pass. For using this woman, and the pain of rape victims and their families try to gain political advantage, Tarrant gets no pass. No pass.
Decent Vermonters from all political stripes should overwhelmingly repudiate these disgraceful tactics.
"I think that everybody is missing a big story in the Republican primary results. Why did Martha Rainville get 4,000 more votes than Rich Tarrant? There were only 30,000 republicans who voted. Those 4,000 votes are a lot. Martha has political views that are nearly identical to Tarrants. Tarrant had an opponent who apparently did not even campaign actively. So, why did Martha get so many votes, and Tarrant, comparatively fewer? Perhaps, this voting statistics indicates that even rank-and-file republicans are disappointed and disgusted with the negative campaign tactics of Tarrant."
Yeah. I know. I just think "D.A." sounds cooler. It's the same job. See? It pays to have your picture on my sidebar for months and months! Congrats TJ!
Guest Blogger: Deep Throat Four days before the terrorists struck, Rich Tarrant cancelled an already scheduled Red Cross blood drive at IDX. What did he do after the terrorists hit us?
Poll Results: What should Haik do Tuesday? Vote Parke in the Republican Primary to hurt Tarrant 48%(42 votes) Vote in the Democratic Primary to support TJ Donovan 29%(25 votes) Stay Home. 23%(20 votes) (87 votes total)
"Four days before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, lDX Systems Corp. canceled a scheduled Red Cross blood drawing at its South Burlington headquarters. Why?"
You are doing a great job. The Beltline is paved. Riverside is looking much better. I trust your judgement on the sale of the land on the Intervale. I thank you for holding the 1% sales tax in reserve. The budget is balanced. The city's bond rating has not slipped. You seem to be doing more with less in city government and investing in the future. I'm proud of you.
You gotta make that parking lot two-way. That "Do Not Enter" sign preventing cars from reaching Union Street from the grocery strore is total bullshit.
Guest Blogger: "Deep Throat"
Everybody knows about Astroturf. It's fake grass. But what is political Astroturfing? It is the process of engineering the appearance of a significant grass-roots movement and public support. In the book, "All the President's Men", there are several cases documented in which, during the 1972 campaign against McGovern, Richard Nixon's campaign tried to make it appear that there was significant support for his policies. The Astroturfing process generally involves paid PR firms.
There is a nice article on Astroturfing in the Wikipedia, which you can read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing
and here is another definition of Astroturfing: http://www.answers.com/topic/astroturfing
Astroturfing involves more than just activities with a single blog. It involves an integrated strategy.
The following activities indicate that Tarrant's campaign is engaging in Astroturfing:
* In December, positive changes were made to Tarrant's Wiki entry and negative changes were made to Bernie's. These changes were traced to an IP address at the PR firm Hayes Group. The changes included comments about "increased chatter" and significant increase in support for Tarrant, which certainly didn't exist in December.
* On multiple blogs, individuals have been posting multiple entries extremely critical of Bernie and extremely positive for Tarrant. Notably, these include an individual who identified himself as "Jason". Jason's IP address has been traced back to the HayesGroup.
* The blog "VermontSentateRace" was established purportedly as a non-partisan blog. It turned out that a paid Tarrant operative, Jeff Bartley established that blog, however.
* The blog "PoliticsVermont" seems to have insider republican information. It shows positive pictures of Tarrant and negative pictures of Bernie. The authors of the blog won't identify themselves.
* The American Research Group published a poll that was supposed to be an independent poll. That poll showed that Tarrant had cut Bernie's lead in half, from forty points to twenty-one points. That poll showed very different results than other polls, however. It is expensive to run a poll. Who paid for the American Research Group poll? Nobody knows! They won't identify the source of their funds. Incidentally, the American Research Group is located in New Hampshire and has published many other questionable polls favorable to republicans.
Ultimately, Astroturfing is evil. It involves manipulating information to change public perception. So, you might ask, why would Rich Tarrant engage in Astroturfing? After all, he has all that money, and he has been saturating the media. Some people think that he wouldn't bother with blogs and the Internet.
Here is my answer. If you had all the money in the world, why wouldn't you try every technique that's ever been used?Here is my prediction. After some major event, like the Bush or McCain visit, another American Research Group poll will magically appear that will show Tarrant has cut Bernie's lead even more.
-Deep ThroatRelated Posts:What's Tarragant Got Up (or on) his Sleeve?Monday Morning Parking Garage Edition Monday Parking Garage Edition Tarrant lays off 300, Raises Own Pay Tarrant Sucks Blood (From Red Cross)Astroturf, Nixon, and Tarrant Deep Throat Says...(8.30.6)
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.
Click Sticker to get one.
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Amendment VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars,
the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury,
shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States,
than according to the rules of the common law.
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses
yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your
teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed,
to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door."
-Emma Lazarus, 1883
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