The Twenty-First Century Rediscovery of Nullification and Secession in American Political Rhetoric: Frivolousness Incarnate Or Serious Arguments to Be Wrestled With?
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How Safe Is Our Food?
VOLUME TWELVE NUMBER 2 Lobbying Reform — Keeping it Legal by Cheryl Baisden When you want something really special for your birthday, it may take more than just a simple request to convince your parents to buy it. You probably start out dropping hints about how great it is, and then casually mention how your friends have it, and how good you’ll be if you get it. If that doesn’t work, maybe you become a little more helpful around the house, or try winning your mom over by complimenting her new haircut. You probably never realized it, but there’s a word for all of the effort you’re putting in — it’s called lobbying. And while you may be lobbying to get that special gift, the practice is most often used in government as a way to influence lawmakers. WINTER2008 “In government, a lobbyist is someone who tries to influence the decisions of elected officials,” explained Todd Sidor, an attorney From ‘Farm to Fork’: and lobbyist for the New Jersey State Bar Association. “Usually they are experts in certain fields, or former government officials with connections HowHow SafeSafe isis OurOur Food?Food? in certain fields, and their job is to by Barbara Sheenhan account for about 20 percent of our (CSREES); and the Department of educate legislators about why a food supply. Health and Human Services (DHHS), certain piece of legislation should or Except for the occasional recall, The remaining 80 percent of which encompasses the Centers for should not be passed. In a way, they Americans basically operate on the our food supply is regulated by Disease Control and Prevention are kind of like salesmen because assumption that our food supply is the Food and Drug Administration (CDC) and the National Institute of their job is to try to sell a certain idea safe. -
Town Meeting
VermontNumber 21 |Winter 2008 CommonsVisit us online at www.vtcommons.org VOICES OF INDEPENDENCE Reviving Town Meeting “A Gem — literate, thought- Town Meeting: A Space Vermont’s Energy Future: provoking, radical.” for Communal Liberty 10 Reasons for Hope Orion magazine By Frank Bryan By Greg Strong Vermont Commons is a print and online forum for am unsure of the exact date but the fall of 1957 ith all of the hoopla swirling around the exploring the idea of Vermont independence—politi- Iwill do. Forces in Montpelier were (and had Wtopic of the state’s energy affairs (can you cal, economic, social, and spiritual. We are unaffili- been for some time) making war on the small say: “$100 dollars per barrel,” “expiring power ated with any other organization or media, and inter- schools of Vermont. I was a sophomore at New- contracts,” “commercial wind energy,” “energy ested in all points of view. We welcome your letters, bury High School which, on a good year, gradu- efficiency funding,” “nuclear energy safety,” “food thoughts, and participation. ated about a dozen students. I was to graduate in versus biofuels,” and “carbon footprint”?), we 1959, a very good year indeed. My class had seven thought we’d jump into 2008 by focusing on IN THIS ISSUE students. what’s going right on the Vermont energy front. I was 15 in the fall of ‘57 and, like most of the Our rationale? Just maybe, a focus on the posi- 1 Town Meeting: A Space for Communal students, was opposed to the “consolidation” of tive will inform our next steps toward a more Liberty, by Frank Bryan Newbury High with schools from another town. -
Civic Engagement and Peace Corps Recruitment Efforts in the State of Vermont Kelly Dolan University of Vermont
University of Vermont ScholarWorks @ UVM Graduate College Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 2016 Civic Engagement and Peace Corps Recruitment Efforts in the State of Vermont Kelly Dolan University of Vermont Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis Part of the Sociology Commons Recommended Citation Dolan, Kelly, "Civic Engagement and Peace Corps Recruitment Efforts in the State of Vermont" (2016). Graduate College Dissertations and Theses. 658. https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis/658 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations and Theses at ScholarWorks @ UVM. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate College Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ UVM. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND PEACE CORPS RECRUITMENT EFFORTS IN THE STATE OF VERMONT A Thesis Presented By Kelly Dolan to The Faculty of the Graduate College of The University of Vermont In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Science Specializing in Community Development and Applied Economics October, 2016 Defense Date: August 23, 2016 Thesis Examination Committee: Richard Watts, Ph.D., Advisor David Conner, Ph.D. Edward McMahon, Ph.D. Barri Tinkler, Ph. D., Chairperson Cynthia J. Forehand, Ph.D., Dean of the Graduate College ABSTRACT The United States Peace Corps’ recruitment offices actively seek a qualified volunteer base from its applicant pool for positions in over 60 countries. The state of Vermont, and colleges and universities within the state, have provided the agency with an unprecedented number of volunteers accounting for their consistently high ranking for the number of volunteers currently serving overseas. -
The Fourteenth Amendment and the Unconstitutionality of Secession
The University of Akron IdeaExchange@UAkron Akron Law Review Akron Law Journals June 2015 The ourF teenth Amendment and the Unconstitutionality of Secession Daniel A. Farber Please take a moment to share how this work helps you through this survey. Your feedback will be important as we plan further development of our repository. Follow this and additional works at: http://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/akronlawreview Part of the Constitutional Law Commons, and the Fourteenth Amendment Commons Recommended Citation Farber, Daniel A. (2012) "The ourF teenth Amendment and the Unconstitutionality of Secession," Akron Law Review: Vol. 45 : Iss. 2 , Article 6. Available at: http://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/akronlawreview/vol45/iss2/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Akron Law Journals at IdeaExchange@UAkron, the institutional repository of The nivU ersity of Akron in Akron, Ohio, USA. It has been accepted for inclusion in Akron Law Review by an authorized administrator of IdeaExchange@UAkron. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Farber: The Fourteenth Amendment 12- FARBER_MACRO.DOCM 6/13/2012 3:42 PM THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT AND THE UNCONSTITUTIONALITY OF SECESSION Daniel A. Farber∗ I. Introduction ...................................................................... 479 II. Antebellum Conceptions of Citizenship and the Nature of the Union ...................................................................... 484 A. Secession and the Nature of the Union ...................... 485 B. Federalism -
The Second Vermont Republic Thomas Naylor
The Second Vermont Republic Frequently Asked Questions Thomas Naylor Issue no. 1 • April 2005 What is the Second Vermont Republic? The Second Vermont Republic (SVR) is a peaceful, democratic, grassroots, libertarian populist movement opposed to the tyranny of the U.S. Government, corporate America, and globalization and committed to the return of Vermont to its rightful status as an independent republic, as it was between 1777 and 1791. What is the primary objective of the movement? Independence. To extricate Vermont peacefully, legally, and democratically from the United States as soon as possible and create an independent nation-state based on the Swiss model. Does that mean secession? Yes. Why does Vermont want to secede? First, the United States suffers from imperial overstretch and has become unsustainable politically, economically, agriculturally, socially, culturally, and environmentally. Second, Vermont finds it increasingly difficult to protect itself from the debilitating effects of big business, big agriculture, big markets, and big government, who want all of us to be the same—just like they are. Third, the U.S. Government has lost its moral authority because it is owned, operated, and controlled by corporate America. Fourth, American foreign policy, which is based on the doctrine of full-spectrum dominance, is immoral, illegal, unconstitutional, and in violation of the United Nations charter. Fifth, as long as Vermont remains in the Union, its citizens face curtailed civil liberties, the risk of terrorist attack, and the risk of military conscription of its youth. But isn’t secession unconstitutional? No. “Whenever any form of government becomes destructive, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government,” said Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence. -
PART ONE Empire and Overshoot 11 PART TWO Global Problems
CONTENTS The Mad Farmer, Flying the Flag of Rough Branch, Secedes from the Union Wendell Berry iii Introduction Ron Miller 1 PART ONE Empire and Overshoot 11 Voices for Independence Ian Baldwin 13 The Collapse of the American Empire Kirkpatrick Sale 16 Liberals and Conservatives: Relics of the Past Thomas Naylor 20 Our Land, Our Destiny: Vermont Independence Convention Keynote Address James Howard Kunstler 22 PART TWO Global Problems, Local Solutions 27 ECONOMICS 29 The Real Economy Robert Costanza 31 Economics of Scale vs. the Scale of Economics: The New Movement for Responsible Living Kirkpatrick Sale 42 Local Living Economies: Toward Basic Principles of a Bioregional Economy Judy Wicks 47 MONEY 00 Money and Liberty Adrian Kuzminski 49 Sovereignty and the Money Problem: A New Beginning Charles Eisenstein 54 Local Currency: A Revolution That Sounds Like a WhisperAmy Kirschner 59 The Buck Slows Here: Slow Me the Money, Vermont Woody Tasch 63 ENERGY 67 Powering Vermont’s Future by Embracing the Peak-Oil ChallengeCarl Etnier and Annie Dunn Watson 69 The Way of All Empires: The United States on the Eve of Peak OilIan Baldwin 74 The Great Hydropower Heist: How Corporations Colonized Our Watershed Commons Dr. Richard Foley and Hervey Scudder 80 Energy Crisis, Energy Opportunities Gaelan Brown 88 FOOD 95 What Will You Eat if Vermont Secedes? Amy Shollenberger 97 The Food Less Traveled Enid Wonnacott 102 Putting the CSA Model to the Test Robin McDermott 107 The Case for Local Wheat and Bread in Vermont Erik Andrus 110 A Portrait of Food Sovereignty -
Vermont's Economy in Crisis
A Seasonal Publication of News, Politics, And Counter-Culture For The Working Vermonter, Fall/Winter, 2008-9 #21 FREE VERMONT’S 2008 GENERAL ELECTION And the Future of the Green Mountain Electoral Left GREEN MOUNTAIN EARTH FIRST! Takes Action Against VT Yankee/PSB By Slug Brattleboro, VT, November, 3rd, 2008- Demanding the closure of Vermont Yankee By David Van Deusen nuclear power plant in mid 20s, with two on‐ Democratic President‐ Vernon, a group calling Montpelier, VT, No‐ themselves Green Mountain vember 10th, 2008‐ If going, unpopular wars elect Barack Obama Earth First! challenged the afoot, with the econ‐ (who received 67.4% there were ever a year Vermont Public Service omy crashing harder of the VT vote), this for an incumbent Re‐ board at their State Street than the US has seen was the year that the office in Montpelier Mon- publican Governor to since the Great De‐ left hoped to demon‐ day morning. Dressed as be shown the door it pression, and with strate definitively that elves and Santa Claus, the was 2008. With Presi‐ group entered the office in- droves of Vermonters Jim does not equal dent George W. Bush’s sisting that the Public Ser- going to the polls to jobs and that Jim Vermont approval rat‐ vice Board (PSB) revoke enthusiastically place represents the same ing hovering in the (Continued Page 17) their bet with the now (Continued on P. 10) RALLY AT STATE HOUSE MAY 1st, 2009. HEALTHCARE! HEALTHCARE! 2009. 1st, MAY HOUSE AT STATE RALLY VERMONT’S ECONOMY IN CRISIS THE SHRINKING JOB MARKET & THE REAL NUMBERS Part 1 in a 2 part series What little we hear about the Ver- mont economy from TV or newspapers Call In Sick! By Vermont Economist Doug Hoffer is limited to a few simple measures May 1st, 2009 such as the unemployment rate, job Burlington, VT- I don’t pretend to P.7 know what’s happening on Wall Street growth, and per capita income. -
The Rise and Fall of the Green Mountain Anarchist Collective David Van Deusen
Interface: a journal for and about social movements Article Volume 8 (2): 59 - 80 (November 2016) Van Deusen, Green Mountain Anarchist Collective The rise and fall of the Green Mountain Anarchist Collective David Van Deusen Abstract The story of the Green Mountain Anarchist Collective of Vermont gives us an example of the many chapters, shifts and turns in the life of a collective. Emerging at the height of the global justice movement, in an area with a long history of local democracy - GMAC worked to deepen the strategic thinking around the use of the black bloc. Beyond and through writing, and living the revolution, the group used direct action in its labor organizing, community organizing, solidarity work and immigrant justice work – keeping anti- capitalism and anti-authoritarianism central. “The chains of authoritarianism and capitalism can only be shattered when they are broken at many links. Vermont is our home, and it serves as the one link that we can access, but it is only one. Any victory here would only be partial. Deliverance to the Promised Land will only come when many more than us rise up against that which holds the multitude in bondage.” -The Green Mountain Anarchist Collective, from “Vermont Secession” Montpelier, Vermont - Established in 2000, in a cooperative household located at the termination of a wooded dirt road in Southern Vermont, the Green Mountain Anarchist Collective (GMAC), for a time, did its part in carrying forth Vermont’s long tradition of radical, leftist politics. Founded in Windham County by Natasha Voline, Johnny Midnight, Xavier Massot, and (myself) David Van Deusen, the collective was birthed with strong Situationist, leftist, and militant inclinations. -
Original Nations’“Sovereignty- Building” Projects in Asia, North America, and Beyond
Asian Journal of Law and Society, 7 (2020), pp. 39–60 doi:10.1017/als.2019.24 © Cambridge University Press and KoGuan Law School, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The State Constitution v. the National Constitution: Original Nations’“Sovereignty- Building” Projects in Asia, North America, and Beyond Hiroshi FUKURAI* University of California, Santa Cruz Abstract Historical tensions and conflicts have existed between the nation and the state across the globe for centuries. These antithetical geo-political entities have also erected Constitutions of their own to assert their sovereignty and independence. The paper then explores the constitutional activism by the nation to attain its sovereignty and the right to self-determination from the state supervision. The paper specifically interrogates recent efforts by the Nation of Lakota in North America, and its constitutional activism and the attempts to secede from the US jurisdiction in order to declare the nation’s independence. The paper provides the critical investigation of an array of both domestic and international laws used by the Nation of Lakota in order to complete the withdrawal of its political ties and legal obligation from the US territory. The paper concludes by discussing the ongoing constitutional activism by multiple nations in Asia and other regions of the world in an effort to attain their sovereignty and independence within, and even beyond, the respective state systems. -
January 2006 VOICES of INDEPENDENCE INDEPENDENCE REFLECTIONS
Vermontwww.vtcommons.org CommonsNumber 9 | January 2006 VOICES OF INDEPENDENCE INDEPENDENCE REFLECTIONS Vermont: The Once and Future Republic Vermont Commons is a print and online forum for exploring the idea of Vermont independ- ence—political, economic, social, and spiritual. By James Hogue By Frank Bryan Look for us the last Friday of every month in the Vermont Guardian, and visit our website at www.vtcommons.org. We are unaffiliated with epublic: A system of government in which the ow final the hues of October; the orange of any other organization or media, and interested Rpeople hold sovereign power and elect repre- Hoak and tamarack against the hard green of in all points of view. We welcome your letters, sentatives who exercise that power. It contrasts, on the fir, the light of the leaving sun sneaking up and thoughts, and participation. the one hand, with a pure democracy, in which the under from the south showing rare angles on the people or community as an organized whole forest floor, the heavens heaved northward, IN THIS ISSUE wield the sovereign power of government, and on patient and foreboding. the other with the rule of one person (such as a Driving through the colors of Vermont to 1 Vermont: The Once and Future Repub- king, emperor, czar, or sultan). Black’s Law Dictio- Montpelier this October past to advocate for the lic, by James Hogue and Frank Bryan nary, abridged seventh edition. secession of Vermont from the United States of 2 Re-Inventing Vermont: A New Year, an During the fourteen years between Vermont’s America, I was reminded of the music of Judy Open Invitation, by Rob Williams Declaration of Independence (January 15, 1777) Collins sung thirty years ago and the lyrics that 4 Representing Empire: The Politics of and its acceptance into the union (March 4, 1791) haunt me still: the Living Dead, by Thomas Naylor Vermont convened an elected assembly, adopted a Across the morning sky 5 Our Land, Our Destiny: Vermont Inde- constitution, coined its own money (VERMONT All the birds are leaving. -
Tom Paine for the 21St Century. a Surprisingly
“Tom Paine for the 21st century. A surprisingly compelling argument for applying the small-is-beautiful philosophy to the United States itself.” --Jay Walljasper Editor of Ode magazine “I must assure you of my pleasure in, and approval of, your views on the Second Vermont Republic. The assertion by Vermonters of a sensible foreign policy is wonderfully to the good. You have my agreement and my admiration.” --John Kenneth Galbraith Harvard Economist “All power to Vermont in its effort to distinguih itself from the U.S.A. as a whole, and to pursue in its own way the cultivation of its tradition. My enthusiasm for what you are trying to do in Vermont remains undiminished; I am happy for any small support I can give it.” --George F. Kennan Former Ambassador to Russia and Professor, Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton “A serious examination of our God given right of self governance and that right’s implication for secession. Dr. Naylor has made a persuasive case of the identical response to today’s ‘train of abuses’ that led the Founders to secede from King George’s tyranny.” --Walter E. Williams John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics, George Mason University “In 1991 the Soviet Union was peacefully dissolved by the secession of 15 states. It had become simply too large and centralized. So has the American Union. Thoughtful people from every side of the political spectrum are beginning to realize that the only check to the tyranny, insecurity, and spirit numbing mass culture that continued centralization would bring is to seriously consider breaking the American empire up into alternative unions and/or smaller polities. -
Winter 2011 Commonssubscribe Online at VOICES of INDEPENDENCE
Vermont Number 39 | Winter 2011 CommonsSubscribe online at www.vtcommons.org VOICES OF INDEPENDENCE Interested in the Vermont Vermont’s “Freedom & Unity” coin? statewide independent news journal Find out more on page 39 of this issue. The Empire’s New Clothes: The Barack Brand, Endless War, and the Moral Case for Vermont Independence Christopher Ketcham ere we are a little more than nine years Hafter the attacks of September 11, still hunt- ing for bin Laden, who – according to just about every CIA source I’ve spoken to – is likely long dead. “He’s a narcissist,” said one ex-case offi- cer who worked the Middle East for two decades. “He’d still be making videos – unless he really is a CIA agent.” Alas, as with the mythical terrorist and archenemy of the state Goldstein in George Orwell’s 1984, whose face is periodically brought out on the telescreens for the Two Minutes Hate to whip “the proles” into “one of their periodical frenzies of patriotism,” the enemy must not be U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTO BY SENIOR AIRMAN JULIANNE SHOWALTER. SOURCE: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS vanquished. He must persist. By god, he will persist. Do Goldstein and his terrorist Brotherhood Lost On Planet Pentagon? really exist? “That,” answers Orwell in his novel, “you will never know… As long as you live it Why Vermont Should Say NO to the F-35 will be an unsolved riddle in your mind.” Thus President Obama, carrying the banner of the Juliet Buck Two Minutes Hate on the appointed day – the date September 11, now perhaps better known ake it from un-credentialed Vermont house-