Joe gets out & mixes it up on King St.

The Stone Soup Block Party had some great moments. Like Joe O'Brien mixing it up with the DJ. Way to go Joe!



See more pics here.

Dear readers

The Progressive Democrats of Worcester is no longer a chapter of PDAmerica.org. As the point of origin of the name, the blog, discourse and commentary, I claim all copyrights under the statutes of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Blog entries that may have been authored by others have been removed. Thanks for understanding.

Barney Frank in Dartmouth

A few of us here in PDW drove down to Darmouth August 18th, to participate in the Town Hall meeting called by Congressman Barney Frank. Well worth the drive. While I love our Congressman, he just doesn't have the "ethnic heritage" for such chutzpah. Hoorah, Barney, way to go!

"Ma’am, having a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table, I have no interest in doing it."



See more rubutal at:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/protests

On a more serious note, I had the opportunity to ask Barney about ACES and the derivatives market that will emerge from its enactment. Quote "we will regulate this derivatives market to insure safe passage of ACES." The future of the world is in your hands, Barney. Thanks for caring.

Colbert challenge to the Nation

Colbert to the Nation: "People all over the world, when you wake up in the morning, set your oven to 350 and leave it on all day long!" October 24th
International Day of Climate Action

The reference article mentioned is "Target Atmospheric CO2: Where Should Humanity Aim?" by James Hansen et al.; ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE J. 217, 217-18 (2008); found here

Kunstler on progressive politics

Should be no suprise to anyone that I espouse the peak oil thesis of why we have economic troubles, and will have for some time to come. Hence, I'm a bit of fan of James Howard Kunstler, and hope he succeeds waking up America.

In circles that pass for “progressive” these days, the natives are getting restless. Their agitation seems pretty inchoate for the moment — still resting on vague, poorly-defined wishes for “change.” These vague promptings need to be focused on specific action that is realistic within the context of comprehensive contraction and transformation. A big piece of this would be the recognition that our suburban sprawl economy is dying, and that we now have to bend our efforts to reorganizing American life on the most fundamental physical terms. We have to inhabit the landscape differently, move around it differently, generate food out of it differently, and make things on it again. Whatever remaining real capital there is in the system can’t be squandered on cash bonuses for Wall Street employees. (see post)

Any progressive politics (as this blog presumes) must be based on a likely vision of the future. Rebuilding a plausible economic future for Worcester means dealing with peak oil reality, a sustainable energy future using the means we have now, like wind & solar, and a relocalization of all the essential goods and services on which society depends. I've posted before on Small is Beautiful and its corollary, Relocalize Now.

The next Mayor and City Council of Worcester need to adopt a new vocabulary. Don't trust any candidate for pubic office who doesn't know what it means to relocalize or prepare for a sustainable future. Building another cog for the global economy will only waste precious time in preparing for the emergent reality. Joe, hope you're listenning.

The Quisling Green

Well then... a different moment, hopefully. Some PDW members are keeping the art & science of Quisling alive & well.

The District 4 race for City Council, between Grace Ross and Barbara Haller, will be most interesting - that's a good thing. City Council will be well served by an airing of the various issues. As a maker of the Green Amendment at the DSC (extensively blogged here), I'd like to see a fair & balanced debate between the two on the role of the City in addressing the significant challenges of Climate Change. We'll have plenty to say about this, so stay tuned. I know and respect both Grace and Barbara - they're good people and true public servants.

For those members of PDW that are avid supports of Grace Ross - that is not license to hijack this organization for your own purposes, especially when that subverts our Chapter Rules and the democratic process in our own organization. Its grounds for removal. We now have a no tollerance policy for quisling the chapter for political purposes not of our own making.

PDW is a chapter of PDA, a PAC for the Democratic Party. We don't hand out endorsements to those who are not recognized members of our party, period. Barbara is a long-time, hard working member of the Democratic Party. Grace is an independent, formerly a member of the Green Party.

As a progressive, I have myself vasilated between the green and blue lines. I love the Greens, but also feel that our best chance of overcoming our nation's many deficiencies is by "a progressive reform of the democratic party." Such is my commitment, and hopefully yours.

Please respect our boundaries as an organization. Thank you! Regards.