Just a day before Valentine's Day, the current occupant of the White
House demonstrated his love for United States citizen/consumers by
signing the so-called “Economic Stimulus Act of 2008” into law.
Sitting behind a small desk with a banner that shouted "Boosting Our
Economy," he inked a $107-million spending package that will send (any
week now) tax “rebate” checks ranging between $300 and $1,200 to
middle- and low-income taxpayers (which is to say, most of us).
Joining in the photo-op were Congressional Democratic leaders Nancy

Anthony Pollina of Middlesex is the Progressive candidate for governor of Vermont.

Vermont Commons: Let’s start with a very broad question. As
you’re considering becoming governor of Vermont, what is your vision
for our future? What direction would you like to see our state take?

Dispatches from the Fronts

1. Associated Press, February 16, 2008. By William J. Kole

Sean Connery thinks a Scottish
nation is a bonnie notion.

How about Spain’s Basque country becoming a
real country?

And what’s wrong with a People’s Republic of
Vermont?

Kosovo’s looming
independence raises all those questions and more. For starters: why is
statehood okay for some people but frowned on for others? After
all, isn’t the right to self-determination the essence of democracy
itself?

The following article discusses a work of fiction, The Shell Game.
The article presents the case made by author Steve Alten, and some
experts on international affairs, that the government of the United
States is planning a false flag attack on American soil. This attack is
to be blamed on Iran, and would be used as an excuse to impose martial
law and to attack Iran in order to take out the last remaining hurdle
to the successful completion of the Project for a New American Century.
The term “false flag” is a both a common term, and a specific term of

Food prices are on the rise. In 2007, according to the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cost of food rose 4 percent, the
highest single-year increase in two decades, and it looks like food
costs will go up another 4 percent in 2008. The prices for corn
and soybeans are skyrocketing because of the increasing demand of crops
for fuels such as ethanol. In addition, with higher
transportation costs, it is costing more each day to ship food across
the country and around the world.

To reference and adapt Barbara Kingsolver's newest book on localvore living...

Animal.

Vegetable.

Pants.

Or underpants.

In her letter to the Editor in this issue of Vermont Commons, Lisa
Nash makes a number of sensible arguments regarding Vermonters and
Americans, Vermont and empire, and the general readiness of Vermonters
to embrace their own independence. In particular I was struck by Ms.
Nash’s assertion that “Vermonters, like most Americans, are far from
coming to terms with the reality that the U.S. is an empire.”

Whole Systems Design, Inc. describes its work as “occurring at the interface of people and land --
where the built and biological environments meet.” Based in Vermont’s
Mad River Valley, Whole Design Systems integrates ecology, landscape
architecture, site development, construction, farming, education and
other disciplines. Founder Ben Falk holds a master’s degree in
landscape design and has taught at the University of Vermont and
Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum. Vermont Commons Editor Rob Williams
conducted this interview.

He prefers not to think about money but he doesn’t have that luxury.
The trust-fund gene skipped his family, and it’s been thus far a life
of fiscal constraint. Not that he’s complaining: He’s done good enough
to keep gas in the Chevy and shoes on the boys. The roof doesn’t leak,
even when it’s raining. There’s milk in the fridge and ammo for the
rifle. He is not impoverished.

A recent survey by the UVM Center for Rural Studies found that 77.1
percent of the eligible voters in Vermont, up from 74.3 percent a year
earlier, believe that the U.S. government has lost its moral
authority. This is hardly surprising when you consider the fact
that our government is owned, operated, and controlled by Corporate
America. National elections are bought and sold to the highest
bidder. It was the loss of moral authority that brought down the
apartheid government of South Africa, the communist regimes in six