VT Media Watch: Link Edition

Fun with Blurt: I couldn’t help myself yesterday afternoon when I found myself hitting the “send” button after typing a comment to Pamela Polston’s little public backrub session with Bernie Sanders at the 7Days blog. Go read it HERE if you’re interested in the back and forth. Diabetics beware, though, because you might need a shot of insulin.

Bottom line: If mainstream politicians “love” your work, you can no longer call yourself “alternative.” Because you’ve clearly morphed into a “player” at that point on Team Power Elite. Deal with it. Or, in the case of 7Days, make a pun of it, offer an award for it, and then throw a party in honor of yourself.

Earth to Polston: Bernie’s returning your phone call so quickly because he knows you’re willing to play ball with him (read: you gush, rather than dig, when it comes to covering him).

Pulitzer was right when he declared that “newspapers should have no friends.” Because when newspapers seek friends – or gush about their friendships with those they’re supposed to be covering – the news they report becomes suspect at best.

The day Bernie refuses to return Polston’s calls is the day I’ll know that 7Days has become “alternative.”

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A Neighborhood Walk: I was coaxed away from work yesterday (oh, that’s hard) by the vacationing Stacy (aka: the wife) so that we could venture up our road (Gould Hill) and take our inaugural hike on the new trail that was recently finished on our neighbor’s land. Wow. The five-mile back-and-forth loop from our doorstep was incredible, endless hills included. Susan Allen at the Times Argus wrote about the new section of the trail in yesterday’s paper if you want to learn more about it.

Bravo to the Kaeding family of Worcester for opening up their gorgeous piece of land to non-motorized forms of recreation – including horses! It’s a real treat.

Speaking of horses, I decided to take my overly-fed saddle horse, Black Bart, for a ride last night in the hopes of getting to the Kaeding’s new trail. Unfortunately, Fat – err, Black – Bart was huffing and puffing by the time we got up Gould Hill so badly that I decided to turn around. Let’s just say that he’s now in training: A little bit more every day. Perhaps tonight we’ll make it to the actual new trail…

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VT Commons on a Roll: Rob Williams, the Wizard behind the Vermont Commons website and organization, has been on a roll this week by posting a couple of fantastic pieces on their blog.

The first one that caught my attention was by Eric Andrus, a fellow draft horse enthusiast, who penned a great essay on the importance of “local wheat and bread.” Read it.

Also served up at Vermont Commons this week is an important essay the role of Congress when it comes to declaring war. As we all know, Congress has been largely abdicating its war-making powers to the president in recent decades, resulting in one nefarious, illegal and disastrous military action after another. Enough already.

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NTodd Never Sleeps: NTodd Pritsky, that is – the indefatigable blogger, activist and father-to-be. Because if NTodd ever slept, he wouldn’t be posting all the stuff he posts all the time at his very entertaining and necessary blog that can be found HERE. Click, read, and enjoy.

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That’s all, folks. I’ve got horses to tend to.