Dean is first!

The personal automobile restricts individual mobility not just by requiring that an individual have money, eye-sight, co-ordination and time to spare (although some people talk while directing the automobile with hands and feet, there's not much else one can do while moving from place to place (even on a horse one can herd cattle), but by defining where the vehicle is permitted to transit (designated roadways) and when (as traffic control signals mandate).  While a public transit vehicle also follows a fixed route, the individual is able to enter and exit at will and continue on his/her own hook on foot.

There have been efforts in recent years to inhibit pedestrian traffic and, on the other hand, mandate that the individual not come to a halt in certain venues, but that's been found unconstitutional.  Efforts to "regulate" public assemblies in public venues are on-going, but, as often as not, found to be invalid by the courts.  The individual right to travel is one of our basic attributes as mobile creatures.

This, btw, is a topic that has been frequently covered on the blog.  But, it's always important because the right to move around freely is always subject to challenge by authoritarians and fascists.  Much effort has gone into convincing us that migratory humans are a nuissance.  Many of the areas of controversy, such as North Africa and the Middle East, are examples of migrants coming in conflict with settled populations.  Historians have provided us with the thesis that people move in response to a crisis or need in their native environment and this has led to the suggestion that, if we provide for all their physical needs, people will be content to stay put.  This does not, of course, explain why our corporate moguls keep jetting around the globe.  (It's quite likely that neither the moguls or the migrants perceive themselves as relocating and see themselves as globally at home).

and of course was right on topic too Annilow

as is the power of real estate developers in politics because of the way we finance campaigns in this country, but if I bring up rich's progressive agenda about the need to have public financing before we can have "public" anything else, it will be off to the water cooler

will you allow a conversation about how campaigns are financed by real estate developers who have used political connections to bring our urban areas into their present unusable state?

nothing else has more bearing on the lack of a workable transit system

and Al Gore had a fantastic take on the broader issues of landscapewide planning that would lead to rational transportation systems

I'll see if I can find a copy to link to, and thanks for recognizing that The Economist might have something intelligent to say on the subject of human movement.

I have a small car now and, like Danny, it saves me hours per week and a handful of dollars to drive rather than take the bus.

thanks for the kind words back there Pat - I'm glad I caught them, because they'll probably be lost forever soon.  and I think you write much more clearly than I do... ;)

yes - lost forever thanks to the watercooler - I get it now.  it's a trashcan, created to cleanse the blog of any off-topic posts - it may be hours after they're posted, but off to the watercooler they go, to be 'dumped' in the trash heap of non-history, on schedule, forever and ever.  I went back to check for responses on the overnights and masses of the posts I had read and responded to were gone - I suppose some of you already caught on to this today, but I haven't had the time to scroll today's threads yet.

so DFA is doing a cleansing, not ethnic but a cleansing of diversity, of individuality.  no more off-the-cuff stopping in to post a link or two one thinks may be important to share.  no more off-the-cuff sharing the tale of your trip to the store tonight and how you spoke to this right leaning couple and had an engaging conversation which left them thinking just a bit differently.  no more off-the-cuff sharing of invaluable campaigning skills and caucus tips - no more off-the-cuff cheerleading and encouraging those of us who have decided to run for office for the very first time.   absolutely no more off-the-cuff - it's going to be controlled from the top down and the only time you can do these things without your words disappearing is if the MAIN THREAD IS ON THAT TOPIC.  there are a lot of wonderful things about Democracy for America, but this act shames and overshadows all that you've done, all that you do.  this organization's ignorance is a shadow on Howard Dean's hard work.  this organization's ignorance is a shame to his legacy.  how very undemocratic and how very stupid.  Howard would most likely be surprised and appalled.  I know I am.

politics is not about indiviual topics that stand alone, it is about building a community of people who join together in trust, that those closest to a particular issue or another will do the right thing, and so those things that seem totally off topic to you like the conversations about fishing, between say Reed and I or Charles in Montana might seem totally off topic, til you realize that the Democratic takeover of Montana revolved around the issue of "public" access and a clean environment (fishing in that case)which is directly related to building an environmentally conscious electorate that will vote in other "public" interests like transits

it appears they're going to make sure that the important off topic stuff gets flushed away just like a troll's comments...  I never imagined I'd be equal to a troll on Howard Dean's blog.  I guess that's the problem - it hasn't been 'Howard's' blog for a long time, just 'his' bloggers.

Puddle's suggestion was an excellent one

http://howardempowered.blogspot.com/

it's the perfect time to declare... my independence from BFA. no, I'm not leaving the blog, the blog left me. in a trash heap. I will not be a part of this.

whomever you may be, bfa blog gods, you've won.

for those who care to stay in touch, earthtoyouatburlingtontelecomdotnet

thanks for sharing and for being such a bright, engaging and inspiring group. you are indeed what first gave me hope for our country after the emptiness and sadness of 9/11 and the growing horror of Bush... {{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}

;)

Jo I hope you come back and fight with us.

The blog nanny must have turned in for the night :~)

DFA and DNC. Both blogs drastic change.

I am so discouraged. One Dean related blog where I used to post doesn't like the controversy I cause.

I guess....never mind.

http://dnc.org/blog.html

What do you do when the trolls OWN the blog, lol!?