Editor's Note: We'll consider this an "open thread" on Obama's emerging presidency - updated regularly.

Here are some articles to consider:

Posted November 11, 2008: Richard Sanders, coordinator of the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade, pens a stunning indictment of Obama's regressive domestic and foreign policy positions in an article entitled A Rough Guide to Obama On $2.3 Billion A Day.

This video is a remarkable primer on the unjust and unconstitional nature of our U.S. monetary system - and a good argument for nonviolent secession, as well.

Heady stuff - but vital, for an understanding of the current Wall Street wing ding.

We hosted Chellis Glendinning, Kirkpatrick Sale and Thomas Naylor in the WDEV studio today.

Quite a conversation - listen to the podcast here.

And we remember the close to thirty Vermont soldiers who have fallen in battle in foreign lands these past five years, courtesy of the U.S. Empire.

On this Veterans Day.

Here's how we vote in Waitsfield. Very sophisticated. Cutting edge. Not to be believed. Don't try this at home. You'd be much better off with high-tech machinery and proprietary software provided by large faceless corporations, especially if they work hand-in-glove with political party operatives.

Pearls, Politics and Power - Madeleine Kunin's new book. Pearls, Politics and Power: How Women Can Win and Lead
By Madeleine Kunin/Book Review by Rob Williams
Chelsea Green; 2008; 233 pages

“Remember the ladies.”
– Abigail Adams

“Well-behaved women rarely make history.”  
- Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

Arno Mayer is emeritus professor of history at Princeton University, my alma mater.

This is a fascinating and important article that makes the same points we've been making at Vermont Commons for close to four years.

Thanks to Counterpunch for publishing it.

The budget should be balanced, the treasury should be refilled, public
debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered
and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed
lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance. - Marcus Tullius Cicero, 55 B.C. –

People should not fear their governments. Governments should fear their people.
- V for Vendetta, 2005 -

Author’s note: I had planned to write a follow-up to Exponential Money in a Finite World (published in Vermont Commons,
Fall 2008), where I would continue to make the case that our financial
system is incompatible with reality and is due either for collapse or a
major overhaul over the next 20 years – max. National events have
obviously overtaken the publication schedule, so I will instead focus
on the recent bailout and what this means to each of us over the next
one-to-two years.

Editor’s note: Christopher Ketcham contributes to GQ, Vanity Fair,
Harper's and many online publications. He is writing a book on American
secessionism. This letter first appeared in the Los Angeles Times on
September 10, 2008, and is reprinted here with the author’s permission.

Editor, Vermont Commons:

Sarah Palin's secessionist sympathies sparked minor hysteria last week.

The following interview considers the feasibility of wood being a
primary heating-fuel source for Vermont. New wood stove technology,
combined with sustainable forestry, offers a real opportunity for
Vermont to become more energy independent. According to the Vermont
Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, Vermont’s landmass is 78
percent forest with 4.5 million acres of woodland and an average of 26
cord of standing wood per acre, for 117 million cord of total standing
wood.