Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

Posted by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson I’ve been working on a piece about the Federal Communications Commission’s request for public comment about the future of the Internet. But Wally Bowen’s June 29 article does it so much better than I can that I’m placing it here, in full, except for his illustrations. If you want to […]

Posted on June 30th, 2010 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: Broadband, FCC, Internet | No Comments »

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

By Miryam Ehrlich Williamson In my early days as a reporter for the Salem (Mass.) News, I covered the Ipswich District Court. Ipswich is a seacoast town famous for its clams. Actually (and keep this in mind as you read what comes next), Ipswich clams don’t necessarily come from Ipswich. The term has to do […]

Posted on June 28th, 2010 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: Economic Justice, Environmental disaster, Social Justice | 2 Comments »

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

By Miryam Ehrlich Williamson I probably shouldn’t be reading Bill McKibben’s new book, Eaarth, while I work on an overview essay on climate and energy-related legislation pending in the U.S. Senate. McKibben, you know, is the founder of 350.org, the organization that tells us that the upper limit for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, if […]

Posted on June 25th, 2010 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: Climate Change Legislation | No Comments »

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

By Miryam Ehrlich Williamson In Philadelphia’s steamy summers when I was a child, on Thursdays my mother would take me to the Reading Terminal Market, where she bought the week’s produce, eggs, and cheese from the Amish families from the area around Lancaster, Pennsylvania. We rode a trolley car and the Market Street elevated train […]

Posted on June 23rd, 2010 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: Agriculture, EPA, Farms & Farmers, Social Justice | 1 Comment »

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

from The Rural Blog Entrepreneurship is up across the country, but with the help of non-profit organizations and the rise of broadband Internet access, rural areas may getting more than their usual share of business startups. “From 2008 to 2009, the number of self-employed Americans increased by 200,000 to 8.9 million, according to Challenger Gray […]

Posted on June 22nd, 2010 by Debby
Filed under: Economy, Internet, Rural Life, Telecommunications | No Comments »

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

Reproduced in full from http://www.lavidalocavore.org Awesome New USDA Antitrust Rule on Meat Industry by: Jill Richardson Fri Jun 18, 2010 at 21:01:35 PM PDT The USDA has come out with a new proposed rule and – based on the reaction it has gotten thus far – it’s a big fucking deal. In a good way. […]

Posted on June 21st, 2010 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: Agriculture, Farms & Farmers, USDA | No Comments »

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

By Miryam Ehrlich Williamson On June 9, the day before the Murkowski Dirty Air resolution was defeated, Sen. Dick Lugar (R-IN) filed what he calls a “possible bipartisan framework” for energy legislation. It’s an open question how bipartisan this framework will be. At this writing Lugar’s Practical Energy and Climate Plan, S. 3464, has two […]

Posted on June 17th, 2010 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: Climate Change Legislation | 2 Comments »

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

By Miryam Ehrlich Williamson Here in Tiny Town (at the end of this post I’ll stop being coy abut the town’s real name) our locally built and operated broadband  enterprise is profitable, and we expect to have paid back the $40,000 the August 2008 town meeting voted to lend us by some time in 2012. […]

Posted on June 16th, 2010 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: Broadband, Internet, Telecommunications | 1 Comment »

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

By Miryam Ehrlich Williamson The New York Times reported on June 14 that the U.S. has identified “vast mineral riches in Afghanistan.” Here, from James Risen’s article, is the first paragraph. The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter […]

Posted on June 14th, 2010 by Miryam Ehrlich Williamson
Filed under: US Foreign Aid | No Comments »

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

Warning: Use of undefined constant user_level - assumed 'user_level' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /nfs/c07/h03/mnt/110803/domains/ruralvotes.com/html/thebackforty/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-google-analytics/ultimate_ga.php on line 524

By Daphne Bishop The people at RuralVotes work for progress. We strive to create a better future for our communities and are actively engaged in the world around us. We write about seemingly intractable problems and highlight people who are finding innovative solutions. Sometimes, we discover that our words and our efforts join a larger […]

Posted on June 11th, 2010 by Debby
Filed under: Climate Change, Climate Change Legislation, Global Warming, The Environment, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »