My best estimate is that there were about 300 (+ or -) Dems assembled at Union Station; a smattering of partisan t-shirts among them, but generally quite civil and good-humored.  Of course the gubernatorial candidates were all present and smiling.  Gov's Kunin and Dean were there and Phil Hoff was fondly referred to, evoking the glory days of Democratic hegemony in the state's highest office.

There was a moment of silence in memory of the two recently fallen young soldiers from Vermont, during which you couldn't hear a keyboard click.  Acknowledgement of Chairman Judy Bevens; then salutes to all the winning and losing Dems in yesterday's race.  First among those to take the podium was Doug Hoffer.  Was it my imagination or did he actually get the loudest cheers from the assembly?  He thanked Tom Salmon for becoming a Republican.  Laughter.   Next was Jim Condos who promised accountability and transparency when he would inevitably take the Sec. of State's office.  Then Steve Howard, who promised to fight for Vermont's Middle Class ("middle class values" as he put it, which I found a little odd.)  Jeb Spaulding was mentioned, and all those who had decisively carried their legislative districts.

Sen. Leahy was introduced to thunderous applause and made some remarks on behalf of Peter Welch (who was also there.) He complimented his campaign manager, Carolyn Dwyer; and then presented checks to Jim Condos, Doug Hoffer and victorious Senate nominees.  I asked Doug later how it felt to accept that check from Sen. Leahy and he had a one word answer: "Great!  He said he expects he'll be getting a lot of advice from all kinds of people now!

They wrapped-up the event with all five candidates for governor, standing shoulder to shoulder on the podium, beaming into the crowd.  No mention of the vote tally; no suggestion of a winner. That was it.  Mission accomplished?

Now we wait... some more...

According to Thursday's Free Press,  there has now been a 90% die-off of the cave-dwelling bat population in the northeast due to a still unidentified pathogen associated with the fungal condition known as "white nose syndrome."

Coupled with the massive  collapses occurring among bee colonies, this is not just a sad scenario, but an extremely alarming one with regard to our food security.   These creatures play a vital role in natural insect control for fruit and vegetable crops.  What is happening to our future chances for survival on a purely subsistence level while all of our energy and resources are directed toward "growing" an already enormous and dysfunctional consumer economy and waging an irrational war on the other side of the globe?  We have surrendered much of our investigative science capacity to corporate agendas, and what remains in the way of publicly funded efforts is  frequently targeted by the right, either as a waste of money or a moral menace.  Ignorance and hubris threaten our very survival, but as we are witnessing in Copenhagen, the industrialized giants seem to be locked in a paralytic state of denial.  This will end badly.

AP - Republican Gov. Chris Christie, who rode voter anger to office in New Jersey last year, is endorsing Mike Castle's bid to win the GOP primary in Delaware and is joining a pack of party leaders trying to block a tea party-backed candidate's bid.

Even if the US and European economies manage to avoid a double dip, it will still feel like a recession, while more than half of the 800-plus US banks on the "critical list" are likely to go bust, according to renowned economist Nouriel Roubini of Roubini Global Economics.

The second half of the year will remain weak as tailwinds become headwinds, Roubini told CNBC on the shores of Lake Como, Italy at the Ambrosetti Forum economics conference.

The weather in Aspen could not be better. It's sunny, the air is crisp, the scenery picture-perfect. There was zero traffic driving up yesterday afternoon. Today the crowds will begin arriving.

Jazz Aspen Snowmass kicks off tonight with Wilco. The remaing nights:

Glenn Frey and Joe Walsh of the Eagles will headline Saturday at 7:15 p.m., and Martie Maguire and Emily Robison of the Dixie Chicks have formed their own side group — the Court Yard Hounds — which will open for the Eagles duo at 5 p.m.

Sunday: Leonard Skynyrd and the Black Crowes.

The peacocks are still sleeping here at Owl Farm, and so far, the only thing on the agenda is a hike.

Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday weekend, my posting will be light. Let us know your plans. This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Union Chief Trumka discusses the midterms.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Good Morning.

As you spend this weekend with family and friends, don’t forget JJP.

Drop those links. Engage in debate. Give us trivia and gossip too.

And always, have a peaceful day.

Mariner Energy has been involved in a string of at least 13 offshore accidents since 2006 in Gulf of Mexico waters -- including a blowout and four fires -- that were investigated by the Minerals Management Service (now the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement). Possible violations were reported in at least seven of the reported accidents and Mariner has paid at least two separate civil penalties related to accidents, records show.

The Electric Mayhem featuring Scooter and Sgt. Floyd Pepper — Mr. Bassman, from The Muppet Show.

Grab your popcorn, put your feet up on the seatback in front of ya, and no spitballs aimed at the ushers please. This is Late Late Night FireDogLake, where off topic is the topic … so dive in. What’s on your mind?

“I think women rule the world and that no man has ever done anything that a woman either hasn’t allowed him to do or encouraged him to do.” Who said it? The answer is at the end of this post. Now on to the links! … “None of it feels all that special anymore” … “Married at 14, the mother of seven, Kakuben Lalabhai Parmar was well into adulthood before she came face-to-face with a man who was not a close relative” … “We cannot continue to proceed like this” … “We file new complaints every day” … “Researchers found that deleting the appropriately named FucM gene causes masculinization of the mouse brain” … “Kashkari and his colleagues should have the common decency to just SHUT THE FUCK UP” … “My name is not Obama” … “He sat there the whole time and didn’t really care if I was taking photos of him or not” … “When I heard she was alive I was in shock” … “I know there are those who will accuse me of exaggeration when I say this” … “It needs to happen soon or it will be too late” … “At last the 35 voices have been reunited!” … “Ill-advised photos and online chatter are coming back to haunt people months or years after the fact” … “Some were puzzled, many laughed, and a couple were furious” … “How I’m here, talking to you now, I really don’t know” … “Today I quit being a Christian” … “We must mature into the species we are moving towards, one which embodies and embraces new worlds and new ways of life scarcely imagined in the past or even now” … “Many victims are abandoned by their husbands and looked down upon by society” … “189 out of 443 cities suffered from acid rain in the first half of the year” … “This is the only way that we can put an end to the recycling of a failed strategic framework” … “Hello again, Pripyat” … “He told me that he does not cry anymore, but he is still afraid” … “It doesn’t seem like we’re doing too badly, nor that desperation or frustration have been our companions along the way” … “An Afghan girl who fixes potholes waits” … “I’ll go to my grave wishing that I’d been better” … “Perhaps you know William Gottlieb‘s name; perhaps not” … “We’re inside a black hole that exists in another universe” … “I miss being a child” … “My story with photography is quite unusual” … “It’s going to be a lot easier for him now to say who he is” … “If I don’t shut him down, I think we all might be in very serious trouble” … “Each year sharks kill some five to eight humans worldwide; meanwhile we kill a hundred million of them” … “If no one stops them, how long do you think it will take before 4 or 5 mega-corporations effectively control the flow of information in America not only on television but online?” … “That’s the most amazing thing I’d ever heard!” … “Christ, I thought, this is not good, this could be the bloody end right here” … “I hate to say this, but I’m 70 years old and I’ve never had a real job” … “I used to avoid talking about it for fear of being labelled a crank” … This issue’s quote was from Bob Dylan … And finally, “I get to crank it up as loud as I want.” ∞

At Asia Times, Melody Kemp writes, New case for US reparations in Laos:

A new report published jointly by UXO Lao and the Lao National Regulatory Authority (NRA) has shed more light on the damage caused by the US's UXOs. The research surveyed 94% of Lao households and concluded that an estimated 20,000 people had died from UXOs since the conflict ended after the communist takeover in 1975.

Maligna Saignavongs, the retired head of the NRA and the country's chief negotiator for the Convention on Cluster Munitions, estimates that figure could be even higher. "In the remote areas, many people simply bleed out and die, their bodies eaten by animals. Their families may not know they died from UXO." ...

"The US State Department is keen to let people know that they have provided more assistance for UXO clearance than anyone else," said Mike Boddington, founder of the Vientiane-based, British-run Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise, or COPE.

COPE's research shows that the US government, corporations and private foundations have given over $39.5 million for UXO clean-up since 1993 - a trifling sum compared with the billions it has allocated for its new generation of wars. A US Senate committee recently recommended committing $7 million for UXO clearance in Laos in 2011 and $3.5 for similar activities in Vietnam. The US Congress allocated about $5 million and the US State Department $1.9 million for UXO clearance in Laos this year. ...

During the conflict, the largest numbers of bombing-related fatalities came among soldiers. Nowadays, it's farmers, fisherfolk, foresters and women and children foraging for food in UXO-contaminated areas. That is, those being killed now by what is known to be US ordnance are civilians merely trying to make a living. Many of those killed and injured, such as the five children killed in southern Champassak province in February this year, were not even alive during the war.

• • • • •

At Daily Kos on this date in 2006:

The ADL and the SPLC both have extensive posts warning the public that the CCC is a white supremacist hate group.  But in today's world, it is much more revealing to find instances where loud and proud White Supremacists actually mention and praise the same CCC standing like nervous prom dates posing in the photo with Governor George Allen.  So, I decided to try some basic Google searches to see what I could find.

The results took me back to my old friends at Stormfront and to some new friends at KKK.com.

Tonight's rescue brought to you by BentLiberal, claude, dadanation, Got a Grip, Purple Priestess, and YatPundit, with srkp23 editing.

• While we ponder whether or not our breakfast might kill us, Deep Harm explains that food supply safety was compromised because Whistleblowers at contaminated egg facility were ignored. (Got a Grip)
• mwmwm explores the unnatural conditions we humans have created and what that may portend for the world at large as we keep Rolling the dice with evolution. (Got a Grip)
• SLKRR presents a fact-filled and interesting article on elections in Brazil where voting is mandatory and voters sometimes have to choose between 100 candidates. Read more in Brazilian Election Primer II. (BentLiberal)
• americandad examines The great churchless lie about Islamic nations. (Got a Grip)
• RenaRF has pulled on her gumboots for the long, hard slog ahead in this electoral season and explains why My Experience Matters. (Got a Grip)
• Muskegon Critic has been scared, and agrees with Fred Johnson when he asks, "Aren't you tired of being scared?" (YatPundit)
• gtomkins, without hysteria, lays out how the Republicans might attempt to stymie the House and concludes that There won't be a government shutdown. (Purple Priestess)

jotter serves up High Impact Diaries: September 2, 2010.

asimbagirl brings Top Comments: Challah edition.

Enjoy and please promote your own favorite diaries in this open thread.