Cutting loose the anchors: "Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”

The sentiments expressed here by Frederick Douglass are valid at all levels of society, perhaps most of all locally, where big fish in small ponds remain forever keen to preserve their privileges.

“Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are people who want crops without ploughing the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning; they want the ocean without the roar of its many waters. The struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, or it may be both. But it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”

In other news, I'm updating my neighborhood affairs/politics page at Facebook: Roger Baylor for New Albany.

It may be useful shortly.

I didn't get arrested, but I've got a new title.

Conference weekend has concluded, and as of Sunday morning, I'm now an ex-director on the board of the Brewers of Indiana Guild.

ON THE AVENUES: Hello, I must be going.

When I joined the board in 2009, there were approximately 35 breweries in Indiana. Now there are 124.

I'll always be proud of what the Guild has accomplished, especially during the past three years. There is much to be done, because that's the way it works. I'm pleased to have done my part, albeit small, in furthering the industry. That I've resolved to leave the biz does not mean I love it any less.

I humbly appreciate Guild president Greg Emig's words today, when he told the brewers in attendance that the board has awarded me an honorary title: Agitator Emeritus.

That one's going on the business cards, folks -- except, of course, that I have plenty of agitation left in me.

In closing: Cheers to all of you in Indiana who are making beer, drinking beer, and selling what's left. You've created something out of nothing, and if I'm quoting the statistic correctly, we're now 18th in the nation in per capita breweries.

Keep on rocking. I'll still be supporting the effort any way I can.