Debate Politics Most Precious – Laughingstock

Humor is the best and worst of political hay. From Cris Ericson’s sparkling sequined farm dress and Ma Parker’s picnic floppy hat, to Peter Diamondstone’s too patriarchal horn-rimmed glasses, longbeard and grade-school shorts, to Bernard Peter’s pitchfork take-charge Duck Dynasty philosophy, to Emily Peyton’s grinning political dibs through gritted teeth, to Scott Milne’s making each point with a full left head swivel to Governor Shumlin, this lineup is richly deserving of national late-night talk show humor.VTDigger and the Reformer made short work of the “In case you missed it” reportage:


Don’t Let Billionaires Buy the Senate, Sanders Tells Labor Convention

LAS VEGAS, Oct. 15 – Speaking at a labor union convention here today, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said the future of American democracy is at stake.

“We are not living in a democracy when 60 percent of Americans are not voting, while billionaires like the Koch Brothers are spending hundreds of millions to buy the United States Senate. That’s called oligarchy, not democracy,” Sanders said.

The billionaires Charles and David Koch and other wealthy individuals are pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into this fall’s campaigns by taking advantage of a disastrous 2010 Supreme Court ruling and subsequent court decisions that gutted federal and state laws limiting campaign spending.


Resigning From Academy School

Letter to the Editor,

It is with deep sadness that after almost thirty years of dedicated service to the children of Brattleboro, I have made the decision to resign as a fourth grade teacher at Academy School.

I want to thank the approximately six hundred brilliant, insightful and talented students I have been privileged to work with while they learned, questioned, problem solved and continued their growth towards becoming empathetic and socially responsible members in their community.

I am in awe of the hundreds of devoted and nurturing parents I have had the privilege to work with as they wrestled with the educational, social and personal issues that parents raising children today face.


Sanders: Paul Ryan is Dead Wrong to Propose Cuts in Social Security and Disabled Veterans’ Benefits

BURLINGTON, Vt., Oct. 7 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today strongly disagreed with a proposal by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to cut Social Security and disabled veterans’ benefits to pay for more defense spending.

Ryan has resurrected a discredited plan to change the formula that the federal government uses for calculating annual cost-of-living adjustments. According to published reports, Ryan said he wants to boost the Pentagon budget by taking what he called “savings” in Social Security and other programs pegged to annual adjustments in the consumer price index.


Brattleboro Second Hand

One of the things I liked about Brattleboro when we moved here was the abundance of second hand, vintage, antique, and bona fide junk shops.  You can buy used records, used books, used DVDs, used furniture, used clothing, previously-owned jewelry, and every kind of vintage toy, decoration, and domestic item imaginable right downtown.  Brattleboro has yard sales every weekend.   Many non-profits host charity rummage sales – we go to the one at St.  Michael’s all the time. In short, this propensity to recycle consumer goods makes Brattleboro a bargain hunter’s heaven.  But on the other hand, what a drag it must be for retailers of new merchandise.


Citing New Billionaires List, Sanders Says Congress Must Act on ‘Obscene’ Wealth Gap

BURLINGTON, Vt., Oct. 4 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said today that the “incredible and obscene” level of income and wealth inequality in America has become a danger to our economic and political systems – and must be addressed.

According to a new Forbes magazine tally, the 400 wealthiest Americans are now worth $2.29 trillion. Their combined wealth grew last year by $270 billion – a 13 percent increase. These billionaires now own more wealth than the bottom half of America – more than 150 million people.

While the very rich become richer, most Americans have become poorer. Median family income has declined by almost $5,000 since 1999 and more than half of the American people have less than $10,000 in savings.


Congress Investigating Why Generic Drug Prices Are Skyrocketing

BURLINGTON, Vt., Oct. 2 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) today launched an investigation into soaring generic drug prices.

“We are conducting an investigation into the recent staggering price increases for generic drugs used to treat everything from common medical conditions to life-threatening illnesses,” Sanders, chairman of a Senate health care subcommittee, and Cummings, ranking member of the House oversight committee, wrote in letters to 14 pharmaceutical companies.


People in Hong Kong are Protesting China’s Interference in Election Choices, So Why Are Vermonters Not Protesting Similar Interference?

Protests are going on right now in Hong Kong because China wants to control which candidates will be on the election ballot in Hong Kong. The U.S.A.  owes a lot of “debt” to China, and Chinese firms own a lot of property in the U.S.A.  So, is their a correlation, is China interferring with elections in the U.S.A. by  Chinese owned multi-national  corporate sponsors giving donations, possibly under the guise of their corporate subsidiaries, to “non-profits” like Vermont Public Radio which refuse to allow all candidates to participate together in general election debates?


Brattleboro Early and Absentee ballots, Voter Registration, and Town Clerk Hours

Early/absentee ballots for the General Election to be held on November 4, are now available in all Vermont town clerk’s offices. Anyone wishing to vote prior to November 4, may apply for an early/absentee ballot until 5:00 p.m. on Monday, November 3.

Early/absentee ballots may be voted in person in the clerk’s office, mailed to the voter by the clerk’s office, picked up by the voter or delivered to the voter’s residence by two justices of the peace. All voted ballots must be received by the clerk before the polls close on election day in order to be counted. For more information or to request an early/absentee ballot in Brattleboro call 251-8157.


Sanders: Arab Nations Must Step Up Fight Against ISIS

BURLINGTON, Vt., Sept. 30 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said today that the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria will not be defeated until neighboring Muslim nations deploy ground troops against the terrorist organization.

Sanders also strongly disagreed with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) who said on Sunday that the United States may have “no choice” but to send ground troops into Syria.


The Hoover Dam, 31-Mile English Channel Tunnel, and soon…The Panama Canal…

…didn’t even take as long to build as the Brattleboro Skate Park, look it up.

If everyone donated one dollar for every discussion about the Brattleboro Skate Park, those seeking a skate park would have had enough money to build 73,242 skate parks by now. The time for superfluous discussion is over. The discussion topic of the skate park has been beaten to death. I sincerely think it has been discussed more than Vermont Yankee, the Middle East, and the Champlain Monster combined. It has gotten to the point of gross absurdity. It has become an embarrassment to our community’s supposedly progressive reputation. It is now time to get behind the Memorial Park Skate Park site and donate money.


There Is No Way To Peace

There is no way to peace. Peace IS the way… David Swanson ()

Ask yourself, and then ask your congress members “why are we at war with so many people in so many places around the world?”

How are these people threatening our “homeland”?  (Don’t fall for the ISIS BS).

Why have we been replacing secular, progressive “regimes” with Islamic religious strife?


Carbon Tax Gains Backing as UN Meets on Global Warming

BURLINGTON, Vt., Sept. 23 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today welcomed growing support for a tax on carbon emissions that cause global warming as the United Nations hosted a one-day summit on climate change.

The World Bank said Monday that 73 nations and some 1,000 companies will join forces to push for policies setting a price on carbon emissions to encourage a shift to cleaner energy technologies.

“It is extremely important that international support is building to put a price on carbon emissions that cause global warming,” said Sanders, a member of both the Senate environment and energy committees and the sponsor of legislation to tax carbon.


Sanders Congratulates Vermonters and Bill McKibben on People’s Climate March

BURLINGTON, Vt., Sept. 22 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today applauded the more than 1,000 Vermonters who were among 400,000 demonstrators at the People’s Climate March in New York on Sunday.

“Vermonters from across the state marched in New York City because they understand that climate change is the greatest environmental crisis facing our planet. They know that the United States and other countries must take bold action now to reduce carbon emissions and protect our planet for our children and grandchildren,” Sanders said.


The Three Little Pigs Are Going To The Debate, No Women Are Allowed: It’s All Male Hate?

The 3 little pigs, Peter Shumlin,  Dan Feliciano and Scott Milne  are going to the debate at VPR Sept. 23, 2014, APPARENTLY BEING HELD IN BRATTLEBORO, and we could ask, is this all about women-hating???

No, it is worse than being woman haters.  This appears to be criminal money laundering.  Governor Peter Shumlin signed a budget bill giving taxpayer dollars to VPR, Vermont Public Radio.  He also did this in past years.   VPR, Vermont Public Radio, refused to allow Ms. Cris Ericson, a woman, to participate in the general election  governor candidate debates on VPR. 


Equipoise Nevermore – All the King’s Horses and All the Kings Men

On the first birthday of Earth Day, April 22, 1970, more than a million people marched up Fifth Avenue to Sheep’s Meadow in Central Park to celebrate the day’s events on an unprecedented scale.Beginning September 21, 2014, just days before the United Nations Climate Summit convenes in New York City, nearly 3,000 climate events are taking place around the globe. The two mile procession of the crowds assembled in Manhattan held a moment of silence “to honor the victims” of climate change.

Unfortunately, the UN summit assuredly will result in “treaties” of the participating nations, not the concerns of the people. It is the 2015 Climate Change Conference in Paris, France where “leaders are hoping to stamp out a binding agreement.”