Opinion

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Some, if not most, of the most accomplished jazz musicians in the world performed brilliantly at the United Nations on International Jazz Day, April 10, 2015, at the same time sanctifying with music a failed United Nations, which, since its creation by the colonial powers, has facilitated genocide for profit of the amoral wealthy elite of Western speculative interest banking. Why? Celebrities as influential role models have added responsibility for the actions of their government.

How I wish Brattleboro would follow Westminsters lead. This mornings Reformer let us know that residents of Westminster will be receiving a mailing with information regarding their “new” trash/recycling program. Included with the mailing will be 52 STICKERS FOR 52 WEEKS OF TRASH …………….. and they’re FREE, FREE, FREE! If residents use more than one bag per week they’ll have to purchase additional bags for $3.00 each. This is a perfect example of those in charge governing and at the same time considering and showing compassion and understanding towards their residents.

Maybe it was those snowflakes in our weather forecast, but I had a lot of snow-related synchronicities this week.  It started with the news that a new monument had gone up overnight in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene Park, not far from the Brooklyn Bridge.  The monument consisted of a bust of Edward Snowden, with his name emblazoned across the column below it in big Roman capitals.  It was an impressive gesture by a group of artists who wrote (as you shall see below) some powerful things about freedom and heroism and the public’s right to know.  And even though the government covered it up, by sending park employees to smother Snowden’s bust in a tarp so no one could see it, civil disobedience had happened and it was noteworthy.  — it’s a nice statue.  

I just received an email from a lawyer and peace activist in Boston named Ralph Lopez, in which he references an .

In the article, Lopez states that “High quality images from just-posted evidence exhibits in the Tsarnaev trial by the US Department of Justice show conclusively that the backpack carried by Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in a surveillance video, and the one said to contain the bomb which killed eight-year-old Richard Martin, do not match in color.”

From a March 26, 2015 Hampshire Gazette editorial:

It’s not shocking that several public officials stood up at a public meeting to complain that the state’s Open Meeting Law is cumbersome and confusing.

What is shocking is that they derided it as “unfair and undemocratic” and claimed that a request for meeting minutes is tantamount to harassment.

Even more shocking is that in a room full of 100 elected and appointed public officials from Hampshire and Franklin counties, these comments elicited applause.

 A Saker is a very large falcon, native to Europe and Asia.

“The Saker” is a pseudonym for a top level American military analyst who lives in Florida, the author of the leading blog covering Russia and the Ukraine crisis, , which gets an astounding 50,000 page views per day.   Of the many blogs covering the subject, his has shot far ahead of the others, due to his sharp analysis and insight.  

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Dear fellow Town Representatives:

I have been meaning to write an open letter reporting out my concerns and observations about this year’s Representative Town Meeting, items on the agenda, the budget, etc. I have left this until the last minute in hopes that others of you might finally step forward to join me in drafting a brief report as your Town Finance Committee.

This is the

The site has not been updated in a year. I can’t do the work of the committee by myself, so please regard this as merely a personal letter.

Our nation’s police department’s primary objectives have to be enforcement of existing law as enacted by the various state and federal legislatures.

The latitude exercised by each department is affected by a dizzying array of various police departmental and community circumstances. There is no template except that which falls back upon established law.In a real sense, the Executive Summary and therefore the full report of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) to the White House Task Force on Community-Police Relations (January 2015) is putting the cart before the horse.

 Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy in the Reagan administration, claiming the title of “Father of Reaganomics”.  He has been associate editor of the Wall Street Journal and columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate.

He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts’ latest books are and .

*Please Visit the on the below letter.*  

To Mr. Governor Shumlin,

I am a hard working Vermont State employee for the Agency of Transportation (District 3). I plow the roads. As you may recall, we in AOT have endured many challenges in the recent past ….Including Tropical Storm Irene (2011), Pay Cuts and Pay Freezes (2008-9), Changes to our Health Insurance with Higher deductibles and less coverage (2014). And despite all these hardships and challenges, we still get up, as needed, at 3am (sometimes working 7 days a week) to make sure our roads are safe so Vermonters (including yourself) can go to work, so tourists can come here and spend their money, and so everyone’s kids can get to school.