Op/Ed

The Op/Ed opinion section

Open Letter to Town Manager Peter Elwell Regarding Rampant Theft in Brattleboro

by TechFan | Op/Ed

*Emailed him tonight, posting here to see if anyone else cares, or if it’s just me.

Dear Mr Elwell,

I’m a Brattleboro resident, and in the past week alone, have been the victim of three seperate thefts, two at my residence, one at my car while parked in the parking garage. After the first theft, I set up a security cam at my home to catch anyone stupid enough to try it again. My method was effective, caught a neighbor stealing from doorstep two hours after setting up the security cam in plain view at my door. I caught the entire theft and follow up confession in HD with audio, emailed all of the evidence to BPD, and despite all that, they won’t even issue a summons to the thief, who lives two apartments down from my in apt 306, at 9 Canal St here in Bratt.

Negotiations? 3rd World Nations Be Aware! Americans Napalmed & Bombed Out All 38 N.Korean Cities!

by jay janson | Op/Ed

The US Air Force bombed and napalmed cities, towns and villages across the North. Dean Rusk, a supporter of the war and later secretary of state, said the United States bombed “everything that moved in North Korea, every brick standing on top of another.” After running low on urban targets, U.S. bombers destroyed hydroelectric and irrigation dams in the later stages of the war, flooding farmland and destroying crops.

Selectboard to Consider Renewable Source Electricity per 350VT

by Kurt Daims | Op/Ed

After their state-wide resolution was widely approved on March 6 the 350VT central committee endorsed an advisory resolution in Brattleboro. Brattleboro residents should be aware and encourage the selectboard to put implement the popular environmental measure. That is, to make the 350 resolution real by enacting the local follow-up:

Whereas we have a moral duty to reduce the various pollutants that cause untold harm to people all over the world,

What Dead GIs Would Say To the World on Memorial Day About Being Praised As Heroes

by jay janson | Op/Ed

DESCRIPTION:
If they could speak from their graves, GIs who died shamefully killing, maiming and destroying within innocent populations would appeal to Majority Humanity in the ever targeted for plunder 3rd World to effect the same level of solidarity that the racist neocolonial investment banker driven imperialists of the 1st World of mostly Caucasian population display, and bring their five centuries of genocidal plunder to an end.

Santa Fe, Texas Shooting

by tomaidh | Op/Ed

At least one gunman opened fire at a Houston-area high school Friday, killing eight to 10 people, most of them students, authorities said. It was the nation’s deadliest such attack since the massacre in Florida that gave rise to a campaign by teens for gun control.

Hated Fairpoint?

by tomaidh | Op/Ed

You’re gonna just LO-O-O-O-OVE Consolidated!

My bill just jumped 54% in a month without any rational explanation (I only made 19 calls for a total of 58 minutes for a month – all local.

 A small part of the explanation was Federal fees and taxes which went up about a dollar.

Less Awful

by tomaidh | Op/Ed

Time Magazine reports that Attorney General Jeff Sessions believes marijuana is “only slightly less awful” than heroin. I’m glad somebody finally gets it!

Shall we look at some statistics?

Scary Russian Hacking Report Shows… Nothing Happened

by cgrotke | Op/Ed
computer code

Arrrgh! I need to complain about the Senate Intelligence preliminary report on “Russian Targeting” and the inevitable media coverage to follow.

If you read the official narrative, it sounds ominous. Russians targeted U.S. election systems. Oooh, scary.

“Russian actors scanned databases for vulnerabilities, attempted intrusions, and in a small number of cases successfully penetrated a voter registration database.”

That sounds just horrible, doesn’t it? What does it mean?

Walking The Streets of Brattleboro

by Lise | Op/Ed, Opinion

In the last couple weeks, I’ve had many opportunities to experience Brattleboro as a homeless person. That’s, of course, an exaggeration.  I’m not homeless. I just had to get out of the apartment so our landlord could show the house to prospective buyers. Nor had one anyone asked me to leave — I left voluntarily because I felt uncomfortable being there. But still and all, there I was downtown, at all hours of the day, killing time and feeling a little unmoored from what I had become accustomed to thinking of as “home.”  The experience wasn’t fun, but it did give me an unusual perspective that proved to be educational.

World’s Greatest Military Has Bravely Bombed a Smaller Nation Again – Its 27th Small Nation Bombed

by jay janson | Op/Ed

Description:
Americans bombed Syria again just as the its army with the help of Russia, had finally defeated the terrorist groups armed by USA and Saudi Arabia. List of 27 bombed nations show that Millions had to die, murdered right in their homelands, because of the support or indifference of ordinary Americans, with enough of them willing to follow orders, even when unlawful orders, to bomb and invade whatever nation instructed to

Request Attorney General Opinion From TJ Donovan, Vermont Attorney General, Please!

by CrisEricson2016 | Op/Ed

Vermont has a reputation as a “rogue state” and a lot of people love that reputation. Vermont also has a reputation for being Bernie Sanders Socialist Republic of Vermont, and a lot of people love that reputation. Do we really need a third reputation as a state that exploits children to advance the anti-gun agenda and other political issues possibly being drilled into the little head of the minor boy child candidate Ethan Sonneborn, age about 13 or 14; political issues preached to him possibly by his mother who may be a wanna-be stage Mom like so many mothers in Hollywood, California who will do almost anything, or anything, to get their kid on t.v.; or maybe lobbyists are wining and dining little minor boy child Ethan Sonneborn’s Momma and coaching her on how to fill his head up with political issues on their agenda.

Facebook Knows Everything About You

by Lise | Op/Ed

Everyone knows Facebook is evil.  After all, they single-handedly gave the election to Trump through their nefarious dealings with the Russians… Or at least, that’s what I hear.  Whether or not Trump won because of targeted Facebook ads, Facebook did give up data on 85+ million people which is a lot.  Moreover, their practice of making deals with “research companies” for Facebook data seems wide open for abuse.   Who are these companies and what are they researching?  Oh, right.  Us.

Given how rotten and disgusting this whole episode was, you’d think some kind of slap on the wrist might be forthcoming for our favorite time suck. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say the opposite — not only is Facebook going to get away with their crummy business practices, but they’re actually going to get stronger as a result.  Why, you might ask? Think about it — Congresscritters are not going to regulate the golden goose of voter targeting.

Vermont AFSCME: Collective Bargaining Rights Under Attack!

by Not Signed In | Op/Ed

By Karl Labounty    

     As President of AFSCME Local 1343 and as Vice President of the Vermont AFL-CIO, I take the rights of working people seriously.  Like most Vermonters, I believe our democracy is best served when workers have more (not less) opportunities to vote on the issues which directly impact their lives.  I myself labor for the Burlington School District as part of their maintenance staff.  My fellow union members serve as custodians, bus drivers, food service workers, as IT specialists, and in number of other critical positions.  In short, we are the backbone of public services. As a union member I take pride in the fact we democratically elect the bargaining teams that negotiate our contracts, and no contract is final until it is voted on by our members and approved by elected representatives of our communities.  This, in part, is what it means to have workplace democracy, and this is a right that many generations of Vermonters have benefited from. 

Wake Up! Prez Advisors Bolton Brzezinski Kissinger Mere Hirelings of Powerful Investors in WMD

by jay janson | Op/Ed

DESCRIPTION:
CIA fed criminal mainstream media constantly keeps the focus on government officials to the detriment of public understanding that it is the ruling unhinged investors in WMD and war, who war promoting government officials like Bolton represent. Before both WW I and WW II too many people watched the continual build up of more and more WMD in fascination instead of fear and action. Are we just watching again now?

King Held All Americans Including Himself Responsible for US Atrocity Wars Not His Government

by jay janson | Op/Ed

TITLE:
King Held All Americans Including Himself Responsible for US Atrocity Wars NOT His Government by jay janson

DESCRIPTION:
Click on the link and read and/or listen to King’s sermon that made headlines in bold print on newspapers around the world fifty years ago, and notice it is NOT addressed to the government but to all Americans. (King’s nightmarish sermon came 4 years after “I Have a Dream” at the March on Washington) King spoke to the people to the government which he dismissed as the greatest purveyor of violence in the world.

I urge support for Article 13, Skatepark funding

by Not Signed In | Op/Ed

I urge support for Article 13, Skatepark funding. The emotional arguments against a skatepark are reminiscent of arguments against dance halls in the 30’s, pool tables in the 40’s and bowling alleys in the 50’s. Kids are going to hang out somewhere. In my neighborhood, it was a 6′ plywood pool table in our basement; mom and dad upstairs; not exactly supervised, but ever-present. A skatepark is a relatively contained area more easily supervised than a dead-end dirt road in the woods.

Silencing Ourselves

by spoon | Op/Ed

I had an email tonight from the person that started the FBIbook site for Brattleboro’s representative town meeting. It was closed by this person because of fear that use of it violated state open meeting laws. Now go to every other town in Vermont, none of which have a representative town meeting. Every citizen in the town is entitled to attend the town meeting and vote. Is someone claiming that citizens of the town cannot discuss their upcoming town meeting over the internet? Can they discuss them at a coffee shop?

Representative Town Meeting – The Fire Truck

by spoon | Op/Ed

Town meeting is this coming Saturday, the 24th.  The big issue that has come out so far, not surprisingly, is the request for a new ladder truck for the fire department.  Generally speaking, from what I saw a the informational meeting the issue is less about it than whether this happen this year or next and how should it be paid for.  Of those two the issue taking up the most time was how to pay for it.  I concede that I brought that up.

Suggestion! High School Play on Gun Rights?

by CrisEricson2016 | Op/Ed

How About A Brand New High School Play on Gun Rights?

Alternate method to teach gun rights to children by doing a high school play! (Just a suggestion!)

(1) The scene where the Native American Indians are defeated by the European settlers with guns
and the Native American Indians are forced onto reservations, losing their homelands;

(2) the scene where the European settlers invade Africa and chain the Black African people and stack their
live bodies in the bottoms of sailing ships and take them to the new America to work as slaves;