Op/Ed

The Op/Ed opinion section

Trump’s Betrayal of YPG – Paris Commune Falls Again?

by Not Signed In | Op/Ed

As an American, as a Vermonter, and as a Labor leader I have marched many times against US lead wars.  However, I do not oppose wars and US military action because I assert war as always unjust and always unnecessary.  I am not philosophically a Kantian; this is not a moral imperative for me.  I am also no liberal.  If truth be told it was only through war and armed conflict that Vermont and the United States became republics free from the British Empire.

Suggested Representative Town Meeting Improvements

by cgrotke | Op/Ed

I’ve been watching Brattleboro budgets for quite a while, through multiple selectboards, three Town Managers and one Interim Town Manager. I’ve watched many Representative Town Meetings as well and participated in a few.  That’s a lot of meetings.

While I’ve come to the conclusion that Representative Town Meeting doesn’t really work, I know that it has become cherished and it is unlikely that abolishing it will be on the ballot anytime soon. Therefore, it should be improved.

Local Option Tax Increases Brattleboro Revenue, But Property Taxes Will Still Rise

by cgrotke | Op/Ed

At Tuesday’s special meeting, the Brattleboro Selectboard discussed adding a 1% Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) to items purchased in the ‘boro. Adding this additional revenue stream to the Town coffers has been attempted before. Most recently it barely passed as an advisory vote, but was ultimately rejected.

The main argument in favor of the tax usually involves the expected revenue. In 2015, the estimate was $600,000. This, in theory, could offset property taxes by that amount.

But, taxpayers have seen these property tax reducing “deals” many times before, and property taxes do not go down. Spending rises to meet the new income.

Either Way They Vote Americans Remain Suckered Into Being a Worldwide Genocidal Killing Machine

by jay janson | Op/Ed

Americans being suckered into focusing on voting for one of the two parties of the ruling genocidal Wall St. plutocracy, US CIA controlled media informs of Yemeni children dying from bombs & starvation knowing its captive audience will not turn against the American killing machine. Once USA-EU loses hegemony, the many nations that have seen their children murdered by USA and European empires will demand justice.

Extraordinary

by tomaidh | Op/Ed

“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” was a phrase made popular by Carl Sagan.

We need to modify this phrase to suit our current situation: “Extraordinary circumstances require extraordinary action”

Demonstrations alone are insufficient. We need a mass civil disobedience campaign. We need to shut down the operations of the government in order to gain their attention.

An American Team Won a World Series Another American Team Helps Saudis Slay Yemeni Children for $

by jay janson | Op/Ed

For three and half years, the Saudi’s have waged a horrendous war on Yemen. They have slaughtered tens of thousands of Yemenis – according to the UN Human Rights Commission more than 50,000 children died by Saudi air raids with UK supplied bombs, and US supplied war planes – through lack of sanitation and drinking water induced diseases, like cholera – and an even worse crime, through extreme famine, the worst famine in recent history – as per UNICEF / WHO – imposed by force, as the Saudi’s with the consent of the European allies closed down all ports of entry, including the moist important Red Sea Port of Hodeida. Khashoggi versus 50,000 Slaughtered Yemeni Children

9/11

by tomaidh | Op/Ed

Today is the anniversary of  9/11

“we are far from understanding all that happened on that fateful day”

Here’s what they say happened:

Poor John McCain Bombed Women and Children and “I Was Following Orders” Is Not a Legal Defense

by jay janson | Op/Ed

Majority Humanity, especially people whose 3rd World countries have suffered bombing by Americans, as did Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Libya, Syria, Guatemala, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Panama, Grenada should take carful note of the adulation awarded a pilot, like McCain, who dutifully bombed cities with women and children in a non-Caucasian nation, for some time soon there will be a reckoning.

Arguments For Free Parking In Brattleboro

by cgrotke | Op/Ed

I’m going to argue for free parking in Brattleboro.

The main reason we have to pay for parking here and not in most other towns in Vermont is to pay for our parking meters, parking enforcement, and parking infrastructure. Other than helping to pay for parking lot paving and snow removal, this is a silly, unnecessary burden for locals and visitors, and could instead be money spent in downtown stores.

Predict Wayne Estey Will Win Also

by DonInGuilford | Op/Ed

Not based on numerology, but based on the new science of nomenology, which I just invented for this posting. And well, maybe he’ll just make a more-than-could-have-been-expected good showing, but let’s think outside the envelope or whatever and give things a shake-up.

OK, so I noticed that this candidate, who is challenging incumbent Windham County Senators in the August 14 Democratic Primary, is named Wayne Vernon Estey. Lot of Waynes out there, but I figure with his middle name being that of one of the towns in the district, that gives him an edge in Vernon.

Brenda Siegel to Win Democratic Primary

by pockets | Op/Ed

I predict, based on Gematria, that Brenda Siegel will win the August 14th Democratic primary for Governor.

Siegel=39 in English Reduction (s exception). Governor=39 in Reverse Reduction. Siegel’s slogan is “A Vermont for all of us”=233 in English Ordinal. 233 is the 51st prime number. Governor=51 in English Reduction.

World Cup Soccer Fun in a Moscow Targeted by Nuclear Missiles in US Silos, Submarines & Bombers

by jay janson | Op/Ed

Imagine before each match of the World Cup the FIFA World Soccer Federation making an appeal over the loud speaker asking all the fans in the name of the future of soccer to tell officials of their government to demand Americans stop threatening the future of the World Cup with nuclear war. Soccer stars President of Liberia & UN Good Will Ambassador George Weah and world #1 Diego Maradona to lead FIFA’s appeal.

The End of Two Eras: Plastic Bags and Pot Prohibition

by cgrotke | Op/Ed

Two things that have been with me all of my life are going away as July starts, and I’m happy to bid them adieu.

The first is plastic shopping bags. Brattleboro is banning single-use plastic bags (under 2.25 mil) as of July 1. In a world full of plastic bags, our impact may be like a small drop in a big pond, but our drop can cause ripples.

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.