Op/Ed

Why anyone should wonder that Americans are such a violent society is beyond me. Most of us grew up in everyday sight of Christian crosses.

And, because the cross became such a ubiquitous object of worship and veneration, society is blinded by a whitewash of respect for it.The incredibly brutal graphic depiction of the crucifixion, real or imagined, is with us every day of our lives as an ever-present reminder of the violence woven into the consciousness of our social fabric.

The story behind the cross represents a literal pictogram of the worst characteristics of human nature.

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During the CNN Democratic Presidential Debate, yesterday millions of simple-minded Americans listen to the now time worn touting of various candidates as heroes, for having “fought for their country in Vietnam.” 
 
Here is what former Democratic candidate for President and present Secretary of State John Kerry testified about the American war in Vietnam before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1971.

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Though Argentina Bolivia Cuba Ecuador Venezuela and Nicaragua condemned US wars and murderous exploitation during this year’s UN Gen. Debate, they as other delegates, lamented the current deplorable condition of today’s world of death and destruction, of poverty and starvation calling for everyone to work to rectify the situation. No delegate even once called for justice through prosecution. Gaddafi UN speech quoted.

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Article is in regard to the address of  President Hassan Rouhani of Iran before the UN General Assembly during its 2015 General Debate, the general atmosphere of appeasement during the debate, and an unwillingness, even by delegates of nations bombed and invaded by US or NATO, to uphold the UN Charter that contains the Nuremberg Principles of international law.  Part of a series of articles on the UN General Debate.

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This article is in regard to the address of  President Hassan Rouhani of Iran before the United Nations General Assembly during its 2015 General Debate (9/28/2015), the general atmosphere of appeasement during the debate, and an unwillingness, even by delegates of nations bombed and invaded by US or NATO, to uphold the UN Charter that contains the Nuremberg Principles of international law.

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Pope’s visit, blown up to super large proportions, a media inculcated impression that God’s representative on planet Earth is blessing America as its investors in profitable use of US Armed Forces go on destroying nations and peoples.  Article not intended merely to unmask the Pope we are being hyped about, but to show the Papacy has long been an instrument of the wealthy who brutally misrule most of humanity

A few people have noted that iBrattleboro commenting has dropped off a bit recently and wondered why. Usually, iBrattleboro follows the general trends in town, and Brattleboro as a whole has seen community participation dropping off for some time now.

Few people run for the selectboard or school boards, and town meeting struggles to find representatives. Public participation at selectboard and school board meetings is minimal. Few people commented publicly on major zoning changes being debated. Parents barely batted an eye when Common Core was implemented.

Food drives and non-profit fundraising efforts struggle to meet goals. Citizens haven’t been motivated to hold fundraising events for needed police and fire facilities. Skatepark fundraising efforts are quiet. And so on.

What a bombshell it was when Martin Luther King called his government “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world!” – large bold headlines in every newspaper all around the world. Now, nearly a half century later, and tens of millions of additional innocent human beings, a third of them children, slaughtered to protect the super wealthy’s mostly white capitalism, as it continues profitable exploitation of all humanity, what If a few world famous celebrities listened to their conscience and spoke up as King did?

A variation of my letter shown below appeared in the Brattleboro Reformer on Thursday. I was responding to a local resident calling for a boycott of Panda North. I would like to ask my friends and neighbors to show support for this fine family-owned restaurant whose owners and staff have been respectful of us and served us for 27 years, and have not been “disrespectful” as the previous letter-writer had suggested. These folks should not suffer because of mis-information.

Please continue to patronize Panda North … after more than a quarter-century here, they deserve our support.

Fifteen years later I still have the same thoughts about the events of 9/11 I’ve had from the beginning.Since I lived in New York City most of my adult life, I have an intimate view of the original Trade Towers. The immensity of them was something you had to see in person. Photos can give you an idea of their size, but not as well as standing under them, being inside of them or on the observation deck of the South Tower.

Towers 1 and 2 were built to withstand multiple Boeing 707 impacts. By 1973 both towers were fully constructed.

Thesis: Western society’s progressive writers leave their readers with the impression that citizens of the US and allied nations will never be prosecuted for their mega massive crimes against humanity. Legal and moral implications and future ramifications are discussed and contrasted with ongoing litigation and warnings Martin Luther King gave.

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Leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement work in blatant disbelief of Martin Luther Kings moral and entirely logical warning; ‘There will be no progress on social justice issues at home while we go on denying the very right to live of the poor overseas at a such an enormous expenditure of social and financial resources that make such progress at home impossible.’ Read King’s Beyond Vietnam and Why I Am Against the War.

It has been a while since I have read news of a circus tent being blown down.

Yesterday, as some rather violent thunderstorms passed north of us, hundreds of people were inside a circus tent in New Hampshire enjoying a performance by the Walker Bros. circus. According to one report I saw, the wind came up, poles began lifting up and everything came crashing down. There were two deaths and many injuries.

It reminded me of .

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Left Progressives Collaborated As Investors in Genocide Owned CNN CIA US Gov & NATO Destroyed Libya

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Gaddafi overthrew a British installed King, brought Libya from Africa’s poorest nation to be its wealthiest with a UN Quality of Life Index higher than 9 European countries. A million Libyans out of a total population 6, desperately demonstrated for their Green Book Democracy and beloved Gaddafi outside Tripoli as Britain  & France bombed. Left Progressives either collaborated with or were silent re lies used to destroy Libya

For the second year in a row the Tuesday market on Whetstone Pathway is really disappointing. Two small farms – both selling identical vegetables. No seasonal fruit being sold. A woman selling baked goods; a flower vendor and that’s pretty much it. No variety – very little reason to go there. The biggest draw – with the only lines of customers -was the Thai food truck.I don’t know what’s going on with this market. When it was located on Main Street mext to the Senior Center there were lots of farms offering not only veggies and herbs but berries, melons, peaches; apples in the fall. Plus flowers and baked goods and a couple of places to get lunch.

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Another killing of GIs by a Muslim American. Most Americans will confine their judgement and emotions to this one specific quadruple murder, and this will be helpful to those, who have invested in profitable genocides from Korea onward in their continuing to stay under the radar. Insidious US media will make sure the deaths of the four Marines and Abdulazeez play out well for its ISIS hoax and Christian-Israeli hate Islam campaign.

DESCRIPTION: Independence Holiday in the USA becomes a time when citizens tend to reflect on the nations 238 year history. It is a history typical of six European empires in the areas of genocide and plunder.  Genocide: the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation. plural: genocides; review of USA’s; update on present and future prosecution thereof.

Every Wednesday I deliver about 4000 copies of “The Commons”, a weekly newspaper which is familiar to most of the people reading this. 

This Wednesday, something very mysterious happened – most of the papers I delivered have disappeared.

It is as if someone was following me around and removing the papers from the racks I filled just a few minutes before.

Got any ideas?

Letter to the Editor of The Vermont Journal/The Shopper, Ludlow, Vermont,  published July 1, 2015.
“Congressman Peter Welch Gets Richer While Depriving Poor Vermonters!”

Last year

Do members of the United States Congress  get special hints telling them to  buy stock at a certain time, and then sell it, to reward them for voting a certain way on a certain Bill?

I find it interesting that one of the outcomes of the shooting in Charleston appears to be the dismantling of the imagery that appealed to the shooter. Overnight, the Confederate flag is something for politicians to distance themselves from, and calls for its removal from license plates, statehouses, and other official uses are being acted upon. Long a symbol of southern pride, its days seem numbered.

Dylann Roof probably didn’t anticipate this reaction, but he accomplished it.

The United States is effectively supplying Islamic State with tools of war. Iraqi security forces lost 2,300 Humvee armored vehicles when Islamic State overran the northern city of Mosul. Further losses by default to Islamic State include at least :

40 M1A1 main battle tanks,
74,000 machine guns,
52 M198 howitzer mobile gun systems.
1,000 additional Humvees, along with their armor upgrades, machine guns and grenade launchers.
250 Mine Resistant Armored Personnel carriers (MRAPs) Like in Keene!

plus unaccountable amounts of materiel left behind when American forces departed Iraq in 2011.