Op/Ed

I wonder who left a huge pile of partially formed excrement on Main Street Friday evening. I think it was near Fireworks. More importantly, though, it was in the middle of the sidewalk. It was presented to the town, I would guess, by either a big dog or a sick or inebriated human. Or by an individual with serious boundary issues.

I know about it because I stepped in it!

It fouled my almost brand new pair of shoes, which don’t feel new anymore. It caused a disgusting end to a pleasant evening out. And then, at home, I had to spend time and energy scrubbing the sole of the soiled shoe with a grout brush.

I just heard via “Live & Local” that Entergy has announced the Closure of Vermont Yankee.

Hallelujah!

…How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Spies

“Of Course this is a friendly call, Dimitri.”

I’ve been trying to sort out whether my dismay over the rising security state is based on a reverence for the constitution and respect for those who sacrificed greatly to establish a democracy, or whether it’s about something deeper, a primary human instinct. All people recognize, as artists and sages often point out, the essence of communication is trust.  If so, how can we not be appalled by the deception and venality, the corruptibility of government officials, and the gaming of the system. What we’re seeing is the emergence of a system of anti-checks and unbalances, designed to serve and protect those charged with supposedly protecting us.

Listening to President Obama’s statements about the NSA and spying on Americans over the past few weeks, I began wondering if he was outright lying to us, or if he was woefully ignorant of the subjects of which he spoke.

I’m not alone. if the President that he had no idea what is going on.   Some of the statements in question:

– the secret FISA court is “transparent” and that Congress has full oversight
– “We don’t have a domestic spying program.”
– “No one is listening to your phone calls.”

Although I am known for being opposed to medicalization of marijuana as prescriptive necessary for use, this article is worth noting because Dr. Sanjay Gupta is making his mea culpa for being wrong about marijuana’s therapeutic value. Whether he’ll come around to understanding and accepting social use of marijuana remains to be seen.

DESCRIPTION: 
“Obama calls Korean War a victory” 7/27/2013
He studied through a PhD in law at Harvard. Yet doesn’t know, or pretends not to know US history.
US bombed to death more than two million Koreans, men, women and children in their own beloved country,
many as often as not in their very own homes, many especially gross US atrocities only recently apologized for.
Author promises such upside down history will not wash much longer

It was depressing, but not unexpected, to read this morning that George Zimmerman was found not guilty.

The “Stand Your Ground” law allows people to use deadly force on someone, then claim self defense. In an ideal sense, the concept applies to defending one’s home from an intruder.

In Florida, it means you can kill a young black man if you find him suspicious.

Zimmerman was not defending his home or his property. There was no threat to him.

Many readers here have probably read the viewpoint column I wrote and the Commons printed in their current issue. If not, here is the .

The basic gist is that if we can at all afford 14.1 million dollars for the police and fire facilities we can get much more for our money if we scale that project back some (but retain its most important features) and use the savings for economic development.  The thrust of my views are that public safety is not a serious issue for now (tho it would be improved to a significant degree anyway under this plan) but the economy is.  I  will even argue that several million dollars poured into development and the creation of jobs will have greater and more salutary effect on public safety than an armored indoor loading dock for handling prisoners.

There is a political battle going on at the northern end of Vermont that could have an impact on those of us down here. The Air Force would like to use South Burlington as a base for an expensive, loud new plane: the F-35.

How loud? 400% as loud as the F-16.

Just about all the bad things our governments do are defended with the claim that they are legal.  But just because it is legal to do something, is it necessarily right?  Anything can be made legal, after all.

We usually think of murder as being fundamentally wrong and almost certainly illegal, but it can be made legal in certain circumstances — as, for instance, when a drone kills dozens of innocents along with its alleged terrorist targets.  

New Mexico, is one of the top ten states with the most
undocumented illegal immigrants.
 Governor Peter Shumlin, U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy
and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders  of Vermont
want illegal aliens in  Vermont and Governor
Peter Shumlin wants them to have drivers’
licenses.  THE PROBLEM  is now,
NEW MEXICO is  planning to allow the  SLAUGHTER
of HORSES for FOOD for HUMAN CONSUMPTION.

I started this letter last year, in a fit of pique at President Obama, who I perceived was moving in the wrong direction. Today, I finished it. Here’s what I wrote:

Dear President Obama,

All of your policies are wrong. Here are some things missing from your policies:

– heart
– soul
– beauty
– love
– joy

New Mexico, one of the top ten states with the most illegal immigrants (like Governor Peter Shumlin wants in Vermont) is now planning to SLAUGHTER HORSES for FOOD for HUMAN CONSUMPTION.

NSA whistleblower Russel Tice has told reporters examples of people the NSA was spying on prior to the PRISM program. Tice says these people were targeted for blackmail and other leverage over them.

:

• “Members of Congress, both Senate and the House, especially on the intelligence committees and on the armed services committees and some of the–and judicial”
• “One of the judges is now sitting on the Supreme Court”
• “Two … former FISA court judges”
  

I am in shock at the high cost to repair Brattleboro’s Ice Arena.   The Brattleboro Recreation Department as with almost every other department in Brattleboro keeps getting hit with all these expenses.   I read the town meeting notes here, last week. Thank you Chris. Putting all other town business aside reading how our selectboard addressed this issue was comforting. 

Seeing how the estimate of repairs obtain by the town had been so far off from the bid received for the job reading that the selectboard had chose to not pull the checkbook out and pay the the extra 120,000 was comforting. The board wanting to step back and access what other options are out there just seems like the most practical thing to do giving the state of economic affairs at the moment.

DESCRIPTION:
Blaming policy, politicians, media, corporations, but never holding America, Americans, responsible as MLKjr did, antiwar journalists expose mass-homicide for thievery by Americans in dozens of poor nations beginning with America’s bloody overthrow of democratic governments in Greece, Guatemala, Congo, Korea, Vietnam and Laos thru today’s crimes in Syria  Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan, Libya, and murderously occupied Afghanistan,

TEXT:
Preface to the Survey Question:

An Explanation Of Why It Is Put Principally To Antiwar Writers And Investigative Journalists:

Fear of Speaking Freely

Being afraid to speak, is a Civil Rights issue. Students, Teachers, Journalists and the Public should have the freedom to speak freely and to assemble, yet they do not.

Students and citizens need to know, to see and hear alternatives to mainstream media and decide for themselves what is fact and what is fiction. Important issues of fact are being intentionally omitted; key items of history are being rewritten and replaced with contrived innuendo. Few who are normally relied upon for investigation or debate, dare to stand up to these forces.

TITLE:
Obama War Criminal? What About Investors, CNN, Clergy, Soldiers, You & I? by jay janson

DESCRIPTION:
David Swanson, of War Is A Crime.org, although endorsing, along with almost every serious antiwar journalist and organization, the King Condemned US Wars International Awareness Campaign, wrote recently: US Presidents Should Be Prosecuted for War Crimes and Military Aggressions” Readers in nations bombed, invaded and murderously occupied by America and Americans will sense or suspect a ‘fall guy’ trick to absolve everyone else

This veteran is waiting for the year in which the Veterans For Peace, in its Memorial Day Press Release, states that Veterans mourn first, the lives America took in poor countries, both the civilian men, women and children and the patriots that fought our illegal and criminal invasions since 1945. Only then should come bitterly mourning GIs who were duped by our elected officials and the CIA and Pentagon fed, corporate-controlled war-promoting media cartel fooling them with lies, misinformation, disinformation and psyop techniques that deceived them into proudly following homicidal criminal orders.  Orders given, as Martin Luther King Jr. cried out, “for atrocity wars and covert homicide meant to maintain unjust predatory investments overseas.”
[see Beyond Vietnam – a Time to Break Silence sermon]

On Saturday, just after 1 PM, WVEW played a very long selection of dissonant vocal noise that could not be called music in any way.

I tolerated it for 10 minutes, and then complained to the disk jockey, who thought my assessment of it as “noise” was just an opinion.