Opinion

For opinion pieces on any topic.

Gina Haspel Appointed to Head CIA By The Numbers

by Not Signed In | Politics

Gina Cheri Haspel=135 in English ordinal. She was nominated on 5/13. 5/13 in most of the world is expressed as 13/5 or 135. Central Intelligence Agency=135 in Reverse Reduction. Nominated on the 13th, CIA=13 in English Ordinal. Haspel=61 in English Ordinal. She is 61 years old. Born on 10/1. Haspel=101 in Reverse Ordinal. From her confirmation,May 17th, as head of the CIA to her birthday is 137 days. Government=137 in Reverse Ordinal. Authority=137 in English Ordinal. May 17th is the 137th day of the year.

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.

The Testing of the Official Brattleboro Selectboard Emails

by cgrotke | Politics

Selectboard Chair Kate O’Connor recently announced during a Selectboard meeting that she didn’t read emails sent to her official email account. 

I decided to send a few questions to Town Manager Peter Elwell about this April 26. When did O’Connor stop reading her emails? How many emails piled up as unread? How many of them were from citizens and how many were spam? Which other Selectboard members don’t read their official email accounts? And how should citizens contact board members so that they know their comments will be read?

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?

Sara Coffey Running For State Representative for Vernon/Guilford

by cgrotke | Politics

Sara Coffey, founder and Director of Vermont Performance Lab, has indicated her desire to be the next representative from Vernon and Guilford.

” I believe that it’s through coming together and listening to each other that we can find creative solutions to help keep our small rural communities strong, healthy and vibrant.”

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?

Windham World Affairs Council Holds Talk on Iran Nuclear Deal on Eve of Trump’s Decision

by Not Signed In | Politics

On Friday, May 11, 2018 @7:00 pm the Windham World Affairs Council is presenting “Revisiting the Nuclear Agreement between Iran and the US, the JCPOA,” a major talk at a decisive moment for our country,  The talk, which is free and open to the public, will be held in the Sanctuary of the Centre Congregational Church, 193 Main St, Brattleboro, which has a large capacity and is handicapped-accessible.

WWAC announces this major talk at a decisive moment for our country as President Trump is getting ready to tell the world whether or not he will honor the agreement made by his predecessor with Iran and five other world powers and is also preparing for direct talks on denuclearization with North Korean leader Kim Jung-un.

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.

Gov. Scott Wants To Issue Tax Penalties on Brattleboro for Providing Quality Education

by Indivisible Brattleboro | Politics

The legislative session is wrapping up and the budget is still on the line. The threats coming out of Gov. Scott’s office are terrible.

-Gov. Scott has said all year that he wants to level funding and impose strict staff ratios at our public schools.
-Townships met and voted on their budgets through Vermont’s democratic process. In most cases, including in Brattleboro, they followed Scott’s budgetary directive.
-This wasn’t good enough for Gov. Scott. He is now threatening to FINE communities (Yes, fine. As in make them pay the state money through tax penalties.) for failing to meet his arbitrary staffing ratios.

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 Cris Ericson | 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. 

Vermont Labor Relations Board – In Opposition to Confirmation

by RobertOeser | Politics

An open letter to Senators White & Balint,

It is my understanding that the appointment of Karen O’Neill as a “neutral” on the Vermont Labor Relations Board is pending confirmation by Senate. I am writing in opposition to that appointment.

The applicable law states that “‘Nominees with neutral backgrounds’ means individuals in high standing not connected with any labor organization or management position, and who can be reasonably considered to be able to serve as an impartial individual.” 3 V.S.A. § 921 (B)

The Mystery of 9/11

by tomaidh | Politics

I have solved the mystery of 9/11: Lee Harvey Oswald did it!

Getting back to reality…

“United States is overwhelmingly and increasingly in the hands of a very narrow sector of corporate wealth, private wealth and power. They have counterparts elsewhere who agree with them and who interact with them and that’s who rules the world.” – Noam Chomsky

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.

Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting Ballot Results

by Not Signed In | Politics

At Representative Town Meeting today, March 25, the body voted through Australian Ballot on Article 11:

“To see if the Town will authorize the following capital purchase for the Fire Department: The purchase of an aerial ladder truck at an estimated cost of $950,000, and will authorize the issuance of notes and/or bonds in the aggregate principal amount not to exceed $500,000 at a rate of interest not to exceed 5% per annum for a term of 10 years to pay a portion of the cost of said aerial ladder truck. The vote on this article shall be by Australian Ballot as required by law. The question to be voted upon is as follows: