Opinion

For opinion pieces on any topic.

North End Butchers, Windham Wines and Adams Seafood

by Rosa Bonheur | Op/Ed

Please be sure to include North End Butchers, Windham Wines and Adams Seafood in your shopping plans this spring and summer. With the coming closing of Black Mountain Trading Co., on Putney Road, I would like to urge all to frequent the North End Butchers, Windham Wines, Adams Seafood and other merchants in the little shopping mall on Putney Road just north of Hannafords.

North End Butchers is starting to get fresh vegetables from local growers, they have their usual fine selection of locally grown meat, sandwiches and a nice assortment of prepared foods. They have even been carrying locally grown shitaki mushrooms.

Sanders Announces $5.5 million in Health Center Funds for Vermont

by Not Signed In | Politics

BURLINGTON, Vt., May 4 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders today announced the Department of Health and Human Services awarded $5.5 million to six community health centers in Vermont. The health centers will use this new federal funding to renovate facilities, increase patient capacity and expand primary care services.

The Vermont awards are part of $260 million in health infrastructure funding announced today for 290 community health centers in 45 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The funding comes from the Health Center Trust Fund, which was created by a Sanders provision in the Affordable Care Act that provides $11 billion for community health centers across the United States. Congress extended the Sanders provision last year with bipartisan support.

Acela Primary and The West Coast

by cgrotke | Politics

Continuing our election year discussion series, we come to what major media have taken to calling the Acela Primary. It’s named for the Amtrak train line that makes its way through Delaware up the coast and over to Rhode Island.

The latest headlines show us that Trump and Clinton both use Delaware corporations as perfectly legitimate and legal mechanisms for handling millions of dollars of business income. Others use them, of course, to shuffle income around and avoid paying taxes, but not the candidates. No way!

Kasich and Cruz are making some sort of pact to work together to take down Trump. Trump has promised that he’s been putting on an act thus far, and will behave like a good Republican now that he’s heading for the nomination.

Democracy In Vermont Is Dead

by Not Signed In | Op/Ed

From the early days of one room school houses to the present, town residents and tax payers have been directly involved in their students’ education. Act 46 takes this role away from us.

The Dummerston community has built and paid for its school building and grounds. All decisions pertaining to our school are made annually by Dummerston residents by discussion and Australian ballot.

Implementation of act 46 completely removes the people from direct decision making about their children’s education. Furthermore, our schools will lose their identity as community centers.

Act 46 is being enacted without any information provided to the public, nor does the public have the opportunity to give input or feedback.

Hillary Destroyed Gaddafi & Libya’s Free Health Care & Education Sanders Wants For USA

by jay janson | Op/Ed

DESCRIPTION:
It would seem Sanders fighting for Americans to have free health care and free education would have tempered his words about a Gaddafi who saw to his people receiving for many years what Bernie wants for Americas. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton and the pro status quo Republican candidates opposing her are perhaps already an anachronism, i.e., persons with practices that belongs to an earlier time.

Defining Affordable Care – A Tax Season Dilemma

by Lise | Op/Ed

This year, as I was doing my taxes, I got to wondering what is up with the healthcare “Personal Responsibility Tax” for the uninsured, and whether or not low income people really have to pay it.   This mostly affects the self-employed and people without coverage through their employers, but that’s a few people, so it seemed worth investigating.  As it turned out, finding out how to claim an exemption was most of the battle, and a battle it was with many spreadsheets and worksheets and interactive tax tools to be filled out.  The answer I arrived at was “no” — unless you make more than $53,737 (as a single person), you’re not required to pay the uninsured person’s tax.  This is because you are not required by law to expend more than 8.05% of your income to buy h

Chemtrails – This Time A Lawsuit Pending

by DWard | Opinion

“This is truly an assault upon all life on earth.”

“They’re trying to obscure the severity of what’s unfolding from the public as long as possible.”

“What our government and other governments are doing and their agencies are doing are trying desperately to hide the magnitude of what’s unfolding till the last possible moment, at which time total collapse ensues.”

Candidates In New York

by cgrotke | Politics

All political eyes are now on New York.

It’s Trump’s home state, so he should do well. It’s Clinton’s adopted home so she should do well. It’s where Sanders was born, so he should do well. It’s where people know and dislike Trump, so Cruz should do well. Everyone will win!

For me, it’s a bit more fun watching candidates hop around NY than NH. I know the state better, so it has a bit more relevance. In terms of political campaigns, the pressure is on and the candidates are firing on all cylinders, including taking swipes at one another. And for some reason, New York matters greatly this year.

No Chance

by tomaidh | Politics

“I watch Bernie. He wins, he wins, he keeps winning, winning and winning, and then I see he’s got no chance. They always say he’s got no chance. Why doesn’t he have a chance?” “Because the system is corrupt. And it’s worse on the Republican side.”

Donald Trump, during a rally in Rochester, N.Y.

Kill the Messenger (2014 film) – Mena, Arkansas, and the Crack Cocaine Epidemic, According to Journalist Gary Webb

by JohnWilmerding | Politics

http://tinyurl.com/eyewitnessaccounts

‘Kill the Messenger’ is a 2014 film based on a true story, the work of journalist Gary Webb in uncovering the circumstances behind the CIA’s, Nicaraguan Contras’, and organized crime’s roles in massive drug trafficking, leading to the early 1980s crack cocaine epidemic. This in turn led to the USA’s over-incarceration binge, which has imprisoned black Americans in numbers vastly out of proportion to their percentage of the general population.

[Gary Webb’s original journalistic revelations in these matters were originally published in the San Jose (CA) Mercury News, and he later compiled them into his 1998-99 book ‘Dark Alliance: the CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion’.]

Sanders and Clinton and Trump, Oh My!

by Lise | Politics

I’ve been hearing a lot of scary news among the pundits whose screeds populate my news feed in the morning.  Usually they pertain to what horrible things will happen if this or that person (usually Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders) is elected.  This got me thinking about what would happen if any of them were actually to win – as one of them is almost certain to do.

Paid Oppostion or Just Plain Ignorant

by ChrisPratt | Op/Ed

My name is Chris Pratt. I have no problem disclosing who I am because I have nothing to hide.  Same goes for my website . I challenge the reader to show me one fact (hundreds of thousands are listed here) that is not well referenced and/or supported by an original video and/or a published article.

We are up against billions of dollars and thousands of faceless people paid to discredit and conduct character assassinations on people who are brave enough to question, to doubt or to demand further investigations or evidence. We are outnumbered and out spent at levels that are unimaginable. It truly is a David and Goliath quest for truth and openness vs deception and secrecy.

The Clinton, Cruz, Kasich, Sanders, & Trump Show

by cgrotke | Politics

In our latest episode, the election year continues to astound and amaze. Despite some political poker faces and a bit of bluffing, no one yet has a winning hand. About the only thing that can be said with certainty is that no one will really know for some time to come. This will cause heart palpitations for some, but for the rest, it provides us with more time and space for armchair political commentary.

Brattleboro Recounts and Revotes – The Results Will Stand

by cgrotke | Politics

I asked Town Clerk Annette Cappy about some of the lingering questions regarding recount and revotes.

– Are we satisfied with the most recent recount numbers?

Annette Cappy, Brattleboro Town Clerk: I am. The second recount mirrored the election results exactly for both David Gartenstein and Avery Schwenk. Dick DeGray picked up 2 votes. Those results seem very reasonable. Using the tabulators doesn’t necessarily ensure 100% accuracy. There is always a slim margin of error whether using tabulators or counting by hand, which is why the process of recounts is included in the statutes.

Lawsuit: Nobody Died at Sandy Hook

by tomaidh | Rumors

1 Trillion Dollar Lawsuit Filed Against MSM For Staging Sandy Hook  

“After exhaustive research, the good news is that overwhelming evidence reveals that no children or teachers died at Sandy Hook two years ago. For relief, I have filed lawsuits against the media in US District Court in New Haven for Fraud and Terrorism. Here is an example of our abundant evidence, Exhibit D: The Connecticut State Police dash cams record no evacuation of children from school at critical moments:

Chemtrail Meeting at the Climate Change Cafe

by DWard | Op/Ed

Sometimes at meetings about something really important like chemtrails, I get kinda wound up when I realize the attendees know almost zilch about the subject. You’d think that people would look up at the sky now and then wouldn’t you?   Thanks to Post Oil for getting the conversation started.

James Hansen just published a climate study that says we’re in for a lashing from climate change much worse than scientists have previously predicted.  It makes me restless listening to people thinking that writing to their Congresscritters or holding a petition is going to yield results. How many petitions are going on? Do we see anything getting better come out of them? Maybe the occasional bone is thrown in order to shut us up or give some evidence that the system is working.

Bart Simpson Predicts President Trump

by tomaidh | Politics

Bart Simpson predicts a President Trump – and he’s a disaster!

In the 2000 episode “Bart to the Future,” ‘The Simpsons’ joked that President Lisa Simpson (THAT Lisa Simpson) would inherit a budget disaster from President Donald Trump.

Hillary Swaps Partners, Switches Parties!

by JohnWilmerding | Politics

New York, NY — Friday, March 18, 2016 — (SAP: Satirical Amalgamated Press) — Hillary Clinton has announced that she is planning to leave the Democratic Party and join the Republicans.

Faced with the ascendancy of the junior Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, Clinton explained in an interview today that she feels her chances of being nominated her party’s candidate for the presidency will be better among the Republicans.

What Does Jane “Win” If Her Husband, Bernie Sanders, Wins The Election For President?

by CrisEricson2016 | Politics

I was greatly criticized by friends of Jane Sanders for commenting on Facebook that she should improve her wardrobe and leave the “hippy” dresses behind here in Vermont. What incentive would help her to decide to make her wardrobe more upscale? After all, she is the wife of a U.S. Senator; but does her appearance look like a “First Lady”?

What Does Jane “Win” If Her Husband, Bernie Sanders, Wins The Election For President?

For starters, Jane “wins” the First Lady’s Office in the White House!