Opinion

After seeing the Edward Snowden movie Citizen Four at the Latchis recently, I was left with an impression that was not what I had expected. I had expected to be buried in acronyms – I was. I expected moments of understated drama – they were there. But what I didn’t expect was this lingering feeling of claustrophobia which comes of spending two hours watching a man whose physical existence is now confined, 24 hours a day, to a single beige hotel room which could have been anywhere but happened to be in Hong Kong. What struck me more disturbingly was that you don’t have to be an NSA whistle-blower to feel a hint of that claustrophobia in your own life. Many of us, I suspect, feel confined to a smaller space these days, especially in the time since Snowden’s revelations.

Open Letter To Vermonter Voters,

I have complained here at ibrattleboro.com during the fall of 2014 that my vote count was lowered from the “unofficial” vote count to the “official” vote count four days later.   This never happens to major party candidates.  It happened to me in 2010, and it happened to me in 2014.  I want some positive, constructive changes made!  Because this never happens to major party candidates, I am now complaining that I believe the Constitution of the State of Vermont is being violated.

The purpose of writing this is to express my grievance over Governor Shumlin’s recent dismissal of Act 48, the Vermont Law, passed in 2011 by Mr. Shumlin himself –who rode into office on the wave of public support for this law in the first place! This law states that all residents of Vermont have the right to receive the best, high quality and publicly financed medical care– in other words, Universal, or Single-Payer Health Care. He has now abandoned us, having already missed several deadlines for putting various parts of it into affect so that it would be fully implemented by 2017. In his own words, on Dec 17, 2014, Governor Shumlin claimed that “…Now is not the time…”

Regarding Killing the Prince of Peace in Afghanistan on his birthday, no sense thinking up some new observations, last year’s and those of previous years should suffice.

Below the list of articles, readers are invited to imagine appropriate completions of New Year’s resolutions for a few of problems Americans will face in 2015.

Well it’s official. At approximately 11:00 am today VY powered down for the last time. There may finally be peace in the area as the protesters, most from well outside the evacuation zone I might add, have officially become unemployed. They can move on to another area and chain themselves to the perimeter fence of another nuclear facility. If they don’t mind the cold and would like to enjoy the benefits of no sales tax maybe they should consider Seabrook N.H. 

On December 26, 2004, shortly after 0.58 UTC, scientists of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center had been made aware that a deadly tidal wave could be building up in the Indian Ocean from an earthquake of 8.1 magnitude, yet did not warn any of the many nations that might be about to be hit.

Happy New Year! I would like to share this LETTER TO THE EDITOR I wrote to THE VERMONT JOURNAL which they Pubished Dec. 18, 2014

My favorite fantasy is to imagine men in Vermont in the 1770’s riding their horses across the hills and mountain trails, splashing naked in the hollowed gorges and streams, and fighting for their freedom.

How is Representative Town Meeting (RTM) better than the “normal” open Town Meeting that every other Vermont town uses?

Taken on its own merits in a vacuum, RTM is a fine concept. But we don’t live in a vacuum; we live in the state of Vermont. If there were 30 people running for 14 seats, and there were platforms and discussions and a system of accountability between representative and those being represented, then it would be great – but we have 14 people running for 30 seats and it’s not clear who’s representing what. If there were so many people attending Town Meeting that it was impractical to allow everyone to participate in a Robert’s Rules style meeting, then I can see where RTM would be a good alternative – but space doesn’t seem to be an issue.

I’m hoping you are getting some warmth, food, and rest in the coming days. Perhaps a present or two, too.

With holidays and such, things may slightly slower around here for the next week or so. We’ll be checking in and making sure things get posted, but we’re also going to try to enjoy some time with the family.

A big thank you to everyone who adds their thoughts, comments, news, and events to iBrattleboro. A big thanks to all our wonderful advertisers, as well. Click on their ads and ennjoy their services.

Today’s NASDAQ has Fairpoint Communications, Inc. at $14.34 USDs. Adjacent to the figure for Total Calculated Compensation of $2,359,299 (FY 2013) to Paul Sunu, as Businessweek notes, Fairpoint’s CEO is “connected to 15 board members in 3 different organizations across 7 different industries.“

Maybe that’s not so exceptional for a business man with 25 years experience in finance, corporate management and law, with degrees in political science and Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois’ Urbana-Champaign and the College of Law.