Opinion

For opinion pieces on any topic.

30,000 Murdered in Argentina while Pope Francis Was Top Jesuit – Millions While Pius XII Was Pope

by jay janson | Op/Ed

DESCRIPTION:
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

Double Header In Nearby Massachusetts

by tomaidh | Politics

Richard D. Wolff and Naomi Klein are both appearing in Mass next Tuesday, September 29th. (Wolff, Amherst @ 4pm & Klein, Mt. Holyoke @ 7pm)

It’s possible to see them both.

Anybody want to accompany me? 257-1829

Where Have All The Comments Gone? The Participation Problem

by cgrotke | Op/Ed

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 If UNICEF’s Djokovic-Novak Said Survivors of US Bombings Deserve Justice and the Guilty Punished?

by jay janson | Op/Ed

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?

In Support of Panda North

by JohnWilmerding | Op/Ed

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.

Pulverization! Sept. 11 Was An ‘Inside’ Job

by Vidda | Op/Ed

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.

Progressive Party Organizing Meeting

by spoon | Politics

Official warning:  All Progressive Party voters in the town of Brattleboro, in the county of Windham, are hereby notified, in accordance with 17 VSA # 2303, to meet in caucus on Monday, September 21, 2015 at 145 Green Street, Brattleboro at 6 PM.

     The agenda is:

         1.  Election of the Town of Brattleboro Committee

         2.  Election of Officers by the Town Committee

Supporting Iran Nuclear Deal, Sanders Cites Lessons from War in Iraq

by Not Signed In | Politics

WASHINGTON, Sept. 9 – In a Senate floor speech later today, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will detail his support for an agreement to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. In prepared remarks, Sanders likened critics of the agreement to those in Congress who voted to take the United States to war in Iraq in 2003.

“Those who have made every effort to thwart the diplomatic process and have spoken out against the Iran agreement, including many in this chamber, are the same people who spoke out forcefully on the need to go to war with Iraq,” Sanders said.

“I voted against the war in Iraq. Sadly, much of what I feared in fact did happen. I do not want to see it happen again.”

Candidates For Vermont Governor

by cgrotke | Politics

I’ve been noting presidential candidates, but we also have an upcoming race for Vermont Governor. So far as I can tell, six people have annouced their intention of running for the state’s highest office. It is your challenge to learn about them and report what you learn here so others can benefit. Become a local correspondent for the VT race.

In alphabetical order, to get you started:

Stock Market Volatility and The Little Guy

by Lise | Economics

About six weeks ago, even those of us who are barely paying attention started to hear ominous reports out of China. The stock markets in the world’s second largest economy had taken a turn for the worse and were shedding value to an alarming degree – 7% one day, 8% another, to the tune of a whopping 35% by the time Black Tuesday rolled around. This occurred despite continual action on the part of the Chinese government since May to shore them back up or at least stop the bleeding. Market turbulence had set in and the central banks of that country seemed powerless to stop it. Watching all this from half a world away, the big question on everyone’s mind became: when is this going to hit us? On August 21, 2015, it did.

Gotcha Questions

by cgrotke | Politics

Hi, I’m here for a job interview. I’d like to be a doctor.

Do you have experience being a doctor?

No, but I’m a quick study. You’ll be impressed after I start operating.

Do you know anything about radiocarpal articulation?

That’s a “gotcha question.” I’m not a specialist

Matt Dunne Hosting Community Meeting in Brattleboro

by ScottCMcCarty | Politics

Matt Dunne has announced that he will seek the Democratic nomination for Governor in 2016.

As Matt begins his bid for governor, he is eager to meet with Vermonters and listen to their concerns about the challenges facing Vermont, and their ideas for the future.

Matt’s campaign is scheduled meetings in every county of our state including two in Windham County — one in Bellows Falls and the other in Brattleboro.

Southern Vermont Projects Funded to Mitigate the Economic Impacts of VY Closure

by Not Signed In | Economics

Green Building Cluster, Business Acceleration and Tri State region CEDS alignment

Windham County, VT – On Monday August 31st, Senator Patrick Leahy announced that the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC) has been awarded $265K by the US Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration. The federal award was the final piece of funding needed for a $530K project which will launch two major initiatives outlined in the Windham Region S.M.A.R.T. CEDS: Development of a Green Building Cluster Study and the initiation and operation of the Southern Vermont Business Innovation Accelerator.

Interesting Political Analysis

by tomaidh | Politics

From “The Pen” (People’s email network) Today at 7:15 AM (edited)

The Beltway pundits remain condescending and dismissive, which is all the more reason why we need to keep cranking up the people power, to continue to raise the visibility of Bernie Sanders, as he continues to rise in the polls.This week on Meet The Press, they trotted out the big guns, so-called “senior” campaign advisers to pre-emptively and forcefully declare that Donald Trump was NOT going to be the Republican nominee. Chuck Todd has been wrong so many times already, we suppose he needed some faux authoritative reinforcement.

Broadband Choices in Brattleboro?

by TechFan | Opinion

My $39.99/month Comcast internet promo ends this month. Normal price is $67/month, so I need an alternative. I scoured the web for DSL and fiber optic availability and pricing. Unfortunately, that info is published no where, so I contacted potential companies directly and compared services.

There’s three residential broadband providers in town- 2 DSL, 1 Cable Internet. Only 1 out of 3 companies offers transparant pricing online. Ironically, it happens to be the most hated company in America, Comcast. Instead of capitalizing on that, the two relatively small, local DSL companies maintain a website circa 1995- no way to register for service, check prices, corresponding speeds, verify coverage area. Basically useless, secretive, uninformative websites.

Windham County for Bernie

by Not Signed In | Politics

It’s a safe bet that Bernie Sanders will carry Vermont in our presidential primary. For folks itching to help the national campaign, “Windham County for Bernie” is organizing to help our neighbors in New Hampshire ensure that Bernie Sanders wins the all-important NH primary in February.

We will hold our first public organizing meeting of “Windham County for Bernie” on August 27. NH campaign staff from Concord & Keene will attend to update us on the NH campaign. Sign up for phone banking, canvassing, helping out at NH Bernie events, writing letters to editors, bird-dogging other candidates’ and more.

The Wrong Guy – Sanders and the Democrats

by Lise | Politics

Somehow I thought that when you ran as say, a Democrat, that Democrats would at least acknowledge that you exist instead of stealing all your platform planks, (watering them down), and then trying to find people to run on them.  But that is exactly what the Democrats are doing in the face of Bernie Sanders’ unexpected popularity.  First it was Hillary, with her student loan program and her sudden concern for the middle class.  Then she got in trouble, so the party players decided to float Biden.  Biden seems to be nibbling, so we may see him in the race.  Then this weekend, the Guardian ran a story saying people wanted Gore to run.  Somehow I don’t think that’s likely but really?  You want to run Gore?  Anyone?