For opinion pieces on any topic.
A Saker is a very large falcon, native to Europe and Asia.
“The Saker” is a pseudonym for a top level American military analyst who lives in Florida, the author of the leading blog covering Russia and the Ukraine crisis, , which gets an astounding 50,000 page views per day. Of the many blogs covering the subject, his has shot far ahead of the others, due to his sharp analysis and insight.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz has announced his campaign to become our next president:
“I believe in the power of millions of courageous conservatives rising up to reignite the promise of America, and that is why today I am announcing I am running for president of the United States.”
He appears to be the first official major party candidate.
WASHINGTON, March 18 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today backed stronger curbs on the use of dangerous chemicals in consumer products but criticized a bill in Congress that would take away from Vermont and other states the power to protect consumers with new state regulations.
Under the current federal law, tens of thousands of potentially harmful chemicals have continued to be used in products without proper testing and without disclosure by the companies that use them. The law, enacted in 1976, is so weak that it kept the Environmental Protection Agency from even banning asbestos, which causes cancer.
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Dear fellow Town Representatives:
I have been meaning to write an open letter reporting out my concerns and observations about this year’s Representative Town Meeting, items on the agenda, the budget, etc. I have left this until the last minute in hopes that others of you might finally step forward to join me in drafting a brief report as your Town Finance Committee.
This is the
The site has not been updated in a year. I can’t do the work of the committee by myself, so please regard this as merely a personal letter.
Our nation’s police department’s primary objectives have to be enforcement of existing law as enacted by the various state and federal legislatures.
The latitude exercised by each department is affected by a dizzying array of various police departmental and community circumstances. There is no template except that which falls back upon established law.In a real sense, the Executive Summary and therefore the full report of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) to the White House Task Force on Community-Police Relations (January 2015) is putting the cart before the horse.
Congressman Peter Welch, United States House of Representatives, Official Appearance Schedule
Friday, March 13th , 2015
10:30 a.m.
Press Conference: Brattleboro
Rep. Welch will hold a press conference to highlight the importance of the Medicare Dependent Hospital and Low Volume Hospital Designations programs for rural Vermont hospitals and make an announcement regarding the status of the program.
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy in the Reagan administration, claiming the title of “Father of Reaganomics”. He has been associate editor of the Wall Street Journal and columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate.
He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts’ latest books are and .
*Please Visit the on the below letter.*
To Mr. Governor Shumlin,
I am a hard working Vermont State employee for the Agency of Transportation (District 3). I plow the roads. As you may recall, we in AOT have endured many challenges in the recent past ….Including Tropical Storm Irene (2011), Pay Cuts and Pay Freezes (2008-9), Changes to our Health Insurance with Higher deductibles and less coverage (2014). And despite all these hardships and challenges, we still get up, as needed, at 3am (sometimes working 7 days a week) to make sure our roads are safe so Vermonters (including yourself) can go to work, so tourists can come here and spend their money, and so everyone’s kids can get to school.
WASHINGTON, March 4 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a member of the Senate energy and environment committees, issued the following statement today after the Senate voted to sustain President Barack Obama’s veto of a bill that would have allowed construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline:
“I applaud President Obama for vetoing the Keystone XL legislation and the Senate for sustaining that veto.
“The Senate and President Obama have sent an important message that the United States finally is listening to the scientific community and recognizing that global warming poses a real threat to our planet.
Richard Evers is a write-in candidate for a District 3 Town Meeting Member seat. I have been well acquainted with Richard for twenty years and have always known him to be interested in and aware of town issues. He is thoughtful and uses good judgement. I recommend writing in his name for a District 3 Town Meeting Member seat.
Thank you.
Because the media are not perfect, there are three misconceptions that persist about the amendments and I would like to clear them up in these last days before the election.
First, the charter clearly shows how the representative town meeting (RTM) restricted the rights to call for votes. Anyone can check this our on the town web site: See brattleboro.org, click “Charter, ordinances” > “charter”.
The RTM did uselessly lower a signature requirement but at the same time authorized
themselves to vote first and block the petitioned article from the ballot. Their revision (charter article III 2 B)
says:
Speaking rhetorically about legalizing marijuana, I hear the repeating theme that VT needs to do it right, especially every time CO and WA is brought up.
But I have wondered of late, how it is that we can do it wrong?
The unbiased reports from CO especially, and WA all report the upshot results of marijuana legalization are very favorable by every indicator. Yet, except for the deranged Patrick ‘Druggy’ Kennedy’s so-called Smart group it’s not clear exactly what can go wrong.
Questions were sent to all three candidates running for Selectboard. As of Friday afternoon, neither Donna Macomber nor John Allen has replied.
If either answers the questions, we’ll post them here for the enlightenment of voters.
3rd White House Error message at “We the People” petition section of President Obama’s official government White House website. This has occurred at 1091 signatures on the Make Marijuana Legal petition, and it previously occurred at 1064 signatures on the Make Marijuana Legal petition, and before that it occurred when the petition had not reached the first 150 requirement.
A big, fat false flag is likely in the works, so the DHS can get its funding
A video purported to be by Somalia’s al-Qaida-linked rebel group al-Shabab urged Muslims to attack shopping malls in the U.S., Canada, Britain and other Western countries.
The masked narrator concluded an hour-long video by calling on Muslims to attack shopping malls, specifically naming the Mall of America, as well as the West Edmonton Mall in Canada and the Westfield mall in Stratford, England.
Brattleboro residents can vote on March 3 ( or by early voting now at the Town Clerk’s Office) about whether we should add a 1% optional sales tax here in Brattleboro.
This is a difficult issue because many fear it will hurt our downtown businesses and Brattleboro residents will also pay this extra 1% tax.( It won’t just be people who live out – of -town or out -of -state. ) On the other hand, it has been estimated that it could raise around $600,000 in extra revenue for the town.
I haven’t heard much public comment about this issue and I ‘d be interested to know what I-Brattleboro readers think.
At the top of the column it says “An error has” and then it states “Sorry there is a technical problem and this petition cannot be signed right now. Please try again n a few minutes. If you receive this error repeatedly, you may contact We The People to report the problem.
Well, this is the 2nd time the “MAKE MARIJUANA LEGAL!” petition at the White House – We The People section of the official Presidential website, has occurred. This really slows down collecting petition signatures! Funny, I don’t see this “Error” message on other petitions.
David Gartenstein is running for a one-year seat on the Brattleboro Selectboard. We asked him some questions, and his answers follow. Election day is Tuesday, March 3rd.
…..
– What lessons would you say you have you learned since joining the board?
Serving as a member of the Selectboard, and as Chair, have reinforced for me the vital importance of ensuring that everyone is heard with respect. We face many competing priorities in Brattleboro, and our goal should be to achieve what is best for the town and its residents given our limited resources.
I just received an email from the selectboard about town meeting.
“Town Meeting Representatives: — As you may know, the March 3 ballot contains three proposed Charter amendments. Attached for your information is the “Proposed Brattleboro Charter Amendment Information Sheet” that was prepared and endorsed by the Selectboard.”
Well, it was not “Information”, it was “Propaganda”. It was telling us to vote the way the Selectboard wanted us to.
I guess they have a right to do that, but we have an equal right to ignore it.
For the record, here are the 3 proposed amendments:
I hope all of you will turn out for the sole meeting the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will hold for public feedback on the proposed Post Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report (PSDAR) Entergy hastily submitted to the NRC in December 2014. NRC meeting is February 19, 6 to 9 pm. Address and NRC notice is here: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/news/2015/15-004.i.pdf
