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Brattleboro and VT COVID-19 Regional Dashboard Summary – December 2022

by cgrotke | Health

Here’s the December 2022 dashboard summary. We continue semi-regular COVID-19 dashboard numbers from the Vermont Department of Health, and MA and NH counties that surround Brattleboro, as long as they continue providing them.  Scroll down the new comments for the latest.

Vermont and MA have very limited looks at what are going on these days, with weekly snapshots. NH attempt daily updates but doesn’t always give new totals. We continue to try…. : )

The Flu Still Needs To Be Respected

by RDavis | Health

We have reached a point where vaccine fatigue and disregard for the seriousness of COVID and seasonal influenza have taken hold. They are diseases that will never go away and we still need to take measures to protect ourselves against the morbidity and mortality they can cause.

If you want to have the most accurate information about influenza then you should look to the CDC web site. They are the experts and they keep meticulous statistics as well as providing consumers with relevant and useful information.

Here is a useful list from their web site:

AP Triton Report?

by rick | Questions & Answers

This statement was by Patrick Moreland at the Select Board meeting of Oct 11:

“There will be a rough draft of the report in early November, then they will be back with a final report in December.”

The Master of Miasma Is Almost Gone

by RDavis | Activism

The best news that came out of the recent mid-term elections is the deflation of the gasbag that has had too much influence over our lives for the past 10 years. A creature of the media such as he has had the ability the cast a large dark shadow over this country, and much of the world, because of the way that information is disseminated.

One would hope that the current information age would be a vehicle for good, but it is impossible to prevent evil people from doing evil things. A man with such a large ego understands that he can promote himself by manipulating all of the tools that social media has to offer and he and his team have masterfully done that.

An Open Letter To Our Vermont Senator and Senator-Elect

by RDavis | Activism

I am sending the following letter to Senator Sanders. A similar letter will be sent to Senator-Elect Welch. If they receive more letters it might help push the issue.

Dear Senator Sanders,

I am writing to you because fuel prices are so high that it will become a life and death matter this winter. I know you are well aware of this problem, but I am hoping that there is something more that can be done by the United States to at least bring prices down a little. It is clearly a very complicated issue.

In 2005 you attended the first fund raising event that the newly created Windham County Heat Fund held. Daryl Pillsbury and I started the fund with the expectation that it would be a short-term endeavor because fuel prices spiked back then.

Why Are Fuel Prices So High?

by RDavis | Activism

I run a non-profit that provides a small amount of home heating fuel assistance to local people. The organization has been operating for almost 20 years. The reason we created the Windham County Heat Fund was to provide a short-term temporary fix to high fuel prices. We thought we would spend a year or two helping people and then move on.

Didn’t happen.

We deal with local fuel dealers on a nearly daily basis during the home heating season in New England so it seemed reasonable that we should try to understand why fuel prices are so high. After some research I still have no idea why fuel prices are so high. I do know that 125 gallons of oil in 2012 cost $216 and today costs over $700.

Abortion Discussion: Should Abortion Be Legal

by Kurt Daims | Activism

Should Abortion Be Legal

NOT the usual “debate”, but a public discussion by people around Brattleboro who believe in public discourse.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, BOYS AND GIRLS OF ALL AGES, you will soon witness an electrifying display of daring and resolve as our heroic orators endure each others’ contradictions and risk criticism and ignominy in the public eye while relying for their protection solely on the mutual respect and dignity of their impassioned rivals

Brattleboro and VT COVID-19 Regional Dashboard Summary – November 2022

by cgrotke | Health

It is time for the November 2022 dashboard summary. We continue semi-regular COVID-19 dashboard numbers from the Vermont Department of Health, and MA and NH counties that surround Brattleboro, as long as they continue providing them.  Scroll down the new comments for the latest.

Vermont and MA have very limited looks at what are going on these days, with weekly snapshots. NH attempt daily updates but doesn’t always give new totals. We continue to try…. : )

The American Model of Democracy Is Beyond Repair

by RDavis | Activism

It is frustrating to watch the political process play out in this country and hold out hope that things will improve. Lies, corruption and every imaginable form of deceit rule the day. Some might say that this is the way it has always has been and they point to scandals and scoundrels that have ruled the day since the birth of the republic.

One can give up on the political process completely and not vote and not engage in any activity of a political nature and try to ignore the mess of the current political state. Others may work to change things and look to a brighter future where common sense and decency prevail. I don’t see a lot of hope for optimism when it comes to politics.

On the other hand, an argument might be made that politics has always been a messy business and that all of the bad that comes of political work is the price we have to pay in order to accomplish the work of government. If we buy that argument then we give a pass to a lot of bad people doing bad things and I just can’t accept that kind of thinking because it only makes it harder for many of us to engage in the world.

Assassinations of Leaders

by tomaidh | Questions & Answers

I just finished watching a long 4-part documentary entitled “Bobby Kennedy for President” (Worth watching). Bobby was murdered. His brother JFK was murdered. Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King was also murdered. 

It causes me to wonder: what kind of America would we be living in today if these leaders were allowed to live?

The Truth No Longer Matters

by RDavis | Activism

We live in a time in which the truth has less and less bearing on how the world operates. This is something that has evolved over a long period of time but it feels like we are, more acutely, feeling the effects of allowing ourselves to be influenced by those who are willing to lie to get whatever they want.

It may seem like this is something new, but the world of politics has witnessed this phenomenon for as long as the political game has been played.

The difference today is that the years of not stopping the lies forcefully enough have finally caught up with us and there are now millions of people around the world who are easily convinced that lies have somehow been magically converted into the truth because someone in power has told them to believe them.