SeVEDS Announces 2015 CEDS Vital Project Rankings

Windham Region: Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategies (SeVEDS) has announced the projects submitted for inclusion in the 2015 CEDS (Comprehensive Economic Development Strategies) along with the list of 14 projects ranked at Vital Projects at a Press event held at the New England Center for Circus Arts at the Cotton Mill Hill studio. Vital Projects are the top ranked projects in terms of alignment and potential to advance the goals and objectives of the CEDS.


Sanders – Clinton Race Tightens, Trump Favored in NH

New polling from a show Sanders within a margin of error with Clinton in Iowa (45% to her 48%), and show him leading her in New Hampshire (50% to her 46%).

Sanders beats or ties the top Republicans in those states. He beats Trump and Cruz by 19 points in New Hampshire.

Clinton would trail Cruz or Rubio in New Hampshire, but would beat Trump in either NH or Iowa. She does least well against Rubio, losing by 12 points.

Cruz beats Trump by a small margin in Iowa. Rubio and Carson are competing for third place there.

Trump beats Cruz in NH.


Police/Fire Survey

     The post bringing us the Police/Fire survey begins by stating that the town is asking the public to weigh in on how to proceed.  In actuality it is asking the public to choose between one of the projects they have chosen to put before us.  Sort of like voting in the former Soviet Union.  The state named the candidates from the Communist Party and the people got to decide which one they wanted.  The citizens could theoretically vote them all down but there wasn’t any point.  There would just be another slate of Communist Party members.


Mobility Scooter Problem at Hannaford

I use a store mobility scooter when grocery shopping.  Today at Hannaford’s at the checkout, they asked me if I would like them to get me another cart to go out to my car.  I said, “Why would I need another cart?”  They said because you aren’t allowed to take the cart outside anymore.  A myriad of thoughts went through my head.  It’s hard enough for me to get all the way into the store now, since they moved the electric carts out of the entranceway, and they expect me to get all my groceries and me out to my car without the e-cart? What is going on? 

A letter from corporate apparently came down with the pronouncement.  I will be calling corporate 1/7/16 to find out more.  The line I was given by the frontline staff was that there have been accidents because the carts are too low.  I said, oh, are they going to stop allowing children and any Little People in the parking lot, too?  Never at a loss for a sarcastic retort, am I!!  I apologized, and said I would contact corporate with my concerns and stop taking out my anger on them.


A Presidential Candidate – Gary Johnson

Gary Johnson has announced his intention of running for the office of President of the United States.

“I do believe that crony capitalism is alive and well. It’s Democrats and Republicans that contribute to that. I’d like to be that choice that is not going to succumb to that.”


The Coming Saudi Crack-up?

The Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia has a lot of oil.

The Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia has a lot of Shiites.

Many of the oil workers in the Eastern Province (as well as Bahrain, Oman & UAE) are Shiites.

These Shiites are currently very angry.


Deadline Nears for Sanders’ State of the Union Essay Contest

BURLINGTON, Vt., Jan. 4 – The deadline for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) sixth annual State of the Union essay contest is noon on Friday. Sanders essay contest calls upon Vermont’s high school students to address what they view as the major issues facing the United States. President Barack Obama will deliver his final State of the Union speech to a joint session of Congress on Jan. 12.

Sanders’ annual essay contest is an opportunity for Vermont high school students to articulate what issues they would prioritize if they were president. A panel of Vermont teachers will judge the essays and select a winner. The 20 finalists will have their essays entered into the Congressional Record — the official archive of the United States Senate and House of Representatives.


How To End War

This year’s seasonal epiphany had a fitting theme – peace and how to attain it.  It was a two part revelation.  The first is very simple: stop starting new wars.  If there’s not already a war somewhere, don’t start one.  Period.  No matter how undemocratic you think the regime or how crappy their policies, bombing a country does not improve the lives of the people there.  On the contrary, it destroys lives in every sense.  


Petitions for March 2016 Brattleboro Elections, Election Schedule, Open Seats

Petitions for Brattleboro Town and Town School District Officers and Town Meeting Members are now available at the Town Clerk’s office. Town elections and the Presidential Primary will be Tuesday, March 1, and the Annual Representatives Town Meeting, Saturday, March 19.

Petitions for Town Officers must contain at least 30 valid signatures of registered Brattleboro voters and be filed in the clerk’s office no later than 5:00 P.M. on Monday, January 25 in order to have their name placed on the ballot.


2015 In Review – A Cavalcade of Crises

So many things happened in 2015, it’s hard to catalog in one year-end summation. To a large extent, It was a year defined by crises, including financial distress in Greece and China as well as the Syrian refugee crisis and the rise of ISIL. But before we plunge into the disaster zone, it was also a political year. What better place to start than the US presidential campaigns, now well underway.

Here in Vermont, many were heartened by Bernie Sanders’ strong start and people-powered campaign. It was nice to see someone take on Hillary, even as he gave her a pass on her various scandals (emailgate, Benghazi). There was also the rise of Donald Trump as the Republican frontrunner who can say almost anything and still gain in the polls. Despite the theatrics, politics this year provided a patter of response to the events of 2015, as the real world intruded into the carefully crafted platforms of the various candidates. They were forced to take positions on gun control, foreign affairs, Black Lives Matter, and the global economy, articulated in a string of debates held by both parties. Voters who are paying attention got the chance to hone their own positions against those who would be our leaders over the next several years.


Resolved! Rev. King’s Outcry Re Illegal Wars for Predatory Investments Will Trigger Prosecution

DESCRIPTION:
Will 2016 be the year in which a prominent voice quotes King’s condemnations of US wars. Good people everywhere should resolve this new year to follow Ramsey Clark in his efforts toward hearing the truthful and liberating words of King as a catalyst toward achieving justice and adjudicated compensations that will end profitable genocide

TEXT:
Will it happen in 2016, during the weekend holiday in the United States dedicated to Martin Luther King’s birth date. that of the dozens of nations presently under attack, whether by US NATO UN military or economic warfare, one will field a celebrity status leader reading to the public from King’s long suppressed sermon Beyond Vietnam – a Time to Break Silence?


Brattleboro’s Business License (Tax) Needs Reform

At about this time each year, Brattleboro businesses generously donate over $50,000… to the Town of Brattleboro for a town business license.

That’s $50,000 that is diverted from food and heat drives, year-end bonuses, and holiday gift buying and into the town’s coffers. It is also an unnecessary hurdle for business owners in Brattleboro.

There are many things wrong with this approach, all easily solved if we are serious about being business-friendly.

It doesn’t need to be collected at this time of year.

The current system requires payments be made during the holiday season, when food drives, heat funds, and donations to other worthy causes need funds. This is the only time it can be collected, according to the way the town operates the program.


Christ’s Birthday in an America That Kills Jesus Multiple Times in Multiple Countries Daily

DESCRIPTION:
Jesus warns harming God’s children is equivalent to harming the Lord. “As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” This principle of a common humanity is basic to the Nuremberg Principles of Int’l Law, written to prosecute anyone, who would ever do what the Nazis did, which included bombing, invading and occupying innocent nations as Christian Americans have done since end of World War Two


What Happened to The “3 White Guys” ?

With the intense focus on the supposed Islamic Bonnie and Clyde team of Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik, a lot of people seem to have forgotten that the initial reports of the tragedy fingered 3 white guys.  Cops on KTLA reported that witnesses said as much. 

Indeed, the Fox affiliate in Los Angeles tweeted that police were seeking 3 white males in relation to the shooting, in this tweet helpfully screen-capped at patheos.com in a story by Lilandra Ra.


Forbidding Entry

So the Donald wants to forbid entry to the US by Muslims? So much for the First Amendment.

Hardly an original proposal.

Did you know that Jews are forbidden entry to Saudi Arabia by the laws of the Kingdom? Foreigners wishing to work in the kingdom have to sign an affidavit stating that they are not Jewish. I was required to furnish a letter from a clergyman corroborating that fact.


Green Party Caucuses

Dear Friends,

With the Paris Climate conference finally setting the stage for concerted action on behalf of the Earth and Nature, it may very well be time for our local politics to reflect this sea change.   Neil Johnson has written an urgent appeal to help get the Green party registered as a statewide party in Vermont.  Its time has come.  He needs four more town to caucus.  It needs to be done by tomorrow (Monday, 12/14).  Emily Peyton will be organizing the caucus in Putney.

Who said life can’t be exciting, if you wait until the last minute!


“We Choose To Go To The Moon”

 3:42 minutes
Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the Moon in 1969. There have been six manned U.S. landings between 1969 and 1972. A cursory trolling of the Internet will bring a trove of manned moon landings hoax claims and debunkers of the hoax theory. Did man walk on the moon or not?

One strong indicator against man walking on the moon hoax is that if the 1969 landing was a hoax, then all six manned missions to the moon were a hoax, as well as all of the unmanned vehicles landings and all the manned orbits around the moon. If a hoax is in order, then it would not make sense to create a hoax for just the first manned mission but to create a hoax for the entire array of Apollo missions.

In fact, there are too many indications that the manned landings were for real.


Externalities

I awoke this morning, and turned on the radio. It was the ending of the Thom Hartman show on KVT.

A caller was discussing what he called “externalities”

 [Factors whose costs are not reflected in the market price of goods and services. Externalities are a loss in the welfare of one party resulting from an activity of another party, without there being any compensation for the losing party. Externalities are an important consideration in cost-benefit analysis.   (businessdictionary.com)]

Hartmann commented that the American business model calls for privatizing the profits and socializing the externalities.

He cited two examples:


I Miss the Reformer Christmas Stocking

I miss reading all the comments and good wishes in the donation column. I miss having a local charity that gave 100 percent of the proceeds to its intended beneficiaries.

I miss Pat Smith running the newspaper campaign. I miss how people would write: In lieu of local Christmas cards. I miss how you could write anything you wanted and make it as long as you wanted and it would get printed.


A Nuremberg Trial for US Funding Slaughter of Syrians Destruction of Libya Iraq Afghanistan

TITLE:
A Nuremberg Trial for US Funding Slaughter of Syrians Destruction of Libya Iraq Afghanistan by jay janson

DESCRIPTION:
“Assad killed his own people peacefully protesting!” Sound familiar? Substitute ‘Gaddafi’ for ‘Assad,’ and one is on one’s way to bring to mind so many other similarities made to be forgotten in TV, radio and printed news and entertainment in Western media, media owned by corporations profitably investing in the illegal and unconstitutional use of US Armed Forces and CIA. CIA creation and use of ‘Islamic’ terror is reviewed.

TEXT: