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What Do Tiggers Like?

by Lise | Pets

The Tigger character from Winnie the Pooh is definitely based on life, and here’s how I know.  We have these two kittens, you see, and being relatively new to the planet, they’re curious about everything, especially food.  If food appears, no matter what the food is, both kittens (but especially youngest) have to come and investigate.  And this is how we discovered that tiggers like…

Gang Attack in Brattleboro

by RDavis | Living

Brattleboro Vermont is a quiet town for the most part. Sure, we have our share of some of the world’s worst problems, but we handle them well and the quality of life for most residents is something to be envied. I never thought I would be terrorized by a gang of roving masked thugs in my safe little town.

On July 24 as I sat in my hot tub, as I do most nights, a pair of beady eyes framed by a facial mask stared at me over the edge of the tub. At first I thought I might be having some sort of hot water related hallucination but, sure enough, a raccoon had climbed the steps to the tub and decided to stare me down.

Vermont Progressives Take On Climate Change

by Lise | Activism

This is the summer that climate change got real for me, and after reading Richard Davis’ piece a few days ago, I realize I’m not the only one.  It may not be possible for us to solve all the problems of climate change (and environmental damage) that are underway now, but it’s been occurring to that even if the chances seem to be nil, I still owe it to the planet to care and to try to do my best to help out, or at least, not be part of the problem.  And yet, even setting the bar this low, it’s still hard to believe our efforts matter.  

But there’s impetus in numbers, and I was happy to see that the Vermont Progressive Party has decided to start organizing people to work together on the issue of climate change.  Their current project is focused on the state agency of transportation, VTRANS, in an effort to influence their thinking on climate change and how they spend $7 million in federal funds.

Huge Health Insurance Rate Hikes: Public Comment through 7/24

by ESchwartz | Health

Blue Cross and MVP Health Care want to raise rates by an average of 15.5% and 12.8% for individuals and 14.5% and 12.5% for small businesses. The affected plans are the ones people buy through Vermont Health Connect. This comes as an estimated 29,000 Vermont residents are being kicked off of Medicaid and forced to go uninsured or buy these expensive private plans.

If you are impacted by the rate hikes you can comment to the Green Mountain Care Board (GMCB), the state’s regulatory body. If you or your small business are currently purchasing one of these plans, if you are at risk of losing Medicaid, or if you are uninsured due to cost, you are or will be affected by these rates.

The Body Is Dying

by RDavis | Activism

When a body is close to death organs start to fail. The kidneys lose their ability to filter out poisons, the gastrointestinal tract slows and stops moving and processing food, muscles waste away and the brain slips into a stage of fog until the big sleep takes over.

I can’t help but think that there are a lot of comparisons to the way we die and the way in which our planet is decaying and looking more and more like a body nearing death. We look to global warming and blame it for many of the disasters that are unfolding. The warming of the planet is much like a deadly disease that has taken over the body.

When a disease takes hold that has little hope for slowing or stopping the body knows that death is at hand and systems move into a different mode.

Is it possible that our planet knows that it is on a death spiral and that the catastrophes we are experiencing a part of the process of the death of a planet?

SelectKitten Update

by cgrotke | Pets
14 weeks kitten

When we last left off in mid-June, Bianca and Margot were almost 10 weeks old and fending off a potentially life-threatening virus.  Quick update: everyone did well, which includes these two plus their siblings being fostered elsewhere and their still-wild brother living with Mom in the yard.

It was a long, stressful period for me, though. Nothing was certain. It was a day-by-day, hour-by-hour project until they were in the clear. That meant that I got to spend much of June and early July sitting on a bathroom floor in quarantine with them.  Lise was assigned to keep things as normal as possible for our existing cat in the rest of the house.

I did lots of special cleaning to keep things safe. It was like the start of COVID… washing everything, and not being sure if the virus was lurking about.

Medicaid Bait and Switch

by RDavis | Health

One of the best things that happened as a result of the COVID pandemic was the rules relaxation and resulting expansion of this country’s Medicaid program. There also were a number of other factors that contributed to a major increase in Medicaid enrollment. The bottom line is that this country finally started to move in the right direction with its Medicaid program.

According to the National Library of Medicine, “From 2017 to 2019, national Medicaid enrollment declined by 2.6%. The COVID-19 pandemic reversed this course abruptly, with Medicaid enrollment increasing by 15.5% from February 2020 relative to April 2021. While existing research points to massive job loss as one primary driver of this increased enrollment, this study found that approximately three-fourths of Medicaid enrollment growth could be traced to declines in the rate of disenrollment relative to 2019, with only one quarter explained by higher rates of new enrollment during the March to October study period.”

Fireworks – The Wrong Message

by RDavis | Activism

I have always felt uneasy watching fireworks displays to celebrate a holiday or a special event. The only reason I have gone to these events is because people close to me enjoyed them. Standing at a spot to view the aerial artistry has made me feel like I am in the middle of a war zone and that is not the way I want to feel participating in a celebration.

I can understand why people love the display of pyrotechnics. The people who put these show on are highly accomplished artisans and it is a tradition that has been with us for thousands of years.

According to the web site 75APA, “Many historians believe that fireworks originally were developed in the second century B.C. in ancient Liuyang, China. It is believed that the first natural “firecrackers” were bamboo stalks that when thrown in a fire, would explode with a bang because of the overheating of the hollow air pockets in the bamboo. The Chinese believed these natural “firecrackers” would ward off evil spirits.

Heat Fund Update – The Need Continues

by RDavis | Activism

The Windham County Heat Fund, an IRS non-profit, was started in 2005 by me and Daryl Pillsbury. We never intended to create a fund that would keep going for so long but the need never decreases. So we raise money every year and rely on a generous community to do the heavy lifting for us. They always come through and we, and the people we help, are grateful for the support.

This past heating season 81 individuals and a number of local businesses and churches donated a total of $55,542. Daryl and I continue to work for the fund without compensation and we have almost no administrative expenses. The money we raise goes directly to fuel companies.

Housing in Brattleboro: Let’s Get It Done

by jeannie1163 | Activism

Though the selectboard knew the motel funding would end, they did no planning. Instead now they are talking about thinking about proposing something.  

BCS has promoted emergency homeless shelters in RVs and campers since last summer. We’ve been saying to the selectboard basically, “We have started a decentralized homeless shelter.  It’s a simple solution to the homeless crisis, but it doesn’t fit any current permitting process. Can you help? ”. They said nothing. In February they began prosecuting us. Now the news says they are proposing the same thing and calling it “dispersed camping”.

We Need To Understand CPR Better

by RDavis | Health

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is something that has become ingrained in our culture. When someone collapses people are supposed to feel compelled to start pumping on someone’s chest. Communities offer a number of ways for health professionals and lay people to learn the technique and an industry has developed around the use of CPR.

But I wonder if enough people take the time to look at the big picture and weigh the pro’s and con’s of CPR. The technique has been in popular use since the 1970’s and it’s interesting to note that the idea of cardiac compression first came to light in 1878 from experiments with cats.

During my career as a nurse I have done CPR hundreds of times and I have come to the conclusion that it is a good tool to have but it should be used wisely and only after carefully weighing the benefits and possible outcomes.