Op/Ed

Hats off and a big thanks to the organizers and donors that made Brattleboro Goes Fourth happen this year. It was in many ways a perfect Independence Day.

The President has withdrawn the US from the Paris agreement, a 200 country effort to limit global warming to 2 degrees celsius (3.6 degrees F) over the pre-industrial era. We’re currently about 1.5 C above normal. There isn’t much wiggle room, and it isn’t a good time to thumb a nose at working together to keep the planet livable.

“I do not know how to teach philosophy without becoming a disturber of established religion.”
~ Spinoza

Open Letter to Vermont Governor Phil Scott:

Canada has introduced legislation to legalize and regulate marijuana by July 2018. Governor Phil Scott has said that he wants a (non-existent) roadside marijuana test to be available before he would consider signing any legalization bills in Vermont.

Open Letter To The United States Congress, House of Representatives, Freedom Caucus and Mark Meadows Freedom Caucus Has An “Official” Facebook Page But Facebook Keeps Kicking Me Out And Depriving Me Of Freedom Of Speech To Leave You Comments!!!

I had the pleasure of co-moderating the Thursday evening. I say pleasure, because I found it to be a refreshing and interesting discussion of town issues in a number of ways. I have a few observations and some advice.

DESCRIPTION:
The seeds of public awareness of decades of monolithic mainstream media lies, news manipulation & deception sown by a maverick president, who is surely backed by a segment of Wall Street investors whose portfolios are NOT heavily weighted toward the manufacture WMDs and expected gargantuan profits from a new world war, will eventually grow public understanding of US crimes against humanity that began in Korea and continued on

TEXT:
‘What? our ‘crazy’ president’s National Security Advisor was making nice with a Russian ambassador even before he was appointed? We got ‘em! It’s against the law! ‘

DESCRIPTION:
Trump calls mainstream reporters and commentators 80% liars. Blood soaked war-promoting CIA fed monopolized mainstream media accusing Trump supporters and allies of ‘fake news’ has backfired. Essay traces history of genocide justifying media in America. Ramsey Clark expects eventual prosecution of media executives and media celebrities. Five Nazi media celebrities were convicted a Nuremberg. Two hanged.

The set is dressed up, down to the smallest detail.  Actors are in place. The director cues lights, camera, slate, calls out, “Action”.  Everything animates, yet moments later, as if taking back time itself the director cries out, “Cut! Cut!..” By the furrow in their brow, everyone knows Maestro is not happy. Something is amiss.

In this instance, fictional as it may be, actors playing Nazis, (or Terrorists, or Banditos) despite being members of the ethnic group that are represented stereotypically, are not being authentic enough. They’re somehow not menacing, leering, or dark enough to satisfy the director’s vision. This auteur is known as a tyrant, goes for hyper-realism, stark verisimilitude.

While the Vermont state legislature might come up with another new proposed marijuana legalization bill, Vermonters who are low income are struggling with the new vehicle inspection law.

I would suggest that all old cars and vans which will not meet inspection requirements can be used to create a new product line: old vans and cars can be re-created into green houses, and meet requirements, if marijuana is legalized, for secure locked growing facilities.

I am hoping our brand spanking new President, Donald Trump, will create a White House version of “The Apprentice”, something like “Live at the White House” where President Donald Trump could fire his Chief of Staff frequently for unethical conduct or mis-spelling errors, or for coming back from lunch break reeking of marijuana smoke, even though marijuana is legal in Washington, D.C. – or will Donald Trump decide to allow employees of the White House to smoke a toke on lunch break? We need to know!

President Donald Trump could fire the Chef and Housekeeper as well, every time a tourist on the White House Tour stumbles upon one of those cockroaches the tourists laugh at, or silently shriek when they see them crawling, because their own homes have fewer pests.

DESCRIPTION:

Sometime during the next twenty-five years, as the United States slowly begins to lose economic, political, cultural and communications hegemony over the rest of the world, a much nicer, peaceful, pleasant, prosperous, free and expressively energetic America will begin to take shape and will trend toward seeking the unity, harmony and enjoyment found in its African American communities

For many years I was a Fence Viewer, a town position that was fairly active, with a few calls and inquires per year. When I hit my term limit, I decided to continue to volunteer and looked at the two other “odd” jobs, Weigher of Coal and Inspector of Wood, Lumber and Shingles.

As a Fence Viewer I learned there were both state statutes and materials available from the Vermont League of Cities and Towns to help explain the job, so my first step with Coal and Lumber was to look up what the jobs required.

VLCT said the positions were considered obsolete and unnecessary. They date from an earlier time prior to consumer protection laws, and now everything these positions were responsible for are handled in other ways.

Am I hearing this right?

What a stupid move.

I lived in a town (Lake Luzerne, NY) where they tried something like this many years ago.

The unintended consequence was a “Yuuge” increase in trash being discarded by the side of the road.

Why not eliminate all trash and garbage collection for good and let the free market do its magic?

DESCRIPTION:
During the shopping season for gifts marking the birth of the Jesus the Son of God and teacher of ‘turn the other cheek’ and ‘love thy enemies,’ one half of the“financial element in the centers of power which has owned the government since the days of Andrew Jackson,”[FDR quote][1] seems to have thrown up a president-elect that has promised Americans and the world a spirit for 2017, more in keeping with the teaching of Jesus.