Op/Ed

DESCRIPTION: 
“Obama calls Korean War a victory” 7/27/2013
He studied through a PhD in law at Harvard. Yet doesn’t know, or pretends not to know US history.
US bombed to death more than two million Koreans, men, women and children in their own beloved country,
many as often as not in their very own homes, many especially gross US atrocities only recently apologized for.
Author promises such upside down history will not wash much longer

It was depressing, but not unexpected, to read this morning that George Zimmerman was found not guilty.

The “Stand Your Ground” law allows people to use deadly force on someone, then claim self defense. In an ideal sense, the concept applies to defending one’s home from an intruder.

In Florida, it means you can kill a young black man if you find him suspicious.

Zimmerman was not defending his home or his property. There was no threat to him.

Many readers here have probably read the viewpoint column I wrote and the Commons printed in their current issue. If not, here is the .

The basic gist is that if we can at all afford 14.1 million dollars for the police and fire facilities we can get much more for our money if we scale that project back some (but retain its most important features) and use the savings for economic development.  The thrust of my views are that public safety is not a serious issue for now (tho it would be improved to a significant degree anyway under this plan) but the economy is.  I  will even argue that several million dollars poured into development and the creation of jobs will have greater and more salutary effect on public safety than an armored indoor loading dock for handling prisoners.

There is a political battle going on at the northern end of Vermont that could have an impact on those of us down here. The Air Force would like to use South Burlington as a base for an expensive, loud new plane: the F-35.

How loud? 400% as loud as the F-16.

Just about all the bad things our governments do are defended with the claim that they are legal.  But just because it is legal to do something, is it necessarily right?  Anything can be made legal, after all.

We usually think of murder as being fundamentally wrong and almost certainly illegal, but it can be made legal in certain circumstances — as, for instance, when a drone kills dozens of innocents along with its alleged terrorist targets.  

New Mexico, is one of the top ten states with the most
undocumented illegal immigrants.
 Governor Peter Shumlin, U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy
and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders  of Vermont
want illegal aliens in  Vermont and Governor
Peter Shumlin wants them to have drivers’
licenses.  THE PROBLEM  is now,
NEW MEXICO is  planning to allow the  SLAUGHTER
of HORSES for FOOD for HUMAN CONSUMPTION.

I started this letter last year, in a fit of pique at President Obama, who I perceived was moving in the wrong direction. Today, I finished it. Here’s what I wrote:

Dear President Obama,

All of your policies are wrong. Here are some things missing from your policies:

– heart
– soul
– beauty
– love
– joy

New Mexico, one of the top ten states with the most illegal immigrants (like Governor Peter Shumlin wants in Vermont) is now planning to SLAUGHTER HORSES for FOOD for HUMAN CONSUMPTION.

NSA whistleblower Russel Tice has told reporters examples of people the NSA was spying on prior to the PRISM program. Tice says these people were targeted for blackmail and other leverage over them.

:

• “Members of Congress, both Senate and the House, especially on the intelligence committees and on the armed services committees and some of the–and judicial”
• “One of the judges is now sitting on the Supreme Court”
• “Two … former FISA court judges”
  

I am in shock at the high cost to repair Brattleboro’s Ice Arena.   The Brattleboro Recreation Department as with almost every other department in Brattleboro keeps getting hit with all these expenses.   I read the town meeting notes here, last week. Thank you Chris. Putting all other town business aside reading how our selectboard addressed this issue was comforting. 

Seeing how the estimate of repairs obtain by the town had been so far off from the bid received for the job reading that the selectboard had chose to not pull the checkbook out and pay the the extra 120,000 was comforting. The board wanting to step back and access what other options are out there just seems like the most practical thing to do giving the state of economic affairs at the moment.

DESCRIPTION:
Blaming policy, politicians, media, corporations, but never holding America, Americans, responsible as MLKjr did, antiwar journalists expose mass-homicide for thievery by Americans in dozens of poor nations beginning with America’s bloody overthrow of democratic governments in Greece, Guatemala, Congo, Korea, Vietnam and Laos thru today’s crimes in Syria  Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan, Libya, and murderously occupied Afghanistan,

TEXT:
Preface to the Survey Question:

An Explanation Of Why It Is Put Principally To Antiwar Writers And Investigative Journalists:

Fear of Speaking Freely

Being afraid to speak, is a Civil Rights issue. Students, Teachers, Journalists and the Public should have the freedom to speak freely and to assemble, yet they do not.

Students and citizens need to know, to see and hear alternatives to mainstream media and decide for themselves what is fact and what is fiction. Important issues of fact are being intentionally omitted; key items of history are being rewritten and replaced with contrived innuendo. Few who are normally relied upon for investigation or debate, dare to stand up to these forces.

TITLE:
Obama War Criminal? What About Investors, CNN, Clergy, Soldiers, You & I? by jay janson

DESCRIPTION:
David Swanson, of War Is A Crime.org, although endorsing, along with almost every serious antiwar journalist and organization, the King Condemned US Wars International Awareness Campaign, wrote recently: US Presidents Should Be Prosecuted for War Crimes and Military Aggressions” Readers in nations bombed, invaded and murderously occupied by America and Americans will sense or suspect a ‘fall guy’ trick to absolve everyone else

This veteran is waiting for the year in which the Veterans For Peace, in its Memorial Day Press Release, states that Veterans mourn first, the lives America took in poor countries, both the civilian men, women and children and the patriots that fought our illegal and criminal invasions since 1945. Only then should come bitterly mourning GIs who were duped by our elected officials and the CIA and Pentagon fed, corporate-controlled war-promoting media cartel fooling them with lies, misinformation, disinformation and psyop techniques that deceived them into proudly following homicidal criminal orders.  Orders given, as Martin Luther King Jr. cried out, “for atrocity wars and covert homicide meant to maintain unjust predatory investments overseas.”
[see Beyond Vietnam – a Time to Break Silence sermon]

On Saturday, just after 1 PM, WVEW played a very long selection of dissonant vocal noise that could not be called music in any way.

I tolerated it for 10 minutes, and then complained to the disk jockey, who thought my assessment of it as “noise” was just an opinion.

Les Montgomery and Susan Avery both had recent LTEs in the Reformer about the proposed skateboard park at the Crowell location, and cited several reasons to explore an alternate site.

Ms. Avery further suggested that no alternate site solution had been offered. She went on to say: “Neighbors of the Crowell Lot and concerned citizens of our town must continue to collaborate in working toward finding alternate locations for this activity. We need a better place; better yet, we need to come together for a “win-win” resolution.”

Here’s my suggestion:

To the editor,

I’m pleased that legislators have agreed to decriminalize possession of marijuana, but the conversation shouldn’t end here. Marijuana is a much safer substance than alcohol or hard drugs, and that’s one reason legislators should move swiftly to begin regulating-and taxing-this market similarly to the way we regulate alcohol.

As Attorney General William Sorrell explained at public hearings on the decriminalization bill, it would be better if users had a legal way to obtain marijuana rather than continuing to buy it from the illicit market. Sorrell suggested decriminalizing possession of a small number of plants, which would make a lot of sense, but ultimately the best solution is to allow regulated cultivation and sale of marijuana to adults who wish to use it.

How Well Is Medicare Plan D Working For You? How well is Medicare Plan D working for U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and U.S. Congressman Peter Welch? (all over age 65)

I received this letter from my current Medicare Plan D today, simply dated, “May 2013”  so  I have no idea what day of the month they actually sent it.

I took my family to the Top of the Hill Grill for dinner on Tuesday night around 7:00 pm. Just before we arrived, apparently someone walked off with the staffs tip money, jar and all!

If anyone at that time noticed that happening, I would hope that they would tell someone anything that might bring the theives to justice. Maybe a description or a licence plate #.

Cornel, how am i doing?

TITLE:
IF Our Re-elected Prez is WarCriminal, What Are We? King would have asked! by jay janson

DESCRIPTION:
Cornel West, most outspoken anti-imperialist and defender of Black and minority civil rights since Martin Luther King now says Obama is a war criminal, a black puppet of corporate plutocrats, head of the US killing machine. Will West tell us that King said America, Americans, are responsible for the atrocity wars, being capable of making them unacceptable and inoperable through non-participation and conscientious objection?