Opinion

For opinion pieces on any topic.

Absolute Immunity

by AnneODyne | Politics

For a person to propose they are above the law is presumption on a scale that is an affront to all life.  The very notion that any and all acts are beyond recrimination, and perforce exemptible, is a form of hubris that even Greek myths condemn.

Icarus, Narcissus, Sisyphus, the message is the same, think too highly of yourself, pay the price.  But now we’re confronted by a modern configuration so corrupt and decadent that such arrogance might be permitted.

Ours is a culture accustomed to getting away with things.. And not just little slights and nominally exacted tributes; enslavement, forced relocation, ecological devastation, extinctions-there’s barely the nod towards reparation.

If He Loses…?

by RDavis | Op/Ed

Most people that I know feel old wounds opening as we move closer to the next presidential election. We are starting to experience that same level of anxiety and helplessness we felt when Trump won an election. We are hoping for the best outcome- that Trump gets his ass kicked and that he loses by 10 million votes as he did against Biden the first time.

But the world is a different place now and the complexity of issues surrounding the would-be dictator are mind-boggling. He could end up in jail, but that would not prevent him from taking a seat in the oval office. Most of the rhetoric and fear that is floating in the air has to do with the possibility of Trump winning the election. What might happen if he loses?

Opinions Decry Atrocities By One Side While Encouraging Them On The Other. How Helpful Is That?

by SK-B | Op/Ed

At first I thought I would refrain from debate sparked by the atrocities of Oct. 7. I felt appalled that, from the safety of Vermont, warmed-over “party-line” polemics are being thrown around, which is of no benefit to Palestinians or Israelis whose survival is at risk.

But finally, driven by the increasing normalization of antisemitism and acceptance of Hamas as “freedom fighters” (even by some politically active Jews), I had to speak out.

Israel Hamas War Strategy

by RDavis | Op/Ed

The Israel Hamas war has pushed both sides into unchartered territory. Most of what is happening violates not only rules of engagement but basic humanitarian principles. Israel has more firepower and they are using it in what appears to be a chaotic and indiscriminate way. In other words, if Israel has a battle plan it is hard to see what it is. To the rest of the world it looks like they are simply acting out of vengeance and killing as many Palestinians as possible.

I believe that Hamas could possibly be executing a well thought out battle plan that could have long-range implications for the Middle East while Israel seems to be developing plans on a day to day basis. Here is what I think Hamas could be doing.

The U.S. Congress “House Oversight Committee Is Investigating President Biden, But Who Is Investigating Them?

by CrisEricson2016 | Op/Ed

Who on the “House Oversight Committee”, in the United States Congress, is going to oversee the “money laundering” of most of the members of U.S.Congress? NO ONE!!!

(1) MARIJUANA, CANNABIS – KEEPING IT ILLEGAL UNDER FEDERAL LAW IS A VIOLATION OF SEPARATION OF CHURCH & STATE, Old Testament Holy Bible, Genesis 1, verse 29; so why are some members of U.S. Congress taking campaign donations from the government taxpayer funded private-for-profit PRISON corporations’ political action committees? Why is it “money laundering”? Our federal tax dollars pay for federal prisons and private-for-profit prisons, and they pay part of their profits to political action committees which put money into the re-election campaign accounts of elected officials who promise to keep marijuana cannabis illegal under federal laws.

International Law Is Meaningless

by RDavis | Op/Ed

The two major wars being fought in the world make it clear that no matter what kind of rules governing warfare are in place, there is no way to enforce them. Russia, Ukraine, Israel and Hamas are running roughshod over civilian populations, defying basic humanitarian principles while the rest of the world can only use words to slow them down.

Genocidal Bombing Gaza Cities Into Rubble Indicts Israel’s U.S. Patron’s Corporate World Hegemony

by jay janson | Op/Ed

Global corporate capitalism led by the hegemonic state, the United States, is a fundamentally immoral and irrational system. In capitalism, both states and corporations are designed to maximize short-term power and profits for the super-wealthy corporate elite. [1]

For two and a half months, Israeli military forces, with the full backing of the US government, have dropped more than 40,000 tons of explosives—the equivalent of more than two nuclear bombs—on Gaza destroying residential buildings, hospitals, schools and refugee camps and deliberately targeting hundreds of medical workers, journalists, teachers and other civilians for assassination. [2]

Does Calling For The Genocide Of Jews Violate Penn’s Code Of Conduct?

by SK-B | Op/Ed

Questioned at a Congressional hearing, the President of the University of Pennsylvania will not say that calling for the genocide of Jews violates the University’s anti-bullying or harassment Code of Conduct. She says it is “context-dependent,” and only violates University’s rules “if the speech turns into conduct.”

The presidents of Harvard and MIT gave similar testimony.

Brattleboro Petitions for March Elections Now Available – List of Vacancies, 2024 Election Schedule

by Not Signed In | Politics

Petitions for Brattleboro Town Officers, Windham Southeast School District (WSESD) Board Members, and Town Meeting Members are now available at the Town Clerk’s office.  Town elections will be Tuesday, March 5 at the American Legion, located at 32 Linden St., Brattleboro, VT 05301.

Annual Representative Town Meeting will begin on Saturday, March 23, 2024 at 8:30 a.m. in the BUHS Gymnasium.

Petitions for Town Officers and WSESD Board Members must contain at least 30 valid signatures of registered Brattleboro voters and be filed in the clerk’s office no later than Monday, January 29 at 5 p.m. to have their name placed on the ballot.

The ONE and ONLY Brattleboro

by Terry Martin | Opinion

The ONE and ONLY Brattleboro

First, let me emphasize that I would not change anything growing up in Brattleboro!

According to the U.S. Census Reports, Brattleboro’s population in 1950 was 11,522; in 1960, it was 11,734 (when I went into the Army); in 1970, it was 12,239 (highest); in 2010, it was 12,046; and in 2022, it was 12,106. So, our population has been pretty unwavering for the last fifty years with no growth.

“Freedom! Justice!” Demand Of Generations Of Palestinians Will Not Be Denied All That Much Longer

by jay janson | Op/Ed

“Freedom! Justice!” Demand of Generations of Palestinians

Will Not Be Denied All That Much Longer

Israelis are very proud of their Biblical God given cry and order, ‘Let My People Go,’ but never seem to accept, nor hear, nor acknowledge, that ‘Let Us Have Our Freedom’ be the imagined cry of generations of captive Palestinians suffering Israel’s merciless, and very often deadly, illegal military occupation.

Our House of Representatives

by local | Politics

House

435 members

Base pay = $174,000 + benefits

Let’s call it $200,000 each including benefits;  Speaker, majority and minority leaders make more.

435 x $200,000 = 87 million

US OK’s Bombing Children as Hamas Fights for Their Freedom from Illegal Israeli Military Occupation

by jay janson | Op/Ed

Israel maintains an illegal air, sea and land blockade on Gaza, not allowing anyone, including children, to escape being bombed to death.

The US government, providing Israel with warplanes, missiles, weapons, ammunition and political and diplomatic backing, is complicit in this ongoing genocide of bombing to death thousands of militarily confined civilians, mostly women and children .

UN Told Israelis Give The Land & Homes Back and Compensate Palestinians! Resolution #194 12/11/1948!

by jay janson | Op/Ed

UN Told Israelis Give The Land & Homes Back and Compensate Palestinians! Resolution #194 12/11/1948!

On May 14, 1948, the Provisional Government of Israel had proclaimed a new State of Israel comprising 77% of the land in Palestine.

On December 11, 1948, exactly one week after Albert Einstein condemned the macabre Israeli massacre at the Arab village of Deir Yassin and warned against supporting Fascism in Israel in a letter to the New York Times signed by other prominent Jews, [1] the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution #194, resolving that:

The Dictator Is Emboldened

by RDavis | Op/Ed

When Trump ran for President the first time it seemed like a bad joke when he was elected. Then the nightmare began. America became a country with a mentally ill fool for a leader. He trashed the economy and ruined any semblance of good relations we had with other countries around the world.

Despite the fact that he is facing 91 legal charges against him he is more emboldened than ever to assume the presidency and transform it into a military dictatorship. Snubbing all of the Republican debates is a very bad signal. It means that he is convinced he is the only one who can win the election and it also makes it clear that he will make up his own rules as the election season moves ahead.

Trump and his team of maniacs are already mapping out plans for when he wins the election. He is talking about clamping down on immigration and turning anyone who wants to enter this country into a criminal.

On Veterans Day US Veterans of WWII Should Know Hitler Was Empowered by US Corporations

by jay janson | Op/Ed

Years ago, Noam Chomsky suggested such a book be written.. Former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark, who would have written a foreword, expected it to be sent to key historians to knock America off it’s false pedestal of having protected the world from Hitler, who America”s greatest corporations had empowered with massive investments in, and joint venturing with his poor and disarmed Nazi Germany bringing it up to world’s #1 military in only six years.

Serious Word Play

by AnneODyne | Op/Ed

With so much trouble in the world, in so many realms, I can’t help but ask myself, what is my responsibility? Where to begin? Problems seem innumerable. Where is the onus? 

Yet today, for some reason, I looked at that word, onus, and couldn’t stop seeing it as comprised of its parts; on us. The burden is… on us. Is that etymology on purpose? An answer to the elusive question hidden in plain sight?