Dumb and Dumber, the left’s two worst ideas By Jules Older Editor’s note: Jules Older is a Vermonter turned New Zealander who works as an executive consultant, medical educator, crisis counselor and writer. Don’t let that headline fool you — I bat left. I know the 2020 election wasn’t rigged, I think abortion is a…

  Dear Editor, Recently I bought a few chrysanthemums and asters from a local hardware store, but as I was about to plant them, I wondered if they too had been laced with the neonicotinoids I’d so carefully avoided when buying my summer bedding flowers. Neonicotinoids are neurotoxic insecticides. They are systemic, permeate the entire…

The meat industry scares me Dear Editor, I have no fear of zombies, witches, or evil clowns lurking on Halloween. What really scares me is meat. This is the industry that deprives, mutilates, cages, then butchers billions of cows, pigs, turkeys, chickens — animals who feel joy, affection, sadness, and pain, as we do ……

  Dear Editor, I am horrified at the collective punishment now being meted out to the civilians of Gaza. This is not the right response to the atrocities committed by Hamas on Israeli civilians. It will only compound the horrible situation by victimizing even more civilians, and indeed victimizing an entire population.  Denying water, food…

  By the Vermont State Colleges Labor Task Force Editor’s note: the VSC Labor Task Force is a group formed in 2020 that fights to bring faculty and staff voices and research to the decision-making processes that have accompanied the formation and ongoing transformation of the Vermont State University system.  Recent announcements from the Vermont…

  By Jody Boulay Editor’s note: Jody Boulay is a mother of two with a passion for helping others. She currently works as a community outreach coordinator for Addicted.org to help spread awareness of the dangers of drugs and alcohol. October is National Substance Use Prevention Month, which means more overdose prevention messaging should be sent to…

  Dear Editor, In 1973, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act became the first civil rights legislation protecting disabled people from discrimination. But no implementing regulations were enacted at that time. It took almost another four years, and consistent activism from people with disabilities culminating in a 26-day peaceful occupation of a federal building in San…

  Dear Editor, Given that the standard in Vermont concerning the disposal of food scraps as well as waste is to compost rather than to dispose it in the trash any longer, questions have arisen within my mind about whether it should still be permissible (read: legal) within the state to dispose of food scraps…

  Dear Editor, We’re being overwhelmed with advertising for Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, but there are no ads for traditional Medicare. The reason for the MA ads is that the Medicare Advantage corporations are making huge profits. Medicare Advantage is privatizing Medicare. When you sign on for Medicare Advantage you are giving your Medicare dollars to an insurance…

  Dear Editor, History, as seen by average North Americans, is merely the empty passage of time into the present, thus ignoring the activity between then and now. Knowing what happened is helpful in knowing how we got here. A lack of knowledge is commonly defined as ignorance. Current positions, opinions and actions, when less…

Dear Editor, I am still waiting to hear why so many hold Trump in a positive way. Listing bad things about him is easy as he has done so many things that hurt this nation. I heard of a list of Trump accomplishments. What I found was an annotated list showing that 90% had nothing…

  Dear Editor, Oct. 2 was World Day for Farmed Animals when activists around the world draw attention to the devastating impacts of animal agriculture on animals, our health, and our environment.   The campaign was launched in 1983 by Alex Hershaft, a Holocaust survivor and founder of Farm Animal Reform Movement, to memorialize and…

BIPOC folks put in tough spots Dear Editor, “It’s dirty work but someone has to do it.” I can’t help remarking on the many movies and TV series, for instance, that depict Black people in the so-called “helping professions” — hospital staff, law enforcement, private service, hospitality — or other roles that call for sympathy…

  Dear Editor, Last month I had the honor of representing Vermont on Capitol Hill.  Along with roughly 600 of my fellow American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network volunteers from across the county, I traveled to Washington, D.C. to urge lawmakers to make cancer a national priority.  As someone who has lost family members and…

By Haviland Smith Editor’s note: Haviland Smith is a retired CIA operations officer who focused during his Cold War career in Eastern and Western Europe on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. The Oxford dictionary defines democracy as “a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically…