Bennington Banner: Columnists

An economy-wrecking madnessWednesday, November 19 John McClaughry To the relief of a majority of Americans  and a very large majority of Vermonters  the presidency of George W. Bush will terminate on Jan. 20. But President Bush will likely leave America with one final gift, one that if carried through by the Obama administration will wreck what's left of our productive economy.Columnists,Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:06:09 ESThttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_11020559?source=rsshttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_11020559?source=rss

This is our planWednesday, November 19 Bob Young With the election season now past, the Legislature preparing to reconvene in Montpelier and a growing interest in energy issues, I'd like to address fears that many Vermonters appear to have about the state's electricity supply. As I've crisscrossed the state in recent months, Vermonters have repeatedly asked two questions about Vermont's energy future:Columnists,Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:06:08 ESThttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_11020558?source=rsshttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_11020558?source=rss

Just don't call them seagullsTuesday, November 18 Bryan Pfeifer They soar and glide with the grace of our most elegant birds. They are content exploring the high seas for fish or picking through dumpsters for fast-food leftovers. They are approachable and audacious. Now that we have put men on the moon, ended the Cold War and elected an African American man president, surely we have advanced enough as a people toColumnists,Tue, 18 Nov 2008 03:04:16 ESThttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_11011731?source=rsshttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_11011731?source=rss

The last rightTuesday, November 18 Monica Knorr On Nov. 4, while most of us were paying close attention to the Presidential and Vermont elections, the people of Washington State took a huge step forward. By a wide margin in a popular vote, they enacted the Washington Death with Dignity Act, the second patient-directed dying law in the United States.Columnists,Tue, 18 Nov 2008 03:04:15 ESThttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_11011730?source=rsshttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_11011730?source=rss

Election reflectionsTuesday, November 18 Harriette Leidich It is "Day One" after the election of the first African American president of our United States. Needless to say, I have spent a great deal of time in front of the TV listening to speeches and pitches the past two years, but I wanted to see this brilliant, humble Barack Obama win the right to lead our country out of a disastrous eight years.Columnists,Tue, 18 Nov 2008 03:04:15 ESThttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_11011729?source=rsshttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_11011729?source=rss

The world in black and whiteMonday, November 17 In 1946, I was 18 years old and a private in the U.S. Army stationed at Camp Lee, Va., near Petersburg. It was there that I was introduced to a world that until then I didn't even know existed. Being from the north, and from the state of Vermont, I had never had very much to do with racial issues.Columnists,Mon, 17 Nov 2008 03:03:43 ESThttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_11003632?source=rsshttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_11003632?source=rss

Regrouping in the tropicsMonday, November 17 In a sort of tanning after the tanning, some of the more hopeful members of the Republican Party's elite recently scrambled aboarda Caribbean cruise ship to map out strategies to bring back these great times after the Obama administration is over. Right now, Guantanamo is still open for business, Medicare benefits for poor kids have been whittled down once again, CEOsColumnists,Mon, 17 Nov 2008 03:03:42 ESThttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_11003631?source=rsshttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_11003631?source=rss

The difference a day makesSaturday, November 15 Bob Stannard First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win." These are the words of Mahatma Gandhi that hang on my wall and I read nearly every day. Barack Obama either reads these words or instinctively knows they're true, for no one could ever have imagined that this man would be elected president of the United States of America.Columnists,Sat, 15 Nov 2008 03:05:07 ESThttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_10991920?source=rsshttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_10991920?source=rss

Roads, posters, scoopers and schoolsSaturday, November 15 Stuart Hurd Even though the weather has been particularly nice over the last several days, I thought it is time to give notice about a change in the town's winter maintenance programs. Due to the increased cost of salt and, in some cases, low supply, the town is mixing sand and salt this year to maintain its roads.Columnists,Sat, 15 Nov 2008 03:05:06 ESThttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_10991919?source=rsshttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_10991919?source=rss

Making great neighborsSaturday, November 15 Rev. Jerrod H. Hugenot Growing up in rural Kansas, the nearest neighbors were a distance away, rarely seen. Being good practitioners of the Protestant work ethic, we rarely took time out for socializing. Life was about by the unending toil of the day: fence to mend, fields to plow, cattle to pasture, grain and hay to haul.BenningtonBanner.com,Sat, 15 Nov 2008 03:05:06 ESThttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_10991918?source=rsshttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_10991918?source=rss

Nuclear power's prohibitive costsFriday, November 14 As industry lobbyists and campaigning politicians are busily pushing nuclear power as "a clean safe alternative" to fossil fuels, a landmark article by Lester R. Brown of the Earth Policy Institute shows conclusively that nuclear power is a "bad deal" any way you look at it. Amory Lovins and Imran Sheikh, in a recent analysis, 'The Nuclear Illusion," sets the cost ofPaul MyersFri, 14 Nov 2008 10:23:20 ESThttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_10982310?source=rsshttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_10982310?source=rss

Recipe for an injuryFriday, November 14 Craziness! That's all I can really call it when I hear Christmas carols on the radio already. And not only am I hearing Christmas carols on the radio, I've come across two stations that are playing all Christmas carols all the time. Are you serious? What next? Are they going to put up their decorations in Home Depot and Wal-Mart?Brian McKennaFri, 14 Nov 2008 10:22:45 ESThttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_10982309?source=rsshttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_10982309?source=rss

A piano like no otherThursday, November 13 Telly Halkias These days, Elizabeth Small, co-founder and curator of the Bennington Center for the Arts, splits the year between Vermont and Arizona. Each time she makes her way back to the Green Mountains, her baby is waiting. But the intimate connection is not an infant expecting its mother to help it sleep.Columnists,Thu, 13 Nov 2008 03:09:00 ESThttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_10971903?source=rsshttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_10971903?source=rss

They are all running togetherThursday, November 13 Phyllis McGuire Even if we have not stepped foot in a store since October, we could not claim that the holidays sneaked up on us. It was early in that month that I noticed Thanksgiving and Christmas merchandise displayed next to Halloween pumpkins and toy haunted houses on a supermarket's shelves.Columnists,Thu, 13 Nov 2008 03:08:59 ESThttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_10971902?source=rsshttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_10971902?source=rss

Wrecks at the Hotel PutnamWednesday, November 12 I'm not sure where it would have landed on the Richter scale, but when the spindly legs of the crib hit a ripple in the carpeting they snapped like twigs and the front end crashed headlong to the floor. Whenever Leo was anxious or upset, a slight bit of foam would appear at the corners of his mouth and he became fidgety.Columnists,Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:15:13 ESThttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_10962237?source=rsshttp://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_10962237?source=rss