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      <title><![CDATA[Bennington Banner: Columnists]]></title>
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      <language>en</language>
      <category domain="Media News Group">News</category>
      <ttl>15</ttl>
      <item>
         <title><![CDATA[Intelligentsia against intelligence]]></title>
         <link><![CDATA[http://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_13837419?source=rss]]></link>
         <guid><![CDATA[http://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_13837419?source=rss]]></guid>
         <description><![CDATA[In the parlance of our times, the term "Idiocracy" means a nation run by idiots -- and the term "idiot" is defined by the dictionary as "an utterly foolish or senseless person" who exhibits "a mental age of less than three years old." 



There are obvious reasons to believe America is becoming an Idiocracy -- a series of horrendous government and business decisions strongly suggest that]]></description>
         <dc:creator>&lt;i&gt;David SIrota&lt;/i&gt;</dc:creator>
         <pubDate><![CDATA[Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:43:44 EST]]></pubDate>
      </item>
      <item>
         <title><![CDATA[A Christmas story]]></title>
         <link><![CDATA[http://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_13837428?source=rss]]></link>
         <guid><![CDATA[http://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_13837428?source=rss]]></guid>
         <description><![CDATA[The recent publicationof KarenCarmen-Reid's book, "Penn's Stocking," could not have come at a better time -- just in time for Christmas.



Carmen-Reid's 55-page illustrated book is, on the one hand a beautiful and remarkable Christmas story, and yet the book's powerful message will transcend throughout the year.]]></description>
         <dc:creator>&lt;i&gt;Don Keelan&lt;/i&gt;</dc:creator>
         <pubDate><![CDATA[Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:43:23 EST]]></pubDate>
      </item>
      <item>
         <title><![CDATA[We can't?]]></title>
         <link><![CDATA[http://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_13837433?source=rss]]></link>
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         <description><![CDATA[It isn't the end of the month or year yet, but what a November! So far we are averaging 10 or more degrees above normal temperature and are on record pace for the greatest percentage of sunny days in what is ordinarily one of the least sunny months. 



Another aberration in what has proven to be the norm this year.]]></description>
         <dc:creator>&lt;i&gt;Don Wilson&lt;/i&gt;</dc:creator>
         <pubDate><![CDATA[Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:43:01 EST]]></pubDate>
      </item>
      <item>
         <title><![CDATA[Thanksgiving: The 'Primal Wow']]></title>
         <link><![CDATA[http://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_13837439?source=rss]]></link>
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         <description><![CDATA[Vanessa Grajwer Boettiger 



Regardless of the latest theory about what did or didn't happen between pilgrims and Native Americans at the original supper, we can understand why our Thanksgiving holiday falls at this time of year: the harvest is in. After all the toil, we can experience the results of our labor in relationship to the land.]]></description>
         <dc:creator>&lt;i&gt;&lt;/i&gt;</dc:creator>
         <pubDate><![CDATA[Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:42:20 EST]]></pubDate>
      </item>
      <item>
         <title><![CDATA[First a werewolf and now this]]></title>
         <link><![CDATA[http://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_13828639?source=rss]]></link>
         <guid><![CDATA[http://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_13828639?source=rss]]></guid>
         <description><![CDATA[Alden Graves



The state of Maine seems to have a fondness for naming towns after mills, at least in Stephen King&rsquo;s vivid imagination. Chester&rsquo;s Mill, the site of his new book, "Under the Dome"(Scribner, 1,088 pages), isn&rsquo;t very far from Tarker&rsquo;s Mill.



Some of you may recall the trouble in Tarker&rsquo;s Mill a while back.]]></description>
         <dc:creator>&lt;i&gt;&lt;/i&gt;</dc:creator>
         <pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:57:36 EST]]></pubDate>
      </item>
      <item>
         <title><![CDATA[Days of the deer]]></title>
         <link><![CDATA[http://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_13828628?source=rss]]></link>
         <guid><![CDATA[http://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_13828628?source=rss]]></guid>
         <description><![CDATA[Joe Bushika



It&rsquo;s deer season again in Vermont, and every year from three to six of us gather at my camp in Stamford to participate in the annual ritual of pursuing the elusive whitetail. 



For 16 days every year it is an enjoyable experience, out in the woods each day and then enjoying a hearty meal at night with friends and relatives.]]></description>
         <dc:creator>&lt;i&gt;&lt;/i&gt;</dc:creator>
         <pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:57:28 EST]]></pubDate>
      </item>
      <item>
         <title><![CDATA[Focusing on Bennington's future]]></title>
         <link><![CDATA[http://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_13811386?source=rss]]></link>
         <guid><![CDATA[http://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_13811386?source=rss]]></guid>
         <description><![CDATA[Charles Putney



Monday evening's economic forum pointed to many good indicators of Bennington's economic future. Weaknesses, however, are abundant and the issue is complicated.



The forum was as interesting for the comments of its audience as for the reports of the panelists, who represented town government, Bennington County Industrial Corp.]]></description>
         <dc:creator>&lt;i&gt;&lt;/i&gt;</dc:creator>
         <pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:41:43 EST]]></pubDate>
      </item>
      <item>
         <title><![CDATA[The 'high cost of arrogance']]></title>
         <link><![CDATA[http://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_13819953?source=rss]]></link>
         <guid><![CDATA[http://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_13819953?source=rss]]></guid>
         <description><![CDATA[Mike Bethel



Commissioner of Education Armando Vilaseca has spoken, and of course, hardly anyone on the Mount Anthony Union District Board is listening -- except Ken Swierad and Fran Kinney. 



These two board members believe the commissioner and his legal staff must know what they are doing. Mr.]]></description>
         <dc:creator>&lt;i&gt;&lt;/i&gt;</dc:creator>
         <pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:41:30 EST]]></pubDate>
      </item>
      <item>
         <title><![CDATA[A different world?]]></title>
         <link><![CDATA[http://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_13819933?source=rss]]></link>
         <guid><![CDATA[http://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_13819933?source=rss]]></guid>
         <description><![CDATA[Telly Halkias



Perhaps more than anything, science and technologyhave made the world a smaller place. Today, we&rsquo;re closer to each other in terms of communicating and exchanging information, ideas, and emotions than ever. These changes have been inextricably tied to how we view the world.



The seeds of this explosion were planted during the Industrial Revolution, where the West saw]]></description>
         <dc:creator>&lt;i&gt;&lt;/i&gt;</dc:creator>
         <pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:01:09 EST]]></pubDate>
      </item>
      <item>
         <title><![CDATA[Tea Boy of the Steak House]]></title>
         <link><![CDATA[http://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_13811381?source=rss]]></link>
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         <description><![CDATA[Tom Pinsonneault 



TheSteak Houseon upperEast Main Street was owned and operated by my cousin Eddy Pinsonneault Jr. and his wife, Pat, for many years. I always thought, as a youngster, that it was a lucky coincidence that he owned a restaurant, because he and Pat had 12 children to feed, and as they grew into maturity would need some way to earn spending money, and perhaps make a living.]]></description>
         <dc:creator>&lt;i&gt;&lt;/i&gt;</dc:creator>
         <pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:53:40 EST]]></pubDate>
      </item>
      <item>
         <title><![CDATA[Let's hear your opinions, ideas]]></title>
         <link><![CDATA[http://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_13795954?source=rss]]></link>
         <guid><![CDATA[http://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_13795954?source=rss]]></guid>
         <description><![CDATA[Tonight at 7 p.m., I will be moderating a forum on economic development at the Bennington Fire Facility. The panel will have representatives from the town, Bennington County Industrial Corp., Bennington County Regional Commission, the Better Bennington Corp., and the Bennington Area Chamber of Commerce.]]></description>
         <dc:creator>&lt;i&gt;Stuart Hurd&lt;/i&gt;</dc:creator>
         <pubDate><![CDATA[Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:22:31 EST]]></pubDate>
      </item>
      <item>
         <title><![CDATA[The high cost of being liked]]></title>
         <link><![CDATA[http://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_13795977?source=rss]]></link>
         <guid><![CDATA[http://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_13795977?source=rss]]></guid>
         <description><![CDATA[Someone stopped me a while ago and said very pleasantly, "The only thing that I enjoy more than your columns in the Banner are the letters from people who hate you."



I can't say that the fact that I inspire some amount of animosity in the community has not occurred to me before. I remember an irrational moment of panic at a large gathering recently when I frantically grabbed my]]></description>
         <dc:creator>&lt;i&gt;Alden Graves&lt;/i&gt;</dc:creator>
         <pubDate><![CDATA[Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:22:13 EST]]></pubDate>
      </item>
      <item>
         <title><![CDATA[Too close for newt comfort]]></title>
         <link><![CDATA[http://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_13803444?source=rss]]></link>
         <guid><![CDATA[http://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_13803444?source=rss]]></guid>
         <description><![CDATA[When we bought our old farmhouse 40 years ago, its source of water was a spring that gushed from a hillside. The water seemed clean thanks in part to gravel that had been placed on the muddy bottom and to a loose wooden lid that covered the spring itself. The water was so hard it caked teapots and made it almost impossible to lather in the shower, but it was cold and delicious.]]></description>
         <dc:creator>&lt;i&gt;Bill Amos&lt;/i&gt;</dc:creator>
         <pubDate><![CDATA[Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:21:36 EST]]></pubDate>
      </item>
      <item>
         <title><![CDATA[The story of Plymouth Commune]]></title>
         <link><![CDATA[http://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_13803445?source=rss]]></link>
         <guid><![CDATA[http://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_13803445?source=rss]]></guid>
         <description><![CDATA[The politicization of American History may be a natural outcome of our highly partisan society, but it is not an acceptable one. Many of the stories historians choose not to share have relevance to current situations and deserve to be told in their entirety. Partisan historians may not like the conclusions people draw from these stories, but still it is the people's right to receive]]></description>
         <dc:creator>&lt;i&gt;Audrey Pietrucha&lt;/i&gt;</dc:creator>
         <pubDate><![CDATA[Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:21:08 EST]]></pubDate>
      </item>
      <item>
         <title><![CDATA[These suits are too tight]]></title>
         <link><![CDATA[http://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_13795959?source=rss]]></link>
         <guid><![CDATA[http://www.benningtonbanner.com/columnists/ci_13795959?source=rss]]></guid>
         <description><![CDATA[Bob Stannard



Tony Manero no longer fits in the skin tight, white disco suit he wore in "Saturday Night Fever." Time flies. It takes a lot of time to pass before one realizes just how fast time does pass. 



When you&rsquo;re a tiny child nothing matters. The same could be said for teenagers although they are a group unto themselves.]]></description>
         <dc:creator>&lt;i&gt;&lt;/i&gt;</dc:creator>
         <pubDate><![CDATA[Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:05:05 EST]]></pubDate>
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