News – Politics – Opinion – Podcasts
John Klar 
The premise behind federal student loan forgiveness is that it is “fair”: people struggling with student loans because of a down job market, personal troubles, or other of life’s inevitable strains should be “unburdened by what has been.” At the same time, debt relief administration problems include bureaucratic inefficiencies and the increasingly sizable cost, which … Read more
The unusual saga of a former president of the United States being criminally convicted in New York has taken several twists and turns, and now the defendant Donald Trump has transformed from civilian ex-POTUS to President-elect. That was a challenge for New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan, who oversaw Trump’s conviction on 34 felony … Read more
In this segment, I was asked about how to teach people effectively about food and how to make informed eating and buying choices.
Occasionally, divorced couples reconsider their decision to split up and remarry. The Western world, once enamored of atomic techno-wizardry and promises of cheap, limitless energy, embarked on a lengthy, passionate honeymoon with nuclear power plants. But frightening glimpses of calamities – such as Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and Fukushima – led to a widespread disavowal … Read more
This populist revolt against America’s two-party corporate domination has been a long time coming. I suppose for many it began when John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King., Jr. and Bobby Kennedy were all assassinated. No one with a brain could really believe the lies used to cover up what the CIA and FBI were capable … Read more
Expected lifespans are plateauing worldwide, suggesting that life-extending advances in medicine, food safety, and plumbing may have gone as far as they can to preserve humanity’s ability to prolong the inevitable. This news dampens techno-mystical fantasies of using science to achieve immortality and slip the surly bonds of death. Yet this is old news for … Read more
Ah, those pesky election deniers. Despite years of Democrat claims that elections and voting machines were untrustworthy, it has become verboten to question the Holy Grail of US voting systems since the sketchy Biden win. Yet there is nothing holy about election interference – Donald Trump was criminally tried for trumped-up claims that a mischaracterization … Read more
Do they increase drug use? A Vermont bill proposes to create safe injection sites around the state for substance abusers (aka drug addicts) who inject opioids and other drugs. This has understandably proved controversial, and I feel compelled to chime in. I ask readers to hear me out — I may not be very popular … Read more
The government offers large amounts of money for Americans to buy electric vehicles (EVs) to help reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Many claims about EVs and their effects on the environment often seem conflicting. As with most manmade products, it can be difficult to fully measure all the environmental impacts: the … Read more
Obesity continues to skyrocket in the United States, according to a new CDC report on the prevalence of severe diabetes. The number of women with the condition is increasing at a faster rate than men; women are nearly twice as likely to be severely obese. Extreme obesity has been connected to numerous dangerous health conditions. … Read more
A recent federal court decision prohibited the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating pollution based on skin color. Viewed as a blow to “environmental justice” initiatives, the Louisiana decision hinged on an important distinction between government policies created with racist intent versus those that result in racially disparate impacts. The ruling may influence future regulatory action, raising important … Read more
Vermonters face a critical election year – nationally and here in the Green Mountains. Years of steadily increasing property taxes, government fees, and stifling regulations promulgated by a spendthrift, ideologically extreme Progressive legislature have burdened retirees, young Vermonters, and the state’s low-income residents. In the name of helping the poor, the climate, and various social … Read more
Do EPA regulations prohibit racism or implement it? A recent federal court decision prohibited the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating pollution based on skin color. Viewed as a blow to “environmental justice” initiatives, the Louisiana decision hinged on an important distinction between government policies created with racist intent versus those that result in racially disparate impacts. The … Read more
There is a certain moral appeal to a system of pricing for consumer goods that incorporates the pollution costs involved in their production. Under such a system, in addition to the commercial “input costs” a producer paid to make a product, a fee for the toxins, water use, soil damage, or other environmental costs would … Read more
When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that he was suspending his presidential campaign to join forces with Donald Trump’s race to the White House, he used the opportunity to trumpet the policy issues they would address: free speech, the Ukraine conflict, and “the war on our children.” Kennedy claimed the war on children is visible … Read more
Vermonters are suffering economically, and the state’s Progressive party (led by Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman) is sharing its plans to make it worse. The pattern that is becoming clear is that rich people exploit the poorest of Vermonters to take more and more money from working Vermonters – making them poorer and more likely to … Read more
A Vermont dairy family has been issued a notice by their town demanding that they obtain a building permit because they have more than two political yard signs (that support GOP candidates) displayed on their property. Rather than pay the $25 fee (plus 3% for credit cards) to comply, young newlyweds Sara and Ryan Bullis … Read more
A weekend escape for “Minor Attracted Persons” (MAPs) in rural Vermont has attracted strident public criticism. The chosen location and theme for the three-day event – a wooded campground with hiking trails near a local pre-K through 12th-grade public school – has elevated an already controversial issue into closer scrutiny. Though MAP may soon be … Read more
Vermont’s highest court has ruled that citizens have no legal recourse if their children are administered an experimental vaccine against parental wishes by public school personnel unless they prove willful misconduct and their child suffers serious physical injury or death. This surreal desecration of parental consent was justified by deference to federal statutes governing vaccinations, … Read more
Among the various new taxes proposed by Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign are increased levies on capital gains and taxation of unrealized capital gains on wealthy Americans. Given recent history, this is particularly sneaky. The Biden-Harris team sparked rapid inflation, so now the Harris-Waltz duo wants to tax the phantom inflationary gain even before citizens holding … Read more