Earlier this month, Seven Days ran a remarkable story titled Too Many Vermont Kids Struggle to Read. What Went Wrong — and Can Educators Reverse a Yearslong Slide in Literacy? It’s long. 5000 words, but very much worth the time.
Vermont Students Work to Prevent Another COVID “Mandate” Surge on Campus
At least two Vermont college students have helped to start the Student Declaration 2023, which is to ensure that overzealous COVID-19-related mandates are never repeated again on their school campuses.
On the Air with ‘Right Side Up’ – Talking Politics on Both Sides of the Connecticut River
Right Side Up Radio has been a weekly installment on (WNTK 99.7) since May of 2023, and ever since we announced VermontGrok, Mike Tagliavia and Bill Huff have been asking me on their radio show to talk VT and NH politics. We finally made it happen.
Anti-Hunting Activists Are Planning an End-Run Around Your Rights!
Two bills are under consideration by Vermont’s Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (LCAR) that will have a substantial impact on Vermonters’ hunting and trapping liberties. Both bills began as efforts to ban trapping and coyote hunting; both were changed to allow these practices, subject to administrative oversight; both have morphed into efforts to essentially ban … Read more
Former Rep Tries to Hoodwink Vermonters
Former Representative Dave Sharpe (D-Bristol) recently penned a truly execrable op-ed blaming private schools, lack of funding for public schools, and 60s era “white-flight” for the persistent and growing performance gap between higher income students and those living in poverty. He opened his piece exclaiming, “It’s no surprise….” Well, it’s no surprise to anyone who … Read more
NASA’s Climate Change Metrics Need Fixing
Americans love their lawns. Some clean-looking lawns resemble golf courses in the area and may be mowed more frequently than required, a sort of suburban therapy. Cows, cars, and tennis courts are among the targets of climate change agitators.
Vermonters Really Don’t Support State Energy Policy
The Vermont Department of Public Services conducted a poll and a series of focus groups over the summer regarding state energy policy, specifically support for or opposition to using more renewable energy. They just released the 87-page report on what they found out.
Renewable Energy Standard: A “Shell Game” of “Picking Winners & Losers”
This past week’s discussion in the Renewable Energy Standard Working Group, charged with drafting legislation to be considered by the General Assembly during the 2024 legislative session, highlighted some serious problems with Vermont’s energy policies, both philosophical and practical.
Carbon Dioxide, Hamburgers, and Fukushima Fish
China recently banned the importation of Japanese seafood, claiming current releases of decade-old wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant threaten citizens’ health. US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emmanuel was diplomatically dispatched to publicly eat Japanese fish to combat China’s claims.
Thar She Blows!
Before we figured out how to replace whale oil with cheaper, more efficient petroleum, we killed a lot of whales throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in order to light our homes and lubricate our industries, driving most species to the brink of extinction.
What Would Dems do Without their Scapegoat in Chief?
The Democratic Party once upon a time claimed representation of the working class. More Americans are seeing that this reputation is long gone. Barack Obama bailed out Wall Street and backed Monsanto – the exact opposite of what he promised. Joe Biden-Brandon promised to be a uniter.
Why is the Vermont Media Ignoring the Slate Valley School Board Story?
About a month ago, I wrote a story about Slate Valley School Board member Curtis Hier’s battle with both the school officials he was elected to oversee and his fellow board members, who don’t seem to appreciate Hier’s desire to get to the bottom of some serious problems in the system that are negatively impacting students.
Masking Creates Toxic Health Impacts …
In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, confusion surrounded many medical issues related to a scary, novel disease. Travel restraints, quarantines, mortality rates, treatment modalities, and a vortex of complex issues confronted an anxious American public told ubiquitous masks were a necessary prophylactic pending the arrival of a vaunted new vaccine to rescue humanity.
More Confusion/Delay Ahead for Carbon Credit Banking Scheme
My last article highlighted the fact that the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is only now beginning to contemplate how to write the rules regarding how Vermonters can retroactively “bank” so-called “Clean Heat Credits” back to January 1, 2023, and continue to bank them until the Clean Heat Standard goes fully into effect sometime in 2025.
Vermont Emits Less “Carbon” than NH but Produces Less With it (So Is It Actually Emitting More?)
Vermont is serious about destroying its economy and residents via meaningless reductions in carbon emissions. They’ve got commissions, committees, targets, and standards, so they’ve also got reports about how all that’s not working out for them.
Ethical Dilemmas About Killing an Animal for Climate
California and other states (and many nations) have enacted laws to regulate “ethical” treatment of animals in agriculture. This trend accompanies modern jurisprudence shielding domestic pets and criminalizing animal cruelty. Advocates for animal welfare legislation, such as PETA, invoke claims of “animal rights” — but these same groups call for boycotts on products made from … Read more
Don’t Tread on Homeschoolers
A 12-year-old Colorado boy became a victim of “woke” education when he was taken out of class and told he could not return unless he removed a Gadsden flag or “Don’t Tread on Me” patch from his backpack.
The Entity Charged With Implementing a Carbon Credit System Has No Idea How To Do It
The legislature passed the Clean Heat Standard (S.5) into law in the Spring of this year (over the governor’s veto) with a provision that Vermonters can start banking the so-called “Clean Heat Credits” – earned by installing heat pumps, insulating buildings, etc. – retroactive to January 1, 2023.
Wildfires and Climate Change: What the Alarmists Aren’t Doing – And What They Aren’t Telling Us.
As with all things environmental, climate alarmists conclude that current wildfires are more evidence of greenhouse gas warming. This must be clarified, as human activities other than driving cars or rearing cows impact these terrible disasters. Appropriate preventive policies are dependent on an accurate diagnosis of cause. The knee-jerk “the sky is falling” pathos furthers … Read more