Green Mountain Meandering Missives

Among the good things about living at the sixty (60) unit apartment building I reside in is the annual rummage held to benefit the housing authority's senior meals program that operates out of the same building. Over the fifteen years I have resided here, I have gotten several different used items including a small couch (which later went to another neighbor), various recliners, a coffee table, a side table, a stool, a foot stool, a printer stand, an ottoman that became a deluxe queen-sized cat bed for my cat Cleopatra (Miss Cleo) as well as wooden pet stairs for Miss Cleo, a large two-wheel laundry basket, various paintings and pictures to hang on the walls of my apartment, a couple of floor lamps as well as a table lamp, a padded desk-type of chair that Miss Cleo had quickly taken ownership of and so on. One problem had been (and not to complain, because I am grateful to have a place to live as well as having MIss Cleo to share my abode with), however, is due to the size of my sm

Updated (view update below): Read the official obituary for former, longtime, Washington County state Senator William "Bill" Doyle (via Guare and Sons funeral home), here . Photos (taken of the back as well as front covers of a hard copy of Bill Doyle's book, The Vermont Political Tradition ; trade back version; revised edition: 2009): View the WCAX -- Channel 3 TV -- News report: Read the Vermont Public  news report, here . Update: Read an article published via vtdigger , here . Read an article, here and an editorial, here via the Times Argus . Read Governor Phil Scott's statement on the passing of Senator Bill Doyle, here .

Video: Ralph Nader's take on the US 2024 election (via The Take; Al Jazeera English; via YouTube):

Updated (view updates below, with additional related photos as well as a rather lengthy missive of mine concerning these and related matters, after embedded video player; l ast updated on Wednesday, August 21, 2024 at 3:15 PM ): Photo: Montpelier City Council meeting (taken of TV screen while viewing archived video, via YouTube, after the meeting had adjourned this evening). During it's Other Business agenda item (item 7; view meeting agenda, here ), the Montpelier City Council heard about and discussed concerns regarding homelessness and related matters at some length on Wednesday evening (August 14, 2024).  Photo: Montpelier City Hall (taken by Morgan W. Brown; circa: July 2022). The meeting itself was relatively brief, just under two hours.  Later on, during his report (agenda item 9), Mayor Jack McCullough explained that the meeting had originally only been planned to be a relatively short one, however due to concerns raised by community members about recent events, the coun

  The Washington Post recently published an article profiling Front Porch Forum , which basically serves as an online bulletin board, discussion forum as well as informational newsletter, helping to connect neighbors in local communities across Vermont and parts of New York state within the digital age (at least those who have Internet access anyway; image: screenshot of Washington Post article), here . The article itself is behind the newspaper's usual paywall, however, I had fortunately been gifted access to it via an anonymous Washington Post subscriber. The article begins with these initial paragraphs about the online forum,  "Imagine an online community where substantive debates about Donald Trump, climate change and America’s culture wars nestle quietly alongside messages about lost rabbits and school board meetings.   "It exists and even thrives — in Vermont. Front Porch Forum counts nearly half the state’s adults as active members. More than Facebook, Nextdoor,

Had come across the first interesting video concerning the history as well as myths about the  U.S. Constitution last evening (due to a YouTube suggestion) and the second interesting video of a debate regarding the same matters while preparing to embed the first video within this blog post (during the draft stage; above link via The White House): Video 1: The Original Intent of the Constitution | Myths of American History (via The Great Courses ; via YouTube; length: 31:55 minutes/seconds): Video 2:  Original Intent of the Constitution ( via Institute of Politics Harvard Kennedy School ;  via YouTube; length: 1:32:30 hours/minutes/seconds): For more information, check out the following: The Constitution: How Did it Happen? (via the National Archives); Original Meaning and Constitutional Interpretation (via Constitution Annotated); How the US Constitution Has Changed and Expanded Since 1787 (via the History Channel); Video: Understanding the U S. Constitution (via City of Fort Colli

  Nearly every Friday afternoon, beginning around Noontime, there is an anti-war vigil held by one or more protesters in front of the federal building on State Street in downtown Montpelier. This afternoon, one gentleman -- who had mentioned that he is 100-years-old -- held vigil alone with a large dual-sided sign with two messages, despite the heat, in order to call attention to the plight of Palestinians at the hands of the government of Israel. Text of sign (side 1): TO MY FELLOW JEWS  IN ISRAEL- HOW COULD THE NAZI  GENOCIDE OF JEWS  1933-45 BE FOLLOWED BY  THE ISRAELI  GENOCIDE OF PALESTINIANS  TODAY? Text of sign (side 2): KILLING & STARVING: WHAT NAZIS  DID TO JEWS  80 YEARS AGO,  MY FELLOW JEWS  IN ISRAEL  DO TO PALESTINIANS  TODAY _____________________ I DON'T HEAR GOD CRYING Update 1 : Had come across the gentleman around 12:30 PM, after briefly attending the community meal held at Christ Episcopal Church  located across the street, while on my way down State Street. H