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Free Speech: From Core Values to Current Debates by UVM’s Tom Sullivan and Leslie Niehoff
I’m reading former UVM President Thomas Sullivan’s new book, Free Speech: From Core Values to Current Debates, written in collaboration with Leonard Niehoff of University of Michigan Law… Read More
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A Model for Vermont Healthcare
Health Center, Plainfield, VT The Vermont healthcare system, infrastructure, and vision are broken, and Vermonters of all economic strata are the losers. The soul of the system is fine if… Read More
Health Care
Comments to Copley Board Strategic Planning Meeting: Trapp Lodge 102822
Background: I grew up 500 feet from the original 1932 Copley Hospital. I had my tonsils and appendix removed there by Doctor Phil Goddard, our family doc, and he set… Read More
Media & Press
How Vermont’s Media Helps Keep the State Together by Bill McKibben in the New Yorker: A Riposte
Photo courtesy of UVM I have great respect for Bill McKibben. His clarity on humankind’s threats to the environment and his ability to draft an army of planet guardians is… Read More
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Current Legislative Compensation Favors Privilege
Two weeks ago I wrote about extending gubernatorial and legislative terms from two-year to four-year terms. Since then, good friend and revered former State Archivist Gregory Sanford sent me… Read More
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It’s Time for the Four-Year Term for Governor and Legislators
It’s time again for my biennial screed against Vermont’s two-year term for elected executive and legislative positions. I’ve watched the damage done by this narrow time horizon play out… Read More
Education
Comments to Vermont Adult Learning Graduates 9/16/22
We’re here tonight to celebrate you and your achievements. Yes, I did come to celebrate with you and to share some thoughts but I also came to learn from you… Read More
Policy & Politics
Don’t defund the police, fire, and rescue, consolidate and fund them cost-efficiently
Last Monday, VTDigger reported on a convocation on “Crime and Punishment” in Burlington City Hall held by a group called “The Keep Vermont Safe Coalition.” I flattered myself by imagining… Read More
Policy & Politics
Philanthropy: The Darkside of Giving...Getting
We like to think of philanthropy as pure altruism… making a gift, and it often is, but philanthropy also has its dark side. Criminal Theft and Deception Among the darkest… Read More
Elegies
After the inaugural run of the new Burlington - New York Amtrak service on July 29th, 2022, an elegy… 1953 - A Vermont Train Journey
4-8-2 600 Montreal–New York Ambassador at White River Jct., Vt., Aug. 27, 1951. Photo by Jim Shaughnessy Traces of opalescent light emblazon the western horizon as we drive south along… Read More
Criminal Justice
Crime and Punishment
The many challenges Vermont currently faces demand courage, bold thinking, and leadership if they’re to be solved. In the past, we’ve occasionally had a leader emerge with the courage… Read More
Health Care
Vermont Healthcare: A Ship at Sea
I was asked recently if there was a simple way to keep track of how our healthcare system measures up? My “simple” answer was, “Yes, count the number of people… Read More
