Vermont's Independent Voice
Browse News
Browse Arts + Culture
Browse Food + Drink
Browse Cannabis
Browse Music
Browse On Screen
Browse Events
Browse Classifieds
Browse Personals
prion
Member since Dec 24, 2007
click to enlarge
Latest Review
Recent Comments
Re: “How Veronica Lewis Went From Jail to a Mental Hospital — and Back Again”
"if anyone should pay a price for the injuries she inflicted, they should be at least considered for inclusion among the guilty"
Second that!
Hey, Veronica, where ya off to?
Going to take handgun lessons, learn to shoot straight.
OK, have fun.
Posted by
prion
on 06/27/2019 at 3:48 PM
Re: “Squabbling Legislators Squander Chance to Deliver Democratic Deal”
"Balint came to believe that the House might not have been negotiating in good faith"
!! What a colossal hypocrite !! Ashe & Balint's underhanded, double-dealing, hostage-taking, self-serving brinkmanship, playing chicken with the calendar, failed. Speaker Johnson's patience with their shenanigans exceeded what I'd have put up with by a week. If the Senate doesn't rethink its leadership... well, I get to vote against one of them and look forward to the opportunity.
"She noted that a lot of work had gone into the letter Johnson released Friday morning"
Well, duh. What else did she have to do for a week and a half while the Senate "negotiated" by declining to negotiate, daring them to adjourn? I imagine each and every member of the House had mentally composed a detailed draft of that letter. It only needed typing and printing. Ashe & Balint's calculated procrastination precipitated this, their adversarial machination led to this, their no-show bullying brought us to this point. Even now they seem to think they can manipulate the House through petulance and feigned bewilderment. Tools.
None of which means the House versions are superior to the Senate versions. Personally, I think they're not. But Senate tactics were disrespectful, insupportable, reprehensible -- and ultimately, properly, futile. "Good faith" indeed.
Posted by
prion
on 05/30/2019 at 10:10 AM
Re: “Scott Signs Bill Hiking Legal Smoking Age to 21”
18 isn't the problem. 13 is the problem. The idea that middle-schoolers are less likely to pass as adults than they are to pass as college students may have a tiny bit of validity, but the arbitrary and capricious nature of disparate ages of majority invites the kind of anti-authoritarian indignation seen here. Reflect that, come September, an 18yo terminal patient may elect self-administered suicide via barbiturates in Vermont, but not self-administered slow suicide via tobacco. One possible solution: embrace arbitrariness! Stop pretending 21 is a rational threshold. If it's a public health issue, make the legal age to possess nicotine products 60, unless certified by a physician to be likely to die soon anyway, and promising to only smoke under the bleachers where other kids won't see.
Posted by
prion
on 05/21/2019 at 5:49 PM
Re: “Winooski Mansion to Remain on Historic Register, Complicating Demolition Plan”
Nothing so eloquently bespeaks Winooski's cultural poverty than calling this utterly nondescript house a mansion and claiming it has architectural significance. Historical value? Perhaps. History definitely has value and reminders are worth preserving; whether this ramshackle apartment house reminds anyone of anything at any time except when trying to whip up public opinion against development is debatable. Its architectural value, though, is nil.
Posted by
prion
on 05/10/2019 at 4:58 PM
Re: “Montpeculiar: Hammer Time in the Vermont House”
"Way down in the piece it says the globe is a modern reproduction"
It does not. It says in one person's opinion it might be a replica. That's why we read entire articles, pertinent information might not be in the first paragraph, and that's why we read all the words, not just some of them to get an approximate impression.
"A replica is typically smaller than its original"
It is not. Replicas may differ in size from originals but typically they're as close as possible to being identical, meaning precise duplicates that aren't readily distinguishable from the original.
Posted by
prion
on 03/28/2019 at 11:42 PM
Re: “Walters: Scott Slams Vermont Ethics Panel”
The existing readiness contract is irrelevant. As I understand it, everyone who bid was awarded, because it only declares an ability and intention to perform as needed. Also, conflict of interest exists whether contracts are in place or not, as long as future contracts are possible. If the Governor doesn't want to, or can't, divest himself, the company can be disqualified from bidding. Neither is fair and it might be time to acknowledge that in a tiny state with citizen officials, some overlap of private and public obligations is inevitable. That's not ideal, but neither is precluding all but the idle rich from public office.
Investigating the existing contract is unnecessary, but I'd be curious to know about the collateral for Scott's $2.5M loan. If the company's recent acquisition of even more debt sinks it, he might end up owning the whole shebang outright, debt and all.
Posted by
prion
on 10/08/2018 at 3:32 PM
Re: “Up in Smoke: What Turner and Zuckerman's Pot Plan Says About the Lt. Gov. Candidates”
"After consulting fellow Democrats, Johnson told Turner the proposal didn't have enough support." Democrats constitute > 55% of the House and care < nothing about a Turner endorsement, yet "Zuckerman said Turner single-handedly killed any chances of success by dropping his sponsorship."
Meanwhile, "Turner said he backed out because Johnson told him the proposal was a bad idea. He said he showed her respect by dropping the issue." Oh, look, a pig just flew by my window. There's another!
Clash of the prevaricating midgets.
Posted by
prion
on 09/28/2018 at 8:35 PM
Re: “Loretta's Fine Italian Cuisine”
2nd thoughts
If Bob Conlon finds no fault I'm prepared to question my own judgement, but my experience was distinctly otherwise. Uninteresting, overpriced food with occasional flourishes of less-than-mediocrity; it was borderline insulting, as if the challenge was seeing just how little quality could be delivered for nearly $200 without causing a scene. The wait staff was superb (and, yes, the napkins are nice); only the utterly mundane food keeps Loretta's from being a reasonable restaurant. Food: 1 Ambiance: 2 Service: 5