Mash Notes, Hate Mail & Other Correspondence

To the Editor: Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden released a $2 trillion climate plan that won praise from the previously-critical Sunrise Movement. Unfortunately, so far as I’m aware, the plan does not include funding for cultured-meat research. For those who don’t know, cultured meat is grown from cells, without slaughtering animals. It requires a fraction of the greenhouse-gas emissions that raising livestock does. Dr. Mark Post created the first cultured-beef hamburger in 2013. It cost a whopping $280,000. Soon, he thinks, that price could be reduced to $10. Still, more research is required to make cultured meat economically viable. Politicians who hope to prevent climate …

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Dear Editor: Like a snake oil salesman come to town, representatives of Casella Waste Systems arrived in the Town of Dalton on August 31st to deliver Host Community Agreement documents and a contract relative to its proposed “Granite State Landfill” (yes, next to Forest Lake and Forest Lake State Park). Like a modern-day Cassandra, I would like to offer a warning to the Town of Dalton: Beware of this “gift” from Casella Waste Systems, for like the predicted Fall of ancient Troy that fell on deaf ears, I have spent much of my time trying to warn the Town of Dalton and the North Country …

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To the Editor: The Republican convention has shown how Trump’s supporters see him: as keeping promises (replacing Obamacare? building the Wall? rebuilding infrastructure?), as a strong “law and order” leader (“dominating” the streets—except in Charlottesville). They say cops have gunned down whites as well as Blacks, so the George Floyd incident was overblown. They say since the virus kills mostly old people, it’s “a lot less severe” than initially feared—no reason to shut down bars or mass gatherings, or to wear masks. They dismiss as “irrelevant” aspects of Trump’s character that make him unfit for office. They say we should take his bullying and lying …

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by William Cooper The Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. It states: “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” The Supreme Court has construed “cruel and unusual punishments” to include certain forms of torture, such as drawing and quartering. Yet the Court has allowed the death penalty—which is still legal in dozens of states—to continue, with some restrictions. In sum, the Eighth Amendment prohibits criminal punishments that are very harmful to prisoners and also rare or unprecedented. Right now, over two million inmates sit locked inside U.S. prisons, …

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To the Editor: In 1956, during the Hungarian revolution against the communist regime, my family escaped and went on to live in the U.S.A. and we all became naturalized citizens. I still recall what my mother used to say about the daily life under the authoritarian regime in Hungary. She said that it made her and many others extremely mad regarding the blatant propaganda and obvious lies that government officials and government-controlled newspapers repeatedly stated. She said that authorities would look directly at you and still make the most outrageous falsehoods, similar to someone standing in front of a white wall and claiming it was …

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