Calling all veterans
On the Fourth of July, as we Americans celebrate our country’s independence and freedoms, we should remember the men and women who serve and have served in our military. They, some at great cost, served to protect us and defend the freedoms we enjoy. Our U.S. veterans will be honored at several parades around the Valley this holiday. If you served, join in and receive the communities’ appreciation. If you are on the sideline, show your appreciation as they pass.
Aspen’s Fourth of July parade invites all U.S. military veterans to join our group, Tribute to Our Veterans. Meet at 10 a.m. on Main Street, Paepcke Park in Aspen. Call Sally at 970-948-8278 for details. Rides are available. We hope to see you there!
Happy Fourth of July!
Hugh Roberts, USAF Vietnam
Support for CRMPI
As a long-time Valley resident and avid gardener, I finally made the trek up Basalt Mountain to visit Jerome Ostenkowski and his Forest Garden Greenhouse, part of the Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute (CRMPI). What a joy to see pomegranate trees and grapevines growing alongside tomatoes and kale while treading along a plywood walkway atop a miniature worm farm, all on a hillside at 7,200 feet.
Jerome has been teaching permaculture and enlightening Valley gardeners at least since I moved here in the late ‘90s. I have bought a peach tree he grafted onto hearty siberian rootstock, listened to him talk eloquently and passionately about the benefits of the herb spilanthes and seen the multitude of local gardeners who cut their teeth up at his greenhouses.
Unfortunately, all this is now in jeopardy as Jerome is being cited as out of compliance with Eagle County regulations. Apparently, the site is not zoned for educational or agricultural purposes, and operations will be halted unless a special use permit is approved. I can’t claim to understand the nuances of the permitting process, but I sincerely believe that CRMPI has sowed nothing but organic seeds, innovative gardening principles and continued good will throughout the Valley, and I can’t see why anyone would think halting this program, which has existed for 30 years, would be a benefit to the community.
So I, and Jerome, encourage you to come to the public hearing at the Eagle County Courthouse in El Jebel on Thursday, July 7th at 2:30 to voice your support for Jerome and gardeners everywhere.
David Teitler, Carbondale
Re: spewing lies
Last week’s letter from David Butler of Carbondale accused me of “spewing lies about Lauren Boebert.” He claimed “she has not introduced legislation to reduce the age to buy guns (read the Congressional record).” Okay, David, not sure why you can’t read it yourself, but here you go:
“HR 2890, cosponsored by Lauren Boebert, 4/28/2021: To reduce from 21 years of age to 18 years of age the minimum age at which a person may obtain a handgun from a Federal firearms licensee.”
She even brags on her homepage, “I cosponsored the SAFER Voter Act to lower the legal gun-purchasing age to 18.” One wonders why this should make any of us feel SAFER.
So, David, when you say, “stop spewing the lies about Lauren Boebert,” maybe YOU should stop spewing the lies about Lauren Boebert. She does not, as you claim, “stand for all of Colorado.”
She has steadfastly supported Trump and his stolen-election lies. Her culpability in the Jan. 6 insurrection which nearly cost us our democracy is indisputable. Her “representation” of our district has been insipid, appalling and ineffectual.
Vote her out.
Annette Roberts-Gray, Carbondale
Right-wing America
The Supreme Court decisions are not what you think they are. Guns, God, gays and abortions are just tools to an end. We are looking at a pure power play. The elites that have been calling the shots in the U.S. for years are now consolidating their power. This latest chaos is all about running the tables in the next two elections. Welcome to right-wing America.
The “Brown Shirts” are all over the land threatening anyone who tries to object. Elections are being rigged in state after state with gerrymandering and rules barring voters. State officials are being authorized to literally throw out the vote and insert whatever they want. Schools are having books thrown out and being bullied to remove all minority history.
In the world’s most prolific gun culture, still more weapons will be spread throughout to keep the population in constant fear.
Many of our elected officials, as the hearings are showing, are utterly corrupt and lie about everything.
The Supreme Court is now fully captured after years of manipulation to install the current six complete frauds. Look to a host of right-wing groups like the Federalist Society, ALEC, the Freedom Caucus and the Heritage Foundation. What is more telling than a monumental Supreme Court building with a flight of enormous empty steps that is completely guarded by concrete barriers and an unscalable fence? This is not a court for the people.
Former Justice Antonin Scalia blatantly lied about the Second Amendment. Any third grader could tell you this was about “militias.” That is just basic sentence structure. “Originalism” and “textualism” are completely fabricated pseudo judicial theories. These are “make it all up” theories. These are theories to claim anything they want.
We have 27 Amendments. The Constitution was not frozen. “Rights” of people exist to help us live together in meaningful and rewarding ways. The world has changed. No one knew this better than the founders who knew their past well and could imagine the changes and challenges that were ahead.
As Franklin said: “We have a Republic, if we can keep it.” Can we?
Patrick Hunter, Carbondale
2021 Judiciary Act
Right now, the right to abortion care is at risk because of a deliberate, decades-long takeover of the Supreme Court by powerful right-wing extremists. We’re seeing the culmination of this takeover as the Court just overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that made abortion access a constitutional right. This opens the door for states to outlaw abortion and take us back to a time when women were forced to go through with an unwanted pregnancy, potentially endangering their health and hurting their ability to provide for their families.
But it’s possible to undo this damage. The Judiciary Act would add four seats, restoring balance to the Supreme Court. It’s the solution that recent polling showed is supported by the majority of Americans, and it’s what we need to move away from partisan rulings that dismantle our rights and freedoms. And it’s been done before. In fact, Congress has changed the size of the Supreme Court seven times already in our nation’s history. It’s time to do it again.
I’m urging Congress to pass the Judiciary Act of 2021 to ensure we protect our fundamental freedoms and restore balance to our courts now. I demand autonomy over my body. What rights will the SCOTUS take away from men? Oh right, nothing. If they care so much about babies, why is our healthcare system so messed up? Why do they vote nay when infants need formula? If babies matter so much to SCOTUS, the GOP, right-wing conservatives, why are they dying at the hands of their blood money from the NRA? These people don’t care about women and the children after they’re born. It’s about control over our bodies and indoctrinating us into their beliefs.
Katrina McAlpine, New Castle