WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER Are 2 Billionaires Best Choice For U.S.? By LARRY BENNETT • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com I am undecided. After a year of run up to the Democratic primaries it seems safe to say party voters still don’t know who they want. The only thing they agree on is they want the candidate most likely to defeat Trump. Yet the entire party is tied up in a Gordian knot of confusion about who that candidate should be.…
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COLUMN WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER Acquittal Emboldens Trump, For Now No, Chicken Little, the sky is not falling. Donald J. Trump has dodged the impeachment bullet just as he dodged the Mueller Report. He may feel emboldened to continue to ask others to dig up on his opponents; to continue to look the other way as Russian trolls do dirty work for him; to continue to require Republican politicians to swear fealty and kiss his pinkie ring. He will…
WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER Sanctuaries For People, Not Guns A sanctuary, according to Merriam Webster, is “A consecrated place such as: “A: The ancient Hebrew temple at Jerusalem or its holy of holies. “B: The most sacred part of a religious building, such as the part of a Christian church in which the altar is placed. “C: A place of refuge and protection. “D: A refuge for wildlife where predators are controlled and hunting is illegal.” In 2018, California…
WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER President Loudest Climate Denier The definition of ignorance is “a lack of knowledge, education, or awareness.” Climate change deniers can’t hide behind a lack of knowledge, so they claim the knowledge is false and the facts are fake. They could also claim the earth is flat, yet a satellite would still persist in orbiting it. Facts seem to work that way. The most important issue humanity faces is already changing the futures of all living…
WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER The Only Constant Is Change By LARRY BENNETT • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com Once we are born, every moment of every day brings change. We are born biologically complete, yet with little else to our beings. We can’t speak, walk, or talk. As a baby, then in our youth, in our teens, maybe even through our twenties, we live through endless and often tumultuous changes. Every day offers fresh knowledge and new experiences. Our parents first…
We’re All In This Together On Arms, Will Enough Ever Be Enough? The 2020 proposed U.S. military budget is $737 billion. When is enough, enough? This is 37 percent of the $1.7 trillion military spending for all the world. It is more than the next 13 nations combined (numbers in billions): China ($224), Saudi Arabia ($70), India ($55), Germany ($49), UK ($49), Japan ($47), Russia ($44), France ($40), South Korea ($38), Brazil ($29), Italy ($29), Australia ($26) and Canada ($21).…
COLUMN WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER Disunity Is As American As Cherry Vs. Apple Pie By LARRY BENNETT • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com The press says we live in an era of unprecedented political division. The amplification of every tweet may make it seem so, but there is a different view of the severity of our polarization. The American Revolution saw Loyalists interested in compromises to prevent war, but colonists seeking independence who were not. Anyone trying to effect compromise or…
We’re All In This Together Spend Money To Fight Internal Threat: Bad Health Government exists to protect a self-defined group – a tribe – from outside existential threats. Long ago the threat was other tribes. Today it includes fire, crime, disease, drunken drivers, natural disasters and more. But government’s first reason is to protect us from them – to ensure that which our tribe holds dear is successfully defended. Be that property, principles or our basic human right to exist.…
WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER In Land Of Plenty, Many Are Needy By LARRY BENNETT • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com This column is titled, “We are all in this together,” but it doesn’t always appear to be so. The U.S. economy is the world’s largest – our GDP will exceed $21 trillion in 2019. Our GDP represents 20 percent of total global output, is larger than China’s GDP, and is projected to grow 2.5 percent in 2019. Our GDP per person…
Anti-Fracking Pioneer Retires At Ommegang Over 15 Years Larry Bennett Also Led ‘Thrones’ Campaign By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – Larry Bennett called his career at Brewery Ommegang, which included helping launch Otsego County’s anti-fracking movement, “serendipity.” “When my wife and I moved up here in 2001 from Raleigh, N.C., I was working at the West Kortright Center to try and meet people,” he said. “I got talking with someone and told them I’d worked in advertising…