Investigate the President, Stop the War
Investigate the President, Stop the War
by Don Mayer
It will come as no surprise to you that I am opposed to this war in Iraq. I opposed it before we invaded a country that had not attacked us and I oppose it now. On town meeting day here in Vermont this week over 30 towns passed resolutions seeking to impeach President George Bush, while another 16 towns passed resolutions calling upon Washington to withdraw US troops from Iraq.
Today General David Petraeus, the new US Commander in Iraq said that attacks were intensifying and that there was no military solution in Iraq. Meanwhile the troop build-up continues, US soldiers and contractors are being killed daily and many times that many Iraqi civilians, most non-combatants, are being killed or injured. The tragedy in Iraq, the cradle of civilization, continues without end.
In a recent survey, Americans didn’t even come close in their perception of civilian casualties in Iraq. Most were off by an order of magnitude. It has been clearly demonstrated that at least 50,000 and perhaps 150,000 Iraqis have died as a result of this war. Thousands of others have been injured and hundreds of thousands have been forced to leave their homes.
President Bush sold us this war based upon fear of weapons of mass destruction. He claimed the Iraqis would welcome us as liberators and that Iraq would bloom into the desert democracy of his dreams. That dream is a recurring nightmare for our troops and for innocent Iraqis. The President lied about the intelligence leading up to the war and Scooter Libby took the fall this week for covering up the administration’s attempt to out a CIA agent in retaliation for attempting to seek the truth about Iraq.
President Bush should be removed from office for misleading the world about Iraq. He has squandered billions upon billions of dollars in a misguided attempt to ram a square peg into a round hole. He has weakened our military, he has weakened our economy, he has weakened our stature in the world. It is time to stop the bleeding and find new leadership to begin the long road to making our country stand for truth, democracy and compassion once again. I believe that the President’s actions do rise to level of incompetence and mis-information that merit his dismissal. He’s a quarterback that simply has fumbled too many times.
More importantly it is time to end this foolish war in Iraq. It is time to bring the troops home, or as the late Senator Aiken from Vermont said during the Vietnam war – it is time “to declare victory and leave”. Our national interests are not served by a continued armed conflict in Iraq, on the contrary, they are harmed in a significant manner. The US should begin the withdrawal process immediately and should begin the diplomatic process in earnest. We should be talking to everyone that might be able to help mitigate the impact of our withdrawal and assist in stabilizing Iraq when we are gone. It is time to get our hand out of the hornet’s nest of Iraq.
It also means, as I mentioned on my personal site that it’ll also be impossible to get a SIM to use in an unlocked iPhone (even if that ever happens) because Verizon Wireless’s CDMA phones don’t use SIMs. So we really are stuck waiting for AT&T to build new towers or to allow people to always roam on Verizon’s towers.
Now, I currently have a Verizon phone and it sure would be nice to use it here in Waitsfield, but I don’t think it’s worth sacrificing cellphone carrier options in Vermont.
or perhaps Verizon will sell the GSM portion of it’s network to ATT or T-Mobile as that might be cheaper than ripping down the GSM transceivers… never saw this one coming. Also a huge problem here in NH as ATT has roaming agreements to use Unicel’s GSM network. If Verizon turns it off, GSM coverage in New England in general is about to get much much worse.
Just to point out we do have Sprint…
yeah we do have sprint but thay have the worst coverage out of all three
What about the fact the Verizon sucks (please excuse infantile language)?!! The lack of competition makes them lazy and greedy when it comes to customer service. EVERY month there is some overcharge on my bill and it takes up to four billing cycles for a credit to be issues, IF it is ever issued! This seems like a corporate policy designed to dupe customers who are less than vigilant about their bills. When I lived in Miami, Bellsouth did the same thing, but at least they would issue credits immediately. I hate verizon and I want AT&T. What do we do??
This is really unfortunate. I recently hacked my Iphone to use a SIM from my Unicel phone. Now the Iphone thinks and acts as if it was a Unicel phone. If Verizon & Sprint are the only choices available, I guess its going back to cayying rolls of quarters for the occasional pay phone. Verizon is an unresponsive company, and I have been able to eliminate them at home thanks to Vonage.
If the deal goes through Verizon has said they will keep GSM active and receive the revenues from roaming agreements
I wish AT&T would step up but I don’t think they care about little ol’ vt. What happened to the small dog guy who got a PO box and is trying to use AT&T that way? Did that ever pan out? If anyone has found a way to have an iPhone in VT I would like to hear about it.
AT&T can’t setup. RCC owns the FCC license and if/when Verizon transaction goes through it will belong to Verizon. Verizon at that point will have the option to sell off the frequency or keep it for roaming fees.
well heres the latest news from the verizon deal: verizon has sold some of its purchases to at&t, at least in plattsburgh i guess, so that the gsm network will still be up. i dont think vt is getting at&t though….
I really think it is good for Verizon to buy unicel, they offer a lot better phones, and where i live, in Groton, where there is not towers i get service. They are using the money they get from the FPNE deal to buy Unicel. We have 90 days to put in our input. Everyone is urged to go to FCC.gov and say something about it!!
I grew up literally next door to Bert and Coral Clifford. Bert was the founder of Unicell they were the nicest peolple and gave so much to the community. Its weird to see the company grow like it has over the past 20 years and become a multi billion dollar company. If Bert was still alive today he wouldnt of sold the company.
Word has it that verizon is going to be sold to AT&T, so if you now have unicel, you could have AT&T sooner than we thought, via verizon….which brings us that much closer to the iPhone!
oh k? so if verizon is going to be a monopoly there when they take over.. whats unicel now?? they would be a monopoly.. WOULDNT they? its not like verizon is going to change there rate plans and prices of phones just for the people in vermont.. this is just retarded.
My interest in AT&T coming to Vermont is two fold. First and foremost, I am a mac and iphone fan and would love to have an iphone. Second, seeing only one cell phone provider in VT and only one technology (CDMA only versus CDMA and GSM) would not be good for Vermonters.
The sale has not gone through yet and it seems to have several obstacles. If it does go through at a minimum it will actually be a multiplayer/multitrade deal (analogous to player trades in sports) with Verizon and AT&T splitting up Unicell’s coverage in VT.
Unicell owns business/coverage in many other states besides VT, and Verizon is interested in the whole package, not just VT. Due to FCC regulations Verizon will sell off Unicel’s “overlapping territory” in Vermont to AT&T. This means the greater Burlington, Rutland and Montpelier areas will get AT&T. Southern VT Unicel customers will not see AT&T but instead will get Verizon because this region is not an “overlapping territory.” Although, this is a start in the right direction for many reasons there is legitimate concern about loosing GSM service in southern VT. On top of this VT regulators want a real commitment from AT&T and Verizon to expand coverage throughout the entire state. This is important but I hope it doesn’t stop the sale. Furthermore, VT, as a whole, has to make it easier for these companies to expand (i.e. ease regulations and issues to raising towers, etc..)
If the sale goes through as planed in mid 2008 it may bring the iphone to Vermont by the end of 2008, but before the Edge and/or 3G portions (3G iphone to be released in several months) of the iphone can be used AT&T has to perform significant upgrades to the current towers/networks, etc. Obviously Edge & 3G are key to some of the iphones more desirable capabilities. So it may be a while before VT sees an iphone that works as well as say Boston or New York areas.
I have sprint service and i can get out in alot of places in franklin county vt i can get out in east sheldon and alot of sheldon and just about any were all you need to do is get a signal stop driving make the call then drive away when your done but people cant do that they need to drive and talk
I’d like to thank CMM. Not only have you posted the most accurate response here, but one of the only that makes proper use of our language, lol. He(?) is correct. Due to pressure from VPIRG and the good Bernie, as well as general consumer concern, most RCC consumers in VT would be free agents after the aquisition. That would leave you the choice between signing a regular contract w/ V on a cdma network, or signing a (usually sweetened) contract w/ ATT on the existing gsm. You see, the average cell consumer generates $50-55/mo in revenue. When a large corp devours a smaller cell provider, most times they’re willing to provide a sweeter than normal deal to assimilate that company’s consumers. Often times this also includes waiving the normal credit checks and deposits for customers of the existing provider. That’s a bonus since ATT has higher deposits for bad and no credit customers, so a return of deposit from RCC wouldn’t necessarily cover an ATT deposit. They will sometimes also offer to “grandfather” your contract terms. Not exactly an accurate word since grandfathering is keeping terms after a deal renovation, whereas this will be a fresh contract, but same general principal, and that could greatly benefit current RCC consumers, as ATT’s rates and plans for basic service aren’t as low to middle income-friendly.
So, ATT gets the majority of VT from V for assets in the midwest that ATT got in the Dobson communications aquisition, fair trade, no monopoly in either region, everyone wins.
what does vermont have that steve jobs would want?
The way I see it, Vermonters and visitors will receive AT&T, T-Mobile etc coverage in Burlington, Rutland and Montpelier PERIOD. So, if one travels anywhere else in Vermont, or if one has an emergency anywhere else in Vermontand has a GSM phone, one will have no service. That is, of course, unless AT&T wants to put up $ millions and lots of people time putting up towers, stringing wires, etc.
IF you say Verizon should just let AT&T use their towers—unless forced to, Verizon don’t have to, it is the nature of free enterprise. Cellular service is not a necessity. Does this happen elsewhere? Sure, compare the national coverage maps of AT&T and Verizon look at the coverage of each in the states west and north west of Kansas. There is a big difference between the coverage of the two carriers.
Sprint/ Nextel are horrible companies.
The deal passed FCC muster on Friday, only a matter of weeks now. I myself couldn’t hold off and purchased an unlocked iphone. I popped in a Unicel sim and upgraded it to 2.0. The iphone really is worth all the trouble.
Everyone THINKS at&t has great coverage, they dont at all! the iPhone isnt great at all, and AT&T is comming to VT, BUT i HIGHLY doubt they will put up 3G, if they do, it will SUCK! A LOT of ppl HATE AT&T. Now Verizon is buying Alltel Wireless which has the most towers of ANY network in the US so now Verizo will have 83 million ppl and the most towers of any network. ive been all over the US and Verizo has the best service. the reason they may not have it all over VT is because it takes soo long to get towers up and have teh ground tested. There are ALOT of new things comming to Verizon, like they will be the first network to have a 4G (LET) network. THEY HAVE DUAL GSM/CDMA phones so u can use them overseas. VERIZON DOES HAVE SIM CARDS when u go overseas. u might be able u hack a GSM/CDMA cell and use on in the US. Verizon has a lot of things yall dont no about. the y have teh larges EVDO (3G) Network. Fastest speeds. they have most of the coolest cells out there. they were the first to have a 3G service AND A Live TV Network.
TRUST ME! Yall WILL Hate AT&T.U wont no if ur Roaming, and if u r, they CAN and WILL cut your cells off for excessive PARTNER USAGE AKA ROAMING!
THEY DID IT TO ME in Montana (sp?)
I live in Vermont and I’m with Unicel. First of all, Tyler, they did come out with the iphone 3G and it’s the best yet. Next, I think I speak for a lot of Vermonters when I say that I’m sorry but I don’t just want ONE option of cell phone service! And I WANT AN IPHONE!!!! It sucks that it’s come down to this.
I recently purchased an iPhone 3G (and moved my service to AT&T from Verizon). So far, I do not notice any difference in VT coverage areas. Hopefully, AT&T will officially be here soon, before they kick me off for excessive partner use (6-15 months from now). The iPhone is just a great as I expected it to be.
ok, Emily, like I said, i dont no IF at&t will put 3G in VT. IF you have a iPhone 3G,and you use it in VT you will be Roaming off Unicels EDGE OR GPRS Tower. You will not get 3G service. AND AT&T is picky about there 3G coverage. thats why I said it SUCKS. I worked for Cingular then for AT&T, i quit because they cut my phone off for Roaming when I work for them. And they do not have the best coverage, they dont have proff. They say best World coverage, well T-Mobile is GSM and Verizon has CDMA phones with GSM service for world travle. Verizon even has LOWER Roaming rates when you travel!
LOOK AT IT!
And the iPhone is not great, your not missing out on ANYTHING! if you wanted one so bad, get an unlocked one and use it on Unicels network. and if you dont want that, get a iPod touch.
Any recent (early Nov.) news, as the Verizion buyout of Alltel was FCC-approved asof Nov 04? Any hope of a small segment of FCC-required Verizion “market sale” to ATT to permit iPhone sales in VT?
anyone know about at&t in plattsburgh ny iv talked to people in the unicel store they know nothing about it i like my touch but i want an iphone