Forever war? -- Here’s something a lot of people don’t think about. We are a nation at war. Seventeen years. High school kids have never known it any other way. This week, PBS reported the Pentagon says the war in Afghanistan costs taxpayers $45 billion per year. Imagine what we could do with that. And there is no end in sight. Three administrations are on the hook for this one now. This was never the right strategy. Bin Laden was taken out by the CIA and a surgical strike, as it should have been done. You don’t defeat a philosophy with boots on the ground. 
 
Lock him up? -- When Trump Phones Friends, the Chinese and the Russians Listen and Learn. That’s the story from the New York Times, which says despite warnings his cellphone calls are not secure, and despite the urging of aids to use the secure landline, he won’t give up his iPhones. “White House officials say they can only hope he refrains from discussing classified information when he is on them.” This is a guy who has the nerve to complain about unsecured email. Sad! 
 
#NotFakeNews -- The Associate Press reported last week on a blog by television news photographer Lori Bentley-Law, who quit the business after 24 years in part because she was tired of the anger directed at her profession. AP’s point, attacks on the national news media by Administration officials and the president is trickling down into local communities. It’s a subject I’ve written about before at my own papers. Extremists on the left brand us conservative, on the right, liberal, and the buildup of animosity has me concerned about sending reporters out to cover things, or who might decide to walk in the door with the wrong intentions. As we have discussed internally, it is no wonder we have trouble filling open positions. It’s hard enough that community journalism isn’t the most lucrative business, it is no help to have prominent voices calling journalism a failing industry and journalists “enemies of the people.”
 
Hope for the future? -- That said, the Burlington Free Press has a story of of student newspaper censorship, and the Burlington High School editors who won their First Amendment battle. Student journalists at the BHS Register at Burlington High School got word Guidance Director Mario Macias had bee charged with six counts of unprofessional conduct following a year-long investigation By mid-morning the next day, the story had been taken down after pressure from the interim school principal. The editors said they concerned for their supervisor. Support came from the first vice president of the New England First Amendment Coalition and president of the Vermont Press Association, as well as the Student Press Law Center, and by the School Board meeting on Sept. 13, the story was back up. Student journalists were able to use law to fight censorship and prevent the reinstatement of a prior review policy. Well done. Read the full story.
 
So many lost -- It’s beyond the scope of this simple blog post to comment on the weekend shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue, but here’s just one story that stood out: Pittsburgh Shooting Victim Jerry Rabinowitz Treated Gay Men With AIDS Before It Even Had a Name. What a truly wonderful man, who gave of himself at a time when others were afraid to do so, and who made such a difference to so many. And what a terrible, terrible loss.
 
Sit down, John — Apparently, at 91, William Daniels thwarted a robbery at his home. Firstly, awesome! Secondly, the article makes reference to his role on “Boy Meets World,” but nothing else. Not his turn as the voice of KITT. Definitely not his role in 1776. I have a feeling this says something about my age, and perhaps that of the writer…

Well, I’m writing this, so I’m not busy collecting my $1.6B today. That’s OK, I don’t want to be greedy. I’ll settle for the smaller Powerball jackpot. I promise it won’t spoil me. Now, back to your regularly scheduled program.
 
Khashoggi — The brutal killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S. resident, and this country’s tepid response, continues to evolve. The ever shifting story has done little to change the fact that it falls right on the door of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, our ally. Reuters had an exclusive this week on how the operation at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul went down, including how top aide Saud al-Qahtani ran it over Skype. Reuters took the step of running it without bylines, which gives a glimpse at the perceived danger involved in reporting it. I’ll just leave this little nugget from the story about pour allies, the Saudis, right here:
 
“The kingdom has survived other crises in the past year, including the fallout of the crown prince’s short-lived kidnapping of Lebanese prime minister Saad al-Hariri in 2017. Hariri, too, was verbally humiliated and beaten, according to eight Saudi, Arab and Western diplomatic sources. The man leading that interrogation: Saud al-Qahtani.
 
France intervened to free Hariri, but Western capitals did not take Riyadh to task for detaining a head of government - and Prince Mohammed emerged emboldened, according to these Saudi sources.”
 
That’s the prime minister of a sovereign nation.
 
I can’t top Michael Smerconish, who asks, "What the hell does the Saudi royal family hold over American presidents? It's as if we ... give them the Resolute Desk and the Book of Secrets, and in the latter he learns he must assume fealty to the kingdom"
 
What divide? -- Polarization is everywhere. That’s what they tell us, anyway. President Trump, the Freedom Caucus, the progressives, socialists, resistance, what have you. Nobody gets along. Well, leave it to Vermont to teach us a better way. Following a debate, two candidates in a rural district competing for a seat in the state's House of Representatives rearranged the seats in the library the forum was held, picked up their guitar and cello, and broke into song. Republican Zac Mayo? Democrat Lucy Rogers? Thank you for reminding all of us that despite our political differences, we can make beautiful music together.
 
No more -- Tom Silvestri, president and publisher of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, explains why this will be the last election cycle in which the paper makes endorsements. Among other reasons, in this polarized climate (Vermont excepted, of course) there is little upside to the newspaper. It’s a heckuva read, particularly as our own newspapers wrestle with pressure to make endorsements. In a world where readers no longer understand the difference between stories, letters to the editor, editorials and columns, I, too, am wary of taking actions that make my reporter’s jobs more difficult or dangerous.
 
Never let go — After a few delays, Clive Palmer’s Blue Star Line’s Titanic II project is back on.  A two-week maiden voyage is set for 2022, leaving from Dubai to Southampton, then New York to trace the original’s path before moving on to more global endeavors. The $500 million project aims to carry almost exactly the same number of passengers (2,400) and crew (900). The plan is for travelers to experience 1912 life on the ship (with a little less swimming). The Chinese-built ship (sorry, Belfast) will boast all the best modern technology to avoid icebergs — even the rectangular ones — and other hazards.
  
On the food beat — Introducing BK nightmare. No, not the King lying in bed with you holding a “Meatnormous,” I mean the joker of burgers. It’s a quarter-pound of beef under a crispy chicken fillet, bacon, cheese, mayo, and onions on a glazed sesame seed nuclear green bun, a special order that’s guaranteed to upset us. Too much for you? Try “Golden Girls” cereal instead, courtesy of toy company Funko (they make those big-headed pop figure thingies. Just $7.99, at Target stores and online. The actual product is reportedly a multigrain thing, but it’s blue, so there’s something. It’s a limited edition, so don’t wait too long. 
 
Don’t dress your chickens — No, I don’t mean dress the bird before eating it, I mean little top hats and sweaters and things. That’s the word from the CDC, due to a particular strain of drug-resistant salmonella that has infected at least 92 people in 29 states. No deaths have been reported. Apparently, dressing your pet chickens up is a thing. The CDC also says, "Don't kiss your birds or snuggle them and then touch your face or mouth." I feel like that goes without saying.