Fall is a lovely time to spend in the mountains. I trekked across Pennsylvania this week, and came back with a couple pictures.
JK returned with a bit more from his trip to the Berkshires, and although I doubt he had time to take photos of the fall color, photographer Ben Garver snapped some good ones of the Senator.
Sen. Kerry spent yesterday in Western Mass., and the Berkshire Eagle followed him across the region. In the Eagle's editorial meeting, the Senator discussed the AG nominee, the '04 and '08 elections and Iraq. Here's a short clip of the meeting...
but there's a lot of good stuff in the video of the full interview on the Berkshire Eagle website.
Sen. Kerry stopped by Silvio O. Conte Middle School for a computer lesson from 13 year old Stephanie Sacco and discussed the school's innovative laptop program and associated funding difficulties with school administrators. We'll have to get Stephanie to give us the latest on the Senator's typing skills to see if 'blogger' Kerry has advanced from his two finger 'pretty fast' typing method.
The Senator also met with the Berkshire Compact for Higher Education, whose focus is also on innovation and technology in education. There are several photos of the Senator's visit at the link.
The Compact focuses upon what this community must do educationally to transition successfully to this new century, to this new economy. We are convinced that our success is rooted in a strong educational continuum that encourages and rewards innovation, raises aspirations, ensures access, values lifelong learning, and takes advantage of the power of technology.
JK spent part of his day at a vets center, and the Eagle was there to cover his visit with our veterans who are struggling to receive adequate attention from our government.
Kerry, veterans blast current state of careAbout 50 veterans — most of them formerly homeless, many of them recovering addicts — sat on folding chairs in a common room of the United Veterans of America facility on West Husatonic
Street, waiting for a chance to tell U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry what they need and are not getting
from their government.
..."Supporting the troops is not just supporting them when they are in another country and they
are in harm's way. Supporting the troops means keeping faith with people who wore the uniform
when they come home," Kerry said. "That means we have got to make these lessons we have learned mean something. But it is as if these folks didn't learn any of these lessons right now."
...The veterans' stories were different and the same. Some had served during supposed peace time in hot spots such as Somalia and Beirut. Although they came home suffering from conditions such as posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, they were met by a stubborn VA bureaucracy that refused to recognize their service or their symptoms, they said.
...
"I've got PTSD from trying to fight my PTSD," one veteran told Kerry.
...
"The way you show support for the troops is not just with a nice speech while you are over there, but you make sure you follow through on the promises made to them when they come back," [JK] said.
KV thanks the Berkshire Eagle and others for the excellent coverage of the Senator's day in Western MA.
UPDATE - I found another great piece on the Senator's trip, this one from iBerkshires.com, that includes a photo of Stephanie and the Senator discussing her math assignment.
Comments (3)
Posted by wisteria | October 27, 2007 1:27 PM
Wonderful recap of Sen. Kerry's visit to the Berkshire's. And that beautiful picture of PA is one for a post card.
Posted by Faith | October 28, 2007 3:57 PM
The Berkshire Eagle followed up with an editorial today, "Our neglected veterans".
It concludes:
...
Veterans would have been respected under a President Kerry, but he was effectively branded as "soft on terror" by a president who served — when he wasn't mysteriously absent — in the National Guard during Vietnam and a vice president who is spoiling for war now but used six deferments when he had a chance to actually fight in one. An America that put those men in the White House owes a lot to the broken men and women returning from Iraq. It can pay them back in part by electing candidates who promise to give our veterans all that is due them, beginning with care for their physical and mental wounds.
The full editorial is at
http://www.berkshireeagle.com/editorials/ci_7306587
Posted by beachmom | October 29, 2007 12:28 AM
Thanks, Faith. The Berkshires are beautiful this time of year -- my Grandma used to live there before she died (well, she was 97, so no worry, she had a long life), so we would always go up there from Conn. to visit. It sounds like the Senator had a great many worthwhile appearances there. Thanks for the roundup.