The Internal Revenue Service has been caught engaging in political profiling while processing applications for tax-exempt status. In this case it was against organizations with “tea-party” or “patriot” in their names and other right-wing groups. Next time it could be libertarian or left-wing antiwar and pro-civil-liberties groups. No dissenter can ever rest assured he is safe from the arbitrary power of the IRS.

The town’s annual budget referendum is next weekend: Saturday, June 1, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Pearson School. Please take the time to vote.

In the meantime, I expect that you will soon become overwhelmed with signs, postcards, emails, television shows and letters to the editor. Some of what you may read and see may be truthful; other stuff may be bunk. I encourage you to do your own research to determine whether you would support the budget or not. Then you can cast your vote accordingly.

Please take a moment to consider a few budget-related issues.

Winsted residents who claim there isn’t enough time for public comment at selectmen’s meetings have certainly spent plenty of time yammering about the issue every first and third Monday of the month at Town Hall.

An open letter to my Republican  friends

I would like to address an open letter to my Republican friends and all other interested parties. I will tell you up-front that I am a Democrat and that in the scheme of all things local, especially on this issue, it doesn’t matter a whit!  

I don’t remember when I realized I was pouring what was left of my heart and soul and scarred body into my garden. I think it was the winter morning I found myself on the fringes of our property, defying the ticks and pulling bittersweet off the wild vibernum it was trying to strangle.

Half a year ago, Colorado and Washington voters approved ballot measures to make marijuana legal in their states. But ending the pot prohibition can’t happen overnight, even after electoral wins like that. Just ask Gil Kerlikowske, the nation’s “drug czar.”

“Neither a state nor the executive branch can nullify a statute passed by Congress,” he declared in a mid-April appearance at the National Press Club. Well, help could be on the way — thanks to a California Republican.

The deadly influenza virus H7N9 (www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/h7n9-virus.htm) was first detected in China this March. “When we look at influenza viruses, this is an unusually dangerous virus for humans,” said Keiji Fukuda, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) assistant director-general for health security.

A new citizens’ committee being organized by friends and associates of Winsted native Ralph Nader has the right idea regarding making improvements to the town, and it is hoped the group’s efforts are successful in getting others interested in improving the state of this municipality.

The Emergency Citizens Committee to Repair Our Town enjoys a rich collection of talented and intelligent individuals ranging from local historians to seasoned engineers who will focus on one specific issue the town has continually failed to address — its decaying and crumbling infrastructure.