Remember George W. Bush’s arrested landing?

This Sunday May 1st it will be eight years since then President George W. Bush made what is called an arrested landing ( aircraft caught,stopped by tailhook and cable ) on the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln. Several hours later the huge carrier was maneuvered into the setting sun for perfect camera lighting so he could be filmed making his speech. Standing below a banner declaring Mission Accomplished Bush declared major combat operations in the Iraqi war were over.
He and his team had started a war and now he declared it was over.
The Nation’s Greg Mitchell has some of the gushing quotes heaped on the boy king by the fawning media. Here’s two that capture the insanity well

Maureen Dowd in her column declared: "Out bounded the cocky, rule-breaking, daredevil flyboy, a man navigating the Highway to the Danger Zone, out along the edges where he was born to be, the further on the edge, the hotter the intensity.

Chris Matthews on MSNBC called Bush a "hero" and boomed, "He won the war. He was an effective commander. Everybody recognizes that, I believe, except a few critics." He added: "Women like a guy who's president. Check it out. The women like this war. I think we like having a hero as our president. It's simple."

Mitchell also writes When Bush's jet landed on the aircraft carrier, American casualties stood at 139 killed and 542 wounded. That was over 4000 U.S. fatalities ago, and hundreds of thousands Iraqis.

Governor Shumlin’s famous high mileage maple syrup and vinegar

In the face of an impending pay-wall I clicked on the last of my twenty free articles in the New York Times to read

Vermont Exercising Option to Balance the Budget

It is hardly more than a quick peak at what is familiar to Vermonters

Technically, Vermont could play fast and loose in this season of fevered budget-chopping: it happens to be the only state with no budget-balancing requirement.
But Vermont, it turns out, is a fiscal goody two-shoes.

A fiscal goody two shoes (fewgadsake ‘take two Norman Rockwells out of petty cash for that reporter’ But can’t the New York Times do better than that if they want people to pay?) However it all burnishes Shumlin’s maple syrup versus vinegar credentials established at his testimony to the Congressional Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The Times references the Public Assets Institute support for a Snelling style solution of temporarily raising income and sales taxes and notes the 50 wealthy Vermonter’s begging to pay higher taxes. Quoting Progressive State Rep.Paul Poirier (where was Anthony Pollina ?).

“In the last three years, our little state of Vermont has cut over $300 million in direct services to people,” Mr. Poirier said. “Why not ask people who have done well during this recession to step up and pay a little more?”

I don’t agree with it but it’s understandable that the last thing in the world Peter Shumlin wants in the current political environment is to go into his reelection having raised taxes. He is smart and can turn on a dime when the need arises but right now, no way will he hand the Republicans and issue to bang him over head with. Got to admit to liking Shumlin and being very pleased he’s governor, but it rankles and he may just as well run his fingernails over a chalk board as say stuff like this

“But we’re already asking a lot of our wealthy residents.”

Former Vermont governor Jim Douglas coughed up this stuff everyday for eight years, too bad we are still hearing it from a Democrat.

Nuclear plant hit by US twisters

Ah, The Sun UK has a way with headlines .This got very little attention in the US amidst last weekend’s tornado tragedies and mayhem. It’s a tender time in the nuclear industry for any headline about two nuclear plant units getting knocked out by a storm and relying on back-up diesel generators for six hours. Nothing approaching The Sun’s grabber appeared here in the US and for that matter it was mostly below radar except for local outlets .

Coincidentally in early April the NRC held a public meeting to address local safety concerns about the Surry and nearby North Anna plants .The Virginia Pilot reported that in the post Fukashima environment 42 people showed up at the yearly meeting that normally draws two or three. “The good news is that neither North Anna nor Surry are likely to experience either an earthquake or a tsunami”. said Gerald McCoy of the NRC
Tornadoes weren’t mentioned so maybe they just dodged a bullet.

Two unit’s of Virginia Dominion Power’s 39 year old Surry nuclear power station(the plant recently had its license extended through 2012.) were knocked out of service this past Saturday by tornado storm fronts that caused considerable damage to the switchyard and a low level radioactive material release . This was reportedly below federally approved limits and posed no threat to station workers or the public according to the NRC.

Nuclear regulators said the plant's diesel generators and safety systems operated as required. Plant operators partially restored off-site power to both reactors within six hours of the storm, the Dominion spokesman said

Units 1 and 2 were operating at 100 and 98 percent power
respectively by early Friday, according to the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission.
Unit 2's refueling work has begun and is expected to last
about a month, according to Reuters data.
It last shut for refueling from about Nov. 1 to Dec. 1,
2009, and is on an 18-month cycle.

The Surry Unit #2 holds a sad place in commercial nuclear history - On December 9, 1986, a steam explosion in the non-nuclear part of Unit 2 killed 4 workers. This was the worst accident in terms of human cost of any in the US commercial nuclear industry.

Running under Shumlin’s nose?

Vermonter’s probably wouldn’t fault a politician for keeping the next campaign never far from his or her mind. And certainly not many would fault an office holder for wanting to keep their face in the spotlight and their ear to the ground about the public mood.
Therefore I am left wondering if Vermont Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott hasn’t started a highly visible yet stealthy campaign for higher office right under Governor Shumlin’s nose.

It’s hard to miss the genius of what Republican Lt. Governor Phil Scott with a passing resemblance to the Discovery Channels’ “Dirty jobs” host Mike Rowe hit upon with his “Vermont Everyday Jobs” Initiative. It is as if the last gubernatorial election’s contrived and awkward listening tours by former Lt.Gov.Brian Dubie had evolved legs or even wings to emerge as a higher campaign life form from the primordial ooze of earlier elections.

Scott may have crafted the perfect permanent campaign, Vermont style right under the governor’s nose. “Vermont Everyday Jobs” with a heavy emphasis on listening to business needs is designed to:

promote Vermont businesses and highlight the hard work that Vermonters do every day in all areas of our economy. By finding out firsthand, and in a hands-on manner, what it takes to make Vermont businesses work, the Lt. Governor will gain a better understanding of what state government can do to help those businesses work better. The tour will also help to facilitate relationships and ongoing dialogue between Vermont business leaders and their representatives in state government.

I would like to think Scott cooked it up while driving around and around in his stock car at Thunder Road International race track. Around and around he goes on the campaign trail.
Phil Scott has so far spent his days being an emergency department worker at a hospital, on an electric utility power line crew, changed oil at fast lube franchise, assembled items at a solar panel maker and taught spelling at a K-2 school.
He’s got six everyday business friendly jobs under his belt and more to follow. A steady series of press releases and mostly content free news stories about these “jobs” have appeared at almost regular intervals and Scott has avoided falling from the spotlight as can happen to less creative lieutenant governors.

With no liberal after-taste.

Well that's a surprize.

After all the hand wringing,the resignations and agony over NPR’s government funding turns out Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University and evangelical school get more money from Federal programs than NPR.

Located in Lynchburg, Virginia, Liberty’s motto is “Training champions for Christ.”

Last year, Liberty students received approximately $445 million in federal financial aid. NPR’s parent, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, got $420 million.

House Republicans have sworn to cut NPR out of the federal budget altogether, arguing that taxpayers shouldn’t be financing a news outlet with slanted coverage.

52,000 of the university’s 64,000 students are enrolled in online courses at Liberty University whose motto is “Training champions for Christ.”

The jump in attendance caused the school’s financial aid allotment to leap from $284 million in 2008-2009 to $445 million in 2009-2010.

Boehner cries,Spring Crazy bus sighted

It is a little early and there is still plenty of snow on the ground but time to roll out the Sneigwh Crazy Bus for the first time this spring.
Two Boehner related items of interest here as we charge into what may be a government shutdown. Has it really been over ten years since then Speaker Newt Gingrich shut down the government? Newt never cried though.

Boehner sheds tears

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) thanked House Republicans for standing by him and supporting him through tense negotiations with the White House. The Republican conference responded with a standing ovation which prompted Boehner to cry.

"Yes. He cried, but only briefly”

And this,which if the government is shutdown could determine who wins.
Whatever winning may mean.

Boehner falling out of favor

It hasn't taken John Boehner long to fall out of favor with the American public. His national approval rating has dropped a net 18 points already since the beginning of January. At the outset of the year 35% of voters approved of the job he was doing to 28% who disapproved and 37% who were reserving judgment. Now his approval has declined 10 points to 25% and his disapproval has risen 8 points to 36%.

[…]What might be most remarkable about Boehner's numbers is that Nancy Pelosi now has a higher approval rating than him- 30% to his 25%.

April 1st.Vermont Tigger makes it's debut

Vermont Tigger will give you pause for thought

Captive cell insurance in Vermont

Captive’s cell in Vermont
How about a snapshot-sized look at the state’s obscure captive insurance industry? Briefly, a captive insurance business is an insurance risk business controlled by a parent company. Worldwide Vermont places first with $135.4 billion assets under management and has the third largest number of licensed captive insurance entities. The traditional corporate tax havens of Bermuda and the Cayman Island are first and second. In Vermont it’s big, operates largely below the day to day radar, and changes are afoot.

Frequent regulatory tweaking of often little-noticed rules is the standard procedure in this business segment. Revisions are so common that the director of the financial services in the Vermont Department of Economic Development recently said “I think our enhancements to our captive law are an annual tradition,”

Contrasting starkly with what might be expected from regulators, especially after recent insurance and banking horrors, are accommodating remarks explaining how easily these changes happen. 2 Speaking of recent changes undertaken David Provost, Vermont's deputy commissioner of captive insurance said “Basically this was something that the industry requested. They[the industry] wanted to see the option to have incorporated protected cells.”

And they must want tax credits too! New laws will make permanent a first year premium tax credit of $7,500.00 per entity which had been temporarily in place for 18 months
Captive insurance corporations are financial risk management insurance companies which insure investments of parent companies. Captive cells and individual cells are separate enterprises but through various forms of entanglement remain connected with their captive or sponsor partners. Changes to the regulations governing captive insurance cells are in the works; tucked into bill H.468. Current restrictions on cell businesses will be eliminated and replaced by enhanced discretionary power to be wielded by the commissioner .

This change will eliminate the current restrictions on cell business. Business written by a sponsored captive will no longer be required to have it be fronted, reinsured or secured by a trust. This requirement will now be at the discretion of the commissioner.

While Vermont modifies certain regulations, captive insurers may soon take advantage of an interesting quirk in the Federal Home Loan Bank Act of 1932.

Federal Home Loan Bank Act allows companies to use their captive insurers as portals to cheap bank credit. A budding concept is for captive owners, nonbank companies included, to use their captive insurers as portals to cheap bank credit under a federal banking law enacted decades before the first captive appeared.
While captive experts do not foresee the arrangement transforming captives into profit centers, some say it could enhance a facility's liquidity and claims-paying ability or assist its parent company in accessing tough-to-find credit or lowering borrowing costs

Vermont’s deputy commissioner Provost is reported to be cool on this concept and suggests the federal housing agency was misinformed about the nature of captives. Provost and a regulator from Delaware’s captive insurance commission think federal home loan bank would quickly reject a captive or any applicant that fails the asset test. ---
Provost mentions the need for “a lot more information” before he would support it but appears to door accomdatingly ajar for Vermont’s 900 captives.3 He said parent companies could find better ways to line up credit but that he would consider allowing it if he was shown that the parent faced problems obtaining credit.

" Themis" Racketeers ?

Sodexo food service giant has filed suit under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) against the Service Employees International Union(SEIU) The SEIU is accused by Sodexo, in US district court Virginia of a “strong-arm” scheme in it’s effort to unionize 80,000 non-union employees. The SEIU says the suit is a bogus attempt to draw attention away from Sodexo’s anti-union activity. It is not about which union represents Sodexo workers, but about whether Sodexo workers can bargain collectively at all,”
Sodexo’s RICO complaint claims “This case is not about traditional union organizing. It is about a group of powerful labor organizations that have abandoned the traditional legal framework for organizing employees into unions, in favor of old-fashioned, strong-arm tactics to get what they want,”

Speaking of strong-arm rackets the old established law firm handling the suit for Sodexo is Hunton & Williams (since 1901!)has been up to some other interesting projects lately. They have found themselves under intense scrutiny since their questionable plans for corporate clients were outed by “Anonymous” the online entity. The plan made public was an attempt to profit from channeling funds for corporate clients (Bank of America, US Chamber of Commerce were named) to investigative security companies. The ultimate aim was discrediting anti corporate critics and thus to disarm potential problem makers.

Hunton & Williams stood to be the channel for $2 million in monthly subcontractor payments […]build a lucrative practice around investigating critics such as U.S. Chamber Watch and WikiLeaks, and it worked with three private security companies in a partnership they called “Team Themis,” the e-mails say. Lawyers saw “potential for huge gains” as a result of liberal anger, one security employee wrote in an e-mail.

After being exposed Hunton & Williams claims to have ended it’s involvement in the project.

HBGary Federal, Palantir Technologies and Berico Technologies the firms approached by Hunton & Williams as part of “Team Themis” are now under Congressional scrutiny A dozen congressman including Vermont Congressman Peter Welch signed a letter suggesting investigation.The letter says in part

HBGary Federal emails also revealed that the security contractors along with Hunton & Williams had also “planned a campaign to sabotage and discredit critics of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce,” as well as the trade union federation Change to Win, the Center for American Progress and other organizations

A Proselytizing Priebus

Wisconsin Gov. Walker, despite falling poll numbers and threatened recalls sounds for all the world like a man that believes he won. He is even declaring his anti-collective bargaining legislation “progressive, innovative” and “reform that leads the country” Ohio, Michigan and Indiana are all promoting variations on this anti-labor theme.

Is this a new template for other state Republican legislators?
New RNC Chairman Wisconsinite Reince Priebus backer of the Walker way said “I’m proud of what Scott Walker did in Wisconsin,” […] “I think that he is leading not only the state of Wisconsin, but he is leading this country." Priebus is scheduled to speak with Vermont Republicans touting Walker’s tactics. The Vermont State Employees Association (VSEA) and the Vermont AFL-CIO have called on the Vermont Republican Party to rescind his invitation due to “his anti-worker, anti-middle-class message”

Smoothly paving the way for Priebus’proselytizing is top Vermont Republican former Gov. Jim Douglas who weighed in favorably on Gov. Walker. Significantly as if to say to Vermonters ‘resistance is futile’ he made a point of attacking Wisconsin Dems actions. Douglas said of the democratic legislators' action against budget cuts and for labor "That's irresponsible […] I was pleased to hear leaders of the Vermont Senate from both parties declare that they would never resort to such a childish move."

Its unlikely any of the 14 Wisconsin Democratic state senators rallying in Madison this weekend ever dreamed their legislative process would break down to the point where leaving the session in protest would be a desirable option. It did prove an option they needed and used to their advantage. It is far fetched a similar situation could happen here. Few if any Vermont legislators would dream the legislative process could suffer such a breakdown and it is an unlikely event. But they already disarmed and Jim Douglas and Reince Priebus are sure glad.

Would Vermont legislators ever consider flight?
“No,” Senate President Pro Tempore John Campbell, D-Windsor, said Monday. “I hate to see any legislator walk off the job like that,” he said. “The legislative process is about discourse and about coming up with solutions.”

"It was friggin' awesome and it scared the shit out of everyone"

"Today just 400 Americans have more wealth than half of all Americans combined."


Here are some bits from Michael Moore’s speech at a Madison Wisconsin rally this weekend in support of collective bargain rights and issues of economic fairness.

Let me say that again. 400 obscenely rich people, most of whom benefited in some way from the multi-trillion dollar taxpayer "bailout" of 2008, now have more loot, stock and property than the assets of 155 million Americans combined. If you can't bring yourself to call that a financial coup d'état, then you are simply not being honest about what you know in your heart to be true.

“America is not broke” said Michael Moore.

But how did we get to this point ?

They have created a poison pill that they know you will never want to take. It is their version of mutually assured destruction. And when they threatened to release this weapon of mass economic annihilation in September of 2008, we blinked.

As the economy and the stock market went into a tailspin, and the banks were caught conducting a worldwide Ponzi scheme, Wall Street issued this threat: Either hand over trillions of dollars from the American taxpayers or we will crash this economy straight into the ground. Fork it over or it's Goodbye savings accounts. Goodbye pensions. Goodbye United States Treasury. Goodbye jobs and homes and future.

It was friggin' awesome and it scared the shit out of everyone. "Here! Take our money! We don't care. We'll even print more for you! Just take it! But, please, leave our lives alone, PLEASE!"

The executives in the board rooms and hedge funds could not contain their laughter, their glee, and within three months they were writing each other huge bonus checks and marveling at how perfectly they had played a nation full of suckers.

Mind the gap

According to the New York Times, White House staff members describe a happier workplace since consolidating responsibilities and smoothing lines of communication under new chief of staff, William Daley. This follows the departure of Rahm Emanuel, the “idea-a-minute dynamo”, whom they say engineered Obama’s brilliant last minute lame duck session rescue of the soon-to-expire Bush tax cuts. Thanks Rahm.

Focusing on long-term strategic goals and being less personality driven is the new order of the day for the Obama White House. With Mr. Daley taking the lead, there is more outreach to Republicans and business groups. Other changes include eliminating the White House health care office and moving the energy czar’s responsibilities to the Domestic Policy Council. The new strategy includes not weighing in as often on day to day news events but only “…at a moment of his choosing when the public is paying attention, it will be more influential.” as White House communication director said.
Here is what this looks like in practice

…the White House mostly has sought to stay out of the fray in Madison, Wis., and other state capitals where Republican governors are battling public employee unions and Democratic lawmakers over collective bargaining rights. When West Wing officials discovered that the Democratic National Committee had mobilized Mr. Obama’s national network to support the protests, they angrily reined in the staff at the party headquarters.

After last Fall’s Election Day shellacking, an "enthusiasm gap" or "turn-out gap"was blamed for Democratic losses in the house. This gap existed most heavily in swing states that Obama needs for the 2012 election. States like Ohio, Wisconsin, and Indiana are now the frontlines in the Republican attack on organized labor.
This gap may be in the process of correcting itself at the grass roots level as some polls show Republican Governor of Wisconsin Walker with a 57% disapproval rating due to his anti-labor stance.

Obama may not want to take risks with this issue that he may see as jeopardizing his relations with big business or stress his ongoing battle of budget cutting with the Congress. His involvement might also energize the Tea Baggers. He and his team may figure, why go noisily out on a limb for labor if it's not "a moment of his choosing"?
Sadly right now Obama is perceived as sitting out what might be a major pivot point in organized labor’s recent fortunes.No one could argue that as President he isn’t a long careful distance from this campaign pledge

“If American workers are being denied their right to organize and collectively bargain,” Obama said. “When I’m in the White House, I’ll put on a comfortable pair of shoes myself. I’ll walk on that picket line with you as president of the United States of America, because workers deserve to know that somebody is standing in their corner.”

Are Vermont Republicans worried about Tom Salmon?

Only a few days before the March 5th date Vermont State Auditor Tom Salmon set to announce his plan to run against Senator Sanders some Vermont Republicans are fishing for other candidates .
The Times Argus David Delecore reports

According to Barre Mayor Tom Lauzon, officials in the Vermont Republican Party have suggested he consider running for governor or the U.S. Senate next year, and he hasn’t closed the door on either possibility.
“The answer is: ‘Yes, I am considering it,’” he said Monday when asked about the possibility he might run as a Republican alternative to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

Lauzon says he is considering the governor’s race too but makes it clear the senate is his choice. “The Senate race attracts me because people say it can’t be won and I think it can,” he said. After mentioning the obligatory soul searching ritual he set a date of June 1st for his decision.

From the sidelines but also in the mix Salmon might want to note the significance of new VPR commentator former Gov. Jim Douglas’ choice of the national deficit for his debut topic. He addresses the national budget, his association with the Domenici-Rivlin Commission from the Bipartisan Policy Center and speaks of the need for leadership on this issue in the senate. Naturally he reminds us of his leadership here in Vermont on this very issue. Always sentimental Douglas shares his thoughts about first seeing his granddaughter in her crib Welcome to the world, I said; your share of the Federal debt is $50,000.

Time for The Flying Head: an archive edition

Follow the link to a thorough telling of the Fletcher Hanks Story.
Got to love the flying head.

A clean well lighted blog

Our youth are drifting to Twitter!
Blogs says the New York Times are on the wane. Facebook and Twitter reports the NY Times are now the preferred online choice for the younger generation.

The Internet and American Life Project at the Pew Research Center found that from 2006 to 2009, blogging among children ages 12 to 17 fell by half; now 14 percent of children those ages who use the Internet have blogs. Among 18-to-33-year-olds, the project said in a report last year, blogging dropped two percentage points in 2010 from two years earlier

It seems like only yesterday, but it was way back in 2004 that Merriam-Websters declared “blog” the word of the years. So many people began blogging — to share dieting stories, rant about politics and celebrate their love of cats — that Merriam-Webster declared “blog” the word of the year in 2004.The article leaves the impression there is little between cat blogs and the Huffington Post.

Newspapers may be feeling a little gleeful at this waning development because for some newspaper people blogs are the handy target for their own complex reasons of decline. However its just evolution as one expert says of Facebook,Twitter and blogs “Rather than being competitors, they are complementary […]“There is a lot of fragmentation ,but at this point, anyone who is taking blogging seriously — they’re using several mediums to get a large amount of their traffic.”
A distinguished touch of gray around the banner advert. A 2010 study showed an increase of 16%, six points in a two year period with 34 to 45 year olds who use the internet to blog.

Kill bill for the internet

After the events in Egypt a closer look might be taken at proposed US Senate legislation called the internet kill bill. Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Tom Carper (D-DE) have co-sponsored a bill(introduced in 2010) that might give the President the power to disconnect the internet. It is unclear if the President might already have this power under decade’s old legislation passed after Pearl Harbor.

Whether killing the internet is even possible is still debatable. However by reconfiguring network routers and making it difficult for them to reach IP addresses the Egyptian government effectively did to some degree kill their internet. Not quite a kill switch but a kill system that disrupted communications between those organizing and participating in anti-gov protests.

In a statement after the events in Egypt Senators Lieberman, Collins, and Carper released a statement defending the bill saying in part
“they will ensure that any legislation that moves in this Congress contains explicit language prohibiting the President from doing what President Mubarak did.” However Sen. Lieberman’s earlier statements offer little similar reassurance. This is from a 2010 interview where he claims critics are spreading “total misinformation” about the bill while using a less than comforting example to describe the law's function “We need the capacity for the president to say, Internet service provider, we’ve got to disconnect the American Internet from all traffic coming in from another foreign country… Right now, China, the government, can disconnect parts of its Internet in a case of war. We need to have that here, too."

The internet kill bill joins so much other senate legislation good, bad and ugly that is stalled in the Senate. It may also be broken into bite sized pieces and added to spending bills. Many of the barriers are turf battles about which groups (DHS or military?) should have authority over civilian cyber security rather than issues of personal freedom and rights. US, county and local government IT officials express caution about problems an internet shutdown might cause. Law enforcement relies heavily information flowing from the internet and would have to rely on radio during a shutdown. Also some municipalities have emergency management on twitter feeds.

Dick and “The usual spirited exercise,”

Former Vice President Dick Cheney got heckled reportedly by Ron Paul supporters at the Conservative Political Action Committee’s(CPAC) convention this Thursday. Worthy of anything available to date from The Onion Cheney was called among other things "a war criminal and a draft dodger". This happened while he was presenting a “Defender of the Constitution Award,” to Donald Rumsfeld. TPM has a video

The former VP kept his legendary humor telling the crowd to sit and shut-up and sneering. Then later while being heckled he aggressively growled “The usual spirited exercise,”as the shouts died down.
Mr. Cheney still suffering longtime heart problems looked somewhat healthier than in recent appearances where, poor man, he did indeed look like he had personally visited the dark side.

Entergy’s lines in the sand

The battle front is shifting slightly for Vermont Yankee power plant as it escalates toward a crunch point; a financial decision on refueling. Making it clear that Entergy will not glow quietly into the night Vermont Yankee Entergy CEO J. Wayne Leonard stated this week in an AP report he felt pushed into a corner by the State of Vermont. “…and there's a point where there's a line in the sand and we've got to make a decision whether we're pushed any further or not." Leonard also maintained the NRC had final say on the plant’s future. The re-licensing issue may be headed to the courts and we should hope the Vermont Attorney General can be as aggressive with Entergy in court as he has proved with sugared drinks. In more than a year that VY has been leaking radioactive tritium and leaching it into the Connecticut River no legal action was initiated by Vermont’s AG.

A little help from friends nationally. Just prior to Entergy CEO’s line- in-the-sand statement pressure was being brought to bear in Congress about the NRC’s speed in nuclear plant re-licensing. Representative Fred Upton, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee claims the NRC’s actions show indifference to the economic realities challenging its applicants and is pressuring the NRC to explain their nuclear plant license renewal procedures. Mirroring this,a energy trade publication reports two Republican Senators are raising pointed questions about the NRC’s speed in nuclear plant re-licensing. Senators James Inhofe, from Oklahoma and David “diaper me” Vitter, of Louisiana(home of Entergy VY’s owner) have written to NRC chairman Gregory Jazcko.
The Senators claim that "the commission has incentivized opponents to intervene solely because the NRC will delay the conduct of these adjudications and relicensing processes." Entergy Vermont Yankee and Entergy owned Pilgrim power plants both up for relicening where not mentioned specifically but understood to be the subject of this.

They [Inhofe and Vitter] asked him to explain how it determines whether opposition to a nuclear power plant license renewal application is deemed to be "local" and the agency decides on a"threshold of 'minimal' opposition" to a license renewal

George W’s baggage

Former President George W. Bush has canceled a trip to a charity event in Switzerland where he was to speak about freedom and offer reflections on his presidency. It was unclear if he was to be paid for his speaking and reflecting.

The AP reported a spokesman for next weeks event said “The calls to demonstrate were sliding into dangerous terrain,”
On what would have been his first trip to Europe after leaving office Bush might have had quite a greeting. Mimicking the time in Baghdad 2008 when at a secure news event George Bush was assaulted with a shoe thrown by an Iraqi journalist, protest rally organizers wanted demonstrators to bring a shoes to the event.

It seems a very small price to pay for starting a war and authorizing torture (allegedly says the Washington Post story ).

However there is another bit of potential trouble for our former “decider” President, perhaps more serious than crowds armed with shoes for throwing. Amnesty International and the Center for Constitutional Rights are requesting a criminal investigation by Swiss prosecutors over the former President's admission in his recent memoirs that he personally authorized water boarding torture.

The Center for Constitutional Rights said in a statement that they had planned to bring the complaint under the Convention Against Torture on behalf of two of men, Majid Khan, who remains at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Sami al-Hajj, a former al-Jazeera cameraman who was released in May 2008. The 2,500-page complaint will not be filed in court, but will be released Monday at a media event in Switzerland.

The Swiss maintain Bush would have immunity but the Center for Constitutional Rights says no such immunity exists under the Convention Against Torture and plan to persist. Similar charges were thrown out against former Bush Sec.of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

"Whatever Bush or his hosts say, we have no doubt he canceled his trip to avoid our case," the center's statement said. "The message from civil society is clear: If you're a torturer, be careful in your travel plans. It's a slow process for accountability, but we keep going."

Patois of Salmon

I think he's going to run...
Vermont’s own Auditor Tom Salmon got a little mention outside of Vermont on Politico.com the other day and, what the heck, I may as well share it here with the recent stuff on the likely Salmon run.
Remarking to Politico.com on his impending decision to challenge US Senator Bernie Sanders, Salmon explained that he is 65% in. "Right now, I am 65 percent in. When I hit 75 percent it will commence exploratory."

He continued attempting to clarify his position:
"I am not attached to the 2012 outcome, my odds, or my political career. I don't need to be senator, or governor, or stay put as state auditor — I need to be an authentic self-utilizing power along the lines of excellence. I am deeply concerned that we address risks of economic, political and spiritual significance through a new brand of leaders that communicate effectively from the sincere center."

The 68-word quote from Politico.com was picked up at Slate.com by David Weigel, who carefully lays out the daunting practical challenges Salmon might face, then throws it aside and says:
"But let's ignore all that. Let's focus on Salmon's completely incomprehensible quote. It sounds like a No Labels manifesto translated into Laotian and back into English."
He declares Salmon’s quest The most doomed campaign of 2012.
I might differ only with Weigel’s English-to-Laotian-to-English theory. I think Salmon’s phrase “I need to be an authentic self-utilizing power along the lines of excellence” reads more like self-help-comic-super-hero-patois.
Commence exploratory! Kapow! Go for it!
Is he getting better and better or what?