From writeup in the Times Argus.

“Jim was widely respected for his fair and balanced approach to the challenges Vermonters face,” the speaker [Gaye Symington] said. “His booming voice never left anyone wondering where he stood, either in principle on an issue, or in location in the House. His easy and deep laugh must have made him a ready stand-in if Santa got way-laid on his travels to rural Vermont.

“On behalf of the entire House, I send my deepest regrets to Jim’s wife, Leslie, and their family. I know his colleagues in the House will miss Jim tremendously. Randolph has lost a true leader and voice of common sense and integrity. Vermont is a wiser and kinder place because of his contributions.”

This is a very sad moment for Vermont. Jim was truly a nice guy who always had whatever he believed would be best for his constituents in the forefront of his mind when in the legislature.

He will be sorely missed.

Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican senator and a figure in Alaska politics since before statehood, has been indicted on seven counts of falsely reporting hundreds of thousands of dollars in services he received from a company that helped renovate his home.

. . .

From May 1999 to August 2007, prosecutors said Stevens concealed “his continuing receipt of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of things of value from a private corporation.” The indictment released Tuesday said the items included: home improvements to his vacation him in Alaska, including a new first floor, garage, wraparound deck, plumbing, electrical wiring; as well as car exchanges, a Viking gas grill, furniture and tools.

(Sen. Stevens indicted: 7 false statements counts, RawStory, 07/29/08)

The Democrats may have corruption issues, but the Republican Party IS a corruption issue.

The Environmental Protection Agency advised employees last month not to answer questions from journalists, the Government Accountability Office or the agency’s inspector general, according to an EPA e-mail made public Monday.

“Please do not respond to questions or make any statements,” the June 16 e-mail said, advising staff to direct questioners to senior staff members cleared to answer questions from outside the agency.

Robbi Farrell, chief of staff of the EPA’s compliance assurance division, sent the e-mail to 11 managers in the department.

( EPA e-mail to workers: Don’t answer inspector’s questions, CNN, 07/28/08)

Hush now, little one, don’t talk to the strange man.

And saving the worst for last …

Overall violence in Iraq is declining to almost “normal” levels, General David Petraeus told USA Today in an interview published Tuesday, following a string of attacks the day before.

The commander of US forces in Iraq warned however that the trend could be reversed by “sensational attacks” like those Monday in Baghdad and Kirkuk that killed some 56 Iraqis.

“If you could reduce these sensational attacks further, I think you are almost approaching a level of normal or latent violence,” he told the newspaper in a phone interview from Baghdad.

“The fact that the levels of violence have come down so significantly and stayed down now for some two-and-a-half months … indicates there is a degree of durability,” Petraeus said.

Daily attacks have averaged 25 to 30 over the past two months, compared with 160 to 170 a little more than a year ago, Petraeus told the paper.

(Violence in Iraq nearing ‘normal’ levels: Petraeus, RawStory, 07/29/08)

I would really really really hate to see what abnormal looks like to Petraeus.

Yesterday’s Brattleboro Reformer has a Gaye Symington Editorial on the Public Oversight Panel and how it’s been shut out of the process by the Douglas administration.  Emphasis mine:

Earlier this year, the Legislature created a special group of nuclear power experts to be the “eyes and ears” of Vermonters in determining whether the power plant is reliable enough to keep operating past 2012.. The… Panel is charged with examining all available information on the operation of the plant to make its determination.

Gov. Douglas recently stated that he doesn’t think a public oversight panel is really necessary. And his actions show it. The… administration has repeatedly done all it can to keep the Public Oversight Panel in the dark.

Earlier this month, one of the panel members requested that the department allow him to accompany the NRC during a recent inspection of Vermont Yankee. The department falsely claimed to panel members that the NRC had denied this request. However, the NRC has since made it clear that the department never made this request of them.

To make matters worse, the department is denying any panel member the opportunity to join inspections for the remainder of the inspection process. On July 21, Senate President Peter Shumlin and I sent a letter to DPS Commissioner David O’Brien urging him to reconsider and allow Panel members to accompany the NRC in future inspections. We have received no response to this letter.

Blocking oversight?  Preventing government appointees from doing their jobs?  Stonewalling attempts to gain information?

Jim’s learned well from his D.C. overlords.

Back page of section ‘B’ in today’s (07/29/08) Barre/Montpelier Times Argus carries a full page ad from our buddies at Entergy/Vermont Yankee. The ad begins with the words “Vemonter to Vermonter” in huge bold print.

So I decided to look around at just how “Vermonter” Entergy is. Cut to the chase … it ain’t.

Let’s start with Entergy Nuclear, and in particular their website’s legal info page:

This Web site and the Agreement are governed by the laws of the State of Arkansas, excluding its conflicts of laws principles, and, where and to the extent applicable, by federal law.

Okay, no mention of Vermont there. For that matter there is no mention of an “Entergy Nuclear”! It turns out it’s really about Entergy Corporation which is only “a holding company for individual public utility companies, among other affiliates.”

So now back to the Entergy Nuclear (pronounced NEW KLEE ER by the way) home page, mouse over “Plant Information”, and click on “Vermont Yankee”.

At this point we find the purported owner’s name: Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, LLC, a “foreign” (ie out of state) corporation. Well, at least that name is registered with an instate corporate address with Vermont’s Sec of State (link here) … but wait …

ENVY, LLC is a managed corporation. Some company named “CT CORPORATION SYSTEM” is handling the corporate business in Vermont.

No problem, I’m sure an instate corporate management business will be a good thing to have, and after all there is nothing illegitimate about hiring a pro to run one’s business affairs. But there is a problem … there is no “CT CORPORATION SYSTEM” registered as a trademark or corporation with the SoC’s office.

Somewhere in Entergy’s Vermont holdings or affiliations there has to be a Vermont connection. Here’s the list as I could find it on the SoC’s website:

• ENTERGY NUCLEAR OPERATIONS, INC. (active & foreign) 1340 Echelon Pkwy, Jackson MS 39213
• ENTERGY NUCLEAR VERMONT INVESTMENT COMPANY (inactive & foreign) 1340 Echelon Pkwy, Jackson MS 39213
• ENTERGY NUCLEAR VERMONT INVESTMENT COMPANY, LLC (active & foreign) 1340 Echelon Pkwy, Jackson MS 39213
• ENTERGY NUCLEAR VERMONT YANKEE, LLC (active & foreign) 320 Governor Hunt Rd, Vernon, VT 05302
• ENTERGY OPERATIONS SERVICES, INC. (inactive & foreign) 120 MALLARD ST, STE 300, Saint Rose, LA 70087
• ENTERGY SERVICES, INC (active & foreign) 639 Loyola Ave, New Orleans LA 70113

There is another common thread other than the name “Entergy”. These  all have a common agent: CT CORPORATION SYSTEM, 400 Cornerstone DR ST240, Williston VT 05495 … nothing registered with SoC under that name.

Follow the internet bread crumbs and one finds CT Corporation System is a part of CT Corporation (link here). Maybe this CT is at least close to Vermont?

CT, a Wolters Kluwer business, provides intelligent software and service solutions that empower legal professionals to more effectively manage dynamic information, speed workflows and make critical decisions. Its parent company, Wolters Kluwer, is a leading multinational publisher and information services company based in Amsterdam with operations across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. CT is part of Wolters Kluwer Corporate Legal Services.

(source)

Damnit … nothing Vermonter there for sure.

No, “Vermonter to Vermonter” falls under the heading of a lie plain and simple. But we shouldn’t be surprised by lies from Entergy any more.

That's right, when Douglas rolled out his plan to address the heating fuel crisis facing low-income Vermonters this year, one of their ideas was to hold canning workshops.

They've got to be kidding, right? And for the next flood season, we're going to hold kayak building clinics?

Boy Wonder Neale Lunderville made one unquestionably accurate statement in the press conference yesterday:  “This is just a nibble,” incoming Secretary of Administration Neale Lunderville said.

He also reassures us that each of these little nibbles together will add up to an effective solution to the problem, but I see no reason to believe that.

The Douglas administration has a record. For years they've opposed Efficiency Vermont, opposed the expansion of Efficiency Vermont's efforts to whole-house energy savings, and opposed innovative approaches to energy costs. They were caught sleeping on the job when their first energy plan was due, and when they did submit it to the Legislature they were basically told to take it back across the street and do the job right. And, as we've seen recently, they're opposing efforts to hold Vermont Yankee accountable for their obligation to operate safely.

And now that we're facing a real energy crisis they come up empty, except for the kind of ineffective plans, like telling people to head into the woods to cut their own firewood, that even they admit won't help meet this winter's heating needs.

While Douglas's Republican friends in the Senate are blocking increased LIHEAP funding (McCain didn't show up to vote) Douglas continues to oppose spending Vermont funds to help address this crucial need.

Of course, Douglas is running, as much as anything else, on the idea that the worst thing any government can do is raise taxes, ever. As we've seen, closing the capital gains loophole is only one of a number of creative ideas that would generate tens of millions of dollars in new tax revenues. It's beyond time to pretend that we don't need to do it.