( – promoted by Sue Prent)

It’s your right as a Citizen of Vermont – get out to your School Budget and Town Meetings tonight and tomorrow.  It’s your way of keeping track of how your school is doing, what your town is spending money on, and who will be the next members of your School Board, your Select Board, and your Dog Catcher.

It’s your time to see old friends who’ve holed up for the winter.  See whose pipes have burst, who’s on crutches from slipping on the ice, and who pulled that 13 lb pike through the ice in early January. It’s time to hear about the solar farm down the road, and the new snow ditches along straight stretches of the road in an effort to keep drifts from closing the same stretches over and over again.

It’s time to kick the tires on the new town grader, to scoff at the financing terms secured by the Select Board, to hear of the passing of an old friend in the next town over that you missed while on vacation.  If you’re lucky, you’ll have some of the brownies or pie made by the Fortnightly Club, or purchase a few cookies in support of the 8th graders school trip to New York City.

It’s time to get away from the keyboard, shake a few hands, grab a few shoulders, and remember that you’re a Vermonter, and an integral part of what makes this state so special.  So exercise your right – VOTE.

( – promoted by Sue Prent)

“Under a scenario in which Vermont legalized marijuana, taxed aggressively, suppressed its black market, and consumption increased by 25 to 100 percent, tax revenues from sales to Vermont residents could be in the range of $20 million to $75 million annually.”

This is one of the key findings in a newly issued report by the Rand Corporation, who was hired by Vermont (pursuant to Senate bill 247).

In light of the Governor’s call for budget cuts and a payroll tax increase to cover health care cuts to Medicare doctors, it is imperative that the Legislature take up marijuana legalization this term.

With 96.16% of the vote in, it appears that having two Republicans on the ticket has cost the Vermont GOP the governorship.  Dan Feliciano’s 4.37% of the vote total would have given Scott Milne a victory over Peter Shumlin.

In a deeply blue state, Peter Shumlin should look at these results as a strong rebuke to his performance as governor (hint…. VT Health Connect) and personality (hint… the shady land deal with his impoverished neighbor).

Combined with Phil Scott’s resounding defeat of Dean Corren, Democrat’s should be very wary of their hold on power.  If Republicans should ever resolve their fixation with damning immigrants, gay and lesbians, and anyone else who looks to be not white and male, the Democrats could quickly find themselves out of favor.

Yesterday, I asked if the Rifle on the Wall Story was true.  My suspicions were based on slightly different accounts being told by differently named individuals.  I said that I’d take my lumps as being a cynical jerk and issue an apology for questioning the veracity of the story if necessary.  Here is that apology to you, and to you alone.

I first heard the Rifle on the Wall story via radio advertisement.  Her story is compelling and provokes a common sense outrage.  But her account of the attack and her response jumped out at me as very suspicious.  Now I’ll gladly take my lumps for being a cynical jerk if I’m wrong  (probably), but here are the things that set my alarm bells off:

1) She kept a loaded gun on the wall.  Serious violation of gun safety rules (NRA Rule #3).  But since her reason for owning a gun is her personal safety, I’ll accept it that she wanted a loaded weapon to be easily accessible in case of attack.

2) Then when she was attacked, she didn’t shoot her attacker.  She had the presence of mind to grab the phone, call 911, and keep the attacker at bay.  

3) She was very fortunate the attacker didn’t grab the gun that was on the wall and in turn use it on her.

WCAX, in its reporting on the gun control debate (http://www.wcax.com/story/24550288/gun-control-debated-in-burlington), identified the woman as Amy Alexander.   But her story also sounds quite similar to the one told by Amy Lorraine in the comments section of a VT Digger story (http://vtdigger.org/2013/10/28/gun-sense-vermont-sponsors-educational-forum/):

I am not fearful Don, I am prepared. On the night of 11/17/11, a man broke in the back door of my house. I called 911 and put it on speaker phone. Despite knowing he was able to be heard by the 911 operator, he punched me in the face and grabbed/shoved me into the wall – the wall where my .44 was hanging. I grabbed the gun, chambered a round and pointed it at his chest. I walked him out the door. The cops arrived 52 minutes later and said I would have been justified in shooting him. I didn’t have to but he knew I could have and that is what made all the difference in the outcome. That rifle, and the fact that it was loaded, saved my life that night.

.

We have two versions of the event.  In Amy Alexander’s version, the man attacked her, then went into another room.  She then grabbed the loaded gun off the wall, walked him back into the kitchen, called 911, and then waited 52 minutes for the police to arrive.  In Amy Lorraine’s version, she called 911, then was attacked and shoved into the wall where her gun was.  She then chambered a round and held the man at bay until the police arrived 52 minutes later.

Interestingly, Amy Alexander also shows up to comment on the same VT Digger article in which Amy Lorraine shared her story.  So did the attack happen to Amy Alexander?  Or Amy Lorraine?  Or are they the same person?

This story could be authenticated very easily if Amy Alexander/Lorraine provided the location of the attack.  We already know it was November 17, 2011, so if we know the location, then we can ask for the police report or police log.  If authenticated, I’ll gladly apologize for questioning the veracity of Ms. Alexander/Lorraine’s account.

The word comes from Arkansas that the Arkansas State Attorney General is refusing to let districts arm teachers.  The AG’s ruling is based on his interpretation that:

“…the code in my opinion does not authorize either licensing a school district as a guard company or classifying it as a private business authorized to employ its own teachers as armed guards,” McDaniel wrote.

Participants in Clarksville’s program are given a one-time $1,100 stipend to purchase a handgun and holster. Hopkins said the district is paying about $50,000 for ammunition and for training by Nighthawk Custom Training Academy, a private training facility in northwest Arkansas.

As Evangelic Christians and their Leaders have uniquely intimate relationships with the Holy Trinity, they know with Extreme Certainty that the powerful gay and lesbian community has incurred the wrath of God numerous times in the past two decades (see Hurricanes Sandy, Katrina, and Bonnie, the Haiti and Northridge Earthquakes, and the Japanese Tsunami, as documented here), how then do those Spiritual Great Ones find cause for the Worst Fire in the History of Colorado, currently destroying All Things Good outside of Colorado Springs, the place many consider to be the Evangelical Vatican?

( – promoted by Sue Prent)

Over the last month, there’s been considerable attention given to the growth in renewable energy throughout the United States.  First, in January Philip Bump at Grist.com reported that nearly half the new capacity generated in 2012 was renewable. And on Tuesday, he reported the incredible result that 100% of the electric capacity added in December was renewable.

So I thought I’d take a closer look at the growth in renewable energy, as the debate over industrial wind in VT is heating up with opponents calling for a three year moratorium (See here and here, among others.)  

Particularly, let’s look at what exactly was accomplished in 2012.  I plotted total operating generating capacity from January 2012 through January 2013 to highlight the growth in renewable energy.

As you can see, 2012 was a banner year for wind and solar, with yearly increases of 33% and 123%, respectively.  Overall, the contribution to the total operating capacity for these four energy sources increased from 5.5% in January 2012 to 7.1% in January 2013.  That’s real growth, folks.

The growth in renewable energy was caused by two factors.  First, technological improvements have driven down the price of solar and wind.  But with the price still being perceived as too high to trigger economies of scale, state and federal governments have made policy decisions to offer substantial tax credits, thus stimulating wide scale demand.  As the graph clearly shows, the demand for renewable energy has kicked in and renewable energy is becoming a real component of the U.S. energy infrastructure.  

To be certain, renewable energy is not going to replace coal, natural gas, or nuclear anytime in the near future.  But every increase in the use of renewal energy is a decrease in carbon entering the atmosphere, and for me, with three small children and the future I want to give them, that’s a step in the right direction.  And that is why the call to place a moratorium on wind power is misguided and foolish.

Wayne LaPierre, head of the NRA, plans to call for anarchy when he testifies in front of the Senate tomorrow, per his written statement issued today:

And when it comes to the issue of background checks, let’s be honest – background checks will never be “universal” – because criminals will never submit to them.

What he really means to say is that gun laws are pointless, as criminals will always find ways of breaking laws.  Which, come to think of it, should apply to all laws.  Why bother having a law against murder when criminals will find a way to commit murder?  Heck, get rid of embezzlement laws.  That hasn’t stopped things here in Vermont.  Or better yet, get rid of pedophile laws, as we all know that’s done nothing to slow down the Catholic Church.  Right, Cardinal Mahoney?

So if laws don’t work, the absence of law must be preferable.  What Mr. LaPierre and the kind folks at the NRA really want then is anarchy.  Or at the very least, the freedom to sell guns to whomever they want, because everybody knows how much good patriotic Americans abhor lost business opportunities.

In the weeks following the election, Republicans in across the country and Vermont have been publicly “debating” their future path to relevancy.  I say “debating” because I’m not really sure that the passing of gas between two old white men (per nation), or in the case of Vermont, between Lenore Broughton and Darcie Johnson, counts as debate.  Much is said about appealing to women and minorities, but little is said about changing the actual message.  Cynical person that I am, I truly expect nothing to change.  And news comes today that further validates the cluster* of thinking that epitomizes the Republican party of Vermont.

Updated: I didn’t see jvwalt’s diary from earlier today when I wrote this.  I don’t see a delete button here, so my post will have to stand on its ignorance.

Original Post Continued

The Ethan Allen Institute just named Rob Roper as its President.

Yes, Rob Roper, host of Common Sense Radio, which is sponsored by The Ethan Allen Institute.

You know Common Sense Radio as the reincarnation of True North Radio, which failed as a for-profit enterprise using the commercial advertising business model.

So here we have The Ethan Allen Institute, who lists “competitive free market” as one of the “fundamentals of a free society” it works to enact, paying a failed radio show and its host to air failed political ideas, and now being led by the same host.

It’s kind of like being in bed with your sibling, while smoking cigarettes and fondling loaded handguns.  And then wondering why the house burned down while you climb into bed the next night with the same people, a new pack of cigarettes, and another loaded gun.