So the City Council has decided that the Rule of Law doesn’t apply to the Church Street Marketplace District.  In total secrecy the public body decided that the police can banish whomever they want from this district with no due process and no chance of appeal.  The cop’s word is the only law.

Despite Miro’s promise of transparency, the City Council is making the brazenly fraudulent claim that no one can know how they came to this resolution, despite Vermont’s Open Meeting law, by claiming attorney-client privilege! Their preposterous claim is that because they received council from the city’s lawyer, they are not allowed to tell anybody what happened.

Only now are the Progressives realizing the grave mistake they made in agreeing to this draconian power authorized to the police. The Democrats on the council however are fighting tooth and nail to keep the council’s doing secret.  Why? Because they are actually Republicans pretending to be Democrats.  That’s the only explanation I can come up with.

1) The ordinance is in itself illegal.

2) The demand of secrecy on the council is also illegal, based on a false premise of ‘privilege’.

Burlington has come a long, long way from the days of the People’s Republic of Burlington…

More:

http://www.alternet.org/civil-…

(This bill was introduced on 3/19 and hasn’t been taken up in committee, so is very unlikely to pass. But it’s an obnoxious piece of legislation that deserves to be spotlighted.   – promoted by jvwalt)

Isn’t this curious? A bill sponsored by three Senate Dems and two Republicans would make it illegal to misrepresent oneself to get a job at a farm with the intent to expose animal cruelty.

Like Nebraska’s bill, Vermont’s S.162 says that anyone who “knowingly obtains access to an agricultural facility by false pretenses” or misrepresents themselves on employment applications is guilty of “agricultural facility fraud.”

In 2010, federal officials shut down a Vermont slaughterhouse after an undercover video produced by HSUS showed workers slapping, kicking and shocking newborn calves who were to weak to stand. The facility’s co-owner, Frank Peretti was convicted on animal-cruelty charges.

http://www.alternet.org/activi…

So the Democratic Sponsors are:

Robert A Starr, Essex-Orleans.

Eldred M French, Rutland

John S Rodgers, Essex-Orleans

Joined by Republicans:

Norm H McAllister, Franklin

Richard A Westman, Lamoille

Actual Text:

(b) A person commits the offense of agricultural facility fraud if the person, with the intent to commit an act that the person knows is not authorized by the facility’s owner:

(1) knowingly obtains access to an agricultural facility by false pretenses; or

(2) makes a knowingly false statement or representation as part of an application to be employed at an agricultural facility.

(c) A person who violates subsection (b) of this section shall be subject to an administrative penalty of up to $1,000.00 in accordance with section 15 of this title.

http://openstates.org/vt/bills…

Is there any other need for this law other than preventing people like the Humane Society from exposing animal cruelty?

In a stunning turn of events, the PSB received a spreadsheet from Entergy outlining how it can replace the condenser, fully fund the decommissioning account and make a huge profit while running Vermont Yankee safely and without a single problem over the next 20 years.

The Executive board of Entergy is shown as receiving a total compensation package of $1 each, with no benefits, no bonuses for the entire 20 year run of the plant.  Further, all employees at VY will receive their full-time pay for another 10 years, or until they find other work (whichever is sooner).

However a skeptical NRC may put the kibosh on all of this saying that Vermont Yankee is a decrepit old plant that should have been shut down shortly after it opened due to inherent design flaws that it knew about then.  The NRC is also expected to order the closure of almost every nuclear power plant in the nation as being unsafe.

Fo example, over in Maine, the more-forward-than Vermont thinkers have introduced a legalization bill:

The 28 Democrats, 3 Republicans, 1 Independent, and 2 tribal representatives who are co-sponsoring the bill represent a major shift from 2012, when similar legislation gained little support.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Diane Russell (D), would allow those over 21 years of age to purchase marijuana from state-licensed stores. Individuals could legally possess up to 2.5 ounces of the drug and grow up to six marijuana plants. The legislation reflects the state’s current medical marijuana laws, with the major exception being that anyone – not just those with a serious illness – would have access to the drug.

If the Maine legislature approves the bill, it would go to a statewide referendum in 2014.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/201…

Instead we get a skittish Legislature that might maybe decrim up to 2 oz (but that’s way too much for the even more timid).

VT could be on the forfront of energy independence and a major increase of tax revenue – but, NOOO!

I have permission to reprint this opinion piece in it’s entirety:

From: NationofChange Info {info@nationofchange.org}

To:XXXXXXXX@yahoo.com

Sent: Thursday, March 21, 2013 6:59 PM

Subject: Re: [General] copyright????

Dear Ray,

As long as you give us full credit, you may reprint Thomas Magstadt’s article. Thank you for your readership!

Cassandra

So here is it, as forwarded by Ray Gonda, South Burlington resident:

If it doesn’t fly, lie, lie, lie

By Thomas Magstadt

Nation of Change, Progressive Journalism for Positive Action

Published: Monday 18 March 2013

http://www.nationofchange.org/…

I’m talking about the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, on track to become the biggest, costliest boondoggle in U.S. military history. And that’s saying something. The Pentagon sits/stands astride the most lavishly funded military establishment the world has ever seen. Meanwhile, year after year Congress, obsessed with getting re-elected and forever emulating the lemmings of legend, vote massive sums for weapons and wars that drive the government deeper and deeper in debt while undermining both national security and world peace. 

Back in 2011, the bipartisan Commission on Wartime Contracting issued a final report to Congress estimating that the federal government had lost between $31 and $60 billion to contractor fraud and waste in Afghanistan and Iraq. “The government was not prepared to go into Afghanistan in 2001 or Iraq in 2003 using large numbers of contractors, and is still unable to provide effective management and oversight of contract spending.”

Now comes the ill-fated F-35, a super high-tech wonder weapon with a wondrously astronomical price tag and a well-earned reputation for resisting all efforts to make it fly. Once called the “fighter of the future,” the F-35 is expected to cost $1.5 trillion ultimately. (Some $400 billion has already been flushed down a top-secret toilet the Pentagon uses exclusively for its biggest boondoggles.)

The Pentagon’s special toilet is top-secret, but the facts about the faulty fighter are now a matter of public record. A Defense Department document dated February 15, 2013, reported that the F-35 wasn’t ready for testing as scheduled in 2011 and that a year later was “constrained by the current aircraft operating limits” and “the immature state of mission systems software and integration.” To wit: 

• No flying the aircraft at night, in clouds, or bad weather – basically under any conditions requiring instrument flight.

• No flying close formation, aerobatics, and stalls.

• No training in these phases, nor any actual combat training, because the plane is too early in system development.

• The aircraft is too “immature” to permit reliable training evaluation.

• Critical system deficiencies include the radar, the pilot’s helmet-mounted display (HMD), and cockpit interfaces for controlling the radios and navigational functions.

To recap, this multibillion dollar baby can only fly on a clear day (not even on a clear night) and only in nice weather. So far, Lockheed Martin has delivered 99 F-35. Of these, not one is operational at present.

How much will a fully operational F-35 cost to build, maintain, and fuel over the course its projected life? Estimates are all over the lot, but $90-$150 billion each. How many does the Air Force intend to buy? Twenty-four hundred.

Two thousand four hundred.

2,400. 

Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy admits it’s not “what our troops need,” is “too costly” and “poorly managed,” and its “present difficulties are too numerous to detail.” But he’s still for it.

Not what our troops need, too costly, poorly managed, a real snafu-all true. It’s also where the truth ends and the lies begin. The lies about serving the people and the public interest.

F-35s will possibly be based in the middle of a population center in New England.  Guess where? If you guessed Vermont, you get a gold star.

The F-35 is very loud (no lie). If deployed near Burlington, it would render hundreds, possibly thousands, of homes “unfit for residential use” according to an Air Force (!) environmental report (no lie).

Sen. Leahy says it’s out of his hands (lie) even though he’s president pro tem of the Senate (no lie.)  He has no influence at the Pentagon, you see (lie.)   Oh, he really cares about being a good steward of our tax dollars (lie) and doing the right thing (lie) but he’s part of a dysfunctional body that can’t fix anything (no lie). And he’s also a senior member of the majority party in the Senate (no lie). A party that despite getting a popular mandate in the 2013 election refuses to abolish the filibuster and thus force the Republican-controlled House to take full responsibility for the sequester (no lie).  But, after all, Sen. Leahy and his fellow cronies really can’t change the rules (lie).

Meanwhile, the F-35 is an albatross around the taxpayers’ neck, and so is Congress (no lie).  If the albatross won’t fly, lie, lie, lie…   

*The DOD official who oversees the progress of the Pentagon’s weapons programs is the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOTE).  Eat your heart out, George Orwell.   

This is from the same person that wrote the last piece.  Since then he has been a busy woodchuck.  I’ll let him explain:

Sentiments of Residents Living  in the Current F-16 and Proposed F-35 Noise Zone.

Over a three week period I canvassed about a third or so, some 300 houses, in the 65dB Jet noise zone of South Burlington talking to residents and trying to get a feel for how other people view or felt about the proposed basing. I live in the zone so I had reason to start this inquiry. What I found contradicts the view of so many people who do not live in this zone and of the wishful thinking pro-F35 crowd. Of those 300 some houses about 60% responded, the rest not responding from either not being at home, some other reason or declining to offer an opinion.  (To get to the 60% level I had to canvass streets twice.  I counted those who opened the door but had no comment in the 40% figure assuming “no response” was equivalent to not opening the door.)

If I subtracted out the guard members, their families or friends (as stated to me) then a strong majority of residents oppose the basing of the planes here. Even with the pro-guard persons included I still found that a majority opposed the basing. These residents presently have difficulties with the F16s. So imagine their feelings about going back to a plane that is at least as loud as the F4 which had a reputation of breaking windows in houses near the airport from its noise.

In a handful of houses with children the kids were terrified when the planes took off. In one case the parents said it took several years for their kids to adjust and that adjustment is still not complete.  At a day care center the owner was particularly irate about the jets take-offs since the kids in the yard would scream and cry from being terrified.  Across the street a woman felt the same but didn’t want to create internal family problems by voicing her opinions publicly. Fortunately most houses here do not have small children.

I talked to numerous residents who knew people who moved out because of the noise.  Others I talked to would follow suit when financial conditions allowed.  On my block alone a house that was purchased about two years ago is for sale. The owners want to get away from the noise.  Another is for sale just up the street.

But the overriding issue expressed to me was property values. There is a lot of mis-information and wishful thinking coming out of the pro-F35ers, but research in other areas with airports have clearly show the property values decrease the closer one gets to airports with noise issues. There is even a formula to calculate the decrease in value. Some homes I visited had damage to interior walls that they were convinced came from the planes.

Supporters of the F35 have been particularly abusive in their put-down to those with legitimate objections to the basing of the jets here by calling them whiners among other abusive language and suggest if they do not like it they should move out of the area. Well, that would mean at least a simple majority of homeowners would have to move. Consider what that would do to property values!

Roseanne Greco and the council were right to question it through the city council since it affects so many people living in this zone. To have not done it would have been irresponsible and would have shown the lack of caring about its impacts to nearby residents – a lack of caring I have seen in manifold amounts from the business community here and supporters of the basing. I laud the council’s decision to question the proposed  F35 basing here and Ms. Greco’s courage to speak out.

Ray Gonda

South Burlington

An acquaintance of mine lives Berkely St, about 1/2 west of BTV.  He wrote the following in an email and I requested his permission to post his writing here.  Even though he said it was OK to use his name, I’ll withhold his name at this time.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It seems that there really are very strong parallels between the Valpariso and Burlington airports’ controversies. Those living farthest away from the airport are the strongest supporters.

I will be getting deeply involved in this and I want to let you know why. When the F16s take off I have to step away from the picture window our of fear of it smashing, all conversation is brought to a halt until all four jets have taken off, and the pictures on the wall tilt from the vibrations. I am 1/2 mile away at a right angle from the takeoff strip with lots of houses between us and the airport. So the opposition is not without merit. Under consideration are a dozen other sites without the potential for such controversy. I also do not like H-bombs being based here; they make us a target. Better they be base in more remote from populated areas.

Supporters of the F-35 basing: Many of the 10,000 names on the petition mentioned below were fraudulent – from an examination of them for validity. the petiton didn’t pass the smell test.

I just joined the opposition after having donated a considerable sum to the cause a few weeks ago.

I will be working on a documentary and new article covering interviews by those currently affected by the F16 noise. I disliked the cavalier attitude of the business community at a debate a few weeks ago at St Mikes. I also disliked Senator Leahy sneaking out the back door when 100 of us demonstrated outside his office in Burlington last week in an appeal to meet with him to present our case. For two years none of our federal delegation, who support the basing here, has agreed to meet and listen to our concerns.

This just in:

Vermont, HP Reach DMV Settlement-

Gov. Peter Shumlin and Hewlett-Packard today announced an agreement to terminate for mutual convenience the contract to modernize the computer system of the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles.

The settlement calls for HP to refund the state $8.37 million and the state to return to HP physical and virtual rights to all software and documents created by HP.  The state will retain certain components of the solution developed by HP, such as the point-of-sale system now in use, various equipment purchases and upgrades to DMV’s printing capabilities.  The refund reflects nearly the entire amount paid to the vendor.

The state and HP entered into the settlement agreement because they recognize that the DMV contract was flawed and that a mutual termination is the best path to resolve outstanding issues.  The legacy DMV computer system that has served the state for over 35 years remains functional and will continue to support the Department as the agency evaluates its options.

What was there for 35 years (1977: it’s as old as Star Wars!) ain’t broke, was designed well enough and made simply enough that it still works. I wonder what HP’s problem is?

Hey, look Alternet ran a story about how everyone is ignoring South Burlington's POV on the F-35!

Faced with the community-damaging possibility of the U.S. Air Force basing its soon-to-be-tested F-35 nuclear capable fighter bomber at the Burlington Airport in their city, South Burlington’s City Councilors have once again expressed carefully and coherently argued opposition to the plan that the Air Force’s own study found would render more than a thousand nearby homes “incompatible with residential use.” In response to two recent pro-F-35 petitions from regional business groups, the city council met November 23 and voted 4-0 with one member absent to approve similar three-page, single-spaced, analytical responses to the two sets of petitioners… Vermont media have all but ignored the official response of the City Of South Burlington, except for the Burlington Free Press which reported the decision three days later, in a story by John Briggs, who emphasizes the noise issue at the expense of housing, health, safety or any other issue cited by the city. http://www.alternet.org/vt-city-fights-planned-f-35-jet-testing-would-make-1000-homes-incompatible-residential-use

(Another cloud to hover ominously over the holiday table.   – promoted by Sue Prent)

Lost in all the St. Albans hoopla is that the Berlin Mall’s largest anchor tenant is about to metastasize.

…the 65,000-square-foot store is the discount retailer’s smallest in the country. The addition of more than 90,000 square feet will include an expansion into the Berlin Mall, as well as adding on to the current building. The town approved the extension but is waiting to issue a zoning permit until it receives traffic drawings.