Man shot dead during execution of drug-related search warrant
By DOMENIC POLI / Reformer Staff
Posted: 04/04/2014 08:42:18 AM EDT1 Comment | Updated: 41 min ago [as of 310pm]BRATTLEBORO — A man was shot dead by police Friday morning as authorities attempted to execute a court-ordered search warrant in Room 301 at the America’s Best Inn at 959 Putney Road.
According to Vermont State Police, the search warrant was obtained as part of an on-going drug investigation and, during the initial entry of the room, a Brattleboro Police officer fired his weapon and struck the man at roughly 5:40 a.m.
All posts by stardust
To Crimea with love
Dedicating this song to the voters of Crimea who voted overwhelmingly to return to Russia:
Not sure where anyone here stands on the meddling of US & EU in Ukraine or if anyone even agrees we were (we were & are) but I gotta say my chingy (what little there is) is on Russia as well as Ukraine & I stand with Vlad-the-impaler.
Putin may indeed be attempting to revive the former Soviet Union however I don’t see this as anything unusual esp for Russia.
I believe Putin is merely resisting a power grab on his very doorstep for what is considered the heart of the former Soviet Union & even Russia for the Ukraine coming from the EU supported by the US … at the very least. Must be tough times in the EU following the massive bailouts of the EU deadbeats. US wars & the standing-sentry 24/7 over Afghanistan opium poppy fields as well as ACA can’t be cheap.
Guess Obama still a little piqued over a citizen from the “land of the free and the home of the brave” welcomed by & having to take refuge in guess where? Russia! Behind the former & infamous “Iron Curtain” no less — communist dictatorship USSR aka the then Soviet Union, following revelations of the massive known-to-congress covert information dragnet & secret spying operation by our government against “We the (little) People” as well as world leaders under the guise of “terror prevention” conducted by the NSA.
A bit rich given that it was Russia, despite this massive spying program who had to warn the US of terrorists who had been discovered in Russia and had travelled to the US & who did indeed carry out a terrorist plot one short year ago in Boston during the marathon.
What was that murmuring from the back of the room? Commie pinko? No, no “commie pinko” here just spittin it like it is.
Obama shitcans CGI
Obama administration to end contract with CGI Federal, company behind HealthCare.gov
By Juliet Eilperin and Amy GoldsteinThe Obama administration has decided to jettison CGI Federal, the main IT contractor that was responsible for building the defect-ridden online health insurance marketplace and has been immersed in the work of repairing it, according to a person familiar with the matter.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…
And so should VT.
Breaking — VT Press Bureau audio recorder makes it to Christie gala
Vermont News
Christie to Vt: ‘Candidates matter’
By Peter Hirschfeld
Vermont Press Bureau | December 13,2013That was the message from the Republican governor of New Jersey this week as he regaled nearly 700 members of the Vermont GOP with the story of his own unlikely rise in a state where politics tend to run the same shade of blue as in Vermont.
[..]Media were barred from the fundraising gala at the Champlain Valley Expo in Essex Junction, but an audio recorder belonging to the Vermont Press Bureau made it past the gates. In addition to Christie, the recording captured speeches by Lt. Gov. Phil Scott and Rep. Heidi Scheuermann, who were among the lead organizers of an event they say marked the dawn of a new era in the Vermont Republican Party.
http://rutlandherald.com/artic…
Wow … I gotta say very impressive. Like the oldschool journalists that used to hide in closets eavesdropping to get stories.
A standing O for VPB & Peter Hirschfeld & most of all the “smuggler”.
Coming to a police checkpoint near you!?
North Texas Drivers Stopped at Roadblock Asked for Saliva, Blood
Fort Worth police apologize for its role in federal survey
By Scott Gordon | Wednesday, Nov 20, 2013*all emphasis added
Fort Worth police initially said they could not immediately find any record of their officers being involved in the roadblock, but on Tuesday police spokesman Sgt. Kelly Peel said that the department’s Traffic Division coordinated with the NHTSA on the use of off-duty officers after the agency asked for help with the survey.
http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/loc…
Blood, spit and cops: Nationwide drug roadblocks raise eyebrows
By Matt Smith, CNN
updated 12:10 PM EDT, Wed June 19, 2013(CNN) — The roadblocks went up on a Friday at several points in two Alabama towns, about 40 miles on either side of Birmingham.
For the next two days, off-duty sheriff’s deputies in St. Clair County[..]flagged down motorists and steered them toward federal highway safety researchers. The researchers[..]asked them for breath, saliva and blood samples — offering them $10 for saliva and $50 to give blood.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/19/…
Yes, I know, it’s Texas – the most recent offender – and we do things differently here. But wait – surprise! Alabama is in on it also & yes we do things differently than them too. But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is not Texas or Alabama — its the Feds.
This is a shocker — however I was surprised to learn:
It’s not just in Alabama. The roadblocks are part of a national study led by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which is trying to determine how many drivers are on the road with drugs or alcohol in their systems. Similar roadblocks will be erected in dozens of communities across the nation this year, according to the agency.
It’s been going on for decades. Previous surveys date to the 1970s. The last one was run in 2007, and it included the collection of blood and saliva samples without apparent controversy, sheriff’s spokesmen in both Alabama counties said.
But this time, it’s happening as the Obama administration struggles to explain revelations that U.S. spy organizations have been tracking phone and Internet traffic. Against that backdrop, the NHTSA-backed roadblocks have led to complaints in Alabama about an intrusive federal government.
Personally I do not think what is taking place in the here & now has been going on for decades or we would have known about it. What I believe has been going on is the instituion of the random stopping of motorists at “roadblocks” & “checkpoints”. Nonetheless, it is clearly unconstitutional to stop or detain anyone without probable cause. I have heard even the so-called roadblocks & checkpoints are also, however the police are likely to stay under the radar of public outcry by doing it around holidays under the guise of “safety” which is still unnecessary as anyone showing signs of impairment can be stopped which is clearly probable cause.
Although I see this as a vast overreach of the federal government in particular as well as police in general, apparently because it’s supposedly “voluntary” they are able to sidestep this issue. And in the stories used for this diary some reported feeling that it wasn’t voluntary & also feeling coerced:
But Cope said it didn’t feel voluntary to her — despite signs saying it was.
“I gestured to the guy in front that I just wanted to go straight, but he wouldn’t let me and forced me into a parking spot,” she said.
Once parked, she couldn’t believe what she was asked next.
“They were asking for cheek swabs,” she said. “They would give $10 for that. Also, if you let them take your blood, they would pay you $50 for that.”
At the very least, she said, they wanted to test her breath for alcohol.
She said she felt trapped.
Looks like we are being conditioned to accept a police state where the question for questioning is “what do you have to hide”, rather than the real issue here: “what & why do you need to know”.
This represents nothing more than tyranny & is clear evidence of fascism.
“There are many ways that aspects of authoritarianism can creep into everyday society. Like the anecdote of the frog in the pot of boiling water; At first the small changes in water temperature seem moderate, and hardly noticeable. The danger is realized only after the frog experiences the heat that wasn’t apparent at the beginning – and by then it’s often too late, and it’s been boiled to death.”
[Duplicate]
North Texas Drivers Stopped at Roadblock Asked for Saliva, Blood
Fort Worth police apologize for its role in federal survey
By Scott Gordon | Wednesday, Nov 20, 2013*all emphasis added
Fort Worth police initially said they could not immediately find any record of their officers being involved in the roadblock, but on Tuesday police spokesman Sgt. Kelly Peel said that the department’s Traffic Division coordinated with the NHTSA on the use of off-duty officers after the agency asked for help with the survey.
http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/loc…
Blood, spit and cops: Nationwide drug roadblocks raise eyebrows
By Matt Smith, CNN
updated 12:10 PM EDT, Wed June 19, 2013(CNN) — The roadblocks went up on a Friday at several points in two Alabama towns, about 40 miles on either side of Birmingham.
For the next two days, off-duty sheriff’s deputies in St. Clair County[..]flagged down motorists and steered them toward federal highway safety researchers. The researchers[..]asked them for breath, saliva and blood samples — offering them $10 for saliva and $50 to give blood.
Yes, I know, it’s Texas – the most recent offender – and we do things differently here. But wait – surprise! Alabama is in on it also & yes we do things differently than them too. But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is not Texas or Alabama — its the Feds.
This is a shocker — however I was surprised to learn:
It’s not just in Alabama. The roadblocks are part of a national study led by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which is trying to determine how many drivers are on the road with drugs or alcohol in their systems. Similar roadblocks will be erected in dozens of communities across the nation this year, according to the agency.
It’s been going on for decades. Previous surveys date to the 1970s. The last one was run in 2007, and it included the collection of blood and saliva samples without apparent controversy, sheriff’s spokesmen in both Alabama counties said.
It is clearly unconstitutional to stop or detain anyone without probable cause. Although I see this as a vast overreach of the federal government as well as police in general, apparently because it’s supposedly “voluntary” they are able to sidestep these issues.
But this time, it’s happening as the Obama administration struggles to explain revelations that U.S. spy organizations have been tracking phone and Internet traffic. Against that backdrop, the NHTSA-backed roadblocks have led to complaints in Alabama about an intrusive federal government.
Looks like we are being conditioned to accept a police state where the question is “what do you have to hide”, rather than “what & why do you need to know”.
This represents nothing more than tyrranny & clear evidence of a fascism.
“There are many ways that aspects of authoritarianism can creep into everyday society. Like the anecdote of the frog in the pot of boiling water; At first the small changes in water temperature seem moderate, and hardly noticeable. The danger is realized only after the frog experiences the heat that wasn’t apparent at the beginning – and by then it’s often too late, and it’s been boiled to death.”
9/24 7 pm Vigil at Sustainability Academy for domestic assault victim in serious condition
Tuesday night, the community will gather outside the school in vigil. That vigil begins at 7 p.m. School officials are asking folks to gather at the outside classroom by the North Champlain Street entrance. Representatives from local religious organizations, domestic violence advocates and city officials will also be in attendance.
[Friends say she’s also a mom, with a kindergartner and second-grader at Burlington’s Sustainability Academy.]
Breaking — 2nd Circuit rules in favor of Entergy Louisiana
( – promoted by Sue Prent)
Difficult to believe but here it is:
http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/de…
A sad day in Mudville. We lost another battle but in the end we will win the war. Vermont Public Service Board surely at this late date must have had their fill of Entergy Louisiana antics, as well as the rest of the state & of course the region’s very own EPZ & evacuation zone.
Vermont MSM reports:
Burlington Free Press
Appeals court: State overstepped authority regarding Vermont Yankee
Aug. 14, 2013 2:17 PM
Written by
Terri Hallenbeck
Free Press Staff Writer
http://www.burlingtonfreepress…
Rutland Herald/Barre Times Argus:
BREAKING NEWS
Appeals court sides with Entergy in shutdown case -Updated 1:22 p.m.
By Susan Smallheer
Staff WriterMONTPELIER – Entergy Nuclear has won a major victory against the state of Vermont’s efforts to shut down the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant
http://www.timesargus.com/arti…
Vermont Public Radio:
Court Rules Against State In Vt. Yankee Federal Preemption Case
By John Dillon
A federal appeals court has handed the state of Vermont a significant defeat in its efforts to close the Entergy Vermont Yankee nuclear plant.
http://digital.vpr.net/post/co…
Appeals court rules for Entergy, against Vermont
Associated Press
Posted: 08/14/2013 11:34:12 AM EDTUpdated: 08/14/2013 11:35:51 AM EDT
http://www.reformer.com/ci_238…
Vermonters react on Vtdigger:
Breaking: State loses appeal on right to close Vermont Yankee
by Andrew Stein | August 14, 2013
http://vtdigger.org/2013/08/14…
Nuclear industry worldwide is simultaneously falling of it’s own weight and being rejected by states and nations post Fukushima as the gullible public awakens to the huge hoax which was foisted upon us during the “Atoms For Peace” initiative & has been a complete failure. Most notably as Fukushima continues it’s destruction in Japan reaching far beyond in & around the Northern Hemisphere via weather patterns, air streams & currents carrying it’s deadly poisons to us all, amid public outcry to remove the owner TEPCO as two years hence they clearly still have no clue as to how to fix it, because there is no modern technology available. It cannot be fixed.
We and all other nuclear reactor hosts are left at the mercy of enablers-in-chief the NRC or equivalent to hope that we will not be the next Fukushima.
Fair is foul — Foul is fair
Anti-wind movement in VT has taken quite a few pages from the already vigorous nationwide & global campaign which has maintained a presence of a high level of visiblity for several years, at least.
Aided by ALEC – which links lawmakers & corporations to policy models conveniently created by ALEC to aid them in crafting corporate-friendly legislation which they so helpfully provide handy-dandy blank models for to assist the lawmakers. How kind of them to idiot-proof the model legislation.
*all emphasis added
Environment, Energy, and Agriculture
Rewriting the Rules about the Environment, Energy, and Agriculture
Environment, Energy, and AgricultureThis page shows how bills pushed by ALEC corporations work to undermine environmental protections, limit the ability of local government to manage land use, and protect corporate polluters.
These “model bills” and resolutions thwart efforts to address climate change, streamline siting of nuclear power plants, and oppose efforts to address hazardous coal waste.
Through ALEC, corporations have both a VOICE and a VOTE on specific changes to state laws on these issues through these model bills. Do you?
http://www.alecexposed.org/wik…
http://www.sourcewatch.org/ind…
Industrial Wind Action Group
http://www.sourcewatch.org/ind…
SPN: Aiding ALEC & Spinning Disinformation in the States
Click here to check out our new SourceWatch resource on the 59 “mini-Heritage Foundations” in the states.
http://www.alecexposed.org/wik…
http://www.prwatch.org/node/11909
A few facts:
– Money: ALEC Is Funded Almost Entirely by Corporations
– ALEC Has Corporate Leaders and Members who Vote on Bills Behind Closed Doors
– Almost All of ALEC’s Legislative Leaders are Republicans
The above is info was used solely to highlight the notable characteristics of ALEC, which says plenty & very telling as to who supports their policy goals – and their “sponsors”, are taken from a comparison of ALEC & NCSL.
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) may appear on the surface to mimic the bipartisan educational archetype of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL
)
http://www.prwatch.org/news/20…
Conservative thinktanks step up attacks against Obama’s clean energy strategy
– Confidential memo seen by Guardian calls for climate change sceptics to turn American public against solar and wind power –
Suzanne Goldenberg US environment correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 8 May 2012 21.44 BST
http://www.guardian.co.uk/envi…
Highlights from the leaked “memo” obtained by The Guardian:
Conservative plans to oppose wind power – memo
Strategy document calls for a national PR campaign aimed at causing ‘subversion … so that it effectively becomes so bad that no one wants to admit in public they are for it’– Be FOR something (e.g. Science), not AGAINST something (e.g. wind energy). Be proactive vs reactive
In this case, our VT bunch is for other renewables & wind power – just not in VT or on ridgelines which just happen to be the best place to produce the amount of power necessary to make the projects efficient & worthwhile
– Create a grass-roots ground swell from which the clamor for change will reach the elected officials and policy-makers.
– A) Cause the targeted audience to change its opinion and action based on the messages. B) Provide credible counter message to the (wind) industry. C) Disrupt industry message with countermeasures. D) Cause subversion in message of industry so that it effectively becomes so bad no one wants to admit in public they are for it (much like wind has done to coal, by turning green to black and clean to dirty). Ultimate Goal: Change policy direction based on the message
– Consider joining forces w some already established organization where there is substantial commonality and commitment (e.g. ATI, Heartland, IER, CEI, Marshall, Brookings, Cato, Manhattan, AfP, FW, CFACT, ALEC, NA-PAW, etc.).
– Develop a list of experts for testimony to government agencies, etc. Identify key topics (e.g. health) and get volunteers to act as a clearing house for information and posting timely information for activists on a website.
– connect with like-minded groups such as tax, tea party, true environmentalists, business organizations, property rights advocates, etc.
– Create a “think-tank” subgroup to produce and disseminate white paper reports and scientific quotes and papers that back-up the message.
– include community activity and participation with sponsorships for science fairs, school activity etc. with preset parameters that cause students to steer away from wind because they discover it doesn’t meet the criteria we set up (poster contest, essays etc).
– Setup a dummy business that will go into communities considering wind development, proposing to build 400 foot billboards– Write expose book on the industry, showing government waste, harm to communities and other negative impacts on people and the environment. Meme (self-replicating messages) Response Coordinator (This will help slow the meme effect of the industry, for instance when a company places a seal showing wind power was used to produce the product, we automatically assign a tax wasting symbol to the product and recommend a boycott on the website.
When a company uses wind power as marketing tool, or illustration such as a toy manufacturer showing turbines on the box, we automatically contact them to tell them we will list them on the web as actively participating in disinformation by favorably showing wind turbines) Legal Department for contract review and guidance on communication efforts, and also taking developers (etc.) to court on various issues to cause media exposure.
Maintain a comprehensive collection of court cases on this subject. Also to provide legal voice for those who have none in this issue. Develop legal strategies that can be copied in other areas. Take zoning boards to court to rezone as industrial land to create chilling effect on signing contracts. Also sue for property value loss to small land holders, and use all legal cases to create media poster child effect. Sue states regarding RPS. Sue state utility commission who don’t do their job. Etc.
National Organization: Details and Narrative The minimum national PR campaign goal is to constructively influence national and state wind energy policies.
– A broader possible goal might be to constructively influence national and state energy and environmental policies. The goal will be realized by coordination of a focused message along many channels and with multiple voices. The intent is to target three audiences with consistent messaging to create the change. Public opinion must begin to change in what should appear as a “groundswell” among grass roots.
– The media committee is responsible for implementing the message in a variety of media resources including traditional media, new media, social media and networking.
– The science committee will be responsible for assembling a directorate of scientists with the proper credentials to be accepted by main stream media. Those credentials are also important in making the scientific material harder to target and more difficult to tear down by the opposition. This committee will coordinate with the directorate to develop a highly respectable collection of scientific white papers and reports that are consistent in their approach
– respected scientists for media and political symposiums to be conducted to further establish the messages. They will coordinate their efforts with other committees whose duties will include dissemination of the science.
– The networking committee will be responsible for coordinating the response of networked groups with like-mind on our message. These will include the tea party, anti-tax leagues and utility rate groups as well as government watch-dog, anti-waste groups. This committee will help spread our message to the network groups.
p.8 of the leaked memo is a blow-by-blow example of the “action plan” & how the “commitees” coordinate with one another – quite an expose of their tactics which are clearly mimicked by our local VT operatives.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/envi…
From the “Media Comittee”:
Mon, 2010-03-22 11:46 Brendan DeMelle
Institute for Energy Research Admits It Was Behind Anti-Wind Study
Danish journalists have confirmed that The Institute for Energy Research commissioned and paid for the anti-wind energy study released last year by a Danish think tank..]In 2009 IER run a campaign on “green jobs” attacking the expansion of renewables energies. IER commissioned three studies on renewable energies and green jobs in Denmark, Germany and Spain.[4 These studies by different think tanks were than promoted by IER and other free market think tanks in the US but also used in Europe[5] and Ontario, Canada
Sound familiar? It’s not new — strategies used in VT have been used on a nationwide as well as international level for years as they conduct a a smear campaign against wind development and to influence legislation designed to stop renewables, in this case industrial-scale wind.
From the “Policy” committee — Moratorium anyone?
NSW Nationals urge wind farms freeze
Updated October 10, 2011
http://www.abc.net.au/news/201…
From the “Health & Science” comittee:
Wind Energy and Health”: Special issue of science journal
Aug 26, 2011
-Calvin Luther Martin, PhD
http://www.windturbinesyndrome…
Entergy Louisiana: Panel in secondary containment of VY reactor bldg blows out; More financial woes
( – promoted by simplify)
On the anniversary of the expiration of the CPG and the expected planned closure date, SURPRISE! more troubles at the troubled VYNPS in Vernon VT. Looks like news involving the panel blow-out from in the secondary containment in the top floor of the reactor building which happened on Monday at VY couldn’t be buried until Friday & beginning of the weekend news dump, but making it to Thursday from Monday still quite a feat.
Both Brattleboro Reformer & Rutland Herald had stories published in todays papers about the latest ‘mishap’.
-all emphasis added
[..]NRC also announced that Yankee, which is currently shut down for refueling and maintenance, had a panel in the secondary containment of the reactor building “blow out” early Monday morning because of over-pressurization in the building[..]
Reportedly, when those highly-trained “experts” at the plant started the heating, ventilation & air conditioning the exhaust system failed:
[..]workers had started up the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system in the reactor building early Monday, but the exhaust fan did not come on, creating what he called a “slight increase” in air pressure in the pressurized building.
So:
A 6-by-10-foot aluminum panel was blown out and landed dozens of feet away, on top of the turbine building. The panel is supposed to be attached to a wire rope, according to Uldis Vanags, the state nuclear engineer who sent a memo about the problem to members of the Vermont State Nuclear Advisory Panel.
Once again working their euphemistic magic at every juncture. No problems here, just a “slight increase” of air pressure, like the infamous “small 1/8 inch holes” in the leaking pipes & other pipe leaks emitting those “tiny puffs of steam”.
My my. A bit difficult to minimize a “6′ x 10′ aluminum panel”. I see they didn’t attempt to call it a “relatively small light-weight metal panel”-too obvious.
According to NRC & Entergy, there was:
no discernable increase in the release of radiation from the reactor building with the hole.
So it couldn’t be “discerned”. How about “measured”?
NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said a senior health physicist had done calculations on whether the opening presented a public danger and concluded it did not.
Looks like the unnamed “health physicist” used “calculations”. Extrapolated from one their trusty “models”?
Reformer:
“The panels worked as designed,” said Rob Williams, spokesman for Yankee. “But we are looking into why the exhaust fans didn’t operate.”
“Our resident inspectors at Vermont Yankee, with support from Region I Office specialists, will continue to review the activities until the issue is fully resolved, including the development of a root cause evaluation and corrective actions,” said Sheehan.
A temporary cover has been put in place pending the installation of a permanent fix.
http://www.reformer.com/localn…
More dubious double-speak. “Worked as designed”. Ha! Good old VY, thrifty as ever with their duct-tape bubblegum-methodology slaps a “temporary cover” on it & calls it a day.
In a memo to the Vermont State Nuclear Advisory Panel, Uldis Vanags, the nuclear engineer for the Vermont Department of Public Service, noted the panels are secured with a wire rope to prevent them from falling to the ground when they release.
Works just fine?
“Just as it was designed”:
“However, in this case the panel that released fell onto the turbine building roof,” wrote Vanags.
But of course:
“There are no doses to the public or plant workers because of this,” Sheehan said[..]
Ray Shadis:
“In short, even the most obtuse observer should now understand that Vermont Yankee’s containment safety systems have a very high probability of failure,” Shadis wrote in an email Wednesday.
In other news, as Entergy Louisiana and VY employees continue to bombard Vermonters with letters to editor and their everything’s-fine-business-as-usual shtick, what’s really happening:
Changes in the energy marketplace have forced Entergy Nuclear to write down the value of Vermont Yankee nuclear plant from $517 million to $162 million.
The NRC took the unusual step of asking for additional information from Entergy Nuclear about the finances of Yankee, citing a recent Entergy filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Ray Shadis:
Now NRC too has its doubts as to whether VY even meets the financial qualifications for a license,” he added.