(Yes, folks, as with mandatory vaccinations, I’m becoming suspect of Global Warming.  Scientists are funded by Corporations and Foundations supported by Corporations.  Disaster Economics means it is in the interest of Corporations and the Rich to create a ‘scare’ (distraction), which will also be a money maker while they continue to plunder in the old fashioned time-honored way, and I’m afraid many Environmental Groups and Environmentalists have fallen for a ‘marketing plan’.  I think we should be more worried about NUCLEAR WINTER.  Well, here’s something ‘fun’ on the subject.)

SOME VERMONT YUPPIE ANGSTS ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING

Health & Safety–Will Global Warming release new viruses and make more killer insects and make my Health Club fees go up?  Will there be a vaccine for Global Warming?  Will Global Warming make me have to stop using my cell phone while driving my SUV?

Property–Will Global Warming make all my plants die and make it impossible for me to tell where to buy a beachfront second home?

War & Peace–Will there be Weather Wars?  Will Global warming ruin my vacation plans to visit Guetemala, Greece, Sri Lanka and other countries because they all hate Americans for Global Warming and want to kill me personally?

Crime–Will Global Warming cause blacks and other certain ethnic diversities to drive by my home with automatic assault rifles?  Can they be vaccinated?  (See Property)

Food–Will Global Warming make crops die and I will, therefore, have to eat Genetically Engineered Kale?

Activism–Will Brian Tokar, Peter Sterling, Joe Gainza, Thom Hartman, and Bernie Sanders be enough to stop people from New Jersey (where I’m from) moving up here to Vermont because it’s 10% cooler…in Winter?



Second-Hand Smoke–Will Global Warming create a layer of cigarette smoke in the atmosphere that will cause people to become addicted to cigarettes, and then to Heroin?  And then to sugary-sweet drinks?  (See Health & Safety)  

My Children–Will my kids call me a Yuppie Scumbag Pig for letting Global Warming happen, and then beat me senseless and take off with all my cash and credit cards and my SUV?  (See Property again)

Sex–Will Global Warming make it too hot for sex?  Even for Bill Cosby?  Will there be a vaccine you can take for orgasms?  Or a non-sugary-sweet drink?



Social Media–Will Global Warming cause my computer to freeze or glitch while I’m trying to post a You Tube video on Green Mountain Daily that shows Jennifer Aniston flashing her snatch in her short short mini-gown at the fundraiser for the Ebola Victims Verses Aids Victims Cross Country Marathon And Spitathon?  (See Sex)

Paid Holidays, Paid Sick Days, and Mileage–Will I be able to take Global Warming Days off, and call in sick if the temperature is above 126%?  Will I have to not drive my SUV on certain designated work days, and, if so, how will I get my mileage for those days?



How To Tell It’s Global Warming–If Global Warming happens next week, will there still be air conditioning at the Co-op?  Will Thom Hartman, Brian Tokar, and Joe Gainza go on the radio to announce marches and rallies against Global Warming?  And will Bernie Sanders say he’s not running in 2016 because by then we’ll all be dead?  (See Food, War & Peace, Health & Safety, Crime, and Sex)

Security and Sustainability–Will the police protect me from Global Warming?  Can’t they just shoot it?  And where do I buy Global Warming-Free wine?  (See Crime and Property again)  

Fashion–Will Global Warming make me have to Yard Sale my entire wardrobe and buy the latest Global Warming outfits every 3 or 4 days?  Will I be able to do this online with my air conditioner on MAX? (Property)  

What Can I Do And We Do To Stop Global Warming?–Will Vigils stop Global Warming?  Petitions?  Meetings?  Workshops?  Cocktails at Three Penny Taproom?  Secret visits in disguise to Charlie Os World Famous to see how many there are cigarette smokers?  A third non-profit group run by Peter Sterling?  A fourth?  Will a HUG stop Global Warming?  And bumper stickers on my SUV?  (See War & Peace, Second-Hand Smoke, Activism, Crime, and Property again)

Thank you for hearing my concerns.  Will petting a Mental Health Assistance and Companion Pet stop Global Warming?

Peter Buknatski

Monpelier, Vt.

(Coming next:  Montpelier’s New THEME PARK–YuppieWorld!)

Once more, our intrepid state auditor Doug Hoffer has shone a light where some would probably prefer that he had not, exposing potentially costly mismanagement of a signature administration initiative.  

That the state has, nonetheless, come away from the table in pretty good shape is due to the watchful eye of the auditor’s team.

Seven Days is reporting that, in reviewing payments made against the contract of economist Jonathan Gruber, Governor Shumlin’s go-to guy for modelling his now abandoned Single Payor Healthcare initiative, the Auditor’s Office found some serious irregularities:

In a five-page report released Monday, Hoffer stopped short of accusing the economist, Jonathan Gruber, of fraud, citing a lack of documentation pertaining to his alleged “inconsistencies and questionable billing practices.” But the state auditor was unsparing in his criticism of the administration’s oversight of the contract, which called for an economic analysis of Shumlin’s since-abandoned single-payer health care proposal.

Coming on the heels of what many feel was a shell-game perpetrated on voters by the Governor when he chose to renounce single-payer only after gaining re-election, this latest revelation will do him no political good.

The recently appointed Secretary of Administration Justin Johnson seems to agree with the Auditor that Gruber’s billing justifications are inadequate, but stops short of accepting, on behalf of his office, blame for any error.

“The bottom line to me is did we get the work that we asked for?” Johnson said. “We did get what we were buying here.”

At the request of Sen. Joe Benning (R-Caledonia) and Rep. Oliver Olsen (I-South Londonderry), the Auditors Office undertook to examine invoicing against Mr. Gruber’s $400,000. contract in December and found significant irregularities in billing hours.

The evidence suggests that Dr. Gruber overstated the hours worked by the RA and that the Agency of Administration ignored the obvious signs that something was amiss.”

In contrast to Peter Shumlin’s political fortunes, which have headed rapidly downhill since the last election, Doug Hoffer is shaping into someone who could hold real potential for voters across the political spectrum who are longing for a return of integrity, independence and accountability to the halls of the Pavillion.

But there’s still a lot of work for him to do in the Auditor’s chair, which I remember him saying was the only one he ever wished to occupy, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

The  Messenger recently featured an article, “Wetland poses sticking point,” which explained some permit problems the Town of St. Albans was experiencing in advancing its plan for a “loop” road to join the Walmart and Price Chopper projects with the City’s nascent Federal St. Connector.  

The issue had to do with deficiencies in wetland mapping and projections concerning future development.

This was followed by an editorial from Emerson Lynn in which he referred to the wetland issue as “nonsense”  and invoked the usual outrage over regulations that make Vermont ‘bad for business.’

Next to chime in was Town Selectboard candidate Al Voegele, who wrote a letter-to-the-editor in which he, too, complained about the constraints on growth imposed by the permit system and pledged to pursue Designated Growth Center status if he is elected to serve on the Selectboard.

Then came Sam Ruggiano’s letter, read aloud to the Lt. Governor at a Chamber event that GMD’s Mike McCarthy captured so well.

(It should be noted here that Mr. Ruggiano’s firm has charge of the “loop” road project on behalf of the Town, and also engineered the Walmart development.)

‘Sounds like it’s time to counter-balance the misinformation that appears to be in circulation with an infusion of facts and rational perspective.

Mr. Voegele is correct in saying that the Town of St. Albans must get state approval for its chosen growth centers in order to qualify for any of the benefits that accompany designation.

It is not sufficient for the Town to simply identify an area as its “Growth Center” in order to make it so.  Even acceptance of the Town’s growth center preferences by the Northwest Regional Planning Commission bestows no more than nominal endorsement.

It is to the state that the Town must make its case, and frankly, there is very little beyond wishful thinking that supports that case, so it might not be a wise place to invest the necessary resources.

Mr. Lynn poses the rhetorical question of ‘where else might the Town grow?’ if not in its designated growth center at Exit 20.

Well, first of all,  the Town has designated not one but two entirely separate “growth centers.”

Both are highway-centric and therefore in conflict with the governing principles established by the state in its growth center vision, but the one at Exit 19 does not represent the same wetland issues as exist in the selected area at Exit 20.  

The very same voices that have most recently been raised to demand that St. Albans Bay and the Missisquoi watershed be restored to health without further delay are now complaining about regulations governing the wetlands.

Do the indignant gentlemen mentioned above not understand that the two are inescapably connected?  At minimum, Mr. Ruggiano, who was trained as an engineer, certainly should.

Those rules that require mapping of wetland areas and that govern their use were established for very good reasons.  As well as representing sensitive wildlife habitat, the wetlands west of Route 7 serve both as a conduit to and a filter for waters that finally end up in the Bay.

As for the benefit to Stevens Brook that Mr. Lynn imagines accompanied the Walmart development: that is pure fiction.

For all the hard-won “protection” Vermont Natural Resources Council advocates specifically extracted in the Walmart development negotiations, this does not mean that secondary development of surrounding lands would represent some kind of boon to the environment.  

Such assertions represent a profound misunderstanding of the science and the nature of discharge permits, each of which represents substantial new contributions of phosphorus and sediment to a watershed already in crisis.

In fact, those protections only limited the new contributions of pollution to Stevens Brook represented by the Walmart project.  They did not improve the Brook, per se.  Furthermore, those measures only applied to the Walmart store and have no implication for other development in the watershed.

Expansion of impervious surfaces in that sensitive area will have an overall harmful effect and further degrade an already bad situation, even should state-of-the-art engineering be imposed to minimize that impact.

We’re already demanding that the farming industry step-up for a cleaner lake.  It’s time for the rest of us to make some hard choices about our future.

If a healthy lake truly is important to us, we will have to learn to require less accommodation from the natural environment to suit our growth impulses.  

At the same time, we must insist on more ecological planning from stakeholder communities in order to accommodate the rich natural environment we are privileged to share.

Looks like Vermont EB-5 programs will be getting a little more regulatory scrutiny. This past Friday, in an online press release (some people may actually have seen it) the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) announced a “collaboration” with the Department of Financial Regulation (DFR) on EB-5 issues. Among other duties, the ACCD is federally approved to administer the EB-5 program in Vermont. The DFR oversees banking, securities, and insurance and captive insurance statewide. An interagency agreement Memo of Understanding (MOU) on EB-5 compliance was finalized last December between these two agencies.

For those unfamiliar with it, the federal EB-5 program is an investment scheme that grants permanent visas to foreign investors who invest in approved private businesses development. Federal/state sanctioned private projects are supposed to provide jobs and an economic boost to specific areas of the state. The hundreds of millions of dollars worth of EB-5 projects in the Northeast Kingdom, engineered by Bill Stenger (owner of Jay Peak) and his partner Ariel Quiros, are perhaps the best known of the EB-5 funded efforts in the state.

One of several setbacks they encountered last summer included a controversy that erupted between Jay Peak and dozens of foreign investors. A group of EB-5 investors were angry with the way major terms of their existing $500,000 investment arrangements had been changed by Jay Peak partners Stenger and Quiros. Investors weren’t officially notified by the pair until five months after the fact. Disgruntled by this, the investors raised questions about the quality of oversight and the conflicts in the dual role the ACCD plays to promote and oversee EB-5 in Vermont.

Friday’s online press release announcing the inter-departmental agreement notes the growing need to upgrade state methods for determining securities law compliance of EB-5 projects. The expanded DFR duties include requiring quarterly reports, site visits, audits and document reviews of EB-5 projects. The division of tasks between the ACCD and the DFR agencies are spelled out in a memo noted in the press release :

This [MOU] will also allow us [ACCD] to significantly increase marketing and promotional activities which is critical in the highly competitive market for EB-5 investment. This is similar to how ACCD and DFR share responsibility for Vermont's gold-standard captive insurance program.

A timely upgrade to VT's EB-5 oversight

And it seems not a minute too soon. This week Bloomberg reported that the SEC is continuing to expand scrutiny of the EB-5 program. The SEC is now focusing on immigration lawyers collecting illegal fees. And the DHS will soon release a report that ABC News says may be critical of EB-5 and raise concerns over fraud, money laundering, even espionage.

In the past, the SEC investigated and halted EB-5 programs outside Vermont for fraud and security risks. Vermont’s EB-5 programs were rated as among the best run in the nation for 2014. This rating, though, is from Invest in the USA (IIUSA) a friendly non-profit EB-5 advocacy group whose stated primary mission is permanent authorization of the EB-5 Regional Center Program.

Not to be forgotten,and perhaps slightly reassuring potential foreign investors is the contention that Quiros made when questions were raised by unhappy investors, that Jay Peak’s transactions are “200% ethical” – could be the tagline for all EB-5 programs someday.

Despite this (or maybe because of it) someone in the state has decided to expand EB-5 oversight –even if they are doing it so discreetly no one may  even notice. But the odds of Vermont businessmen successfully fleecing some visa seeking foreign investor have just decreased, although perhaps not enough.

Well, if nuke happy Arizona legislators don’t raise your blood, how about the RCMP taking on climate activists on behalf of the oil industry?

We like to think of Canada as our dull but infinitely more responsible continental sibling.  Largely overlooked by its flamboyant southern neighbor, that characterization has quietly slipped since Conservative Steven Harper seized the helm.

The current Prime Minister is an approximation of George Bush in his worldview, and a big friend to tar sands oil.  As a longtime MP from Alberta, his political fortunes have always been linked to the material ones of the fossil fuel industry.

With Harper in charge for a decade and much Canadian wealth tied up in burnable resources, it now appears that the RCMP has been appropriated to serve those interests.

An internal RCMP memo has recently emerged that paints a sinister picture, wholly inconsistent with the organization’s “Duddly Do-Right” reputation.

The Globe and Mail, which was the first to report on the memo, said the tone of the RCMP memo reflects the hostility of the Harper government towards environmental activists.

Judging by the language in the memo, it would seem that, girded for a climate clash, they have settled on “terrorist” as a fair identifier for activists who would limit Canada’s contribution to carbon emissions.

Bucking the international trend toward arresting climate change, Harper and his henchmen appear to be preparing to arrest the other side.

From the memo:

“There is a growing, highly organized and well-financed anti-Canada petroleum movement that consists of peaceful activists, militants and violent extremists who are opposed to society’s reliance on fossil fuels,” the memo says.

“If violent environmental extremists engage in unlawful activity, it jeopardizes the health and safety of its participants, the general public and the natural environment.”

It’s pretty funny that concern for the “natural environment” gets mentioned in this context.

Apparently the RCMP isn’t having a lot to say about the leaked memo.  For now, at least, we must assume that their faces are as red as their uniforms.

Those of us who were alive and sentient in the1960’s remember Senator Barry Goldwater (R) as one scary dude who proposed a nuclear end to the Cold War:

“Let’s lob one into the men’s room at the Kremlin.”

A hawk with a capital “H-E-Double-L,” the Arizona senator

…advocated that field commanders in Vietnam and Europe should be given the authority to use tactical nuclear weapons (which he called “small conventional nuclear weapons”) without presidential confirmation.

Dangerous as he sounded, Goldwater was orating mostly for effect, secure in the knowledge that both the U.S. and the Soviet Union shared an understanding of  “mutually assured destruction.”

Although we all feared that an “accident” could happen and unleash a terrible chain of consequence, this governing principle held both parties somewhat in check.

But that was then and this is now…

Apparently borrowing a page from his bellicose Republican ancestor, Arkansas Senator Jason Rapert says he thinks it would be a good idea to nuke ISIS.

“With ISIS spreading all over the Middle East and Africa and Islamic extremists carrying out violence in Europe, the United Kingdom and even in the United States, I wonder why the civilized world just sits by when we have weapons that could wipe out these barbarians where they are concentrated?” …Rapert went on to write, “a strategically placed nuclear weapon would save the lives of our soldiers and quickly turn things around.”

When this message went out on social media and was met with the predictable response from sane people, Rapert quickly back-pedalled a bit, saying something about targetting just the bad guys with a bunker buster device.

Mr. Rapert has made decisions as an Arizona Senator since 2011, but hasn’t gained even the most basic understanding of the widespread and asymmetric nature of the ISIS threat, which one may appreciate simply by picking up a newspaper.

He actually seems to imagine some central command that can be decapitated and thereby neutralized in a single spectacular explosion.

I suspect too many “Star Wars” sequels and not enough homework in this guy’s past.

It’s truly frightening to think that, on a federal level, his party now controls both the Senate and the House!

( – promoted by Sue Prent)

(Cross posted at minorheresies.com)

I want to bring a piece of information to you. In an article published today by The Intercept, Jeremy Scahill and Josh Begley reveal that British and US intelligence agencies hacked into the computer systems of the world’s largest manufacturer of SIM cards, allowing them to steal millions of encryption keys at will. Here’s the link to the article: https://firstlook.org/theinter…

A brief explanation: Your mobile phone or wireless enabled tablet is essentially part radio. It communicates with the nearest cell tower using a radio signal. Therein lies a problem of privacy. Your phone and the cell tower are both broadcasting a radio signal in all directions. What if someone is listening in?

In your phone there is a small chip, about the size of a thumbnail, containing information. This subscriber identification module, or SIM, contains a code that encrypts all your phone calls and texts so that if someone intercepts the signal all they will get is a string of gibberish. Modern 3G and 4G encryption is actually rather good. So good, in fact, that GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters, the British version of our NSA) and the NSA have trouble breaking it. Rather than breaking it, back in 2009 they decided to do an end run around it.

They hacked into the computer systems of Gemalto, the aforementioned SIM card manufacturer, and cyber-stalked its employees. (Gemalto supplies AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint, along with 450 others) They figured out how to automate the theft of the codes burned into millions of SIM cards distributed worldwide. They also figured out how to associate these codes with individuals who own mobile phones.

What this means is that any time they want, the NSA and GCHQ can easily decrypt phone calls and text messages from any Gemalto-SIM phone. It is a massive, ongoing, and deliberate breach of privacy. I’ll be interested to see the reaction to this when it becomes generally known.

In the meantime, the Electronic Frontier Foundation recommends the use of apps such as Signal/Redphone (iOS/Android versions), Silent Phone, and Silent Text to encrypt your communications, if you feel the need.

Am I the only one who thinks that the NSA needs a top-to-bottom ream and steam to clean the place out?

As I’d already noted in the socialmediaz, we found out today that Sam’s former classmate (our neighbor until last summer) has varicella.  No big deal, amirite, antivaxxers?

Bzzzz!

Dear Little B has been a fighter for 5 years (she’s a couple months older than our boy).  Deets are unnecessary, but she had an organ transplant and is thus immuno suppressed out of necessity.  She’ one of the myriad people we’ve tried to protect by making sure Sam and Sadie (and we) are vaccinated against preventable infections.

But chicken pox is so harmless.  Lots of kids had the disease before a shot was available.  Hell, I got it when I was a kid, and after many days of character-building scratching and whatnot, I was totally fine!

Of course, I didn’t require hospitalization and anti-viral IV.  And I didn’t have a long-scheduled operation that had to be postponed.

Now Little B has to spend many days in the hospital yet again.  She has to fight yet again, but this time against something that could have been mitigated if philosophical parents had vaccinated their kids.

So once more with feeling: THIS IS A PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE.  Period.  Full stop.  Get your goddamned shots.

ntodd

(This was written by former State Representative George Cross of Winooski, a longtime educator and former Superintendent of Schools. – promoted by MikeMcCarthy)

Let’s set the record straight.

As the state administration struggles to meet the challenge of decreased revenue much has been written about the administration’s justification for cutting the Community High School of Vermont (CHSVT) budget by half.  However, very little has been written about CHSVT’s size, the reductions in staff or the improvements in programs over the last several years.  Here’s that record:

The school has about 650 students – 504 enrolled students, plus an additional 150 students participating in workshops, seminars and internships.  Last year, students earned 332 trade certificates and more than three-dozen students completed high school.

Since 2008 the school has eliminated all 66 adjunct teaching positions.  Adjuncts were very part-time positions working between 5 and 15 hours per week and paid between $15 and $20 dollars per hour.

Since 2008 the school has reduced its faculty by 9 full-time certified teachers and two of the current positions are frozen and unfilled.  It is doubtful these positions will ever be filled.  Thus, the school has eliminated 11 teaching positions in the last 7 years.  Plus 5 limited-service positions funded via federal funds are questionable in the future.

Since 2008 the school has eliminated the Director of Special Education position and those duties have been assigned to others.  In the same period the Superintendent’s position has been combined with the Director of Vermont Corrections Industries which is basically another reduction in the administrative staff of one-half position although the full salary for this combined position is carried in the CHSVT budget.

It is estimated that these reductions in staffing have reduced the school’s personnel costs by about $1.4M per year.   That is about a 25 percent reduction in the school’s budget!

While all of this was happening other substantive programmatic changes occurred.  The school has restructured its learning plans, instructional activities, and language to mirror the DOC’s focus on risk reduction and the criminogenic needs of offenders.  CHSVT supports case plan compliance for offenders who are identified by the DOC’s assessment as in need of a high school diploma and/or career readiness skills to reduce their risk of reoffending.  Thus:

• All enrolled students have personalize learning plans that outline their learning goals, areas of need and method of achieving their goals

• Students are offered two learning tracks – diploma seeking and/or career readiness

• Graduation requirements were intensified and are now based on measured proficiency

• All course offerings align with Common Core State Standards.  Curriculum, course content and learning activities are proficiency based

• Enrolled students are assessed for educational progress on a quarterly basis

• Career and technical courses and workshop offerings have an associated industry certification – school now focuses on connecting offerings to the world of work

• Restructuring of staff – while teachers were once assigned to specific campuses, they are now assigned to regional teaching teams

• With the elimination of adjuncts, CHSVT reduced the number of course offerings and concentrated on those content areas that students needed to address their learning goals in their personalized learning plans

• All teachers are trained in writing, reading and math content and strategies for teaching adult learners

• Restructure of Administrative support of school – Administrative, Educational Technology, data collection, special education – centrally administered

• Restructure of Title 1 Services

• Implementation of Student Information System in 2013, that has delivered accurate and timely data

This commitment to continuous improvements that enhance CHSVT’s ability to meet the budgetary challenges and its educational obligations is precisely why, according to a recent study by Rand every dollar invested in corrections education can yield a savings of four to five dollars for taxpayers.

Further cuts only ensure more inmates return to our communities unequipped to get their lives back together and stay out of jail.

Please encourage your legislator to support adequate funding for this important school.

George C. Cross

Chair, Community High School of Vermont State Board