There was a beautiful simplicity to the “Economic Pitch” event with Lt. Gov. Phil Scott that I attended this evening at the Bliss Auditorium in Saint Albans. After the mercifully brief references to his Airborne Speedway days of glory, the bulk of the two-hour event was given over to local people pitching their ideas about how to make the economy of our state better. If you’re Phil Scott, and you want people to think of you as a good listener, then giving the floor over to your constituents and saying very little is a pretty good way to do it.

The GOP talking points were sprinkled lightly throughout the evening’s speeches- much lighter than I had feared. The Lt. Gov. reminded us that he had heard a “common theme about affordability” in the last election. That there were “1221 bills introduced last session and only 20 or so would have helped the economy.” In spite of the gloom he said, “We have a lot to look forward to.”

Book-ending the event in the Vermont GOP tradition of bashing our state’s business environment, the owner of Saint Albans Superior Technical Ceramics closed the night by saying “The Vermont Brand is not competitive.” Then he went on to pitch the idea of Research and Development tax credits as a way to make Vermont “The Innovation State”. This isn’t the worst idea, and he did talk about how great the quality of life is here. Still, we can’t miss a chance to advertise how bad it is to do business in Vermont in front of business people. Face palm.

In between the politics were some really great pitches, a few clunkers and one rant that I won’t even call a pitch (see the next paragraph). Superintendent Winton Goodrich talked about administering Pre-K, Special Education, staff healthcare and some other services for education at the state or regional level. Two speakers, including Saint Albans entrepreneur Tim Camisa of Vermont Organics Reclamation (son of Rep. Kathie Keenan) pitched ideas about turning our phosphorous problem into an economic benefit for farmers by processing manure into other products. Kristen Hughes and Jonathan Billings pitched the need for funding local food initiatives like the Healthy Roots Collaborative, emphatically declaring that “now is not the time to cut funding”. Franklin County Industrial Development Corporation’s Tim Smith wants the state to spend $500k more each year on SBDC staff to help guide small businesses in their planning, and is probably right that the increased economic activity will more than pay for the investment. Smith also would love for legislators to convince the feds to improve the Highgate border crossing, which he admitted was a naïve goal. Amen, brother.

The most political of the non-pitches came from engineer Sam Ruggiano via written statement that was read by Franklin Chamber Executive Director Dave Southwick. Ruggiano’s “rantings and suggestions” started out with a regret that the Lt. Gov hadn’t run for Governor in the last election. “He would have won.” According to Ruggiano, “Budget increases have to stop or legislators are going to bankrupt the state.” The legislature should also repeal Act 250 9(l), get the wetlands folks from ANR to stop holding up development in Saint Albans Town, force the City of Saint Albans to give water and sewer services to the Town so they can develop in said wetlands, and make sure they don’t pass any Paid Sick Leave bills while they’re at it.

No one clapped after the statement was read. Southwick said “I’ll let Sam know no one clapped.” Then there was some tepid applause. Awkward.

That was kind of the beauty of the event. It wasn’t about Phil Scott or any one person’s political agenda. Big rhetoric was frowned upon in the mixed crowd of business leaders, municipal officials, Democrats and Republicans. It’s refreshing to hear your neighbors share their ideas and their priorities for a few minutes.

I walked in to the Economy Pitch thinking that it was going to be a big commercial for Phil Scott- the kind of misreading of the room and pompous victory lap I had seen him take at the Vermont Rail Association dinner a week after election night in the same room. It felt more like one of Bernie Sanders‘ town hall style meetings, which I have also attended in that room. If Phil Scott can continue to tap into the earnest desire that many of my neighbors have to make their state a better place, he will be a formidable candidate for governor in 2016. In the meantime I hope he and the Franklin County legislators who were all in attendance will turn some of their ideas into laws.  

Over the years we've taken pleasure lambasting the SVR secessionists, both for the idiocy of their policy proposals and for their willingness to cozy up to outright racists, but we haven't had much to say about them lately (seeing as how they're pretty much consigned to irrelevancy and all).

Still, this year is special because it's the sesquicentennial of the final year of the Civil War. While some have spent the year honoring the Union and marking the traitors' perfidy, the League of the South, longtime allies of the Second Vermont Republic, have chosen a special way to mark the anniversary.

Here's what their head, Michael Hill, has to say:

 The League of the South looks to the present and future. However, from time to time we do look back at our past.

This 14th of April will mark the 150th anniversary of John Wilkes Booth’s execution of the tyrant Abraham Lincoln. The League will, in some form or fashion, celebrate this event. We remember Booth’s diary entry: “Our country owed all her troubles to him, and God simply made me the instrument of his punishment.” A century and a half after the fact, The League of the South thanks Mr. Booth for his service to the South and to humanity.

http://leagueofthesouth.com/honoring-john-wilkes-booth569/

Is there anyone still kicking around at the Second Vermont Republic who is willing to disavow their connections to this actively racist organization? 

Political cartoonist Jeff Danziger was joking around recently when he suggested that Vermont needs to piggy back on New Hampshire’s First in the Nation© Presidential Primary. In his opinion piece, Danziger cuts comically right to the heart of the matter:

It’s not only the money that the New Hampshire primary brings to that state. It’s the … well, OK, it’s the money. Their television stations will be rolling in dough, their restaurants will be crowded with journalists and hangers-on, and their merchants’ registers will jam.

 And now the idea has gone from spoof to legislation sponsored in Vermont by state Senator Anthony Pollina, who has put forward legislation almost duplicating Danziger’s same day as New Hampshire “proposal.” Like the humorist (but in more nuanced language) Senator Pollina also sees an “economic shot in the arm” and claims it would give Vermonters a greater role in choosing a president.

“There’s a lot of money generated during primary season, and there’s no reason why Vermont shouldn’t reap some of the benefits of the early primary,” Pollina said.

He notes that towns along the Connecticut River might benefit most from a once-every-four-years burst of border-town business for motels, restaurants and of course media buys: “This ad was paid for by friends of …”

And Pollina hopes more-liberal Vermont voices may help “shape the debate” or as Danziger put it, with all the false modesty he could muster:

We here in Vermont, who, God knows, are much better equipped to make an intelligent decision about the future of the country, are ignored wholesale. […] But actually it’s the money.

And how about the money? Well the dollars trickle down into the First in the Nation© Primary State in all kinds of ways. Jebbie Bush (the “smart one”), for example, who is expected to run for the Republican Presidential nomination, is handing out money in New Hampshire (and Iowa) through his PAC. Bush cash gifts include $10,000 to the New Hampshire Republican Committee and the legal limit $5,200 each to NH Congressman Frank Guinta and Senator Kelly Ayotte.

So yeah, about the money: it flows all kind of ways, and why do we assume Vermont’s liberal views will transform the debate? The reverse is possible — the primary debate could transform our political landscape. Imagine the extra thousands of dollars windfall the Vermont Republican Party or conservative Vermont candidates might receive.

Yup, we need some of that PAC money here in Vermont … Oh, and Danziger was just joking.

I can’t believe there’s still more bad news to discuss concerning VY this week!

On Valentine’s Day, I awoke to the news that the NRC had just revealed another “minor violation”at Vermont Yankee, that occurred the day after shutdown, on December 30, 2014.

As per usual, they assure us that the problem was discovered and reported in the “final inspection report,” and that it was fixed before the public was placed in any danger.

The obvious question is: what could have happened if that final inspection report hadn’t required that someone take a closer look at the water levels in a timely manner?  

The answer is: perhaps nothing…so long as all the other systems were functioning properly and no other mitigating circumstances occurred to further compromise the water level.  

But, the emergency cooling water pumps likely would not have worked if needed.

As staffing becomes further undermined by cost constraints, and underused infrastructure succumbs to passive aging, any small failure becomes more likely to be compounded by a chain of other failures, and could lead to a truly calamitous event.

If you have any doubts about the truth in this, I suggest you watch the embedded Fairewinds video at the end of this diary, which explains in some detail how sequential failures at Fukushima Daiichi lined up like a string of dominoes to bring about the unlikely triple meltdown we now know is so regrettably possible.

I don’t think I need to explain again to our astute readers why maintaining something as simple as the correct level of water in a reactor is essential to avoiding a crisis.

According to Susan Smallheer, reporting in the Rutland Herald:

… water levels in the reactor core were lower than plant workers realized because of faulty calculations, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Friday.

This is what we at GMD have come to regard as a “Friday News Dump.”  During VY’s operating years under Entergy control, we grew accustomed to learning about violations that took place much earlier at VY, only on Fridays, when most people are too busy with weekend plans to take much notice of the news from VY.

Entergy Nuclear spokesman Martin Cohn said Entergy workers incorrectly measured water levels, thinking they were higher than they actually were.

He attributed the problem to the fact that many plant personnel took five days off immediately after the Dec. 29 shutdown. “It was an issue of instrument calibrations,” he said.

As we bear in mind that personnel cuts will be ongoing at the idled reactor, and that Entergy has sought relief from its emergency planning and notification obligations,  is instructive to read the NRC’s own words about the failure:

“Entergy did not establish measures to assure the design basis was correctly translated into procedures and instructions,” the NRC report stated…An incorrect assumption in calculation led to reduced water level in the reactor vessel while using the shutdown cooling system,”

Doesn’t that make you feel all better,now?

Happy Valentine’s Day from VY!

I am a non-technical member of the Fairewinds Energy Education crew, but the views expressed here are my own alone and do not necessarily reflect those of Fairewinds.

As Town Meeting Day approaches my mind goes back to three years ago, when our founder, John Odum, was engaged in a hotly contested race for Montpelier City Clerk. He won by a couple of hundred votes, but it was a real campaign, with yard signs, handouts, and everything.

So John took office and he immediately started doing great things in the job. Here's one example from the city clerk's Facebook page:

 As many of you who come by frequently know, since the nearly 3 years since I arrived in the office, we have changed the way we process and provide access to land records. Our new system allows us, not only to make land records and indexes available online, but also to turn around those records and make them available on the same day they arrive, breaking up a backlog that was sometimes as long as 3 months.

Even more exciting is that these changes allowed us to decrease the costs by around 2/3rds. This is a major reason why I was actually able to present my third departmental budget in a row that was actually a decrease from the previous year.

 And what about the election contest he faced three years ago?Well, here's a clip from this year's sample ballot:

Observers have been assuming that Miro Weinberger has an easy path to reelection, and the three-way split for the opposition can only help him, right?

The latest move by Greg Guma to stand out from the crowd has worked, but probably not in the way he had hoped.

Attack ads? The line on them is everybody hates them, but everybody knows they work. I'm not sure this one's coming up trumps for Guma, though. Let's take a look.

Bulls-eye superimposed on the mayor's head–Check

Sound of a gunshot along with the bulls-eye–Check

Swiping a copyrighted photo from the Burlington Free Press--That's your trifecta right there!

 “Greg Guma–Take the target off Burlington's back” and put it on the mayor's head.

I'm not involved in the election, but this leaves me shaking my head. 

Note:  Comments from the public on decommissioning issues are being accepted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission only until March 23.  You can use this handy link to submit your own.

It’s Friday the13th and less than a month away from the fourth anniversary of the nuclear disaster at Fukushima, which continues to flow radioactive water into the Pacific

What better day for Vermont to revisit their own nuclear powder keg, Vermont Yankee.

On Monday,the Vermont Department of Health revealed that last August, Strontium-90 had been detected in test wells on the property of the now inactive nuclear plant.  

Assuming a very conservative position on the release, the Vermont Dept. of Health offered  the following observation:

Until now, the only radionuclide measured in any of the groundwater monitoring wells at Vermont Yankee was tritium (hydrogen-3). Sr-90 was detected in soil collected near the source of the tritium leak in 2010. Sr-90 has also been detected in fish in the Connecticut River as well as in fish in other Vermont waters not connected to Vermont Yankee, but those detections are consistent with worldwide background levels.

So-called “background” radiation sounds benign enough, until you consider this (also from the Health Dept.):

Sr-90 is a product of nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons, and does not occur naturally in the environment….It has a half-life of 29 years, which means this is the time it takes to decay to one-half of its original concentration. Ingesting Sr-90 at high enough levels is linked to bone cancer, cancer of soft tissue near the bone, and leukemia.

…and this:

Although the specific source of the Sr-90 is unclear, it is likely that Sr-90 in ground water and soils at Entergy Vermont Yankee are the result of past leaks and fallout from air releases at the station during its years of operation.

Remember that tritium leak from the pipes that Vermont Yankee denied even existed?  Apparently Entergy still lacks the curiosity to investigate, saying that the source will probably remain unknown until decommissioning.

Which brings us to the week’s second big news item about VY.  

As predicted here on GMD and by plenty of others, Entergy is beginning to inch away from its decommissioning commitment.

You may recall that, when the Legislature allowed Entergy to purchase Vermont Yankee, everybody spat on their hands and swore a boyscout oath that Entergy would live up to its decommissioning obligation.

Entergy Vermont Yankee was formed as a Limited Liability entity (LLC).  This designation shields the greater corporate conglomerate, sharply limiting its liability in the event of a bankruptcy.

With establishment of this arms-length relationship, the writing seemed to be on the wall, that Entergy would one day try to walk away from the high cost of decommissioning, leaving Vermont taxpayers holding the bag.

Recent fancy footwork by the energy giant to justify raiding the decommissioning fund, in order to cover some of the costs of long term onsite storage of spent fuel, only served to increase our anxiety.  

That they had been approved for SAFSTOR, a program under which decommissioning can be delayed as much as sixty years, inspired even less confidence.  

The drawbacks for the community in such an arrangement are pretty obvious, but the delay also means significant increase in the final cost of decommissioning.

Now, Entergy is showing its cards as it unscrews all the light fixtures and makes for the door.

An Entergy Corp. official said Wednesday the company is offering no guarantees it will pay to decommission its retired Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant if the job’s still not done by the end of a 60-year period.

Of course this announcement was accompanied by much confidence that it would never come to this, and decommissioning would begin just as soon as the fund had grown sufficiently.

However, with the fund already a little anemic, Entergy dipping into the fund to offset the cost of onsite fuel storage, the non-returning status of VY, and an uncertain energy market future; that sounds pretty much like a leaky pipe dream.

Entergy VP Michael Twomey hints it could get ugly:

“There would probably be quite a bit of litigation about that,” Twomey told a joint hearing of the House and Senate Natural Resources committees. “We’d all have different points of view.”

Understate much?

……………………………………………………………………………………….

Even though I  am proud to be a non-technical member of the Fairewinds Energy Education crew, the opinions expressed here (as always) are my own alone and do not necessarily coincide with those of Fairewinds.

AMA blog claims volunteers are in short supply:

But relying on altruism alone to facilitate clinical trials is potentially unsustainable and ethically contentious … In recent decades there has been a distressing decline in the numbers of healthy volunteers who participate in clinical trials [7], a decline that has the potential to become a key rate-limiting factor in vaccine development

http://journalofethics.ama-ass…

Soo the “Social Contract” in this particular collectivist mindset where everything is supposedly for “The Greater Good” alone apparently extends to mandated vaccine trials suggesting it’s no different than “jury duty” logic of which rests upon the “opt-out” of organ donation popularized in the European-style socialisms (and suggested as the law of the land in VT by a legislator who is also an MD) and where none are citizens but all are subjects to a “crown”:

AMA Journal of Ethics

Formerly Virtual Mentor

Illuminating the art of medicine

Virtual Mentor. January 2012, Volume 14, Number 1: 35-38.

Policy Forum

Should Participation in Vaccine Clinical Trials be Mandated?

Would the existence of a potentially lethal infectious disease, for which vaccine development was hampered by a shortage of volunteer trial subjects, justify making trial participation mandatory?

Susanne Sheehy, BM BCh, MRCP, DTM&H, and Joel Meyer, BM BCh, MRCP

What the hell happened to the Constitution & where the hell is the ACLU?

And, even the AMA officially opposes compulsory or mandated vaccines (or once did):

AMA’s Medical Code of Ethics SUPPORT Exemption Provisions

– added emphasis

“The breath of organizations that strongly support flu vaccination, but are on record concurring with SEIU in opposing a flu vaccine employer requirement in the absence a basic philosophic or personal exemption for healthcare workers include: OSHA, CDC’s NIOSH, the EEOC, the AFL-CIO, the AMA (15), the ANA, ACOEM (the largest organization of occupational health physicians), and the Association of Occupational Health Professionals in Healthcare  (AOHP), the California Nurses Association {CNA), Leading Edge (the trade association for the non-profit long term care industry), National Nurses United {NNU), the New York State Public Employees Federation {PEF), and the New York State Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union {ACLU).”

http://www.nvic.org/NVIC-Vacci…

So, AMA does or did count themselves among the many trade organizations and unions which oppose compulsory vaccinations and ostensibly compulsory “clinical trials”. And where does it end folks? Medical experimentation on all for “The Greater Good”? You can kiss safety goodbye when it’s all mandated like some of the folks commenting on GMD believe at least vaccination should be.

From an antivax perspective:

The American Medical Association Will Soon Be Able To Force People To Enter Experimental Vaccine Trials

Christina England October 22 2012

http://vactruth.com/2012/10/22…

I’ll be expecting a stampede to the Vaccine Trial Signup Centers for this new medical marvel from the collectivist folks which will result in the wave of the future for the “Greater Good”, more and better vaccines for all.

Medical Industrial Complex — Vaccine Volunteer Initiative Project (VVIP)

As we in the Medical Industrial Complex (MIC) embark upon the brave new world of medicine, the Medical Care Board (MCB) in each state or sectorium has been tasked with finding the most cost-effective and efficient means to distribute the needed care, services and allocation of medical wealth in our society as it pertains to health care and follows the mantra & trajectory leading to “The Greater Good” as defined by the MCB.

Studies have shown that wellness is synonymous with the amount of vaccines dispensed to the populous which then form the single most important aspect of health care. Although the VVIP is mandatory, it includes volunteers so we chose to identify all testees as volunteers aka Testing Subjects (TS). Testing Subjects will be chosen by lottery. There are no waivers — all from birth including all other ages are eligible.

This is necessary to form the largest and most comprehensive cross section of vaccine trial experimentees which then represent the most complete cross section of our society. The statistics are virtual and achieved from computer modeling. As the program progresses “real time” methodology will be used. The first actual statistics are expected to be compiled and ready in 2025.

[Instructions and disclaimer: Must Be Signed in Advance Under Penalty of Law. There are no exemptions except for: health care delivery system workers, members of congress, judicial and executive branches plus all state, municipal, federal and state government employees, teachers, and families of the aforementioned. Names will not be used, an identification number has been found to be the most efficient method of ID.]

A small Chipped Module (CM) will be placed under the fatty portion of the palm to be read by an RFID Scanner (RFIDS). In most cases the chip dissolves within a year of placement following the testing tour of duty leaving only the indelible number of the TS under the skin readable only with an RFIDS. Pain and a small amount of blood at the placement site is normal and expected this should subside in a week to ten days. Infections will be treated at no charge. During infectious period TS will assist the TA. Test Subjects will return to their volunteer experimentation when infection begins to subside.

A mild stroke aka Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) is possible during the dissolving process as a known flaw exists which causes the module to become stuck in blood vessels — this is about 30% or 30 per 100. Cardiac Arrest is another known flaw but in our virtual model of Test Subjects has been found to be as low as 10% or 10 per 100.

No communication between Test Subjects is allowed, even family members under penalty of law. Test subjects will be escorted at all times for their safety. Photo RFID embedded card including all necessary papers is required and will be confiscated upon arrival.

Upon arrival a mild sedative will be administered for your safety, drowsiness is expected and not harmful. In certain cases there have been allergic reactions similar to a bee sting and in rare cases Anaphylactic Shock has occurred. We stress: This is rare occuring in just 5% this is 5 in 100 and mostly children and elderly. All subjects will be stripsearched. This is for your safety as well as the staff. Nutrition supplying the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for nutritional needs as well as prescribed medications will be supplied intavenously.

If veins become difficult to find – due to dehydration for example – we have the option of using nutritional suppositories (NS) or Nutritional Enemas (NE) depending upon availability. This is an efficiency component and less stressfull to the TS as well as less time consuming for staff. Following absence of ingested nutrition, subjects become unresponsive to “hunger pangs” which end approximately one week after administration of Nutritional IV Therapy (NIVT).

Please arrive promptly wearing loose fitting clothing, you will change into hospital-style gowns for the duration of all vaccine trials & experiments, studies have confirmed it is less stressful and time consuming to remove loose fitting clothing. The door to your single occupancy windowless test-cell will be locked for your safety and protection. If in-room tv, running water or flush-style toilets is desired there will be an additional charge. In case of emergency ring buzzer, someone will reply on a first come-serve basis.

If waiting time exceeds 1/2 hour please ring buzzer again in 1/2 hr intervals. Generally all calls are answered within three ringings when understaffed due to budget constraints or high turnover & subject to availibility of quailified or unqualified per-diem Standby Associates (SA). Waiting periods have been considerably longer in these cases. The Waiting Time Sub-Committee (WTS) of the MCB is working to resolve the problem.

All costs incurred are to be paid by the subject in advance of the experiment. Since these trials will be taxpayer funded, studies have shown paying in advance of testing reduces the cost for the subject. Shoes will be kept in your locker in the entrance to the research facility, one-size-fits-all rubber thongs will be issued to all TS, they may be located in the pockets of your hospital-style gown. Other personal effects will be confiscated including cell phone which will be turned off upon release and included with other effects.

Staffers are not responsible for any loss of effects, all are the sole responsibility of the subject. Remove all jewelry and place in Effects Packet (EP), roll up sleeves and place straps around shoulder, pull down pants if worn including undergarments, place straps around ankle area then bend over face down across the testing bar in advance of your clinical trial.

We may use either the buttocks, thighs or outer shoulder depending on the trial or preference of research associate. As many as twelve injections per day may be administered to healthy subjects per advisement of MCB. Since children 5-10 yo receive these amounts in a given day it is thought that children as well as adults could maintain such a testing schedule with complications ranging in the same levels per injection at the Herd Level of vaccine complications of normal vaccine recipients.

Our Research Associates (RA) & TA are very busy, dislike having to wait and studies have shown this protocol saves time and cost for the subject as well as reducing stress on our associates and meeting Efficiency Level Goals (ELG) of our ACO modeled care. Those not ready must wait in the required position until the next round of injections occurs or between Testing Associate meal times whichever is later.

Since there are Testing Subjects which will expire, aka Expired Subject (ES) and others which will live, Live Subject (LS) in each Testing Module (TM), in the event you have a reaction leading to illness or death or are in the “Death Group” all incurred costs will have been paid in advance by the subject. An onsite preplanned crematorium facility may be used at an additional fee. This efficiency feature allows the family of the “Death Group” (DG) to plan a Dignified Departure (DD).

No funds will be returned to the “Live Group” (LG), any excess funds will be used to recoup costs for those whose ability to to pay has been compromised such as the homeless, nonambulatory, handicapped, disabled, intellectually challenged and institutionalized.

Experiments were originally taxpayer funded, government officials as well as the AMA, vaccine & pharmaceutical manufacturers decided Direct-Pay would be more efficient and less costly to subjects and families of subjects. Death or injury will be reported to Designated Significant Other (DSO).

Where applicable the use of prisons and FEMA camps is necessary in the event existing experimental facilities are overutilized or of great distance. Whichever is closer to the Testing Associates will be used. We do not intend this option to be a source of alarm. An additional mild sedative is optional at an additional fee.

Faith-based materials and artifacts are allowed and encouraged. Placement in a prison cell or FEMA facility improves efficiency, saves cost, creates additional employment. Unskilled Associates (UA) may be utilized on an as-needed temporary basis when necessary. As an added bonus a 5% prompt “Where Are Your Papers” (WAYP) discount will be applied to those returning their papers with full payment in 24 hours or one working day.

Please note: Children from 1 day to 5 years will be cared for in a Licensed Child Care Facility at the expense of the parent or legal guardian. Other children will be housed in the same manner as adults as we expect a shortage of child care facilities and studies have shown separation anxiety or psychological trauma is minimal per the MCB. Mild sedatives suitable for children are administered.

Further traumatizing effects if any, are treatable with Licensed Hypnotist Counseling Sessions (LHCS) which include small doses of Versed or Propofol. Over time the vast majority forget the experience and achieve full recovery in the 60 percentile.

The rest have small levels of chronic anxiety, signs & symptoms of psychological trauma however this is no different than what is experienced by parental separation, death of a pet, friend or loved one. A larger subset of traumatees are classified as Emotionally Disturbed however our research models show them to be at similar levels now found in the general population.

All employees of the VVIP & Vaccine Trial Initiative (VTI) will be indemnified by the Federal Government, under the No Litigation Clause (NLC). Under due process, however, a complaint can be filed with AMAarm of HHS who will verify if any rules, mandatory procedures, sanitation protocols or laws that were not followed or if any crimes have been committed.

If found to be true a notation will be added to complainants file & future corrective action will be taken. Since the entire program is wholly funded by the participants, it would be too costly to provide a funding mechanism for damages, and would undermine the mission and goals of our primary sponsor the Greater Good Foundation (GGF), to which the monies customarily paid out to victims of Vaccine Malpractice are diverted to cover operational costs.

Please note: cost of Volunteer Testing Trial (VTT) in the VVIP is $800-$1000 per day, payable to the the AMA or VacciPharm Testers Association (VPTA) by credit card, cash or check (please do not send food stamps or postage stamps they will b e returned along with a fee for processing the errant payment method ((EPM)), cost of voluntary tour of duty depends upon accoutrements desired, typically the trials last one month.

Home equity loans as well as the now popular Reverse Mortages are available as well as our Retesting and Revenue Remediation Program (RRRP) which allows all unable to pay to work off the mandatory fee by re-enrolling & paying according to a graduated schedule.

All fees may be waived by signing on for additional Tours of Duty in the VVIP. Each additional two months results in one month of waived fees.

And, an additional bonus of a 50% reduction in all future Scheduled Vaccines (SV) which will be be added to the roster per the MCB decision of necessity  and included in the panel of scheduled, mandatory vaccines and auto-billed to the vaccinee’s payment method which includes all natural born citizens as well as those carrying Green Cards. No exemptions or waivers are available or applicable.

Further membership as a volunteer is also offered following aforementioned tours as a Veteren Vaccine Volunteer Initiative Program member (VVVIP). VVVIPs choose the clinical trials & drug experiments they wish to participate in, typically stay in their own homes, continue with employment if able (parking spaces for VVVIP members are mandatory in all places of employment as well as all public buildings and businesses. Driver’s License designates licensee as a card-carrying VVVIP member, are paid a stipend plus travel expenses and always receive experimental testing in a hospital setting.

An award signed by the VVVIP Commissioner is given as well as a beautiful plaque suitable for wall hanging or standing on a coffee table, (special plaque stands are available in several styles for a nominal fee) and are also given poshumously to the DSO family of the “Death Group”.

VVVIP insignia license plate allowing re-enrolling VVVIP to park in designated VVVIP spaces, free tailored civilian-uniform in a warm brown accented in red with matching pants or skirt with red chevron striped insignia badge including pins indicating years of service in the VVVIP, suitable for wearing to ceremonies and private holiday get-togethers.

The VVIP Homeless Program is an extension of the VVIP (HVVIP) administered by our Vaccine Benevolent Society (VBS). We provide transportation to and from all facilties at no charge, feed and house the homeless volunteers following initial tour and repayment tour in FEMA camps and prisons whenever they volunteer.

They also receive a pocket-sized award & plaque. And, smoking is allowed in FEMA facilities in Designated Smoking Areas. If they decide to leave the program they receive used and/or surplus commodity military equipment; K-Rations for life, pup-tent, sleeping bag, lifetime supply of free sterno, cooking gear, free batteries for life and LCD battery powered lamp, tent-sized hot seat, snowmobile, military snow-suit & rain poncho all embossed with our HVVIP logo.

As an added bonus, enrollment in any branch of the military is free.

Your cooperation and prompt response to the request for submission of all forms and signed papers which will be mailed to test subjects one month in advance will be appreciated. Thank you in advance!

Sponsored by HHS, and AMAU – “American Medical Association Union — Local 666”. Includes the Collective of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (CPM) PHARMA & the Vaccine Manufacturers of America VMA which have been separately combined to form the “VacciPharm” arm of the Medical Industrial Complex.

… “For which we stand – one complex, indivisible with medical care for all”

As Town Meeting Day is just a couple of weeks away, I have decided to preview some of the ballot items and races. I will start with the mayor's race.

There are 4 candidates for mayor:  Weinberger (Democrat), the incumbent; two challengers from the left, Progressive Steve Goodking and Independent Greg Guma, and one challenger from the right, Libertarian Loyal Ploof. I haven't followed the mayor's race that closely and I don't feel that there is much of a race to begin with. There had been recent demonstrations about the selling of land from Burlington College to a private developer, and of Weinberger's close ties to real-estate developers. In times past, I would have been a proponent of the Progressives, but after the Burlington Telecom debacle and the fiscal mess the Kiss administration left behind, I have few qualms with incumbent Weinberger. There is some anger in the community about the pro-development agenda of his adminstration, but I can only see the left splitting the vote and leaving him with a relatively comfortable path to victory. Loyal Ploof might be the best positioned to end in second place. 

Now on to some of the ballot items:

School Budget: It increased again, and there were findings that the school district was still in the red. I know it's going to pass, but I'm going to vote no. It increases my rent and this city is unaffordable as it is. 

Pledging city credit to downtown TIF district: Yes. Weinberger has done a good job restoring the city's credit rating, and I'm willing to give his administration a chance to improve the downtown district.

Allow noncitizens to serve on city boards and as department heads: Yes, there is nothing wrong with that as they are residents of the city and deserve to have a say about it.

Non-citizens to vote in municipal and school elections: I've thought about it, and I am voting no. Even though there were instances in the past where non-citizens were allowed to vote, all I have to say is that it is one of the few rights that separates lawful residents from US citizens. I say, become a citizen and vote. Many people would feel differently about that idea though. 

Board terms for three years: Yes, there is something as voting too often for people. I feel that voting for federal representatives every two years is too much. I feel the same about elections on the local level as well.

Eliminating requirement to political affiliation for certain city boards: Yes.

What do you guys think? I don't feel that invested in the items coming up this Town Meeting Day, but I have given my take on them and I will go and vote. 

Vaccines are not a Democrat-Republican issue, or a left-right issue. Vaccines are a matter of public health. The only division is between the rational and the irrational.

Today Phil Scott came down on the side of the rational. According to VPR,  Lt. Gov. Phil Scott says he thinks lawmakers should do away with the philosophical exemption to the state's mandatory immunization law.

I'm hearing that the anti-vaxxers are all over him for this stance, although I'm waiting for the evidence. Meanwhile, I think it's great to have a leading statewide official standing for public health and safety.