Well Entergy of Louisiana can’t keep the valves at the plant oiled but they do keep their legal team lubricated with money. Entergy’s legal team was successful in the challenge to Vermont’s law covering Vermont Yankee operating past 2012. The Times-Argus reports Entergy has sent a message from New Orleans demanding Vermont pay $4.6 million in legal fees they claim they incurred in the suit against the State.
Reacting to this news Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell said he had thought the claim from Entergy would be “in seven figures” more in line with Vermont standards. The Attorney General says:
“I guess it [$4.6 million] shows the ‘David-versus-Goliath’ aspect of the case,”
The mismatch is suitable but it’s kind of an ill fit otherwise for this situation as Goliath has won and is now making demands from David after this part of battle.
It also seems Sorrel had a surprising hope. Against all past dealings with Goliath he thought Entergy might make a gesture of being a good corporate citizen to atone for sins of the past.
Sorrell said he had even thought Entergy might not seek legal fees in a gesture of being “a good corporate citizen making up for the sins of the past and the misleading statements about the underground pipes.”
Sorrell had investigated Entergy officials for more than a year for possible criminal charges for the misstatements about underground pipes, which were later found to be the source of radioactive tritium leaking at the plant in 2010. Entergy executives had said such pipes did not exist.
Under pressure they grudgingly admitted to miss communicating about underground pipes.No criminal charges were filed; no case was brought so why would Entergy feel it had sinned? Hardly sinning in Goliath’s book of rules, maybe in the eyes of Entergy Corp the only sin is losing.
Just the kind of thing you like to peruse over brunch. From the Saturday Feb. 4 Brattleboro Reformer:
Entergy demands $4.6 million from the state
Yup, they want to be reimbursed for legal costs associated with their lawsuit over Vermont's denial of a license extension. Oh, and in case you were thinking about causing any more trouble?
"(The $4.62 million) amount is likely to increase if the fee petition is extensively litigated and/or Defendants appeal the Judgment," wrote Entergy's attorneys.
Been quite a couple of weeks for our good neighbor and provider of safe, clean, reliable power. They win the suit, they try to limit tritium testing, they demand that the Public Service Board immediately approve the 20-year extension. Can we look forward to 20 more years of corporate intransigence and bullying? Mebbe so:
...because Entergy prevailed against the state, the legal relationship between the two parties was "materially altered and was judicially sanctioned."
There's a marker for you. The Entergy/Vermont relationship has been "materially altered." Which seems to be a lawyerly way of saying, "You tried to f*ck with us, you lost, we own you." So says Pat Parenteau of the Vermont Law School:
"If there was any doubt about Entergy's scorched-earth policy toward the state of Vermont, it's been resolved," he said. "When you couple this motion with the motion to the Public Service Board, which is 'Give us our certificate of public good and give it to us now,' it's an in-your-face kind of move."
I guess we won't be seeing any more touchy-feely "I am Vermont Yankee" ad campaigns. Let's just hope the "scorched earth" stays completely in the rhetorical realm.
I'm relieved to see that the Susan G. Komen Foundation has reversed course on funding for Planned Parenthood. Not only because PP can use the money, but also because it's a strong indicator that the right wing doesn't have a monopoly on effective action. It also might prevent other mainstream charities from taking similar exclusionary steps.
But I'm not entirely convinced that Komen has changed its stripes. For one thing, there does seem to be a significant conservative cohort in the organization,which might seek to influence Komen policy in other ways. For another, there are some weasel words in Komen's apologia/retraction. To wit:
We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood...
That's fine, until the "existing grants" run out. This wording is very similar to Paul Ryan's (and Mitt Romney's) on Medicare and Social Security -- they say benefits will be unchanged for current recipients. This is true, but leaves out future recipients, who would see their benefits voucherized. Back to Komen:
...and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants...
And there's the other side of the Ryanesque promise. Sure, go ahead, apply all you want. Of course, you might not get any future grants. Tough luck there. And finally:
...while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities.
Which leaves the door open for local Komen chapters to freeze out Planned Parenthood if their local donor base leans pro-life. You could see a dramatic difference between red states and blue states in who gets Komen dollars.
Maybe I'm paranoid. But I have little trust in an organization that makes such a move in the first place, and then changes course because of intense public reaction. In architectural terms, Komen looks less like a cornerstone and more like a weathervane.
(Under the heading of "having one's cake and eating it too," Entergy and the NRC wants the state of Vermont to butt-out of safety issues, but also to ignore the endless blips in the plants "reliability" record.
Stardust draws our attention to yet another of these failures. Not that we're counting! - promoted by Sue Prent)
Stuck valve causes power reduction at Yankee
By SUSAN SMALLHEER
Staff Writer - Published: February 2, 2012
BRATTLEBORO - The Vermont Yankee power plant has been at reduced power for the past two days because of a problematic valve in a turbine in the non-nuclear side of the plant.
"We will continue to fund existing grants," the statement says, "including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities."
That says a lot about the power of the women's lobby to affect change.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Former Vermont Governor, Howard Dean, is speaking out against the decision by the Susan G. Komen Foundation to cave in to right-wing pressure and pull funding for breast cancer screenings from Planned Parenthood.
The Governor, who has served on the Board of Planned Parenthood, has also distinguished himself as Democratic Party chair during the historic period that brought Barack Obama to the presidency.
Could this be evidence that the Democratic message machine is readying itself to reclaim the party's role as the unapologetic champion of social justice?
In his time, Howard Dean has been one of the best "messaging" men in the Democratic Party. If this signals a new resolve by the Democrats to go toe-to-toe with Republicans, redefining and reclaiming the moral high-ground, we could still witness a great resurgence of grassroots enthusiasm of the sort that brought record numbers of young people to the polls in 2008.
#Occupy Wall Street has demonstrated that there is a political will for social justice on the rise in this country that could yet be mobilized before the November election.
Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich is loudly proclaiming that President Obama is waging "a war on religion," because he won't allow Catholic institutions to discriminate against their non-Catholic employees who wish to exercise the universal right to obtain birth control through their employee health insurance policies.
Despite evidence that Americans' support for a woman's "Right to Choose" is growing, that message just doesn't carry the hyperbolic clout of wording like "Right to Life," which we have ceded to the other side with barely a whimper of protest.
Why haven't we appropriated that power word, "life," for our own purposes? Why don't we women demand for ourselves and our children the "Right to a Livable Life?" which covers the right of choice as well as a whole roster of social justice issues.
Liberal causes are constantly made victims of their own rationality. We are loathe to employ the gross over-statement of the right, believing we are better than this.
For too many years now, despite an astonishing record of individual acts of hypocrisy, Republicans have succeeded in branding themselves with a holier-than-thou image of moral superiority. This is purely a marketing strategy; which is, after all, the natural strength of Republicans, since they are as thick with Shinola salesmen as they are with Wall Street confidence men.
But social justice and tolerance represent the ultimate, unassailable high-ground.
It's time to aggressively re-brand the Republican party with waging an immoral war on women, children, minorities and the poor.
Don Cornelius, the host and creator of Soul Train, died Wednesday at the age of 75 of an apparent suicide. Adolfo Quinones, also known as Shabba Doo, was one of the program's original dancers. He remembers Cornelius as the emancipator of street dance.
According to a Times article, Cornelius' "Soul Train" became the longest-running first-run nationally syndicated show in television history, bringing African American music and style to the world for 35 years. Cornelius stopped hosting the show in 1993, and "Soul Train" ceased production in 2006.
Vermont demographics: White persons, percent, 2010 (a)95.3% 72.4%
Black persons, percent, 2010 (a)1.0% 12.6%
American Indian and Alaska Native persons, percent, 2010 (a)0.4% 0.9%
Asian persons, percent, 2010 (a)1.3% 4.8%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, percent, 2010 (a)0.2%
That's okay.
Let's give the man who helped white teenagers confuse their parents for 35 years a Green Mountain State sendoff.
Rest in peace, brother Don Cornelius. You will never be forgotten.
I saw the general-market world, the white world. I felt that it was my mission to see to it that black talent had an opportunity to get national television exposure. We wanted to make each show evolve into a shocking moment. -Don Cornelius
It now appears that The Donald will be endorsing Mitt Romney, not Newt Gingrich. Politico has seamlessly (and shamelessly) updated its earlier post to reflect the latest tidings, including this poorly-written and almost unbelievable sentence:
But by this morning, other sources said that Trump's endorsement may actually go to Mitt Romney, who Trump has been lobbied heavily to endorse for the last few weeks.
Just think: the person who wrote that gets paid to write for a living. But leaving aside the kwazy konstruction of that sentence, let's look at the message. People have been heavily lobbying Donald Trump for weeks? To land his endorsement???
WHY?????????????
Donald Trump is a walking, talking caricature. He has no influence on the political process, aside from his talent for attracting cameras. From CNN:
Sixty-four percent of definite and likely GOP voters in a Pew survey last month said an endorsement from the reality television star would make no difference to them. Thirteen percent said it would make them more likely to back a candidate, while 20% said it would actually make them less likely.
So, a net negative -- even among likely Republican voters! Sheesh.
And beyond that, a Trump endorsement of Romney is a walking, talking validation of Romney's budding reputation as a rich guy who doesn't get it. What do these two people have in common? They both like to fire people.
If Romney or his advisers have any sense, they'll keep him far, far away from the Trump event. Which, dollars to donuts, will be held at some overblown Trump property decorated in late Saddam style -- pointlessly expensive and tasteless.
Of course, Mitt put in a personal appearance to collect the endorsement of Dan F'n Quayle, so he'll probably swallow what's left of his pride, paste on that fake smirk of his, carefully stand upwind of Donald's hair, and bask in the reflected glory of America's Favorite Fake Billionaire Clown.
Update, 1:55 pm February 2: Yep, expect the worst of Mitt and he'll deliver. Per Talking Points Memo:
Mitt Romney will hold a campaign event at Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas Thursday afternoon, according to the Romney campaign, at the same time Donald Trump is reportedly offering Romney his endorsement.
Mitt just can't resist. Tone-deaf, absolutely tone-deaf. Here's hoping Trump says something stupid for the Dems' attack ads. Not that they need any more material. And please, somebody start asking Mitt what he thinks of Donald's persistent Birtherism. He wants the endorsement, he should have to answer for it.
Bet you never thought you'd hear me say that, huh?
I started hearing last night that Donald Trump was about to make a major announcement, and speculation raged about whether he was going to finally set that mangy weasel on his head free or something to do with getting all the Republican candidates to go on Celebrity Apprentice to decide who's going to be the nominee, but the actual news is almost as good.
Yes, just when you thought Gingrich's candidacy was dead another billionaire comes through to revive it. Or at least to keep it on life support until the convention.
Obviously a Gingrich presidency would be an unprecedented disaster, so like Robert Reich I wouldn't even want to risk him being the Republican nominee. On the other hand, an evil alliance of the two biggest fatheads in American politics (pace, Chris Christie; your time will come) to beat up on the inevitable nominee is too much fun to pass up.
Senate Bill No. 250, known as the Irene Economic Stimulus Bill, directs tax relief and incentives both to Vermont consumers and to those disproportionately affected by the storm. According to the legislation, Vermont's 6-percent sales tax would be put on hold on Aug. 28 (the anniversary of the storm) to stimulate economic activity and promote the weatherization of homes.
Aside from the one-day sales tax holiday, there would be a one-week sales-tax holiday on home-weatherization supplies, and a 10-month sales tax holiday on mobile homes purchased to replace Irene-damaged units. That holiday would begin in the past -- August 28 -- and expire on June 30, 2012.
Now, my general view of sales tax holidays is that they're gimmicks. They don't do much to stimulate the economy; no more than your typical Presidents' Day sale. And that's exactly what they are: state-declared one-day Big Sales Events. On the other hand, they aren't terrifically harmful either; the state loses some sales-tax receipts, but (in the immortal words of Mitt Romney) "not very much." Most of the benefits are misdirected, to be sure; the people who can take advantage of sales-tax holidays are almost entirely those with enough $$$ to make discretionary purchases. But there are lots of worse ideas out there.
However, the idea of tying a sales-tax holiday to the first anniversary of Irene seems... well... a bit tone-deaf, no? Are we going to have somber remembrances interspersed with mad dashes to the mall? A moment of silence for the victims of Irene just before Wal-Mart opens its doors? August 28 is a Tuesday; why not schedule the sale on Wednesday the 29th? Or the nearest Saturday, if you really want to goose sales.
The only part of Bill 250 that really has anything to do with Irene is the mobile-home tax holiday. That, I can sort of understand -- although your average mobile-home resident left homeless is gonna need a whole lot more help than a tax holiday.
The rest of it can be marked down as political pandering.
250-1
55-1
