Freyne Land

The obvious light at the end of the tunnel is the end of the presidency of George W. Bush.

A new U.S. president will take the oath of office in January 2009.

Couldn't come fast enough, eh?

Hang in there, America.

Our neighbors to the north are certainly hoping so, as Canadians read in today's Toronto Star. A piece by Tim Harper focusing in on Vermont's senior U.S. senator - Patrick J. Leahy:

Leahy was the first member of the U.S. Congress to raise questions about the rendition of Maher Arar to Syria by the Bush administration. He co-sponsored an amendment that pushed back the deadline for tough new border restrictions, and said talk of a fence along the northern border was the most "cockamamie" idea he'd ever heard.

He also enshrined himself in the exclusive FOC – Friends of Canada – circle by twice calling Canadian ambassadors here as banners or flags were flying at half staff, acknowledging tragedies in this country.

He's a lifelong civil libertarian, a mild-mannered man in his daily routine but known to blow a gasket when he's being stonewalled, or when he feels he must pounce on an injustice.

 (Freyne Land file photo)

I couldn't post a link for some unknown reason, so please copy & paste for full article.
:
http://www.thestar.com/article/172763

Democrat Tom Salmon, the Bellows Falls CPA, hasn't gotten a whole lot of press since winning the auditor's race recount on December 21 by a slim 102 votes over Republican one-term incumbent Randy Brock.

On the first count of the November 7 vote, it appeared Brock had won by around 800 votes.

But Salmon, the son of the former governor of the 1970s and UVM president of the 1990s, won the count that counted in this historic statewide squeaker 111,770-111,668.

Since taking office on January 4, however, Salmon II has been lost in the background of the big legislative kick-off. Tough to compete with global warming when you're just a numbers-crunching CPA, eh?

Yours truly had the good fortune of bumping into our new auditor on State Street in Montpeculiar this afternoon. Nice to see him out strecthing the legs. Told us he's been living with an old Navy buddy in Northfield during the week, unless he has to attend a meeting of the Rockingham Selectboard on which he serves.

The selectboard seat, he told us, keeps him conected to the local community - a very good thing. Said Tom the Auditor:

"As a candidate you deal with uncertainties. To dive into this just feels so right. It’s an accountant’s dream in essence to be given a key to a very effective accounting firm and to get in there and work for the biggest client in the state. When you look at that gold dome you know that what we’re working on here is bigger than any of our egos. It’s really about the people of Vermont."

Feels good?

"Feels great!"

Hey, at least the sun was shining! Lots and lots of energy in the air too, both outside and inside the building.

At left, is a shot of the heated goings-on in Sen. Vince Illuzzi’s Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs. The hot-button item of the morning was the state office building in Bennington. Specifically, it was the condition of the office building - health wise. There are 135 employees inside and seven of them have been diagnosed with sarcoidosis, a chronic immune system disorder.

Sarcoidosis normally occurs, say VSEA officials, in 1 of 10,000 persons. But 7 out of 135, they say, raises a huge red flag.

State workers say the Douglas administration has known about the problem since last June, but state workers will not be moved out until March. What’s taken so long?

Said our governor to reporters at his weekly “slugfest” in the ceremonial office an hour or two later:

“We acted immediately. I asked the Health Department to look into it immediately along with the Dept of Buildings and General Services. The Health Department conducted a very thorough investigation and concluded that they did not have any evidence linking the building directly to these diagnoses.

“Nevertheless, it seemed to me so unusual that the diagnoses of this disease is disproportionate to the population as a whole, coupled with the fact there is clearly some mold in the building that may be exacerbating asthma or lung conditions, that I felt we had to do something about it.

"I’ve directed the department to move the employees on a temporary basis and make some improvements to the building: clean it up, repair it, alter the building so there’s less likely development of mold in the future. Then eventually send the employees back.”

The state is going to fit up a site in Bennington with modular trailers to serve as a courtroom and other state offices. The price tag: $3.3 million.

“It’s going to be like something you see out in Desert Storm,” said Chairman Illuzzi (R- Essex/Orleans).

In the end, they’ll be taken down, he said. The workers will be returned to the original “sick” building.

“That money could have been spent on refitting an already existing building in a designated downtown Bennington location,” said Sen. Illuzzi.

Illuzzi also noted the Douglas Administration didn’t sign the lease for the modular units until just last week.

Vince the Prince told Buildings Commish Tasha Wallis (testifying above), “The timing has been troubling because we learned you signed the contract only after you learned we were having a hearing today.”

Interesting.

Remember Bill O'Reilly's obsession last January with Vermont District Court Judge Ed Cashman?

He's at it again!

Read all about it in Darren Allen piece in today's Rutland Herald/Times Argus: "Fox Anchor O'Reilly again jumps into Vt. sexual assault case."

Coincidentally, former veteran Vermont A.P. Bureau Chief Chris Graff was on Fox News this morning to ostensibly plug his new book "Dateline Vermont." He appeared via satellite link from WCAX-TV HQ in South Burlington.

"Vermont for 100 years was the most Republican state in the nation," said Graff. But that "ended about 1950 and slowly the Democrats started growing, and in 1985 became the dominant party in Vermont."

The Fox host (whose name we did not catch - hey, they all look alike!), noted we have a Republican governor named Jim Douglas, a Democratic senator named Patrick Leahy and the other senator, Bernie Sanders, calls himself a socialist!

"It’s really personality not politics that determines who wins Vermont’s elections," said Christopher." Vermonters seem almost schizophrenic when they vote....they pick out the person a little like a Chinese menu."

Like a Chinese menu?

Hadn't heard that one before.

"I want to move on to the judges stories," said Madame Fox. "Bill O’ Reilly has been focusing on this a lot - perpetrators of child abuse getting lenient sentences..."

"I think that what the leaders of Vermont are saying is they don’t think Bill O’Reilly knows what he’s talking about," replied Graff.

Well said, Chris!

Nice to see a little snow. Been a while, eh?

In fact, Vermont's newest U.S. senator held a morning presser on global warming at his Church Street office that coincided with the white stuff.

Not "news" really - everyone already knew - but U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders will reintroduce former Sen. Jim Jeffords' global warming bill this week. It went nowhere last time with the Bush Republicans in charge.  Let's see what happens this time. Bernie was flanked by three environmental activists including  Bill McKibben, a guy who's everywhere lately.

"The power of Big Energy and the money of Big Energy is enormous," said Sanders. "There's no question about that. And we're going to have to work very hard to get legislation like this passed."

But change is in the air, said the brand new senator from Vermont.

"All that I can say is the good news is that from the grassroots to the halls of Congress, there is no question there has been a sea change in the understanding of the global warming problem," said Ol'Bernardo.  Awareness is rising rapidly, he said,  "that society must deal with it in an extraordinarily bold way if we are going to save the planet for our kids and out grandchildren."

Sanders, an Independent aligned with the majority Democrats, holds seats on both the Energy and the Environment Committees.

Nice position.

"For years," said Sen. Sanders, "the Bush Administration has turned a deaf ear as the scientific community warned us of the problem of global warming and the disastrous impact it will have on our planet. Sadly, many of these predictions are now becoming a reality."

Stay tuned.

Bachelor Pete was up and at ‘em early this snowy Sunday morning, just as the first flakes started falling over the Peoples Republic of Burlington. Headed for Greer’s on Dorset Street with a laundry load.

That’s where we had the pleasure of meeting Karen Stoodley, 41,  of South Burlington. Karen had done the family wash (her and her husband Larry) at their nearby duplex, but their dryer had been busted for a while and they hadn’t been able to replace it.

Both are out of work. Lost their jobs when York Capacitor Corp. in Winooski closed a few months back. Moved the jobs to Mexico. Cheaper wages.

Karen had worked there for 18 years. Paid $10/hr. and got health care benefits. Met Larry there 16 years ago. They’ve both been looking for jobs for six months.

“There’s nothing up here,” said the Vermont native. “Nothing.”

So, in March they’re moving to Ruskin, Florida. Her parents are already down there and bought them a trailer. Finding work will be their challenge. “Hopefully,” she said, “we’ll find something better than up here.”

Karen, a friendly, gentle soul, has overcome many obstacles to even get this far. She told us she’d been in a serious car accident when she was five. Was in a coma for weeks. Lost the sight in her right eye. Has problems with short-term memory. It happened in Grande Isle where she grew up. Her father was driving. She thinks he was drunk at the time, since he was an alcoholic.

Karen came up the vocational rehabilitation route and graduated from Essex High School. She's a hard worker - wants to work - and loves to watch wrestling when she's not.

“You know, Bernie Sanders helped me,” said Karen. Bernie the independent congressman now senator.  “He got me my disability,” she told us, “from social security. He pushed it through,” she said with a smile. “Bernie helps everybody.”

“I want to work. I must have at least 50 applications out there. My husband must have a least 50, too. He’s cashed out his retirement to pay the bills. It’s sad when you have to go out of state to find something,” said the Vermont native.

Wonder if the Karen Stoodleys of Vermont even make Gov. Jim Douglas’ “Vermont Moving Forward” radar screen?

In the last four years, the U.S. has lost 2.8 million manufacturing jobs - 10,000 in Vermont.

"Global warming," that is.

How nice of Mother Nature to give Montepeculiar, Vermont an increasingly rare little dusting of snow Wednesday morning. A reminder of the way it's supposed to look in January.

Ah, the good old days!

Room 11, the largest hearing room, was packed to overflowing as four Senate and House committees - the environment and transportation ones - kicked-off three weeks worth of hearings on global warming. Senate leader Peter Shumlin (D-Windham) told the packed room, “The long and the short of it is, climate change is the single greatest challenge, frankly the single greatest catastrophe that our children and grandchildren are gonna face.”

"It is one of those issues," said Putney Pete, "where the more youknow, the less you wish you knew. I mean, it’s absolutely frightening."

Shumlin said is was "encouraging to see 6th graders from MainStreet Middle School here today because it’s their future that we’retalking about.”

Yes, it most certainly is. Anyone want to volunteer to be 11 years old again?

The first witness was distinguished author and environmental activist Bill McKibben of Ripton. McKibben (on the right with Sen. Shumlin),  made it perfectly clear that, "We do not need any more proof. Global warming is no longer an hypothesis," said McKibben, "but rather, a well-established scientific fact. The burning of fossil fuels and the greenhouse gases it produces is sparking a rapid increase in the earth’s temperature."

Said the visionary End of Nature (1989) author:

“We do know all the computer modeling tells us that if we don’t get a lot done, we’re going to have winters like New Jersey in 20 years. It’s time and it's possible and indeed profitable for Vermonters to quickly grapple with this issue and begin to take the lead. Not the sort of small bites that we’ve taken out of this problem in the past, but real powerful leadership."

Democrat Peter Shumlin raised the global warming banner big time shortly after the November election, putting it at the very top of the 2007 Vermont Legislature "to-do" list. He struck a chord. Two months later, global warming became a surprise key focus of Republican Gov. Jim Douglas' third inaugural address.

Said Sen. Shumlin as the morning session wrapper-upper:

"I think the beauty of what’s happening here now is that you’re seeing the first state legislature in the country make this the most important issue that we’re facing. Our kids and grandkids are going to look back on this and say there was a bright light somewhere in Vermont. We’ve got to get to work. We have a lot of ground to make up."

Damn straight.

The current U.S. Ambassador to the Slovak Republic was home in Vermont over the weekend to pay respects to his "first boss and mentor," as he described him: the late U.S. Sen. Robert T. Stafford.

Way back in 1982 after graduating Williams College, Ambassador Skip Vallee started out as Stafford’s southern Vermont regional campaign manager. He then went to Washington and worked for the senator on the education subcommittee

In the 1990s, Skip was CEO of R. J. Vallee fuels and started up Maplefields, the northern Vermont mini-mart chain with the fresh flowers in the bathrooms. We used to call him “Gasoline Vallee” in the ‘Inside Track” column.

He loved it!

Skip was Vermont’s Republican National Committeeman (1999-2004) and his outstanding fundraising on behalf of George W. Bush in the 2004 camapign was, in addition to his political smarts, the reason Dubya made him an ambassador. He also has a sense of humor - an invaluable trait in a politician.

We thought we’d squeeze him into this week’s print column but other things popped up. Sorry, Mr. Ambassador.

Asked to comment on remarks of freshman Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Ambassador Vallee pointed out that he had been taught that “Ambassadorial trap No. 1 is to make a comment on something a sitting member of Congress has said.”

Skip said the days in Slovakia are long and “chock full of events.”  He said it’s “important” for him to be “out in the country,” playing soccer or ice hockey. He’s already visited 150 towns, cities and villages.

Wonder if they have Maplefields mini-marts yet?

Just kidding.

Asked how long he'll be plying the ambassadorial trade, Vallee said he "serves at the pleasure of the president."

Check out this interview with the Vermonter, born and raised in Franklin County, in the Slovak press.

Today was the day of the annual kickoff breakfast of the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce's  winter series of Legislative Breakfasts. A Sheraton Burlington Ritual. A chance for lobbyists to buy breakfast. The first one under the LCRCC leadership of former state government bureaucrat, sorry, distinguished career agency/department head  - Tom Torti. Tom Terrific, however, stayed away from the stage up front and instead hung out with the "players" parked on the back wall, beyond the tables just like the old days. Old Montpeculiar comrades like Dawn Terrill, Doug Racine (remember him?)  and Gaye Symington.

Speaking of Symington, other than the Governor, nobody had more people wanting to talk to them after the breakfast ended than the Vermont woman who had become "Speaker" long before Nancy Pelosi did.

So why did I take a picture of Gov. Jim Douglas and UVM Prez Dan Fogel, you ask?

'Cause I haven't seen Ol' Danny Boy since he came back from a little health problem. Lost weight (as have I), and looks great, eh?

Besides, I was the only rep from the fourth estate who wanted to ask our chief executive a question. A question about the weather, actually.

"How serious do you consider this situation - no snow and global weather change. And is Vermont ever going to be the same again? I’m a little scared myself," I confessed.

Replied Gov. Douglas:

“I’m very worried about the economy this season when we see people skateboarding and playing golf in January instead of snowboarding and skiing, it’s very disconcerting because our winter economy depends on snow. There still is time but with each passing day that we don’t get a good snowfall, it’s troubling and our economy is certainly at risk.

"What the future holds is hard to say. The warmest year on record was 1891  but we’ve had several warm years in a row and I certainly hope that this won’t continue.

"Vermont will do its part to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, to participate on a national and international basis to provide some leadership on climate change but that’s going to take some time."

No rush.

Worried about irreversible climate change, are you?

Relax. Thanks to global warming, the Burlington Parks Department is saving a lot of money on keeping City Hall Park's walkways free of ice and snow this January, eh?

"Our generation," said "Dillon," 20, the dude on the bike, "the people growing up today, we're the people who are going to have to deal with it."

He's got that right, doesn't he?

Heck, I turned 20 in 1969. Earth Day hadn't even begun yet, had it?  Why hasn't my generation, the babyboomers, why haven't we delivered on solar energy and saved the planet for these folks, our successors?

Answer: Exxon-Mobil.

Even if we stopped it {global warming] today," said "Tewks," 22, in the yellow shirt, "it wouldn't change it."

Ah, but we could slow it down significantly, stem the tide and save a whole lot of lives and a whole lot of suffering.

All three, including "Ross," 21, are or have been students at Champlain College. Tewks dropped out, he said. Couldn't afford it any longer.

All three made it perfectly clear to yours truly during a late Sunday afternoon chat that - contrary to the on-the-street comments made by members of their generation on the Channel 3 News Saturday evening - they are very worried about global warming and its impending impact on their futures.

Said the female college student to WCAX while strolling on Church Street Saturday:

"It's really nice compared to like past January's [but] it's really strange because it's 60 degrees and the grass is green and I've never seen that in January - it's cool not having to wear a winter hat and gloves and go shopping and stuff."

Cool?