ORIGINAL BLOGPOST: http://kunstler.com/blog/2010/03/where-have-we-been-where-are-we-going.h...

Driving down the broad avenues of Cleveland, Ohio, was like flipping through the pages of a picture book about the rise and fall of our industrial empire. Where demolitions had not removed things -- a lot was gone -- stood the residue of a society so different from ours that you felt momentarily transported to another planet where a different race of beings had gone about their business.

Reconstruction of a Mass Hysteria

The Swine Flu Panic of 2009

Swine flu kept the world in suspense for almost a year. A massive vaccination campaign was mounted to put a stop to the anticipated pandemic. But, as it turned out, it was a relatively harmless strain of the flu virus. How, and why, did the world overreact? A reconstruction. By SPIEGEL staff....

For full article, click here.

Another great nugget from the last issue of MAKE magazine, "Snow Science," an article which mentioned this website - http://surfacestations.org - and its findings:

61% of the 948 climate monitoring stations that had been assessed by 5/31/09 (by meteorologist Anthony Watts) fall into this category:

Class 4 (CRN4) (error >= 2C) - Artificial heating sources <10 meters.

While another 8% fall into this category:

Class 5 (CRN5) (error >= 5C) - Temperature sensor located next to/above an artificial heating source, such a building, roof top, parking lot, or concrete surface.

Solar 'Current of Fire' Speeds Up [EXCERPTS]

March 12, 2010: What in the world is the sun up to now?

In today's issue of Science, NASA solar physicist David Hathaway reports that the top of the sun's Great Conveyor Belt has been running at record-high speeds for the past five years.

"I believe this could explain the unusually deep solar minimum we've been experiencing," says Hathaway. "The high speed of the conveyor belt challenges existing models of the solar cycle and it has forced us back to the drawing board for new ideas."....

The speed-up was surprising on two levels.

More than 2 years ago I looked like a nutcase predicting that electricity prices will rise significantly when the contracts with Hydro Quebec (HQ) and Vermont Yankee (VY) expire, whether VY is closed down or not. Now we are starting to see what the new deal(s) will look like. The offer from VY was for an increase in price of more than 40% to start with, followed with an upwardly adjustable price later. Below is a letter I sent last week to the BFP in response to their report on the HQ deal that was outlined in talks that included Vermont's governor visiting Quebec to help it along.

03-07-10 Democratic candidate gubernatorial forum and debate

Listen for yourself. When the moderator goes to the floor for questions, Dennis stood up immediately and was able to confront the candidates about bringing home the Vermont National Guard.

One candidate cited the official Tax Foundation statistic... of $1.08 in federal money returned to Vermont for every tax dollar remitted to Washington as the reason not to pursue Vermont Independence. (Debunked here, it's interesting how Dem/Rep candidates never figure Vermont's share of the ballooning US debt into this phony assertion)

Another candidate fell back on patriotic jingo, saying that only America affords great opportunities. Unlike, I suppose terrible countries such as Canada, New Zealand or Switzerland.

Another expressed disapproval of the illegal war in Afghanistan, but also said that when called... one goes. But as an illegal war, the call-up is illegal. So he's falling back on the Nuremberg Defence. However, the London Charter of the International Military Tribunal (IMT), specifically stated that following an unlawful order is not a valid defence against charges of war crimes. And war crimes in Afganistan and Iraq continue on a daily basis. Torture, in particular!

As I predicted here a while back, the volume of passengers passing through the Burlington airport has declined in 2009. The BFP reports that:

"In January, 50,490 people flew from Vermont's largest airport, a 5.5 percent decline from January 2009 -- and the weakest January tally since 2004. The decline marked the 10th consecutive month of sagging year-over-year results at Burlington International."

UPDATED

Entergy keeps operating Vermont Yankee while leaking tritium (though it's not clear whether there are any new releases to the groundwater), trying to limp along until the scheduled April closing for refueling. Meanwhile, in Illinois, Exelon will have to pay big bucks for tritium leaks at three of their nuclear power plants.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced yesterday that Exelon General Corporation will pay over $1 million to settle lawsuits arising from tritium leaks into groundwater from the Braidwood, Byron and Dresden nuclear power plants.

I haven't looked at the performance of the Byron and Dresden plants. About the Braidwood plant, Public Citizen says (and the Illinois EPA confirms):

The site has experienced eight leaks between 1996 and 2006, including one in 1998 and another in 2000. The 1998 leak resulted in the release of three million gallons of tritium-contaminated water. It was not until November 2005 that the leaks were revealed to state officials.

I have a call in to the Attorney General's office about whether there are any similar lawsuits filed or planned in Vermont. I haven't heard of any, but I've also been out of state for a few days. 

UPDATE 4:30 pm: Deputy Attorney General Janet Murnane has told me that while there are numerous ongoing state investigations, no civil lawsuits have been filed against Entergy or Vermont Yankee regarding the tritium leaks.

Date: Saturday, 10 April 2010
Time: 5:00 – 9:00 PM
Location: Ripton Community House
Route 125, Ripton, Vermont
Bayley-Hazen Boys

If Vermont were to secede from the United States empire and become an independent nation-state, how could it possibly survive as a separate republic? How would it function? Are there any examples of smaller, sustainable nation-states which might serve as a role model for a state like Vermont, should it decide to leave the U.S.? There is at least one such nation that might serve as a viable model for an independent Vermont: the Swiss Confederation.

Imagine...a Free Vermont!