Bill S.'s Open Salon Blog

Over Yonder

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:10:30 -0400

To all my old friends on Open Salon (and whatever new ones have trundled in ):

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted here. I’m still taking Dr. Spudman’s advice and leaving my account intact, as I don’t see the need at the moment to burn that particular bridge. I had considered re-posting all my old posts at one time, because as my favorite brother from another mother (Barry) once told me, it is not considerate of those who put their time and effort into reading/commenting on your stuff for you to pull it. But, my concerns over mis-use of my material and the enormous effort it would take to close comments on EVERY POST so I would not have to moderate things just made that concept unworkable for me.

So, for those of you who sincerely enjoyed my writing and/or photography, I’ve found another place where the rent is cheap and the company is also outstanding:

http://fictionique.com/

My own personal page there is: http://fictionique.com/?author=60

I would encourage you, if you have the time and want to keep checking out my work, to stop by. While you’re there, check out some of the amazing authors that are hanging out there. I am finding myself inspired once again to write fresh material, which for me is a damn good thing (being inspired, I mean).

I’m sorry but I don’t think I’ll be back here again. I try to pop in every now and then and read a few posts, maybe make a few comments, but there just aren’t enough hours in a day for me to get to everyone I want to see and every post I want to read. It is encouraging to see that upgrades are happening here that make the whole experience better than it has been, but I just don't have enough time to be in multiple places anymore. Since I’m hanging my hat at Fictionique, I want to actively support the other artists that are there and that means I have to give up something else to make time.

My sincere thanks to each of you for your encouragement and your patronage during the two plus years I was here. It was really a grand time and I enjoyed the majority of it.

Good thoughts and prayers to those who need it (as always), and peace, love and understanding to all. Remember, Buckaroo Banzai said it best:

No matter where you go, there you are.

See ya.

A Dandy Yankee Duel

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 18:03:05 -0400

It has been a year of uphill fighting for Entergy Corporation’s embattled Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon, Vermont. Tritium leaks came and went and came back again, a complete lack of accountability by management was demonstrated, rebuffed, addressed and brought once more to the forefront. A complete lack of faith in the company’s ability to maintain the plant at a safe operating level has all but rang the death knell for the plant.

Then came the one bright spot in the horrible year that Yankee had experienced: the Nuclear Regulatory Commission authorized the plant for re-licensing in 2012. But that was no surprise at all – the NRC has never recommended against re-licensing any plant in its entire history. So, it seemed like the anti-nuke protesters had been given a slightly black eye with the NRC approval, but only a little shiner.

The plant is scheduled for shut down in March 2012. However, they are in a particularly tough spot right now: the fuel rods currently at the plant will end their useful life around November 2011. The plant currently operates on an 18-month fuel cycle and must shut down in order to transfer spent fuel rods to a cooling pool, then re-fuel with new rods. The next fuel load must be on site before the plant shuts down for re-fueling. That means Entergy will have to consider either purchasing more fuel rods (which will cost millions) for a continued operation of less than six months, or shut down early.

According to the Bennington Banner, “Yankee produces 620 megawatts of baseload power. It’s currently the lowest cost 24/7 power purchased by Vermont utilities.” Entergy’s contract with the state of Vermont is governed by a statute which states that the plant’s operation is at the discretion of the state legislature and the public service board – its license to operate can be approved or denied by them, regardless of the NRC and its decision. Entergy is expected to challenge the statute in court. While they probably will not be successful in arguing the statute to be illegal, it may very well buy them enough time to warrant re-fueling; certainly, it will allow them to operate beyond the March 2012 shut down date if the case goes to trial.

So, in the last month, a large push has begun to re-license the plant. There are compelling arguments for both sides, as the plant is the only one in the state and the cost of buying power from outside sources is ridiculously high. Shutting the plant down will cause massive repercussions throughout businesses both large and small, and some undoubtedly will leave the state for greener (in terms of monetary savings, that is) pastures. Given the current economic situation here, the last thing Vermont needs is for businesses to leave the state taking thousands upon thousands of jobs with them (along with their tax dollars and payroll that employees tend to spend at home).

But the events in Japan have put everything into a whole new light. The situation at the Fukishima Daiichi plant is worsening each day, with the possibility of a core vessel breach more than likely. While the corporate official statement is that situation is “not optimistic“, one has to wonder just how much they aren‘t saying. At a time when services are non-existent, devastation is everywhere and people are beyond panic-stricken, it seems sensible that the government would not want to add yet more worry to the population.

Yet if the U.S. Navy saw fit to move our ships even further from Japan’s coast, one has to wonder how bad things have gotten and how much worse it will get. If reactors 1 through 3 actually do go to meltdown (which may already have happened) and the situation for reactors 4 through 6 continues to deteriorate, it only seems logical that vast amounts of radiation will be emitted into the atmosphere and it is only a matter of time before the prevailing winds bring that radiation to our own shores and those of every country nearby.

Enriquo Fermi had absolutely no idea of the Pandora’s Box he opened, but once he did the initiation of the Manhattan Project should have been easy to foresee. The use of weaponized nuclear material wasn’t really a matter of who would be the first to do it, but simply a matter of when. While the United States may have won that race, it took the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima to bring the consequences to light. Attempting to use nuclear power for good rather than destruction is a great concept. But what happens to all those spent fuel rods that are radioactive long after their useful life has ended? They get stored. Apparently, that storage can be problematic – and dangerous.

We are now faced with a critical situation yet again. The events in Japan have confirmed once more that nuclear power is not necessarily as safe as the experts keep telling us it is. Vermont Yankee, which may have thought themselves experiencing a reprieve in the population’s general consensus of their ability to continue operating, has discovered that people are alarmed at what can happen when things go horribly awry at a nuclear facility. We are subject to earthquakes like anywhere else on the planet; typically, the ones we experience are relatively small by most standards and the majority of us hardly notice. Conversely, it is no comfort to anyone that the Fukishima Daiichi plant and Vermont Yankee were both built by GE using the same design specifications back in the 1970’s.

I’ve always been a proponent of nuclear energy. Mostly because I felt it was safe and relatively cheap. Chernobyl made me re-think that assessment. Fukishima has brought that home to roost once more. An earthquake and tsunami that destroyed the backup power systems caused the incident in Japan. Why there are not redundant systems in place in case of catastrophic failure is beyond me – I’m sure it’s more complicated than that, but seems like a nuclear power plant with SIX reactors should have a backup to their backup plan (a "Plan C", if you will) in the event that their power is terminated by accident or design (think sabotage). You need electricity to power pumps that push water into the pools – so why not have a gravity system in place in the event of a power failure? In the ‘80s, the tech company I worked for used that very same concept to protect their million dollar water-cooled mainframe computers.

If Japan, the most prepared country on earth in terms of natural disasters, grossly miscalculated how devastating nature can be to their nuclear facilities, where does that leave the rest of us?

Photo of Vermont Yankee courtesy of http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vermont_Yankee_Nuclear_Power_Plant.jpg

Photo of Fukushima Daiichi courtesy of http://www.anticapitalistes.net/spip.php?article2381

Coming To A Statehouse Near You

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 08:03:39 -0400

I want to preface this with the statement that I have never belonged to any union in any workplace. Ever. Currently I have to pay a “fee” to the union at work to cover the cost of the collective bargaining agreement that happens to cover my job as well (even though I am not a union member) but I’m fine with that – I get to enjoy most of the benefits of the CBA without actually having to become a union member. I’m not terribly fond of unions, as they are just as prone to abuse as the corporations that they find themselves opposing when it comes to workers’ rights. Just some background so that you can understand my position.

I heard a rumor today that some of the Republican representatives in my state have invited the “union-busting” asshats from Wisconsin to come speak in front of our legislature regarding trimming the budget through the elimination of collective bargaining rights. In short, they want to bust the state employees’ union here.

I hope that the word is spread far and wide, so that when these “people” show up at our state house they are met with a huge crowd of protesters. I want the word to be passed loud and clear to my state’s legislature – we WILL NOT permit union-busting tactics under the guise of “balancing the budget” to take place here in Vermont. The budget has already been trimmed enough with drastic cuts to aid programs, displaced state employees and concessions made to an already-existing CBA. If you want to trim the budget, how about our reps taking the same 3% pay cut they jammed down our throats last year? The one where our salaries were frozen for 2 years as well, without so much as a COLA?

To the Wisconsin representatives, I would simply say: Stay home and deal with YOUR OWN problems. We want you here about as much as we want the Westboro Baptist Church here (which, in case you missed it, means we don’t want you here at all, in any capacity). We’ve always managed to resolve our budget problems without outsiders coming in and telling us how to run our state – and we can STILL do it.

While I may not be a union member, the union here has always managed to force the administrations to play fair when it comes to the state employees. Sometimes not as fair as others, to be sure, but when I think of how things would have gone WITHOUT the union I get a headache.

Support your local unions in this cause, everyone. There are plenty of ways to trim the budget without doing it on the backs of the working class.

Why SCOTUS Got It Right

Wed, 2 Mar 2011 12:03:42 -0500

I just read with an incredible amount of distaste the ruling of the Supreme Court in the case against the Westboro Baptist Church (regarding their reprehensible “picketing” of United States Armed Services funerals). The court, while finding the actions of the “church” unconscionable, still recognizes the prejudiced bigots’ right to free speech.

This is in actuality a good thing. If you all think back to 1977, when there was proposed a march in Skokie, Illinois for the National Socialist Party of America, the court found even then that unpopular groups with racist views still have the right to gather and to speak publicly (more can be found here: Collin v. Smith: 1977 - Nazis Must Be Allowed To March, Suggestions For Further Reading). Our constitution guarantees them that right, and it’s a damn good thing it does. If it didn’t, these groups would be underground and more dangerous than they currently are as they would not be subject to public scrutiny.

While I agree in part with dissenting justice Alito, I still think the right thing to do here is let them speak. The constitution protects it (even though it is hate speech) and I would not want our rights eroded any further than our government has already done in the name of “security”. I know, I have always been outspoken concerning this congregation’s hateful rhetoric. It infuriates me that they are allowed to publicly display their hate – but it is one of the cornerstones of this country that they be allowed to.

I find the people who populate the congregation of the WBC to be callous, inconsiderate, bigoted individuals who have no business speaking out against anyone else. Their complete lack of compassion for their fellow Americans is not only sickening but disturbing. Yet, they do have a right to protest and display their hateful rhetoric, as much a right as the American Nazis had in Skokie Illinois in 1977.

As do the rest of us. I think a fabulous response to these WBC “protests” would be organized counter protests : whenever they come to YOUR town, let them know they’re not welcome by massing where they will be protesting and carrying your OWN signs. Or better still, maybe it’s time to organize a protest in Topeka, Kansas where the WBC can actually get a taste of its own medicine.

After all, this is America.

Photo courtesy of harbor88 on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/40557496@N03/3917450738/

**Addendum 3/3/2011 - Torman has taken the counterpoint to this piece. I urge you all to go read it here (that's a link - the word "here").

My thanks to everyone who has read and contributed to this piece, and my thanks to Torman for posting an opposing viewpoint.

Political Discourse: An Open Letter To Sarah

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:01:54 -0500

Dear Mrs. Palin,

I listened to your statement regarding the Arizona tragedy. I admit, it is the first time since the 2008 campaign that I have chosen to watch video of you. I also admit that I find your lack of knowledge regarding the issues to be profoundly disturbing given your stance on this situation.

To say that political discourse has always been violent is a straw-man argument. It is like saying people have always smoked cigarettes. But I don’t expect you to see the fallacy of your position. If you stop and think about it, the "political violence" you reference was usually settled between the POLITICIANS by duelling. Innocent people weren't part of the equation. Not that you should let THAT stop you, though.

Political discourse in and of itself is not the issue here – it is the deliberate use of inciteful dialogue and violent rhetoric that we, the people (you know – the ones the POLITICIANS supposedly WORK FOR) object to. You know - the political equivalent of shouting "FIRE!" in a crowded theater.

You, Mrs. Palin, are just as guilty as the rest. If you doubt that, please consider your campaign statements, the graphics used on your website, and your continued inability to grasp the consequences of your own rabble-rousing discourse.

We, the people, are TIRED of politicians that foment an “Us Vs. Them” atmosphere more suitable to a declaration of war.

We are TIRED of politicians that feign ignorance when their violent rhetoric is thrown back in their faces as their “base” exercises their own violent tendencies in response to the pulpit-thumping.

We are TIRED of watching malcontents take up arms at the slightest imaginary provocation (for it is most definitely “imaginary” when their lives are not being placed in jeopardy).

Mostly, we are TIRED of pompous windbags that refuse to accept responsibility when they have loosed the monster from its chains. The fact that you deliberately chose a phrase as offensive as blood libel supports my assertion that you are not well-grounded in reality. I hope you have the inclination to now go and read up on that phrase you so casually and callously threw out there.

Blood libel? Hardly. What is being called out in the media right now, what is being spread from blog to blog, is the ringing statement from mainstreet America that we’ve had enough.

The hatred must stop.

The ends DO NOT justify the means.

I hope those words were simple enough for you.