A TOTAL Defense!

I encourage everyone to make a contribution to the Blogger's Defense Fund.  It's a down payment on preserving your rights.

We should defend the bloggers...but it makes no sense to defend the bloggers and then for the community or our town board to not take  strong decisive measures to  defend our new zoning law and comp plan against Article X as well so all the bloggers sacrifice and efforts are not wasted.!

No Beauty in Cape Vincent

Some pro wind people commented at the public hearing for the revised Cape Vincent Comp Plan, that there wasn't anything to see in Cape Vincent.  I guess they think there is no beauty here.  Well I'm not the kinda guy who just likes to take somebody else's word for it, so I decided to do some checking around on my own.

Well guess what they were right...absolutely nothing to see here in CV.  No beauty.  Now as you know I  like to stick to the facts and document my claims as much as possible.  So below is the evidence that there in nothing to see that is beautiful in CV.

 

 

 

     So there you have it folks.  No big deal.  Nothing for the Comp Plan to protect. No beauty here.

Does This Story Sound Familiar - Could Be Cape Vincent Against BP and Cuomo's Government

 The corporation had gone too far, and the two thousand people who'd jammed into the meeting hall were torn as to what to do about it. Unemployment was exploding and the economic crisis was deepening; corporate crime, governmental corruption spawned by corporate cash, and an ethos of greed were blamed. "Why do we wait?" demanded one at the meeting, "The more we delay, the more strength is acquired" by the company and its puppets in the government. "Now is the time to prove our courage," he said. Soon, the moment came when the crowd decided for direct action and rushed into the streets.

That is how I tell the story of the Boston Tea Party, now that I have read a first-person account of it. While striving to understand my nation's struggles against corporations, in a rare book store I came upon a first edition of "Retrospect of the Boston Tea Party with a Memoir of George R.T. Hewes, a Survivor of the Little Band of Patriots Who Drowned the Tea in Boston Harbor in 1773," and I jumped at the chance to buy it. Because the identities of the Boston Tea Party participants were hidden (other than Samuel Adams) and all were sworn to secrecy for the next 50 years, this account is the only first-person account of the event by a participant that exists. As I read, I began to understand the true causes of the American Revolution.

I learned that the Boston Tea Party resembled in many ways the growing modern-day protests against transnational corporations and small-town efforts to protect themselves from chain-store retailers or factory farms. The Tea Party's participants thought of themselves as protesters against the actions of the multinational East India Company.

By Thomas Hartman  - Common Dreams.org

It Speaks For Itself

Actually I am not against corporations.  I drive vehicles made by corps and have a house full products manufactured by corps.

HOWEVER... I don't think they should have unlimited power, or corporate constitutional rights like people, and they should not be able to force themselves on communities like Gov. Cuomo and Article X could do to us in Cape Vincent because of inordinate WEALTH . We should have a choice.

 For example I  don't think we should write  zoning laws in fear of corporate power, and the political system that  enables that fear by preemption. Yet that is what we did trying to write a law that was "reasonable" to Article X and BP.  Why wasn't our first conversation about completely protecting people, not what we could slide by the State and BP????

I don't think corps should have the " right" to dominate our communities simply because they can out last us in court or use OUR constitution as a sword to wield the power to decapitate our communities.   I think we should be allowed to grant the "privilege" for corps to do business in our communities if we feel they are acceptable and compatible to our community vision.

We should have community bill of rights that proclaims that no govt, person, or corp can take away our rights based on religious beliefs, sexual orientation, color, race, gender, age, national origin ...

...or their WEALTH !!!!!

NY Corporate/ Business Law

§ 1101. Attorney-general's action for judicial dissolution. (a) The attorney-general may bring an action for the dissolution of a corporation upon one or more of the following grounds: (1) That the corporation procured its formation through fraudulent misrepresentation or concealment of a material fact. (2) That the corporation has exceeded the authority conferred upon it by law, or has violated any provision of law whereby it has forfeited its charter, or carried on, conducted or transacted its business in a persistently fraudulent or illegal manner, or by the abuse of its powers contrary to the public policy of the state has become liable to be dissolved. (b) An action under this section is triable by jury as a matter of right. (c) The enumeration in paragraph (a) of grounds for dissolution shall not exclude actions or special proceedings by the attorney-general or other state officials for the annulment or dissolution of a corporation for other causes as provided in this chapter or in any other statute of this state.

ACE NY On Pandora's Box of Rocks

K at Pandora's Box of Rocks has a good post about ACE NY.  She has a long list of the "Ace Coalition" which consists of renewable energy developers and supporters. 

However, one thing not discussed here is that ACE has been a big contributer to former Sen. James Wright  a REPLUBLICAN NY senator from our area. That means their contribution to Wright would represent all these renewable entities.   He was also the head of the senate energy committee. Along with ACE his contributor list reads like the whose who of wind energy including ENRON!!!. Also on  ACE's staff was  a legislative advisor to Wright... Laura Lyman.

  Remembering also that it was former REPUBLICAN NY Gov. George Pataki that open the flood gates to wind developers with the state's Renewable Portfolio Standard which requires the state to get 30% of it's power from renewables by 2015 or 30x15.

You know...just so we keep the partisan record straight!!!!

Under the comments on PBR was his comment

Anonymous said...

"I see Carol Murphy standing behind Big Andy with a big fat grin. Must be she and the wind companies were all very happy with Article X. One thing for sure if the Cape had banned turbines BPs project would have been a done deal. However, with the towns new law it is uncertain."

Really????  Well what REALLY made Carol happy was big George's RPS so renewables like wind could run amuck with NYS small communities like ours.  Cuomo is working under the RPS created by a REPUBLICAN  that says 30% renewable by 2015.  That's only 3 years a way.  And WIND is one of the fastest ways to hit that RPS target.  Why do you think Article X has premetive power over local laws?

So all we have to do is pass restrictive wind laws like ours in CV and all these wind developers will just willingly walk away...right?    OK then where does Cuomo put up all his windmills??????  You think a man who will run for president want to have to say he couldn't hit NYS's aggressive renewable targets so we could help the nation off foreign sources of energy, and save the planet?

You better wake up from la la land my friend!!!   Cuomo was just here in NNY telling our communities when it comes to Article X we have to be "reasonable".

Well what the hell do you think that means???  Banned turbines???  What in effect do think this  new CV "defacto ban" wind law does?????  As far as BP is concerned our law is a BAN!

Or are you OK with a few turbines maybe 10, 20, 40 or more in your town???

You last statement  is the most accurate. "It is uncertain"  That's right, and your new zoning law was based exactly on that...a GUESS!!!  Nothing more than a gamble!!!

The PROOF Of Why It's Critcal To Help Defend the Bloggers

It’s long but please read on if you want to know  the  critical WHY  to donate and  defend the two  Cape Vincent bloggers under legal attack.  Here is demonstrated the proof of why their defense is critical from my first hand experience.

Please clearly understand the WHY!!!

 They have rearranged their lives coming to OUR defense against the insidious industrial wind/ political infection of our community.  But that’s not all and may not even be the key point here.    These bloggers, like others are on a cutting edge technology frontier with a  new paradigm for attacking back  against the politically/ corporate  wind onslaught.

 I may have disagreements with them from time to time.  But that’s only  about the HOW  to defeat industrial wind, not the WHY or if we SHOULD!  I think all the bloggers in Cape Vincent  and many people  definitely agree on the WHY and SHOULD!!!!

We can have our heated debates and  in the end in a democratic society they are actually very healthy.  But what you have now is a direct attack on our ability to have any debate if it doesn’t conform to the script of other powerful  agendas who want the  debate extinguished.    It’s far too threatening to the status quo not to control information because in the hands of the average citizen it is like gasoline on freedom’s fire…it’s highly explosive, and can’t be easily controlled.  It’s direct fundamental POLITICAL POWER in the hands of the average citizens to push back against the corporate/ political level scheme.  Just like Cuomo’s Article X is trying to do to us on behalf of BP! 

 With blogs we don’t wait or ask permission or have to be subservient to some media source, or politician intent on controlling  the flow or direction of the conversation, or backing away from controversial subjects because they will lose corporate advertisers or donors.

And here is the other insidious problem that crops up repeatedly that Dave LaMora and I have been discussing.  That is the ability of corporations like BP to have corporate constitutional rights like people.  They equate huge powerful corporations to people just like  you and I the average small citizen.  Note the quote from the Article below on unlimited corporate donations to politicians.

Justices, 5-4, Reject Corporate Spending Limitose

WASHINGTON — Overruling two important precedents about the First Amendment rights of corporations, a bitterly divided Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the government may not ban political spending by corporations in candidate elections.

If you’re interested you can read the rest at this link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/22/us/politics/22scotus.html?pagewanted=all

Now the court wraps this all up in “free speech”.  There is no debate on whether a corp should have constitutional rights like people.  The problem here IS NOT free speech.  I am not against free speech or even for the corps to have a say in what might impact them.

 The problem here is the corporations like BP with their inordinate influence through their unlimited wallets, can simply BUY one hell of a lot more  free speech than you and I can as an average citizen!!!   Though unlimited donations they can purchase the needed legislation for their profit margins.  They also have a lot more money to purchase lawyers to make sure your “free”  speech won’t exactly be free!!! It’s going to cost you just like our bloggers.   It’s not a level playing field.  In fact the field has been tilted so far on this corporate rights issue that you don’t even get to be on the field any more. They play on the big field and you get to play in the political sand box with your little political play school toys about what you think your political power and free speech rights are!!

Well folks…the blogs are the ticket out of the sand box and back on the field!!!

We in CV have faced  the destruction brought on by this corporate political inequity every single  day for the last 6 or 7 years. It’s the exact thing Cuomo, and the NY legislature and BP are confident they can ram right down your throat.  A key part of this scheme is that we and the town board can’t object because we don’t have the MONEY or the WILL to fight  becuase their corporate constructional rights are bigger than ours.  They know because they purchased the premium constitutional rights package we can’t afford!!!

In this case in CV they fully understand that the simple threat of Cuomo’s big corporate campaign money, and BP’s deep pockets are all they need to strip you, not of your rights, but first of your WILL.  That is all they need, the rest will follow.  They don’t actually have to strip you of your rights…they know we will do that all by ourselves living in fear  under the tyranny of unlimited power and money. In fact in most cases we are wired  to self destruct just like many of the other 1000 Islands and Golden Crescent wind targeted communities mayl do under Article X if they don’t change their approach.

So what do we do about it?  Well…our bloggers have already shown you the extremely effective path to your emancipation…TECHNOLOGY and INFORMATION…BLOGS!!!  That is the central organizational weapon maximizing other tactics that can be deployed against Article X.

So you may ask…this big talk all sounds real good in theory Pundt, but where is the proof?   

Well if you have been paying attention in the CV wind battle the proof is actually right under your nose!!!

Let me show you.  For one, the very fact the blogs are being sued at all, and it’s pretty clear in my opinion it has tentacles to BP directly or indirectly. That’s your  first example.  Not enough???  Ok then let give you another.

In 2010 when I and a few others met face to face with Cuomo’s big AG guns.  How do you think we got inside his door?   In large part it was the BLOGS and Internet!!!  How do you think it played when AG Cuomo saw our town officials on the blogs and Internet videos saying they could care less about Cuomo’s wind ethics code?  How do you think it played when they saw on the BLOGS a small rural NY govt running amuck and it involved a big black eye on Cuomo’s code and green agenda and a disgrace to the power of their office?  Well where do you think they got the bulk of that information???  THE BLOGS!!!!

Let me tell you from direct face to face experience EXACTLY how it played.  We were told by an unnamed player in the AG’s office that the AG’s office watched the blogs like hawks every day, and we should make sure we kept unmercifully hammering on the blogs on CV’s run amuck wind issue.  Also when I talked to Robert Freeman from the NY Committee on Open Govt. He knew of CV and what was going on before I even opened my mouth.  Why?  The BLOGS!!!

Cuomo’s own AG deputy chief of staff indicated to me in a personal phone call that he thought  there were some articulate voices on the BLOGS in CV creating an impact.  A  man two steps down from Cuomo, and one of Cuomo’s  top lawyers, and his investigators…and most likely  Cuomo himself were watching like hawks exactly what all of us here were saying, and it got us inside his door and a meeting with his top staff, just like any other big corporate lobbyist with billions of political dollars in his pocket.

And in effect it didn’t require us to spend one  political donation dime !!!!   In large part because while some of us were beating our brains out with research and information pounding and screaming outside Cuomo’s door, we had a very powerful technological weapon backing us, THE BLOGS and INTERNET that got us right past his door, right to the computer on his desk, and those of his staff and investigators, and they could not ignore it.

Now some might say…well Pundt that investigation didn’t amount to anything so all this was a failure.  Well I say you have completely missed the point!  In  large part the BLOGS helped us slam down Cuomo’s door, a powerful man who will run for President, at a time when he was desperately trying to keep it shut and keep us out.  And you think that is a failure,  or that you don’t see an incredibly valuable lesson as he tries to ram Article X down our throats?  If so you REALLY don’t get it!!!

The final evidence of the power of the blogs and Internet and why you should defend them is this. Why do you think Article X exists at all and was forced on us by Cuomo and the NY Legislature?  Because in NY community after community we were WINNING against the industrial wind onslaught.  Think about it.  Nearly every one of these wind opposition groups in NY  has a Website and some may have blogs. That is one of the places I started researching in 2006 to get the TRUTH about industrial wind I couldn’t get from anywhere else and while politicians weren’t  talking  trying to cover their asses on a hot button issue.  We can share critical or new  information at lightning speed.    Consider that even though they had their secret leases and were well ahead of us at the beginning, we caught up in a hurry and jumped ahead.  In CV that was in large part because of the BLOGS. State wide that ended in Cuomo realizing his green wind agenda was slipping away and to get it  back it forced him to expose his darker political side and  insidious corporate allegiances for the world to see, and they could observe his willingness  to quickly strip our community home rule rights away to get his green toys back.

It’s  all good to defend our blogs because they give us information and  ideas to defeat big wind locally. That is great!  But it is far far more important because the blogs and the Internet are an extremely powerful tool for the average citizen with little money to level the playing field against unlimited corporate and political bank rolls.

THAT is why it is critical.  The powers that be know this, and that is why this suit even exists.  They have to keep this fire under control. You have a chance to partcipate on the frontier of keeping your freedoms by protecting a new technological political information weapon that may be the last refuge you have to protect those freedoms because big corporate money has purchased the hijacking of the constitution, the  politicians, the upper elections, and the courts  You should donate to protect Rick and Kathy, that’s fine. ”  But you should consider what’s written above and also donate to make a  down payment on some insurance to protect your rights so corporations like BP and politicians like Cuomo can’t simply  illegitimately purchase the exclusive rights to define  the  meaning behind the words “citizenship” and “democracy”!!!

Now you have the proof…please donate to the Bloggers Defense Fund and make a down payment on the preservation of your rights.

The Bloggers Defense Fund

PO Box 8

Three Mile Bay, NY

13693

 

 

 

Follow Up Comments to Dave LaMora's Post

Dave,

Excellent comments summing up Cape Vincent’s situation.  Your quote posted below is spot on.    

My thoughts, although prompted by Dave’s comments, are my own opinion, even though he may agree.

My post is neither anti or pro wind.  It is PRO community rights. 

I hope every community in NNY considering the regulation approach to industrial wind, especially our community and county leaders, will carefully consider and get involved in this discussion before we sacrifice our region to the arbitrary rules of Article X.   This is a regional community rights issue and we should ban together to proclaim the right to defend our region’s treasured environment resources threatened by Article X.  We should not try to defend against Article X as if it is a spot fire to be put out in each individual community.

It has come to our attention that some people and leaders in Cape Vincent  may not be willing to truly defend and protect our community against Article X, and will succumb to whatever Article X declares is our fate.  Some appear willing to accept without further challenge any Article X decision on our community’s future.   Frankly this is disturbing. 

Dave LaMora’s quote again:

"The only resolve that shows a public face is the resolve to follow the rules, regardless of who establishes them , what basic principles they subvert, or who and how they benefit."

The paradigm of Article X is specifically designed on the premise that people will willingly hand over their rights if the removal of those rights is packaged such that it appears the rules are legitimate and are not theirs to question.   Under this scheme people will willingly bow to any set of rules shielded with what appears to be a respectable legitimate law because all their life they have been wired to do just that.  To oppose it seems far too scary, irrational and foreign.  But it’s not…it’s the fundamental responsibility of every American citizen.   And ironically despite the subtle subversion, the more legitimate the rules appear and the slicker the political PR packaging it’s wrapped in; it seems the more willing the people are to follow and not oppose them.

Of course this is not a new condition.  The founding fathers knew it.  Consider this quote from the Declaration of Independence:

“… all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”

We seem to forget the lessons that every significant rights movement INCLUDING THE FOUND OF OUR COUNTRY was predicated on major violations of existing rules.    The Civil Rights movement and many other fundamental rights movements are examples and were based on breaking some BIG rules.    You would think we could at least stand up to honor the people who freed us from the other oppressive violations of our basic rights by defend our small communities on this issue.

Blindly following or not challenging the rules just because a group of powerful individuals says so, is one of the most frightening, most irrational, undemocratic ,and unpatriotic things any individual or group can do. Especially if you are an American citizen. 

 What some people in Cape Vincent and other local communities don’t seem to grasp is, the Constitution we all hold so sacred, the very foundation protecting  our  inalienable rights, has now been turned against OUR own constitutional rights by corporations like BP and public officials like Cuomo and the NY Legislature.  And sadly, too often we are willing to follow because it doesn’t seem like a big deal.  They say, “Oh come on now , just be reasonable” , just as  Cuomo said in Watertown recently referring to Article X! 

This IS the exact fight in Cape Vincent  and our small NY communities  with Article X.  You don’t write letters begging to a system bent on removing your rights…that is absurd.  Think how absurd it would have been  if the American founding fathers only wrote letters to the king of England begging  him to respect the Colony’s rights, and that was the sum total of their opposition and they simply succumbed to whatever came next justifying it by saying, “Oh well we tried, the King and England are just too big!!!”   But this in a nut shell  is what Cuomo, and the NY Legislature with their Article X is expecting all of us to do!

The “Kings” see limited votes here so we are easier to overrun and be stripped of our community rights.

The Declaration of Independence says  you have inalienable rights    They are not given to you at the discretion of some politician, or his random arbitrary rules on behalf of some corporate agenda. That is obscene!   And they should not be taken away in similar fashion. These rights are not even granted by any one, they are already yours, some believe by divine design.

The Declaration also says government derives it powers from the consent of the governed.   That “governed” is YOU and ME!!!  WE are the entire reason government has any power at all, or even exists at all.  It does NOT say governments or their rules exist by the consent of the corporations, especially FOREIGN corporations,  or for some powerful politicians personal agenda .  But sadly that is what it has become, and Article X is an insidious example of eroding  THE CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED!!  Cuomo’s and our NY legislature’s Article X is one more of example of politicians and corporations trying to make themselves autonomous from the  power we posses to give them  any right to govern us at all.

It is time we send them a very clear message that they have far overreached their authority in our communities.    We the People from who they derive their power will not tolerate the abuse of their authority in our communities, especially on behalf of foreign corporations. We will not recognize their authority to strip away our community rights by forcing Article X on us, especially with unelected officials who have no accountability to us after deciding the fate of our communities.

It was a wind issue; it is now a fundamental rights issue.  And if they are willing to try to take them away  they can’t  do it without an ugly political fight in a very sensitive public forum based on rights, not setbacks, and shadow flicker!

To drive our point home, each community needs to pass a Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) drafted Community Bill of Rights.  ( See the link at the bottom of my comments) Not to ban corporations from our communities altogether, that is not the point, but to have a choice to defend our communities,  by allowing in only what we think is in our community’s best interest and have the right to do so.

Right now, even without Article X hanging over our heads …we simply don’t have those rights .

 I voted in 20ll for the new Cape Vincent government  for leadership.  I did so under protest because I was not in agreement with their handling of wind zoning and Article X.   But I at least thought they WOULD defend whatever their ultimate decision might be against State preemption and the stripping of our community rights. 

 I at least thought they would exhibit that leadership as an example to the region and other communities to protect our rights and environmental treasures.   We gave them via a democratic process the sacred responsibility and right to defend and protect our community.  We gave them the consent of the governed  to defend us .  And why is that?????

Because we require  every one of them to stand up and take  a sacred oath to defend the Constitution of the United States of America upon which OUR community rights  are solidly based.   We demanded of them to defend our rights and protect our communities even against schemes just like Cuomo’s Article X which exists  on behalf of large foreign corporations trying to strip our rights away. Home rule should not be predicated on patronization, letting us play only with the rights and decisions the State thinks  we can be responsible with.

And for clarification, don’t interpret  this to mean I feel everybody should have  the right to  do anything they want any ,time they want, anywhere they want, including on their own land. That is a grossly  simplistic misinterpretation.   What I  am defending is  the right for the governed , all of us who hold the ultimate power, to choose on a community level and  for the community good what those rules should be, and not fear preemption and intimidation by some large foreign corporation or powerful politician backing their agenda.

It now relates to the  fundamental ideas of why our country even exists  at all. It’s about  if Cape Vincent  and our small rural Upstate NY communities  and leaders will stand up and defend  us.  Or will they willingly  throw ourselves, our communities,  and our rights under the Article X bus simply because the NY Legislature and Cuomo, and some corporations with inordinate power have forced  rules on us that say we must do so!!!

Please take time to consider this CELDF Website and video.  Get enlightened as to what is really going on with Article X and the wind invasion in our communities.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HowKoNmODNY

http://celdf.org/

Comments By Dave LaMora

 

Dave sent this to the comment section of my blog.  I decided to put it up as a post.  Dave's comment were not prompted by me nor did I have any input into them, although I agree and consider them an excellent statement on our issues.

 

I have bolded and underlined one of Dave's quotes I thought was excellent.  I will have an additional post on Dave's comments on this subject coming soon.

 

 

Dave LaMora  August 24, 2012 4:40 AM

Art, it appears the general sentiment in Cape Vincent,and the greater North Country area, of both the pro-wind faction and the more opposed-to- wind faction, although for entirely different reasons,is to sheepishly follow the process outlined by Gov. Cuomo and our legislators to allow corporations the right to over-rule our local land use laws. Even though the county has expressed official opposition to Art. X they have no strategy in place to challenge the eventual pre-empting of our law. Nor does it appear our local government even has an interest in resolving to officially oppose the legislation,much less develop a strategy to do so, other than pitting our law against the criteria to be established by the Art. X siting board.

In spite of the horrific history of BP, and that of other major corporations , who recklessly neglect and abuse the rights of communities and in spite of the patronizing ,insulting, arrogant essence of the Art. X legislation implied to every citizen and elected,and or appointed official at the local level, it seems there is no collective will to demand, and assert our rights to govern ourselves,in the spirit of the autonomy our Constitution,and its authors provided us.

The only resolve that shows a public face is the resolve to follow the rules, regardless of who establishes them , what basic principles they subvert,or who and how they benefit.
We have labored tiressly for six years only to submit to state-corporate totalitarianism, and a lack of will to oppose it.

I Wonder If Marion Trieste Has Considered The Cost Of Keeping NY Open For Business And For Wind Developers Like BP??? See The Video In This Post!!!

I wonder when the American Wind Energy Association, The Sierra Club, The Alliance for Clean Energy NY, AND people like Marion Trieste lobby on behalf of wind development,which includes foreign energy giants like BP, I wonder if they have considered the horrific implications of  this video?  Trieste and her PR company and Carol Murphy from ACE NY have certainly been here advocating for wind development. And BP after all is THE major player in Cape Vincent now.
They know BP is a big player in the wind business right here in Cape Vincent.  I wonder if they have considered all the implications when they push their agendas in political support of wind development which includes players like BP? Forget the CV water controversy for a minute.   I wonder if former  NY senator and current Cuomo appointed NY Ag and Markets Commissioner who has probably had his Acciona lease bought out by BP...I wonder if he has considered the implications of doing business with BP???  Really Commissioner Aubertine, this is who you want to business with????

See the video linked below.  If you are a citizen of Cape Vincent and especially of Central NYS it should make you sick considering BP is busy right here in our back yards.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Nda_EZ78vQM


Also a paper article as a follow up.

http://www.sfgate.com/world/article/BP-s-admits-role-in-Lockerbie-bomber-s-release-3258960.php


189 American citizens died in Pan Am flight 103 terrorist incident.  35 were students from Syracuse University.  Seems to me to let BP do business anywhere in the US is suspect, but particularly right here in NYS about 100 miles north of many of the families devastated by this terrorist disaster.

Many people come here from Syracuse.  Some may even know some of the families.

I wonder if the lobbying techniques BP used on the British Govt to ensure the release of the Libyan prisoners which included the Pan Am 103 bomber, were used to lobby Governor Cuomo, and all the good American  NYS legislators who passed the Artilce X legislation on behalf of wind developers including BP?

 Legislation that could  strip your home rule rights away for the very same BP!!!!

What is the true cost of the Power NY legislation that is to help keep NY open for business...Open for WHO AND WHAT???????  I wonder how those families of the Syracuse students might feel about this right on their door steps????

Really Gov. Cuomo????....Really NYS legislators????  This is how "NY Works For Business"???  while  at the same time you strip away local home rule rights for energy giants with questionable records like BP???  Politically I don't think  your support of energy giants like BP and complete disregard for NY citizens is worth the political cost  to support  your green agenda?  

 I would not want that blood on my hands.

 And Sen. Schumer is getting to be regular in CV.   At the time of this video he thought BP should suspend drilling in Libya over this matter.  Well Senator, how about you express the same sentiment about BP when they could be about to do business right on the doorstep of the Syracuse families who had loved ones perish on Pan Am 103.  AND they and Cuomo are ready to suspend the rights of Americans citizens with Article X to get that  BP business done. Wonder if Schumer and the 103 families he so strongly advocates for know what's going on right in CV and  the insidious circumstances of how that business  could be allowed by Cuomo and NYS legislators on behalf of BP?  What was that word Cuomo used on his visit to Watertown.  Oh yes he was telling NY communities we all had to be "reasonable" when siting renewable energy in NY.  Well I'm not sure the NY families of Pan Am 103 victims  would consider this "reasonable"

Like Sen. Schumer suggests.  I would like Marion Trieste, or Gov. Cuomo, or any NYS legislator or ANY public official who will sit by and let BP destroy CV...have them sit down across from the Pan Am 103 families and explain to them why BP should be allowed to do business here or in NY, and how American citizens rights could be stripped away on BP's behalf with Article X.  See how that will play with those families!!!!

You know folks, I'm thinking, considering all this ... I really think it's time for BP and it's questionable activities and the Article X legislation that might back them to all go away in Cape Vincent...don't you?

 

 

 

 

 

Comments to a commenter

I  posted some basic questions to the community in a post below.  Commenter 3:42 posted this as a reaction to my questions.

"Well Art, I see you and rick kissed and made up! Can we see a change of heart with Kathy?
More importantly, I would like you to map out YOUR plan to stop BP and/or NY State from over ruling the CV zoning law. I know you wanted the Town Board to ban turbines in CV. In either case, how would YOU stop them. We've all heard you piss and moan about how Urban, et. al. screwed up. Please tell us where are you going to find all of the money neede to wage a legal battle? Perhaps YOU would like to arm our citizens with maodern day weapons and station them all of the roads leading into CV. The minute Cuomo and BP show their faces, we'll kill them! What ever the plna is, let's hear it plain and simple. No more of your glowing generalities... If you can't do it, then get off your soapbox. "

 

And since my comment section won't accept the length of my comments here is my reply.

 

If you have been paying attention and used some independent thought you should already have a pretty good grip on what my strategy might be.   I have been talking about it for 6 years and not in generalities. And are you asking me to outline my strategy because you are realizing this perfect zoning law idea may not hold up like you have been told?  Having some doubts now, and at the last minute looking for a plan B?

First…any relationship I have with any CV blogger is our business.  The only things I will say about this is that I stand behind both blogs in their defense against this ridiculous law suit.  The other thing I will say is the people behind this law suit have no freakin clue what they have unleashed…and if you were paying attention in the last few days you would have already picked up on something that verifies that.  See my post on this subject below.

Next I noticed my questions have apparently upset you.  What…maybe in your support of the new board and the “perfect zoning”  mantra you hadn’t thought this far ahead?  More importantly I noticed you didn’t address ANY of my questions.  They are perfectly legitimate questions you, me  and this community should be asking of our  town board.  This is not an attack or criticism of our board or Hirschey.  Anybody with a slight bit of intelligent thinking  who would be smart enough to want to think ahead about alternatives should  be asking these questions.   Have you dug yourself a illogical thinking hole so deep when it comes to this board and their zoning law that you are incapable of even recognizing there may be consequences beyond the zoning law. 

 Would you find it acceptable after all the election hoopla, after all the debate about zoning, and all the work that went into it, that the end result is we shouldn’t even challenge an A-10 decision preempting our laws?  That is so absurd.   If that was the case why didn’t we just go to BP and ask them to write our law so we would save ourselves having to defend it?   Geees Louise !!!!!  

If you or the board won’t defend our law after all this it makes the entire election efforts of 2009 and 2011 absolutely pointless if the board just rolls over and plays dead.  Is that what we elected them to do????    Wake up and smell the roses pal.  Article X has a preemption clause that essentially makes your zoning law powerless and nearly irrelevant if they think it’s overly burdensome.  And wake up to the fact the new law is so restrictive it might as well be an overly burdensome  BAN as far as BP is concerned.   Why do you think A-10 even has preemptive power?  With all this starring you right in the face you are telling me you aren’t even going to consider it?

 Also I noted you tried to make this out as a pissing match between me and Hirschey.  He was never even mentioned in my questions.  The question weren’t even  addressed to him.  They were directed to the entire board and community.  So why are you making this about  Urban.  Is it that you think the other members can’t think for themselves????

And finally do you think I am that stupid to lay out in detail on this blog my entire game plan in detail?  Nice try!!!

If you would like to discuss it call me.  I would be happy todiscuss it.  I am in the CV phone book, or call Dave LaMora at 783-8744.  Once we determine who you are, and that you are not just a shill for pro wind digging for information, if you are serious we will meet with you face to face and explain what we think should be done to take a stand to defend our community. As Dave points out…there are alternatives. Of course you will have to give up being anonymous. At least when I propose a plan you  have the luxury of know who it is from and where to go to talk about it. Do you think you can extend to us that same courtesy????

We are right on the edge of our community being stripped of our rights to determine our future. The legislation is already in place to help BP strip those rights away, and you are telling me it’s not acceptable or reasonable  to defend those rights?  You are implying that your rights can be bought off by BP or the State as long as they make any legal challnge expensive enough!  So what are your rights actually worth to you other than making a few comments anonymously on a blog?
I'm guessing you would put up more of a stink to defend your right to drink a beer if BP tried to take that away too!!!

In fact this type of thinking to just roll over to whatever A-10 decides is exactly what BP and the State are banking on to enable them to strip our rights away without objection.   It’s why they are confident they can get away with legislation like A-10 that can preempt our community rights…simply because they think they can and get away with it.

And they read this blog and see your comments and it makes them just that much  more confident they can get away with it!!! If you are not pro wind why are you so willing to just give it all away so easily? If they are going to take our rights and destroy our community make them actually have to TAKE them with a fight...don't just give it to them on a platter.

These are the things I wanted to know about our new town board BEFORE the elections, not find out after the fact that they have no backbone to defend our community.  That is why I was asking so many pointed questions then.

BTW...what's your plan????

A Few Simple Questions

Do you think our new  zoning law  will hold up against Article X preemption?

What happens if our zoning law does not hold up against Article X and is fully or partially preempted?

What will the Town Board do next?

Will they be willing to defend our law by a legal challenge at the apellate level of the NY courts against the Article X decision?

I was told just the other night that our zoning and comp plan are THE BEST. OK, so will our board legally defend it if necessary?

The Blogger Law Suit - Do They Have a Clue??????

There is a very  interesting side to the law suit against the two  Cape Vincent  blogs.  The two former town councilmen and the others are making an inadvertent statement that they may not be aware of or want to make that empowers every seasonal resident in the State in communities just like CV. And they made this  big miscalculation by attaching it to an extremely sensitive issue like freedom of speech that will fire up all kinds of resources against the suit. 

Note that the Masons are claiming that they lost their office due to the remarks made on the blogs.  Note also and more importantly that the two councilmen Marty and Donnie Mason are saying they were deprived of office because of the remarks, and NOT challenging the  actual vote that removed them from office.  Come on folks, political campaigns all over the country  every single day are rough arena’s to play in, that is a given.   That’s life.

What I think is interesting here is they are not challenging the seasonal vote or the process to register them and let them vote.  Why aren’t the two Mason’s and Harvey White challenging or suing the NYS Board of Elections…or the County Board of Elections over the results of the seasonal vote or on voter fraud.  That was the big deal with this group before the elections.  I thought they would sue close after the elections on the results but they didn’t

The fact they are claiming they lost their office was due instead to negative remarks of the bloggers says they clearly recognize the real issue that  the actual seasonal registration and voting process was perfectly fair and legal despite all Harold Wiley’s hoopla over the issue.

Thanks boys for endorsing the obvious.  The nature of your law suit clearly says  to every seasonal community here, and in the rest of NYS, that if seasonal residents want to exercise some control in their seasonal community, then  register and vote there.  They are sending a clear message that the actual vote was not fraudulent and this process was  perfectly  legal and is not worth challenging.  Instead they have to find some nonsense backdoor way to try to get revenge for  their defeat at the hands of a perfectly fair and legal system.  That is all that is left, because the actual issue that actually IS the result of their removal  can’t be successfully challenged and that is what the subject of this suit is telling us.    In addition to defamation and free speech this suit will be watched on this level all over the place and encourage and empower seasonal voters to vote in their seasonal communities.  And even if they were to  win on defamation which ain’t likely, they will have still fully endorsed the seasonal voting process. 

Like their  previous goofy pro wind  moves, they are once again pissing up the wrong rope and not seeing the significant  unintended consequences that have much larger implications.  Like when they rejected the 800 name petition and had  absolutely no clue that only one aspect was getting a moratorium.  We wanted a moratorium but it was extremely unlikely. We knew for fact we wouldn’t get that.  It was essentially also a  political  tactic.  But their actions pissed off a lot of people when they ignored those names and that helped lead to Rienbeck’s defeat and ultimately  to be one more thing that helped the defeat of the Masons…all in a perfectly legal process.  They may have denied the moratorium but handed us something far more valuable in the end.

But hey…thanks for helping us out again.  When are you pro wind people ever going to get it??? You keep entrenching and just keep digging yourself a deeper hole each time.

Trumped up voter fraud laws.

Trashing 800 name petitions.

Arresting people video taping meetings.

Trashing wind laws and the committees that worked on them.

Defending conflicts of interest.

And the list goes on.  And this suit just like the other moves just hardens a community’s resolve, and this time the resolve is going to go a long way beyond this community on several levels.  Gee I wonder how many major news papers across the country have blogs or comments attached??????  Think they might be interested in this????? You can bet on it.  These guys in their whining about their loss have no clue the can of worms they have opened up!!!

And the additional benefit of their behavior  is this time they verified  the legal process to empower seasonals to register and vote in their seasonal communities right here in CV and all over NYS. The very thing they have wanted to squash.

 

It's So Simple - How Could I Have Possibly Missed It????

This is part of a comment left on the blog Pandora's Box of Rocks.

It seems that BP has awakened from their yearlong slumber and is finally getting ready for their 125 turbine assault on Cape Vincent. Didn't Chandler say as much when he wrote the PSC on May 29, 2012?

BP is coming at us and there only hope is that the Article 10 local siting board agrees with them when they say our zoning law is unduly burdensome and should be rejected. That may be a difficult case for BP and Chandler. It would have been so much easier for BP if Cape Vincent had only banned their turbines.

REALLY...Oh My God how did I miss that???!!!  Like the ad for the office supply company Staples says...

THAT WAS EASY!!!!!

So you mean  all we have to do in community after community to defeat wind  all over NYS is to pass  wind laws that don't ban turbines but will restrict them so much based on the health, safety, and welfare idea that wind developers can't viably develop, and the Article X board will agree? Or if they don't and we challenge their decsion in court, the courts will agree, and it all goes away...that simple????.

Wow!!! How did I miss that!!!  So you mean to defeat rampant wind development in NY that is all we have to do is pass these "reasonable" wind zoning laws instead of bans?

It's  so simple!!!

 Cuomo and the State rabidly want wind power to meet their renewable  green agenda targets, wind developers are spreading money around Albany like candy, A-10 passed overwhelmingly with bi-partisan support,  Cuomo says we need power (renewable power) to futher his political agenda and keep NY open for business and jobs,and is telling communities right here in NNY a few day ago they have to be "reasonable",  and to defeat all this and his agenda all we have to do is pass restrictive wind laws in town after town after town all across NYS till there is no room for turbines, and Article X, the State, and Cuomo are going to just roll over for these "reasonable" laws and play dead?????

Geees how did I not see that???? 

Of course it does raise a rather inconvenient  question this commenter is not likely to   answer.  If that is all there is to it, and it's just that simple, and all every wind targeted area  in NY has to do is pass these restrictive wind laws instead of bans,  then exactly how does Cuomo and the State actually get  the wind turbines they want for their renewable and corporate wind developer agenda???

Ahhh...if it is that simple, and Cuomo recognizes that is all it will take to defeat his wind agenda, and his Article X siting boards in town after town are just going to fold up to all these "reasonable" wind laws that basically are  defacto bans on  wind, then what is the point of having his Article X law at all????? 

Geee I don't know do ya think that maybe the point is they get it and intend to use it...and they actually intend to overide ANY damn law, ban or not, that puts severe restrictions on the big money backed coporate political Cuomo/ State/big wind  agenda?

Which comes to another point.  The latest rumor is BP wants 125 wind turbines in Cape Vincent.  Well what if an Article X board says...NO but you can have maybe 20, 40 maybe 60, we consider that "reasonable".  And what if BP agrees?  What then?  Because that would still be in significant violation of our new law and comp plan.  Does our board cash  it in???  Will our town board decide not to defend our law and say"well foks we did all we can...it's too expensive to defend our law against the State and BP."  If A-10 can site a "reasoanble" number of turbines in town after town, based on overiding even "reasonable" laws...then guess what YOU STILL LOSE ban or no ban!!!

You don't get it.  With even a restrictive law, if over ridden will still depend on our board's
committment to defend our law  likely in a very costly tax dollar supported law suit to actually defend our community rights and our health safety and welfare.  Some people are asleep!   It ain't over, just because we have wind zoning,  because at some point they ARE  likley going to have to take a stand, as I see it.  If they don't and simply accept a bad A-10 decision, then our elections of 2009 and 2011 are all but pointless.

We need to start considering all this because it is nothing more that a GUESS as to if A-10 will defer to our laws while the 4th largest corp in the world is breathing fire down their necks!!!

Considering all this I still say we should have banned turbines and made our point and went after what we really wanted...unless what you wanted was a compromise forced on us by NYS while at the same time trashing home rule.  But it's moot now and the town board owns the new law...now let's see if they will actually stand up to defend what they own all the way if Article X doesn't think the restrictive law is so simple or "reasonable"

Maybe that is the question this commentor on Pandora's should be asking our town board members.

"What will you be willing to defend"