byte&chew

Stacking the facts

I was going to write  this post about some of the more urgent issues facing this country and region, but I was sucked up (again) by the Laidlaw issue. Front page of The Berlin Daily Sun today, "Laidlaw community committee holds organizational meeting to identify concerns". What a joke! After reading the list of names on the committee the headline should read, "Laidlaw fan club organizes as a promotional strategy". Organizing this committee and loading its membership fits perfectly with the rest of the Laidlaw actions/moves where they keep trying to pull rabbits out of hats. This latest brainchild of Max Makaitis is a real winner!  The mission; How to turn everything that is unacceptable about a biomas plant in the middle of a residential area, into assets? ...Could it be that the committee will find a way to grow branches on the 300ft stack and make it look like a giant pine tree? How about fur ear plugs for the noise, they could double as ear muffs in the winter! Ignoring facts is a form of deceit and promoting that you'll be able to mitigate the negative impacts from the Laidlaw project is a blind face lie! It's my opinion that, when you base an effort on a false premise, the results will more than likely be false and questionable at best. Now there's a couple of folks on that committee that I don't believe have been poisoned by the Laidlaw Kool Aid and these token members are only there to give credibility to the dirty dozen. It's going to be interesting to see how this minority tolerates the blatant bs/hype which surrounds Laidlaw. You bet we'll be watching!

See nothing, hear nothing = do nothing.

As I sit here at my computer, I can look out my side window where I have a good view of the recovery boiler and stack. I try to imagine the scenery without the 300ft chimney bisecting my view. Now it's my understanding that an ad hoc committee has been put together to look at the issues surrounding the negative impacts the Laidlaw project will have on the community. It's also my understanding that Max Makaitis of AVER (who happens to be a staunch supporter of Laidlaw Energy) is hand picking the members of this committee. If my facts are correct, I have to question how this hand picked group will look at the facts objectively? What will be the process used to identify these impacts and how will the recommendations be formulated? What if the impacts can't be mitigated, such as the bisected view out my window?  Will they recommend that the chimney be torn down? If this biomass plant burns as clean as Laidlaw claims it will, why the 300ft stack? This same stack sticks up like a sore thumb and is also in my view when I cross the 12th street bridge, where it spoils the best view of the presidentials anywhere in the State. Now what about the noise from the fans of the fluidized bed boiler. (People in Maine are protesting such a noise and they live 1/4 to 1/2 miles from the PSNH plant) How loud will the noise be on Main Street by St. Anne's Church? What will the committee recommend as an acceptable noise level for the seniors living at Northern Lights Housing? My greatest concern is that this committee headed by a Laidlaw promoter will become nothing more than a white washing group whose purpose is to convince residents that they have their best interest at heart. Yeah, sure!  That's why the chickens picked a wolf to keep an eye on the chicken coup.

pump pump pump that LLEG

DallasTX 7/15/2009 04:29 PM GMT (TransWorldNews)                                                                                                                                                                                         

LAIDLAW ENGY GROUP INC (PINK: LLEG) surged 100% at $0.0006 on 53.51 million shares in the early morning trade. Laidlaw Energy is engaged in the development of independent power plants that generate electricity from renewable resources, with a particular emphasis on biomass power. Laidlaw Energy's mission is to build and manage a profitable portfolio of biomass facilities through the development of new facilities and acquisition of existing facilities, and in so doing become the leading supplier of biomass power in the United States. Laidlaw Energy is headquartered in New York, New York.

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Now you might ask, why would you post that press release?  The answer is to show how this pink stock marketplace works. Here's Laidlaw who doesn't have anything near an operating biomass plant, nor does it even have a plant that is even close to operating, or a plant that has been licensed or permitted to operate, being "pumped" by saying it's going to "become the leading supplier of biomass power in the United States". These types of statements are made to keep the investors in the game.  Barnum would say; Come right up with your money! For just $0.0006 you can own part of the "leading supplier of biomass power in the United States".....I say, you don't need to generate power when you can double your money with hot air.

....blowing in the wind

There's no hotter question in the North Country than whether or not Laidlaw will ever operate a biomass plant on the former mill site. The project has a long list of obstacles to overcome, everything from the Mayor and Council not wanting it, to convincing the State Site Evaluation Committee that's it's ok to have a noisy boiler of this size a few hundred feet from two major housing complexes, to not having transmission line capacity, to having enough wood chips at the right price. The latest issue, that of Northeast Utilities getting the ok from the Feds/FERC to import cheap Hydro Quebec power from Canada may very well have tipped the scale beyond the breaking point. NU the parent company to PSNH is now negotiating the price for this Canadian power and all bets are that this hydro power will be quite a bit cheaper than power produced by Laidlaw or anybody else. Most pundits also agree that Laidlaw is nobody without PSNH and PSNH is nobody without NU and if the price is right and NU signs a contract with Hydro Quebec it's curtains to Laidlaw's 60MW biomass plant. So, the answer to the Laidlaw question is blowing down from the north as surely as a cold winter breeze cooling the deal. We may have a killing frost in the making!

Autumn leaves

This past week I took the liberty of asking a few questions of the people I met shopping or having a cup of coffee. These were not scientifically formulated questions, but every day questions you would ask your friends and neighbors. How's business? How do you think Berlin is doing? Is your job secure? What do you think about the old recovery boiler and stack? Do you think Laidlaw is a good deal for Berlin? What do you think is going to happen with downtown? Are you happy with Mayor and Council? These were run of the mill questions not to get numbers as much as to get the mood of the people. My conclusions? How I wish I knew how to get people to come out from their cozy living rooms and to council meetings and public hearings. The collective wisdom of the citizens is amazing, but their mood is somber and not optimistic. Generally speaking people are real concerned about everything that has to do with the economy. Many are afraid to lose their jobs and businesses and, many believe that we've seen the best America has to offer. Most are convinced that our standard of living is and will continue to go down. Quite a few are afraid of having to sell their homes and would sell them now but say the market is too bad for them to get the money back that they have invested in them. Only a few folks were unhappy with Mayor and Council and about half of those who were unhappy was because they didn't think Mayor and Council did enough to get rid of the boiler and stack. Of the 40 to 50 people I spoke to about a half dozen said that we need the jobs Laidlaw would bring and a few of them said they wished there was "something better to put there, but nothing else has been offered". I heard the usual complaints about the condition of the streets and the fact that it rains all the time. The majority of people can't understand why the City allows burned down buildings to remain in place. About half of the people said that downtown is "dead" and that the burnt out building downtown is a "black eye" for Berlin. Many people said that they see more and more ATV's on trailers over the weekend (from Mass) and that we should do something to attract more tourist that are in Gorham. It might have been that the rainy weather had gotten to most people, but most conversations ended on a sour note, that they didn't see "how in hell we're going to get of of this mess". Being a native of Berlin and knowing what happens to our collective mood when the leaves of autumn fall, I can only hope that something positive comes up before we go into the winter months.   How does this compare with how you think things are going?

Hard times?

As all of us face the realities of a changing economy, we struggle with difficult choices. These choices can be as gut wrenching as selling our homes, our camps, our boats or canceling our health insurance. More and more people are having to adjust their lifestyle to shrinking incomes and layoffs. While this pain is being felt at the working class level, governments continue to behave as if these were the good old days. We have several examples here in our own back yard that involve State Government. I'm sure that you're aware that the new state budget is reaching deeper into our pockets although there's less and less in our pockets, right?  Well, here's what I want you to consider. Take a look at what's being built on upper Main street in Berlin next to Woodlands CU, a new office building for HHS. I don't remember how many MILLION$ that's going to cost us, but it's the fact that they didn't need a new building that makes this a crime. That's right, at the moment HHS is downtown in what is probably the best office building in Berlin, but to a handful of never happy always complaining bureaucrats, their personal need for a "new place" trumped common sense and responsible government. The issues surrounding the present location were brought to the attention of all responsible parties, from the Commissioner to Senator Gallus, but apparently nobody had the courage to make the handful of complainers accountable for their lies and mischief.   We also have the question about the unsafe conditions at the State Prison. The State closes the Laconia facility and sends most of the inmates to an already packed house in Berlin. Keep in mind that the Berlin prison is built for 500 inmates, but I believe that there's somewhere around 800 right now. On top of that, must I remind you that they laid-off around 8 officers in Berlin, replaced by transfers from Laconia. The ugly picture is that we're building a new HHS facility we don't need to make a few bureaucrats happy (as if it will) while we have inmates sleeping in hallways in an over crowded and hostile prison! (Oh yeah, it will cost you an extra $30 to register your car next time)  Now convince me that we don't need some new faces and new policies at the State level.

A demonstration of leadership

After having a couple of conversations over coffee this morning with folks who attended last night's forum about the township of Success, I've come to the conclusion that our attitude about ourselves and the special quality of life we have here in the North Country may not be for sale after all. I was told that somewhere around 75 people showed up and that there was a very positive tone to the conversations that lasted for three hours! I have to ask, when was the last time that there was 75 people in a room that seem to agree on anything?  I'm going to take the liberty of making an assumption here, (yeah I know what the first 3 letters spell, but I'll risk it anyway) that these folks who debated the pros and cons of Success, if given the same opportunity to debate the Laidlaw Energy project would come to the same conclusion,that our future and our quality of life is not for sale. The concerns that brought these 75 people out last night about Success run parallel to our concerns about Laidlaw, it's just that the people who are brokering the sale of Success are doing a much better job of informing/educating us on the subject. It's my opinion that the issues surrounding the use of the land in Success and the issues surrounding the mill property are one and the same. The Laidlaw project on the mill property is as absurd as a missile range for the National Guard in Success!..Both ideas are nuts and are not in the best interest of Berlin or of it's residents. There's no question that our city government failed its citizens by not providing  a proper forum about the re-use of the mill property and the Laidlaw project. It's not that the residents got smart overnight and showed up for last night's forum, it's that the people handling the information about Success did their homework and  acted professionally. It's clearly a demonstration of leadership and the residents responding.

To be successful we need Success

Those of us interested in seeing Berlin prosper again may want to spend Wednesday night at the White Mountain Community College.  The special presentation is all about the township of Success and what may happen there. (Remember the National Guard Training Facility)  The first lesson in re-inventing Berlin may very well begin tonight (7/1/09) at 6pm