My Name is Paul H Cosentino. I started this Blog in 2011 because of what I believe to be wrongdoings in town government. This Blog is to keep the citizens of Templeton informed. It is also for the citizens of Templeton to post their comments and concerns.
In recent news the town auditor of Winchendon, Roselli, Clark and Associates stated that Winchendon's " finances look to be in good order."
Winchendon has $1.1 million in its stabilization fund and $1.8 million in undesignated funds. Winchendon still owes $2.9 million from the $3.23 million dollar loan from the State.
At a recent special town meeting in Ashburnham, the voters spent $556,000 in free cash. The transfers included:
Yesterday, we reported that the FBI has found "tens of thousands of emails"
belonging to Huma Adein on Anthony Weiner's computer, raising questions
how practical it is that any conclusive finding will be available or
made by the FBI in the few days left before the elections
Now, according to the WSJ, it appears that Federal agents are preparing to scour roughly 650,000 emails that, as we reported moments ago were discovered weeks ago on the laptop of Anthony Weiner, to see how many relate to a prior probe of Hillary Clinton’s email use, as
metadata on the device suggests there may be thousands sent to or from
the private server that the Democratic nominee used while she was
secretary of state, according to people familiar with the matter.
As the WSJ adds, the review will take weeks at a minimum to determine whether those messages are work-related emails
between Huma Abedin, a close Clinton aide and the estranged wife of Mr.
Weiner, and State Department officials; how many are duplicates of
emails already reviewed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and
whether they include either classified information or important new
evidence in the Clinton email probe, which FBI officials call “Midyear.”
And, as we further reported earlier today,
the FBI has had to await a court order to begin reviewing the emails,
because they were uncovered in an unrelated probe of Mr. Weiner, and
that order was delayed for reasons that remain unclear.
More stunning is just how many
emails were found on Weiner's computer. And while one can only imagine
the content of some of the more persona ones, the WSJ writes that the
latest development began in early October when New York-based FBI
officials notified Andrew McCabe, the bureau’s second-in-command, that
while investigating Mr. Weiner for possibly sending sexually charged
messages to a minor, they had recovered a laptop with 650,000 emails. Many, they said, were from the accounts of Ms. Abedin, according to people familiar with the matter.
Those emails stretched back years, these people said, and were on a
laptop that both Mr. Weiner and Ms. Abedin used and that hadn’t
previously come up in the Clinton email probe. Ms. Abedin said in late
August that the couple were separating.
The FBI had searched the computer while looking for child pornography,
people familiar with the matter said, but the warrant they used didn’t
give them authority to search for matters related to Mrs. Clinton’s
email arrangement at the State Department. Mr. Weiner has denied sending
explicit or indecent messages to the teenager.
As reported yesterday, it appears that there are potentially tens of thousands of Abedin linked emails on Weiner's computer:
In their initial review of the laptop, the metadata showed many messages, apparently
in the thousands, that were either sent to or from the private email
server at Mrs. Clinton’s home that had been the focus of so much
investigative effort for the FBI. Senior FBI officials decided
to let the Weiner investigators proceed with a closer examination of the
metadata on the computer, and report back to them.
The WSJ then connects the dots between how the Weiner emails were
linked to the Clinton reopening of the Clinton probe, despite Loretta
Lynch's and the DOJ's vocal urges not to do so:
At a meeting early last week of senior Justice Department and FBI
officials, a member of the department’s senior national-security staff
asked for an update on the Weiner laptop, the people familiar with the
matter said. At that point, officials realized that no one had acted to obtain a warrant, these people said.
Mr. McCabe then instructed the email investigators to talk to the
Weiner investigators and see whether the laptop’s contents could be
relevant to the Clinton email probe, these people said. After the
investigators spoke, the agents agreed it was potentially relevant.
Mr. Comey was given an update, decided to go forward with the case and notified Congress on Friday, with explosive results.
Senior Justice Department officials had warned Mr. Comey that telling
Congress would violate well-established policies against overt actions
that could affect an election, and some within the FBI have been unhappy
at Mr. Comey’s repeated public statements on the probe, going back to
his first press conference on the subject in July.
PLAINFIELD, Mass.
(AP) — Massachusetts State Police say a 9-year-old girl was killed when
she was dragged by a school bus and then struck by it as she was getting
off at her stop. The accident happened around 4 p.m. Friday in Plainfield, in western Massachusetts.
Police say a preliminary investigation indicates
the girl was not fully clear of the bus when the door closed. They say
she became caught in the door as the bus drove away. She was dragged a
short distance and struck by the bus. The driver then stopped.
Several other children were on board.
State police did not disclose the name of the girl or her school.
The bus driver is being interviewed. His name and bus company have not been released.
Connecticut
regulators dealt a blow to pipeline company Spectra Energy Corp. this
week by abandoning several utility proposals that would have relied on
Spectra's beleaguered Access Northeast pipeline, a 125-mile pipeline expansion project planned to span from New York state to just past Boston, MA.
Connecticut's move comes in the wake of a major defeat for Spectra this summer, when the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled
that the state's electrical ratepayers could not be forced to assume
the financial risks associated with building gas pipelines as Spectra
had hoped.
Despite that decision, Spectra had pledged
to move forward with construction — but the company has increasingly
struggled to find business partners willing to commit to buying the gas
those pipes would carry. Earlier this month, New Hampshire regulators
also rejected a key Access Northeast contract.
“With yet another state abandoning
proposals for more natural gas pipeline capacity, these efforts to
expand fossil fuel infrastructure in New England have hit a virtually
unsurpassable roadblock,” said Conservation Law Foundation president
Bradley Campbell, whose organization had filed the Massachusetts
lawsuit. “Without Massachusetts, New Hampshire or Connecticut in the
mix, Spectra has lost a whopping 84 percent of the customer base needed
to finance this ill-conceived proposal.”
While the decision
from Connecticut regulators directly affects the natural gas build-out
in New England, the regulators' core logic could also carry difficult
implications for the entire natural gas industry. While
environmentalists oppose building new natural gas infrastructure in
large part because of concerns over climate change — with peer-reviewed
scientific research concluding that because of methane leaks, natural
gas could be a worse fuel for the climate than coal — Connecticut
regulators focused on the economics of the fuel.
"Weekly Report: We have had a request for the documents relative to our prequalification process for the school. This may be the prelude to a challenge which is the domain of the Attorney General's office. It can take 3 to 6 weeks or more for their review."
What could possibly be challenged about this wonderful project?
In other news:
Yet another attempt to negotiate a PILOT payment from TMLWP. Good luck!
Good News! The ladder truck will be repaired!
Bad News! The FY 17 budget line item for "Town Vehicle/Machinery Maintenance did not include repairing fire dept. equipment. Will there be a shortfall in another account? Stay tuned!
Police Station Variance has been posted. New hangar at Gardner Municipal Airport (located in Templeton)
Holiday Prep:
COA needs turkeys and chickens for the upcoming Holiday season!
(NaturalNews) The entire leftist media is not merely dishonest and
corrupt, their science writers are unbelievably stupid and ill-informed
about nearly everything in the natural world. Today, after months of
printing fear-inducing "Zika terrorism" stories that scared America half
to death while convincing the government to funnel billions of dollars
into Zika vaccine research for Big Pharma, the Washington Post now
admits it had no idea what it was talking about.
But
rather than admitting its own science writers were scientifically
illiterate propagandists pushing quack narratives as news, the paper now
blames other scientists for the gross error by publishing a headline
that's once again dishonest and deceptive: "Scientists are bewildered by
Zika's path across Latin America," it proclaims.
Bewildered
about "Zika's path?" The story headline should actually read, "Zika HOAX
revealed... it doesn't cause brain damage after all." (Read it at this link.)
Washington Post has been shamelessly pushing the Zika HOAX for months... with no apology to readers
In
the story, writers Dom Phillips and Nick Miroff essentially reveal that
what the Washington Post has been writing about the Zika virus has been
based entirely in government propaganda and pandemic lies pushed by the
CDC, which of course has close ties to the criminal vaccine industry:
Nearly
nine months after Zika was declared a global health emergency, the
virus has infected at least 650,000 people in Latin America and the
Caribbean, including tens of thousands of expectant mothers.
But
to the great bewilderment of scientists, the epidemic has not produced
the wave of fetal deformities so widely feared when the images of
misshapen infants first emerged from Brazil.
Yes, the
Washington Post now says the scientists are "bewildered" that their
apocalyptic scare stories that caused female athletes to skip out on the Rio Olympics
and scared tens of millions of Americans into poisoning themselves with
DEET (a neurotoxic chemical) turned out to be total hogwash. DEET, by
the way, combines with carbamate class pesticides to cause neurological dysfunction in humans, which coincidentally increases the number of people who watch CNN or read the Washington Post.
For
the record, no one who reads Natural News is surprised by this
revelations that has left mainstream scientists "bewildered." It's not
bewildering to me. I called Zika a total hoax from day one, pointing out
that the brain deformities were caused by larvacide chemicals dumped into the water supply,
not by Zika. See some of my stories that clearly spelled all this out
months before the Washington Post had any clue what they were writing
about:
I
even published a mini-documentary revealing the published science that
shows how DEET insecticide causes brain damage in humans. You can watch it at this link or view the video below:
If anyone from the Washington Post bothered to read Natural News and learn about real science, they would have learned that Zika has infected tens of millions of people throughout South America for decades, with absolutely no measurable increase in neurological deformations. (But facts be damned, the WashPost had a panic to push!)
Nation after nation records tens of thousands of infections with ZERO birth defects...
Despite
the factual reality of the situation, the state-controlled
propagandists writing for rags like the Washington Post -- a bogus
newspaper that has lost all credibility in the minds of intelligent
people -- continued to pummel home their kooky science theories that
claimed much of the U.S. South would be overrun by brain damaging
mosquitoes, turning Southerners into shrunken-brained mutants while
pregnant women fled northward to survive the airborne insect onslaught.
Instead, nothing happened.
No explosion in shrunken-headed babies. No wave of birth defects across
Florida, even as city officials desperately bombarded their own cities
with brain-damaging insecticides. No national emergency declared by
Obama to bring back DDT and eradicate baby-murdering mosquitoes by
dousing our open streets with thick clouds of organophosphate
neurotoxins.
Instead, the rate of neurological birth defects in
most countries approached zero. Via the Washington Post's own graphic:
(partial list)
Venezuela: 60,791 Zika infections... ZERO birth defects Honduras: 31,933 Zika infections... ONE birth defect Guadalupe: 30,969 Zika infections... ZERO birth defects Puerto Rico: 29,084 Zika infections... TWO birth defects Mexico: 4,837 Zika infections... ZERO birth defects
We are not here to gain power, we are here to distribute power.
– Ásta Guthrún Helgadóttir Pirate member of Iceland’s Parliament
While there are all sorts of populist political movements gaining
traction across the West, the only one I find genuinely revolutionary
and distinctly interesting and productive is Iceland’s Pirate Party.
I’ve covered the upstart party in the past, most recently earlier this year in the post, “The Pirates Are Coming” – Iceland’s Pirate Party Polls at 43% Following the PM’s Resignation.
Now, with the Icelandic election just days away (October 29th), the
party is back in the news due to an expected strong performance.
REYKJAVIK, ICELAND — The party that could be on the cusp of winning Iceland’s national elections on Saturday didn’t exist four years ago.
Its members are a collection of anarchists, hackers,
libertarians and Web geeks. It sets policy through online polls — and
thinks the government should do the same. It wants to make Iceland “a
Switzerland of bits,” free of digital snooping. It has offered Edward
Snowden a new place to call home.
And then there’s the name: In this land of Vikings, the Pirate Party may soon be king. To Jónsdóttir and other Pirate true believers — who define their
party as neither left nor right, but a radical movement that combines
the best of both — the election here could also be the start of the
reboot that Western democracy so desperately needs.
Massachusetts has changed its election laws to allow for Early Voting. Early voting will begin on October 24th and continue through November 4th, 2016. For public convenience, in addition to regular business hours, the Templeton Town Clerk has decided to offer evening and weekend hours. Templeton Voters can vote in person at the Town Clerk’s Office located at 160 Patriots Rd., E. Templeton during: Mon. Oct. 24th & Tues. Oct. 25th from 7am-8pm.
Fri. Nov. 4th from 8am-12pm. At the Senior Center, located at 16 Senior Drive, Baldwinville during: Tues. Nov. 1st from 10am-12pm. Or by mail. Fill out an application and mail it to Town Clerk, P.O. Box 620, E. Templeton, MA 01438. You can find the application on the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s website: www.sec.state.ma.us/ele
Uxbridge voters approve soil bylaw, and a process to remove official
By Susan Spencer Telegram & Gazette Staff
UXBRIDGE – At town meeting Tuesday, it was all about the soil:
how it came to Uxbridge, how it was monitored, what it might be doing to
the water supply and what should be done about it.
And from the
get-go, when resident Justin Piccirillo asked Town Moderator Charles E.
“Ed” Maharay to go out of order and first take up Article 17, a citizen
petition to allow a process for elected officials to be removed, it was
clear residents wanted to see changes.
The citizen petition to allow a process to remove elected officials
received a two-thirds majority to pass, with 152 votes in favor out of
215 cast.
A proposed bylaw to regulate earth removal and soil
importation, Article 10, which was amended after negotiations between
selectmen, the town manager and the grass-roots group Uxbridge Citizens
for Clean Water, also received a two-thirds majority to pass, with 200
votes in favor and 32 opposed.
Mr. Piccirillo said he was
disappointed about having to bring the citizen petition, but he saw a
“widening disconnect” between town officials and citizens. He pointed in
particular to members of the Board of Selectmen and others whom he
faulted with giving deference to landowners’ rights over community
well-being and not sufficiently overseeing the town manager who signed a
letter of support for two controversial soil importation projects.
Alluding
to the soil projects at reclamation sites on Millville Road and South
Street, he said, “I want people to think about the liabilities in which
our town might now be a responsible party.”
Under the citizen
petition, the article, which amends the town charter, would first have
to be approved by the attorney general and then by voters at the town
election in spring.
If the charter is so amended, a citizen could
obtain 200 signatures to have the Board of Selectmen call a special town
meeting or place the petitioned removal on the annual town meeting
warrant. The citizen would have to give reasons for removing the
official at town meeting and a two-thirds majority would be required for
the official’s removal.
Selectman Peter Baghdasarian spoke
against Article 17, claiming the amended version presented at town
meeting differed significantly from the article on the warrant.
The soil importation bylaw, Article 10, addressed concerns head-on
over the tension surrounding reclaiming private land with soil imported
from construction sites in Eastern Massachusetts and elsewhere.
Dr. David Tapscott, representing Uxbridge Citizens for Clean Water, said “We feel this bylaw is a necessity.”
Turkey’s Anadolu News Agency, though government-run, is providing remarkably clear and reliable diagrammatic descriptions of the current status
of the U.S - and - fundamentalist - Sunni, versus Russia - and - Shia -
and - NON - fundamentalist - Sunni, sides, in the current oil-and-gas
war in the Middle East, for control over territory in Syria, for
construction of oil-and-gas pipelines through Syria supplying fuel into
the world’s largest energy-market: Europe. Russia is now the dominant
supplier of both oil and gas, but its ally Iran is a Shiite
gas-powerhouse that wants to share the market there, and Russia has no
objection.
Qatar is a Sunni gas-powerhouse and wants to become the main supplier
of gas there, and Saudi Arabia is a Sunni oil-powerhouse, which wants
to become the major supplier of oil, but Saudi oil and Qatari gas would
be pipelined through secular-controlled (Assad's) Syria, and this is why
the U.S. and its fundamentalist-Sunni allies, the Sauds, and Qataris,
are using Al Qaeda and other jihadists to conquer enough of a strip
through Syria so that U.S. companies such as Halliburton will be able
safely to place pipelines there, to be marketed in Europe by U.S. firms
such as Exxon. Iran also wants to pipeline its gas through
Syria, and this is one reason why Iran is defending Syria’s government,
against the U.S.-Saudi-Qatari-jihadist invasion, which is trying to
overthrow and replace Assad.
Here are the most-informative of Anadolu’s war-maps:
The first presents the effort by
many countries to eliminate ISIS control over the large Iraqi city of
Mosul. A remarkably frank remark made in this map is "An escape corridor
into Syria will be left for Daesh [ISIS] so they can vacate Mosul" - an
admission that the U.S. - Saudi - Qatari team want the ISIS
jihadists who are in Mosul to relocate into Syria to assist the U.S. -
Saudi - Qatari effort there to overthrow and replace the Assad
government:
ADVERTISEMENT
x
The second is about the Egyptian government's trying to assist the
Syrian government's defense against the Saudi - U.S. - Qatari invasion
of Syria, at Aleppo, where Syria's Al Qaeda branch is trying to retain
its current control over part of that large city. The Saud family are
punishing the Egyptian government for that:
In addition, there is the following map from oil-price.com:
That map shows the competing Shiia (Russia-backed) and Sunni
(U.S.-backed) gas-pipelines into Europe — the central issue in the
invasion and defense of Syria.
On 21 September 2016, Gareth Porter headlined "The War Against the Assad Regime Is Not a ‘Pipeline War’", and he pointed out some errors in Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s account that had been published under the headline "Syria: Another Pipeline War".
Porter argued: "It's easy to understand why that explanation would be
accepted by many anti-war activists: it is in line with the widely
accepted theory that all the US wars in the Middle East have been ‘oil
wars’ — about getting control of the petroleum resources of the region
and denying them to America's enemies."
Sunday, October 23, 2016 As for the lawyer at Town meeting, he or his firm is hired by the Board of selectmen and he acts on things they request. You pay for it but that is how it goes. I believe if asked by the selectmen, Paul would have / could have, put forth proper and legal wording to allow for the motion to be discussed and voted on. The selectmen chose not to do that. I believe you will find a majority of the selectmen did not want further discussion on the school. Further investigation is required to find out what the actual authority of the selectmen is during a town meeting. Perhaps selectmen are not required and perhaps a group of citizens could go front and center and read each article to all who attend town meeting. That way, everyone who attends would hear the entire article read. Remember, the people who attend town meeting and sign in as registered voters are the legislative body, that body votes for or against all town by-laws and appropriations to operate the town. Perhaps a new by-law, properly researched, to force a reading of all articles, rather than "as written" could then happen. It is your government and it really does not need to be changed. It only becomes bad or misaligned when we allow it. That is my opinion. If a group of business men and farmers can take on the king of England, certainly the town's people can take on the selectmen.
posted by Jeff Bennett Posted by Jeff Bennett at 8:12 AM
2 comments:
Anonymous10:03 AM Mr Bennett -DHB has stated on her FB page that she does not block people from her FB page. I have heard that she has blocked you and other people from her FB page. Is this true? if so she lied on her FB page.
Reply
Diane Haley Brooks9:46 PM Oh yes I do block people from my PERSONAL page. NOT my Selectwoman page. I also sign my name to everything and don't use anonymous. If you have any questions, please write to me.
Short of troops to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan a
decade ago, the California National Guard enticed thousands of soldiers
with bonuses of $15,000 or more to reenlist and go to war.
Now the Pentagon is demanding the money back.
Nearly 10,000 soldiers, many of whom served multiple
combat tours, have been ordered to repay large enlistment bonuses — and
slapped with interest charges, wage garnishments and tax liens if they
refuse — after audits revealed widespread overpayments by the California
Guard at the height of the wars last decade.
Investigations
have determined that lack of oversight allowed for widespread fraud and
mismanagement by California Guard officials under pressure to meet
enlistment targets.
But soldiers say the military is reneging on 10-year-old
agreements and imposing severe financial hardship on veterans whose only
mistake was to accept bonuses offered when the Pentagon needed to fill
the ranks.
“These
bonuses were used to keep people in,” said Christopher Van Meter, a
42-year-old former Army captain and Iraq veteran from Manteca,
Calif., who says he refinanced his home mortgage to repay $25,000 in
reenlistment bonuses and $21,000 in student loan repayments that the
Army says he should not have received. “People like me just got
screwed.”
In Iraq, Van Meter was thrown from an armored
vehicle turret — and later awarded a Purple Heart for his combat
injuries — after the vehicle detonated a buried roadside bomb.
Susan
Haley, a Los Angeles native and former Army master sergeant who
deployed to Afghanistan in 2008, said she sends the Pentagon $650 a
month — a quarter of her family’s income — to pay down $20,500 in
bonuses that the Guard says were given to her improperly.
“I feel totally betrayed,” said Haley, 47, who served 26
years in the Army along with her husband and oldest son, a medic who
lost a leg in combat in Afghanistan.
Haley, who now lives
in Kempner, Texas, worries they may have to sell their house to repay
the bonuses. “They’ll get their money, but I want those years back,” she
said, referring to her six-year reenlistment.
The problem offers a dark perspective on the Pentagon’s use
of hefty cash incentives to fill its all-volunteer force during the
longest era of warfare in the nation’s history.
Even Guard officials concede that taking back the money from military veterans is distasteful.
“At
the end of the day, the soldiers ended up paying the largest price,”
said Maj. Gen. Matthew Beevers, deputy commander of the California
Guard. “We’d be more than happy to absolve these people of their debts.
We just can’t do it. We’d be breaking the law.”
Facing
enlistment shortfalls and two major wars with no end in sight, the
Pentagon began offering the most generous incentives in its history to
retain soldiers in the mid-2000s.
It also began paying the money up front, like the signing bonuses that some businesses pay in the civilian sector.
They’ll get their money, but I want those years back.— Susan Haley, former Army master sergeant
Washington, 21 October (Argus) — New pipeline infrastructure should lower natural gas prices in the northeast US in winter 2016-17, federal energy regulators project.
But the trend will prove short-lived as reliance on natural gas for power generation grows in New England at the same time as public opposition and economic challenges block construction of new pipelines.
Spectra Energy's 330mn cf/d (9mn m³/d) Algonquin Incremental Market pipeline expansion should start service in November. As a result, natural gas spot prices at Algonquin Citygates — a key northeast US hub — could be $4-$5/mmBtu lower on normal winter days than they would have been without the pipeline addition, the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said in its 2016-17 winter assessments.
Algonquin Citygate spot prices averaged $3.41/mmBtu in December 2015-February 2016, peaking at only $8/mmBtu during an unusually mild winter. That compares with a high of $30/mmBtu in winter 2014-15 and a peak of $75/mmBtu in winter 2013-14.
The US government weather forecasters project that heating demand across the US, while below long-term norms, could be 13pc higher in winter 2016-17 than last winter. Colder weather likely will bring back price spikes in New England, but the added infrastructure should mitigate the price spikes, FERC said.
The new infrastructure also will reverse price differentials between New England and New York markets. Argus forward curves show Algonquin Citygates trailing Transco zone 6 New York by about 40¢/mmBtu in January-February 2017. By contrast, New England spot price premiums to New York City averaged 58¢/mmBtu in the first two months of 2016.
The new infrastructure is noteworthy as many other major pipeline expansions in New England have been shelved or cancelled in the face of local opposition. US midstream company Kinder Morgan said it would focus on incremental capacity additions amid local opposition. Projects in New York state face equally strong opposition.
Recent articles in the Gardner News discussed regionalization options. Some departments the Templeton selectmen have indicated interest in regionalizing are the Fire department, the dispatch center and the highway department. No mention has been made of a regional agreement with Phillipston for Council on Aging services provided to Phillipston residents.
In today's Gardner News (October 22, 2016) there is an article about the future of Quabbin schools..."One plan would involve closure of Hubbardston Center School".
The article continues:"Deschamps and Collins Center professionals noted that two demographic studies have pointed to a 20 percent decrease in the school district's population over the next 10 years. The current districtwide enrollment of 2,400 students only uses 55 percent of the high school and middle school complex, and only between 30-60 percent of each of the elementary schools."
So why does the data for the Templeton Elementary School building project indicate a student population increase in Templeton?
Maybe it's time to start thinking of a regional agreement with Hubbardston to send our elementary students to the Hubbardston Center School?
It might be a better alternative for Hubbardston, then to face closing a new elementary school while they are still paying off the bond for that school. Hubbardston would retain their community school. Templeton elementary students would attend a newer facility.
I've
said it before and I'll say it again. We need a new form of government
in this town. Last night showed just how dysfunctional our form of
government is.
The towns legal counsel says a article on the town
warrant was illegal, well, wouldn't that make the entire warrant
illegal? The town published the article, presented it for the town to
vote on then a "lawyer" calls it illegal.
I personally feel the
entire process is illegal. Our town officers have committed the town of
Templeton taxpayers to more than 5% of our total value which I believe
requires approval. Just because we have not applied for financing
doesn't mean we are not committed.
From my understanding we have
about $5 million in present day debt. 23 million from school, 1.2
million from police station. 1 million for water tower and a 1 million
dollar deficit from 2013. In my world that ads up to about 31.2 million,
well over our 5% limit.
I know they haven't asked for approval because asking/applying requires a bond rating!!!!! It's on the damn form.
This seems like it could be another one of those backwards, opps we forgot type of errors that again will fall on taxpayers.
Oh,
since the town pays for the "town counsel" shouldn't the town counsel
work on behalf of the townspeople and not the selectman! Why could
selectman walk over and talk to the attorney prior to filling out forms,
but not the townsfolk???
Me thinks it time to start stirring this up a bit...................
not
a bit, a lot!!! by definition the moderator is not to be taking sides
on any issue. item #2 on the ballot needed a 2/3 vote. he declares the
article won. voters demand hand count. count is 50-50. article #2
looses!!!!! will you trust him, for anything, in the future?? I
won't. lets start there. also, I find it interesting that we as tax
payers, are subject to opinions on financial matters by someone who
had their own home fore closed?? I think NOT !!! also I feel the
people behind the farce with children on stage should be held for child
abuse.
Brad,
the children on the stage was "political". Whomever allowed that action
was obviously trying to draw on peoples heartstrings or something. It
was a pathetic political event.
We were presented with an illegal
article according to the "lawyer". Why was the town allowed to post a
warrant with an illegal article. Shouldn't the legality be decided prior
to printing and posting.
How can any action by the
voters/taxpayers of a town on a citizens petition proposed by a
taxpayer/voter be illegal? What "law" did it violate? Maybe I as a
taxpayer wanted to break the law, maybe its a bad law..............
How
come the selectman were allowed to run over and ask the town counsel
questions, while the taxpayers couldn't get an answer on the
"illegality" of voting on the article.
Important!!! I've been
doing some reading. The town of Hull's Town counsel offered this
regarding the "town" filing articles or motions like the selectboard did
last night. Here is the copy.
"Why can’t the Town write citizen petition articles and motions? While the Town in certain
instances can give advice on matters, it is generally not considered appropriate for the Town to
write citizen petition articles or motions. Citizen petition articles are the citizens right to petition
government. Sometimes they may involve matters which the local government leadership does
not support or feel are appropriate. Therefore, to have the Town involve itself too directly in
such petitions by writing the article or motion would potentially cause too much intermingling of
the government into the citizens’ affairs. This is especially so if there was to be a challenge or
dispute over the citizens’ article or motion. In appropriate cases, suggestions can be made."
Also based on Hulls counsel is this jewel regarding the writing of an article......
No special language needed—helpful to follow the traditional language used. An
example would be “To see if the Town will [then state what you want—i.e. “amend
the code of the Town by adding to Chapter 124 and the following: - then state what
you want”; “raise and appropriate or appropriate from available funds a sum of
money to paint the flag poles”; “accept the provisions of G.L. c. XXX, which calls for
such and such”, etc.] It is helpful, although not fatal if not done, to include at the end
of the article the phrase “or take any other action relative thereto.”
These items make me wonder about the accuracy of the "illegal" the Templeton Town counsel mentioned.
After two major, allegedly, cyber attacks
targeted a little known internet infrastructure company, Dyn, earlier
today disrupting access to dozens of websites on Friday, and preventing
some users from accessing PayPal, Twitter and Spotify, moments ago the
DNS service provider said that a third attack has been launched. From
Reuters:
INTERNET DOMAIN NAME SERVICE PROVIDER DYN SAYS IT IS DEFENDING AGAINST A THIRD WAVE OF COMPLEX ATTACKS
DYN SAYS ATTACK BEING WAGED FROM DEVICES INFECTED WITH MALWARE, COMING FROM TENS OF MILLIONS OF IP ADDRESSES AROUND GLOBE
The source of the "millions" of malware attacks are so-called "smart"
products, or everyday products around the house which are hooked up to
the internet. So, while it may be difficult to pin this particular
attack on Putin - though we are sure the "17 agencies" will try - one
can blame their "smart" toaster, "smart" lightbulb" and "smart" toilet
for making Twitter inaccessible.
As Reuters also adds, it was not immediately clear who was
responsible for the outages that began in the Eastern United States, and
then spread to other parts of the country and Western Europe.
U.S. officials told Reuters that
the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation were investigating. The disruptions come at a time of
unprecedented fears about the cyber threat in the United States, where
hackers have breached political organizations and election agencies.
Here is the punchline: Homeland Security last week issued a warning
about a powerful new approach for blocking access to websites - hackers
infecting routers, printers, smart TVs and other connected devices with
malware that turns them into "bot" armies that overwhelm website
servers in distributed denial of service attacks.
So.... your smart doorbell may just be hiding the internet terminator
that will collapse the internet and prevent you from accessing your
electronic cash in the bank.
1) Go into the Foreign Office and read ten Top Secret documents about UK collaboration with torture to refresh my memory. Hand back documents and my notes in a double sealed envelope (have just done this bit).
2) Immediately after reading Top Secret documents, go to see Julian Assange for a whisky in the Ecuador Embassy (am on my way).
3) Tomorrow morning, arrive at Parliament Intelligence and Security
Committee to give evidence in secret session. Get handed hopefully still
double sealed envelope with my notes to use during evidence. Hand back
notes for destruction when finished.
4) Immediately after very secret evidence session, go for (hopefully boozy) lunch with Peter Oborne.
Sometimes I quite enjoy my life. If you can’t annoy the arrogant
bastards who run the world for the 1%, what point is there in living?
UPDATE I left Julian after midnight. He is fit, well, sharp and in good
spirits.
WikiLeaks never reveals or comments upon its sources, but as I
published before a fortnight ago, I can tell you with 100% certainty
that it is not any Russian state actor or proxy that gave the Democratic
National Committee and Podesta material to WikiLeaks. The claim is
nonsense. Journalists are also publishing that these were obtained by
“hacking” with no evidence that this was the method used to obtain them.
The control of the Democratic party machinery deliberately to
unfairly ensure Clinton’s victory over Bernie Sanders is a matter of
great public interest. The attempt by the establishment from Obama down
to divert attention from this by a completely spurious claim against
Russia, repeated without investigation by a servile media, is a
disgrace.
The over-close relationship between the probable future President and
Wall Street is also very important. WikiLeaks has done a great public
service by making this plain.
The attempts by the mainstream media to portray WikiLeaks as
supporters of Trump and Putin because they publish some of Clinton’s
darker secrets is completely illogical and untrue in fact.
The idea we
must pretend Clinton is a saint is emetic.
But the key point is that WikiLeaks is a publisher. It is a vehicle
for publishing leaks, and is much more of a vehicle for whistleblowers
than for hackers. It does not originate the material. I have often seen
comments such as “Why has WikiLeaks not published material on
Israel/Putin/Trump?” The answer is that they have not been given any.
They publish good, verifiable material that they are given by
whistleblowers. They are not protecting Israel, Putin, or Trump. Nobody
has given them viable material.
Says Story Offered by Fluoridation Promoters “Keeps Changing…and Changing…and Changing”
Ellijay, Georgia — Civil rights pioneer and former U.S. Ambassador
Andrew Young sent a letter to Georgia Governor Nathan Deal and House
Speaker David Ralston calling for hearings to investigate why water
fluoridation is continuing despite numerous reasons for ending the
practice.
“This is a civil rights issue,” he says, “and the people have a right
to have the full story given to them, rather than highly edited,
misleading talking points.”
Ambassador Young is asking for a written response to his letter,
which was also sent to American Water Works Association CEO David
LaFrance.
For decades, most messaging about fluoridation has focused on the
goal of cavity prevention, with little discussion about fluoride risks
to tissues outside the mouth.
“The story offered by water fluoridation promoters keeps changing…and
changing…and changing,” Young writes, pointedly also saying, “When
someone’s story keeps changing, there are quite often motivations behind
their changed stance that may not be aligned with the best interests of
the public.”
“Are we sacrificing the health and safety of our communities simply
because dentists don’t want to be embarrassed, or sued?” he asks.
Dental industry influence and control over the messaging points about
fluoridation received by the public and officials is one of a number of
issues surfacing in Fluoridegate.
Another issue is that adding fluoride chemicals to drinking water is a
practice fraught with uncertainty, as there is no way to monitor or
control the dose of fluorides individuals will receive, including kidney
patients, diabetics, thyroid patients, persons in low income and
minority communities, and workers in certain professions.
“Ambassador Young mentioned workers who drink a lot of water as part
of their occupation. There are a lot of outdoor, trades, construction,
utility and water agency workers who are provided fluoridated water by
their employees due to work in hot environments, water that may add to
their risk for hip fractures later, or aggravate a number of
pre-existing conditions. The National Research Council called outdoor
workers a ‘susceptible subpopulation,’” says Daniel Stockin, a career
public health professional working to end fluoridation.
Well, what a joke the Town meeting turned out to be. 512 people, a moderator who cannot gauge sound deciding voice votes as proven by article 2. Then our town selectman motion to set aside a citizen sponsored article, why? When I heard the voice vote and realized about 400 of the people in the room were supporting the incompatance that created the need for the meeting itself, well, I left.
I'm going to be taking about 60 acres down to a farm rate of 5% of the valuation, so good luck on the budget and the tax rate calculations.
Everyone in town with 5 acres or more should.
Everyone says, as the school system goes so goes the town, well welcome to the new templeton. Why did we build a senior center? SSA increase this year on average amount to about $3 a month. This school will cost the average Templeton homeowner $40 a month. Police station $20 a month, Water tower $20 month, 2013 deficit $20 a month. The school is for 28 yrs, maybe, since we wont know until we get the loan cause nobody and I mean nobody knows what that rate could be since we dont know "if" we have a bond rating or what it will be. We also have no clue what the actuals rates will do over the next few years.
This was a dumb idea that will damage the town. ***************************************
From FB: Jeff Bennett 5 hrs · At tonight's special town meeting, selectmen John Columbus stated it was important for people to know of a roll call vote from Advisory Committee, with regards to the warrant articles. I will say that all the votes were at a public posted meeting, a pre-town meeting an if he was that interested, he should have attended, no selectmen attended the pre-town meeting. As for the selectmen selling the town a bill of goods, consider this; the board of selectmen presented an expense spread sheet to the annual town meeting and stated it was proper, correct and balanced. It was not and had not been through the entire process and there are copies to show that. There were no "winners" tonight, only a showing of people who left as soon as the school vote was secure, which shows, in my opinion, they do not seem to care about the entire town, just a small piece. A total lack of openness on part of the selectmen, refusing to read the articles, with dollar amounts included. It was recorded and people who watch should be able to hear the dollars involved. Of course, if they are voters, they should be at the meeting. It was all about procedure rather than open and truthful. Probably the biggest problem this town has, lack of openness and communication. And it is still going to cost more than $1.74 per thousand to make a 1.4 million dollar bond payment.
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
The towns legal counsel says a article on the town warrant was illegal, well, wouldn't that make the entire warrant illegal? The town published the article, presented it for the town to vote on then a "lawyer" calls it illegal.
I personally feel the entire process is illegal. Our town officers have committed the town of Templeton taxpayers to more than 5% of our total value which I believe requires approval. Just because we have not applied for financing doesn't mean we are not committed.
From my understanding we have about $5 million in present day debt. 23 million from school, 1.2 million from police station. 1 million for water tower and a 1 million dollar deficit from 2013. In my world that ads up to about 31.2 million, well over our 5% limit.
I know they haven't asked for approval because asking/applying requires a bond rating!!!!! It's on the damn form.
This seems like it could be another one of those backwards, opps we forgot type of errors that again will fall on taxpayers.
Oh, since the town pays for the "town counsel" shouldn't the town counsel work on behalf of the townspeople and not the selectman! Why could selectman walk over and talk to the attorney prior to filling out forms, but not the townsfolk???
Me thinks it time to start stirring this up a bit...................