Legalectric

It’s final… that is, the FINAL meeting notice was just issued, one more go round on these draft rules for Certificate of Need (Minn. R. Ch. 7849) and Power Plant Siting Act (siting and routing of utility infrastructure) (Minn. R. Ch. 7850).

We’ve been at this for about a year and a half, maybe more, and to some extent we’re going round and round and round.

Here are the September 2014 drafts, hot off the press:

September Draft 7849

September Draft 7850

Send your comments, meaning SPECIFIC comments, not “THIS SUCKS” but comments on the order of “because of _______, proposed language for 7950.xxxx should be amended to say_______.”  It’s a bit of work, but it’s important, for instance, the Advisory Task Force parts are important because we were just before the PUC on this last week, trying to reinforce that Task Force’s are necessary, despite Commerce efforts to eliminate and/or neuter them.  That despite ALJ orders otherwise, the Final EIS should be in the record BEFORE the Public Hearings and Evidentiary Hearings (just lost a Motion to require this last month).

How can you comment?  The best way is to fire off an email to the Commission’s staff person leading this group:

kate.kahlert@state.mn.us

If you’re up to it, sign up on the PUC’s eDockets, and file your Comment in Docket 12-1246.  If you’d like your comment filed there, and can’t figure it out, please send it to me and I’ll file it for you.  It’s important that these comments be made in a way that the Commission will SEE, in a way that they cannot ignore, when this comes up before them.

I’m about to undergo a “Security Threat Assessment” and pay $129.75 for the privilege.  Give me a break…

Transportation Worker Identification Credential

Doesn’t it mean anything that I’ve got my Attorney License, #254617, sworn on oath to uphold the Constitution?  Apparently not.  And then again, upholding the Constitution would probably be regarded as a security threat!  Such a heightened level of absurdity! Personally, it’s so intrusive, and with a $129.75 price tag for the privilege.  GRRRRRR… You’d think that they’d know by now that if I was going to blow up buildings or run through the courthouse with an Uzi, I’d have done it already.  But nooooooo… and I recall the implied challenges, and claims of my violating CEII regs, when I’d tried to introduce the MAPP map of transmission lines in the CapX 2020 case.  How can a decision on need for a large complex build-out of transmission be made without a map of the system?  How can entering a transmission map as an exhibit in a transmission Certificate of Need proceeding be a threat to security?  It’s not as if the transmission lines and substations weren’t there out in the open for all the world to see!

Here’s the supposed basis for TWIC — the rules:

Program Documents

Worse are the social implications, the general acceptance of these regulations, when this, like the TSA airport searches, in the name of “stopping terrorism,” have zero to do with it.  There’s both a false sense of security and sheep-like acceptance as necessity of these infringements on our privacy and speech.  Constitutional rights going down the crapper.

Alan tells me this was a big issue in Delaware where longshoremen at the Wilmington port were required to go through this background check, and I imagine it alsonhas to do with the truck driver shortage.

TWIC flunks latest test

GAO report cites ongoing issues with TWIC program

From my experience in trucking, I think many truck drivers had criminal histories that have nothing to do with “terrorism,” but which would prohibit issuance of this ID, and effectively take away that person’s ability to earn a living.

Disqualifying offenses, appeals, and waivers

A reality check on TWIC:

Thousands of Issued TWIC Cards Won’t Work Due to an Issuing ‘Error’

TWIC: too much time, money for a program of doubtful worth

Problems still hound TWIC

TSA stops activations of new TWIC cards | WTKR.com

USS Mahan gunman’s use of TWIC card questioned

Balance the number of avoided terrorists attacks (zero?) with the loss of livelihood for those disqualified workers, and employee shortage, I’d guess this has a destabilizing effect overall.

Then I learn that it’s not just that they’re checking up on us when deciding to issue the card or not, but they’re also collecting information on an ongoing basis!

And the GAO report also cited TSA officials as saying challenges like readers being incapable of recording needed data prevented TSA from collecting complete and consistent pilot data, leading to TSA not being able to collect complete or consistent pilot data and subsequently not be able to determine if operational problems at the pilot sites were due to TWIC cards, readers, or users.

How intrusive can this get?  I don’t want to find out…

They’ve taken the forms off the second pour, and it looks like just one pour left:

Update:  A sad day here on West Avenue.  Steiner had stopped eating and drinking, and everything was shutting down, she was listless for two days, and clearly not having much of a life.  So yesterday we took dear old Steiner to the vet to be put down, and brought her back and planted her in the back yard under a new Hosta.  Steiner is dead — long live Steiner!

Dear ol’ Steiner has lost a lot of weight, and her intake and output is way down.  Today she didn’t even want to eat chicken bits or get up to say “Good Morning” to her friend Kady.  She’s also not hanging around in the kitchen asking for treats, and for a while was quietly huddled in a corner near the fridge.  She’s resting on a pillow near a window… I wish we had a southern window where she could lay in the sun, it would probably feel good on her old bones.  She’s at least 14 I think, I inherited her around 2001? 2002?  Time for some medicinal catnip!