Exterus Welcomes Its Newest Addition: Jan Grady
Exterus Technology for Business of Shelburne announced that Jan Grady was hired as an Account Executive for Chittenden County. Ms. Grady has over 20 years of experience in outside sales and customer service. Prior to joining Exterus, she was employed by Paychex, Inc. as a sales representative in Hartford, Connecticut and Burlington, Vermont, providing payroll and tax preparation services to the independent business owner. Come meet Jan at the 2007 Vermont Business Expo and Tradeshow on May 23 and 24, at the Sheraton Conference Center in South Burlington, Vermont! Visit www.exterusbusiness.com(link is external) for more information on our products and services.
In testimony to be filed July 2, the Vermont Natural Resources Council asserts that groundwater pollution at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant violates the state’s recently-enacted groundwater public trust law.“Every Vermonter owns Vermont’s groundwater,” said Jon Groveman, VNRC’s legal counsel and water program co-director. “If Vermont Yankee is claiming they have not violated Vermont law because the groundwater they have polluted has not spread to drinking water wells off their property, they are wrong,” he said.In 2008, the legislature passed Act 199, which declares groundwater to be a public trust resource.VNRC is filing the testimony in a Public Service Board docket investigating the leaks of radioactive substances at the plant. The docket is part of a broader PSB review of whether Vermont Yankee should continue operation.Groveman said that groundwater, because it is a public trust resource, belongs to all Vermonters and not just the entity that owns the land above it. “Groundwater is to be managed for the benefit of all Vermonters and the public trust doctrine does not allow for contamination of groundwater, even beneath your own property,” he said. “Groundwater flows across property boundaries so these boundaries are meaningless when it comes to public trust resources.”He noted that repeated discoveries of new leaks in recent months have cast doubt on the reliability of statements of reassurance about water contamination from Vermont Yankee officials.The filing with the Public Service Board consists of testimony from Kim Greenwood, VNRC’s staff scientist. Greenwood has worked for 15 years on water issues in the private sector, at the Agency of Natural Resources, and for the last five with VNRC.About VNRCThe Vermont Natural Resources Council is an independent, nonprofit research, education, and advocacy organization founded in 1963 to protect Vermont’s environment, economy, and quality of life. Nearly 6,000 households, businesses, and organizations support VNRC’s mission.Source: VNRC. 7.1.2010
FacebookTwitterLinkedInEmailPrint分享Recharge:Enel’s major commitments to renewable energy and sustainability goals – and willingness to ditch coal faster than other European utilities – is bolstering its credit-worthiness in financial markets, said S&P Global Ratings.The ratings group said Italy-based Enel, which has emerged as one of the most ambitious players in global renewables, had demonstrated a long-term plan that “notably embraces and aims at profiting from the energy transition away from fossil fuels, on which Enel still depends for about half of its power generation.”A research note by S&P analysts highlights Enel’s plans to hit more than 60GW of renewables by the end of 2022, up from 46GW now, under its latest strategic update published in late 2019. It plans to slash coal capacity by 61% in the same timeframe.“This is, to date…one of the largest pipelines in renewables in the world. We believe this not only marks the group’s acceleration in green energy but also reflects its balance sheet capacity and a strong market positioning,” said the analysts. “We believe Enel’s ability to seize profitable opportunities as it proceeds through the energy transition is a key credit strength.”S&P Global noted that Enel has improved its financial rating in recent years thanks to greater exposure to renewables and networks, and progress in integrating UN Sustainable Development Goals.It said the latest strategy update makes “more remote” any downside risk to the improved BBB+ rating the Italian group was given in 2018.[Andrew Lee]More: Enel’s massive shift from coal to renewables is ‘key credit strength’: S&P S&P: Enel’s shift from coal to renewables a ‘key credit strength’ for Italy-based company
Sign up for our COVID-19 newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest coronavirus news throughout New York Excerpt from the introduction to The Great American Disconnect – Seven Fundamental Threats To Our Democracy, a new book by Long Island Press publisher Jed Morey. E-book available October 7th. Paperback edition due out Nov. 7th. No other nation in history has been so adroit at acquiring and hoarding resources as the United States of America. The combination of democracy and capitalism in America has been so thoroughly successful with respect to expansion and the accumulation of wealth that we consume a quarter of the world’s resources despite having only 5 percent of the population. This unbelievable ascent to the top of the imperial heap is the result of an insatiable appetite for progress at any cost. This is further underscored by periods of fervent jingoism that rationalize horrific behavior abroad under the guise of spreading freedom and democracy.From a purely political perspective, the New Millennium has ushered in a resounding victory for democracy and with it, the greatest placebo ever absorbed into the global body politic. Citizens of the world have bought into the hype that the American dream is now available anywhere on the globe and is as attainable as a cubic zirconia necklace on a late-night infomercial. For my money, it is the inimitable H.L. Mencken who captured the folly of American democracy as a means to prosperity nearly a century ago, saying, “Of all those ancient promises there is none more comforting than the one to the effect that the lowly shall inherit the earth. It is at the bottom of the dominant religious system of the modern world, and it is at the bottom of the dominant political system. Democracy gives it a certain appearance of objective and demonstrable truth.”Even Mencken would be impressed by the effectiveness of today’s political hucksters who peddle faux democracy from their ideological apothecaries. Modern-day snake oil salesmen dressed in suits adorned with flag pins on their lapels preach the gospel of the American dream with the zeal of born-again evangelists. Their wide-eyed followers devour their every word believing they too might someday reach the Promised Land.Gone are the days of dreaming of savings accounts and a pension; this is the era of winning lottery tickets and salvation through instant affluence. The most troubling phenomenon is the Gospel of Jesus Christ as capitalist that has somehow tethered itself to our new collective interpretation of democracy. This mixing of religious and ideological metaphors has seeped into the consciousness of American politics and given life to a bizarre fundamentalist ideology that has inculcated the public with the notion that financial success is the product of divine right. According to this newly adopted testament of faith, Jesus Christ is a champion of corporate rights and free markets who offers his disciples unfettered VIP access to the pearly gates of the hereafter.“All these forms of happiness, of course, are illusory. They don’t last,” warned Mencken. “The democrat, leaping into the air to flap his wings and praise God, is forever coming down with a thump. The seeds of his disaster lie in his own stupidity; he can never get rid of the naïve delusion—so beautifully Christian!—that happiness is something to be got by taking it away from the other fellow.”It is the idea that only the uncompromising person in the self-righteous pursuit of wealth emerges triumphant in a life that has separated humans from their humanity. Community, environment and the welfare of others have been subjugated by a new dogma that places faith over reason, prosperity over compassion.And who could argue? We credit democracy with ushering in the most technologically innovative century in recorded history. There have also been real victories along the way. America, as it was originally conceived, was a place where inalienable rights were intended exclusively for white, male property owners. But the system was intuitive and flexible enough to allow its citizens to battle one another and hammer out universal suffrage and civil rights. It is also our right to freely and openly criticize the government and protest perceived injustices. No system works perfectly for all of its inhabitants but liberties such as these that we often take for granted are glorious enough to make America’s democratic system enviable by most standards.But today we are on a path that threatens to turn back the clock in a dangerous way. Capitalism and Christianity, mutually exclusive by design, are no longer distinct from one another under the all-encompassing umbrella of democracy. In order to provide cover for ignominious policies, politicians and pundits routinely reference the Founding Fathers. They consider them omniscient and omnipresent deities, instead of the fallible and mortal beings they were. To question them is to commit heresy. They speak of the Constitution as the testament delivered unto us from on high, never to be doubted or altered. Yet many of the provisions they hold dear are amendments, which implies that the Constitution is amorphous and was always intended as such.This is not an unpatriotic book, though some will deride this characterization and misinterpret its intent. It is an honest critique of a system of government that allows for its very existence. It is this self-awareness that makes it decidedly hopeful as it comes from a grateful and objective perspective—albeit grateful for the freedom to objectively verbalize our hypocrisy.I am an insider, an avowed critic of the hand that feeds me. I’m not writing in exile or behind a prison wall, but that is not to say we aren’t metaphorically imprisoned by the image we project of ourselves. Much of what we believe to be true about democracy is belied by our very real actions and circumstances.Americans are trapped by the conviction that we live in a free society despite having the highest incarceration rate per capita of any nation in the world. We see ourselves as the purveyors of peace and democracy, having defeated the Communist menace and dethroned dictators, yet no other nation in modern times has initiated unprovoked foreign wars more than we have or dropped a nuclear bomb (twice) on its enemies. And many of the dictators we have overthrown were of our own creation yet ceased to be useful in our imperialist endeavors.We believe in the theory of fair competition and the ability to achieve success through hard work and discipline but we exist within a system that discourages competitiveness and has consolidated 40 percent of the nation’s wealth into the hands of 1 percent of the population.Our state of denial has caused us to drift far from the nation we believe ourselves to be while holding tightly to an image of the nation we wish to be.
18SHARESShareShareSharePrintMailGooglePinterestDiggRedditStumbleuponDeliciousBufferTumblr I had a very interesting (and in some ways disturbing) conversation last week about the work ethic of millennials – people born in the 80s and 90s. A friend of mine mentioned how his company was focused on hiring more millennials to fill open job positions. He also said the company was training employees on how different generations tend to communicate.I told him I was impressed with his company’s proactive approach to better communication and helping different generations work together more efficiently. Many companies overlook it completely. Others in the room didn’t see it my way and went on somewhat of a rant about millennials being lazy. It was disturbing to me how many older people still think of millennials as slackers. They are far from it.Part of their “slacker” reputation came from circumstances beyond their control. Older millennials entered the job market during the economic downturn caused by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Young millennials entered the job market during the Great Recession. They couldn’t find jobs and had student loans the size or mortgages to start paying. Many lived (and continue to live) with their parents longer out of financial necessity.“Millennials are hungrier and more well-educated than any generation in history, and they understand technology,” said Andrew Challenger, a vice president at Challenger, Gray & Christmas, in an article at CNBC.com. continue reading »
Financial institutions focus on the future by planning, forecasting, considering customer delivery preferences and assessing risks before they occur. Good thing … America is in the midst of the 2016 election cycle, and your credit union should be planning now for possible exposure to a risk that’s lesser known and not often discussed—political risk.Political risk refers to the adverse effects that could arise from political or governmental changes, including changes with policy makers, legislators and other elected officials. In such a turbulent election year as this, risk and strategic planning are critical.Political risk has a direct correlation to your institution, and it goes further than individual federal agency or party affiliation; decisions made by the government can affect your operations and performance.I use the word “correlation” intentionally because it is familiar and also emphasizes something regulators ask you to consider today in your planning. They look for the correlation between the markets you serve and the employers in your trade area, as well as how outside influences might affect institutional performance and create risk.Successful mitigation of political risk requires deploying a forward-looking risk management effort emphasizing engagement with local, state and national government representatives. The following best practices offer direction:Identify the RisksIt helps to separate political risk from regulatory compliance. While concentrating on compliance is a must, also accept the importance of working to influence legislation/regulations from their inception. If you can positively affect the legislation on the front end, it will make your compliance with that regulation much easier on the back end.Assign Responsibility, Engage Your Board and Become InvolvedMitigating political risk is a marathon, not a sprint, and it requires team effort—with less burden and lower costs as the result of this effort. Given its importance, someone high up in the food chain needs to take on the overall responsibility. You can also engage your senior management team to draw on their expertise.Your board must also be involved, as regulators consistently emphasize that boards be “informed and engaged” in risk management. And while you need to enlist the support of others and consistently keep the board looped-in to risk mitigation efforts, as a senior executive, you need to spearhead the effort as the person most familiar with your credit union’s culture and all the risks it faces.When providing valuable input to legislators and regulators, the information you share should consist of how you believe a law, rule or regulation that’s being considered will help or hurt your credit union and your ability to serve your surrounding community.Incorporate Political Risk into Your Strategic PlanYour management and board undertake exercises to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the institution as they relate to the strategic plan. The question is, were government legislation and regulation considered or included as a “threat?” On the flip side, while the majority of institutions constantly identify compliance as a threat, they rarely mention their ability to influence these legislative or regulatory proposals through direct contact as an “opportunity.”Understand that the Regulators AgreeIn a recent presentation I gave to more than 100 institutions on ERM and the integration of risk efforts into risk management and strategic planning, several examiners were actually in the audience. I kept going back to them throughout the discussion to verify both the content and the premise of their regulations and guidance. And my interpretation of the content is that regulators are placing a heavy emphasis on business plans and the identification of the risks inherent in them. Notably, my analysis was confirmed repeatedly by this unofficial supervisory group.Further, I brought up the potential for political risk to influence strategy. The response from the room was that governmental action can absolutely be a risk. While the regulators wouldn’t identify themselves as a threat—I didn’t expect them to—their meaning was clear: government actions should be considered in strategic planning.Additional InsightWhile I have referred to political risk throughout this article, let me reiterate, this isn’t just about politics. It’s about promoting, defending, defining and implementing your strategic plan and mitigating the risks associated with it. There are outside influences that you must consider in order to accomplish that task, including the influence of politics and government actions.Remember, there is no reason to take this task on alone, because you have valuable resources that can help. Use your membership in your state or regional credit union league as a starting point. But it isn’t enough to simply join—get involved.There is strength in numbers. Be heard. 13SHARESShareShareSharePrintMailGooglePinterestDiggRedditStumbleuponDeliciousBufferTumblr,Joe Wheeler Joe Wheeler serves as CSI’s strategic partnership manager. Joe has more than 20 years of senior management experience in the financial services industry. In his current role, he manages … Web: www.csiweb.com Details
The chairman and chief executive of Equifax, Richard F. Smith, retired on Tuesday in the aftermath of a major data breach that exposed the personal information of as many as 143 million people, the credit reporting agency said.Speaking for everyone on the Board, I sincerely apologize. We have formed a Special Committee of the Board to focus on the issues arising from the incident and to ensure that all appropriate actions are taken.”Two other top Equifax executives — the chief information officer and the chief security officer — stepped down on Sept. 14.Equifax, based in Atlanta, said this month that hackers had exploited an unpatched flaw in its website software to extract names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and other information about millions of people. continue reading » 10SHARESShareShareSharePrintMailGooglePinterestDiggRedditStumbleuponDeliciousBufferTumblr
continue reading » 15SHARESShareShareSharePrintMailGooglePinterestDiggRedditStumbleuponDeliciousBufferTumblr NCUA’s 2018-2019 budget and the overhead transfer rate (OTR) methodology are highlights of NCUA’s board meeting Thursday, according to the agenda released last week. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. (ET), and a live video stream will be available.CUNA testified at last month’s NCUA budget briefing, and followed the presentation up with a letter containing additional budget suggestions.NCUA Chairman J. Mark McWatters said the agency would carefully review all comments, but the agency will have sole discretion in creating the budget.The agency also released proposed changes to the OTR, which is taken from the share insurance fund to cover insurance-related expenses, earlier this year.CUNA, commenting on the changes, said the proposal represents an approach that will lead to more “fair and consistent assessments.”
As part of the project “Homeland of Nikola Tesla”, the company Eva Blue from Zagreb in cooperation with the City of Zagreb, September 21.09.2018, 12, from 18.00 to 3 on Cvjetni Square, organizes the premiere presentation of the most anticipated vehicle in the world, electric Tesla Model XNUMX. The vehicle, which already aroused unprecedented interest and reservations of over 400.000 vehicles during its first presentation last spring, symbolizes the transition to an affordable electric vehicle with a long range and the most advanced technology of the future. Thus, Croatia, ie the city of Zagreb, will have the honor and privilege to be the first European city to have the opportunity to present its citizens with the Tesla Model 3, which will be able to take a closer look at Tesla Model S and Tesla Model X, examples of modern technologies in the world. Our country, as the only Homeland of Nikola Tesla, synonymous with all advanced ideas of the new world, has the opportunity for all its citizens to feel the immediate benefits of implementing new technologies through not only electric vehicles, but also renewable energy sources, especially solar panels, battery factories, server farms. and other forms of new green technologies.”On the occasion of the European Mobility Week 2018 dedicated to sustainable development, the message we want to send with the presentation of this and in the very near future and other advanced and affordable electric vehicles, is that with education and greater infrastructure development of electric vehicles can benefit everyone, and it is especially important to themthis use within urban centers due to the reduction of CO2 emissions and noise. Early adaptation of new technologies is a unique opportunity for our country to create new jobs and significantly strengthen its own energy production capacities through renewable energy sources. In this way, the now large import of electricity will be reduced (around 40 percent) and billions of kunas will be kept within Croatia. ” Tina Kolovrat, director of Eva Blue, pointed out and added that it is extremely important that the City of Zagreb keeps pace with recent world trends and recognizes and supports their initiative “Homeland of Nikola Tesla” with the aim of promoting knowledge and technology, but and encouraging the implementation of advanced technological solutions.See more about Tesla Model 3 on the official web site.Nikola Tesla EV Rally Croatia – an innovative and unique tourist projectBy the way, the company Eva Blue is the organizer of the Nikola Tesla EV Rally Croatia – the most beautiful and quietest rally in the world, which this year marked its fifth edition.Photo: Nikola Tesa EV RallyLuxury tourist e-tour, which combines e-mobility, ecology and tourism, allows participants from Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Finland, Belgium, Norway, to show the best of Croatian cultural heritage and natural beauty with tasting of high quality wines and gastronomic delicacies and staying in luxury hotels. Thus, 60 teams in Tesla vehicles during the eight days of driving passed a 1550 km long route through beautiful landscapes over five islands and six national parks, with many attractions on the route, which is the official “Green Highway” with charging stations.This is Croatia that we must strive for.
Categories: Letters to the Editor, OpinionTonko is too far left to represent districtCongressman Paul Tonko is one of 41 in Congress who voted against the USA, Mexico, Canadian Trade Agreement.His rationale for voting against it was that it failed to address the growing threat of climate change.Tonko has certainly lost his way and has now aligned himself with the radical leftist socialists in his party such as Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Obviously, it is time for him to retire so that our congressional district can be better served by someone who puts America first.Alfred RiccioMechanicvilleSnow removal needs simplicity and clarityNothing like a large snowstorm to cause controversy in the city of Schenectady. The problem is that Schenectady likes to make solutions to problems much too difficult and confusing.First, the city has the responsibility to clear all streets in a timely manner.Second, the residents have the responsibility to obey all traffic laws and make sure the streets are passable to snowplows.Third, all streets three or less lanes should have alternate side parking in the winter months, which should be enforced. Simple rules are easy to follow and enforce.Fourth, perhaps, is to purchase a Unimog snowplow truck to be used on the narrow streets of Schenectady. Unimogs are expensive but simply can’t be matched for snowplowing.Fifth, what do I know about snow removal? Well, I have been doing it for 45 years.Joseph KaczynskiSchenectadyDems can’t justify impeachment ployOne is gripped by a deep sense of sadness that Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) Democrats have decided to use impeachment as a tool for registering policy disagreements with the president, rather than to punish an executive who commits high crimes, as it was intended.There is no excuse for their rabid, unstoppable drive to impeachment without any grounds for Impeachment.No Democrat had the guts to call a halt to this obviously fraudulent process when no evidence of any law-breaking was uncovered.The so-called “witnesses” were inadmissible hearsay witnesses.The Articles of Impeachment then morphed from bribery (an actual Constitutionally enumerated crime) for which no case could be made, to obstruction of justice (still an actual crime), for which no case could be made, to abuse of power and obstruction of Congress (neither of which is a crime). No Democrat had the maturity or concern for the Republic to oppose Pelosi’s reckless cave-in to her mad dog leftist members who had been braying for President Trump’s head since the 2016 election.Their shameless disregard for the Constitution, in praise of which so many flowery but insincere phrases were parroted, is on display for all to see as they now refuse to follow its rules allowing the Senate to decide the president’s guilt or innocence.What disgraceful, irresponsible and dangerous behavior by a rabble of petulant spoiled brats seeking a coup d’état.Rob DicksonClifton ParkMore from The Daily Gazette:EDITORIAL: Urgent: Today is the last day to complete the censusFoss: Should main downtown branch of the Schenectady County Public Library reopen?Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s press conference for Sunday, Oct. 18EDITORIAL: Thruway tax unfair to working motoristsEDITORIAL: Find a way to get family members into nursing homes