Monday, June 29, 2015

Spanish anti-corruption report implicates wind sector


SPAIN: Spain's inland revenue suspects regional administration officials of receiving at least €110 million in backhanders from wind developers, including affiliates of utilities Iberdrola and Endesa, in return for project licenses, according to leaked reports. Continue reading via this link to WPM


Sunday, June 21, 2015


Thanks Dad..

From Bloody Herrlisheim to a Slave Labor Camp




James Muschell served in the 43rd Tank Battalion of the 12th Armoured Division. This unit arrived in the ETO in November 44 and was involved in attacks on the Siegfried Line before getting caught in front of the Northwind attack. As the title implies, the author is captured and spends the rest of the war as a prisoner.


Muschell's account is straight into the action. He is a loader/assistant gunner in a Sherman tank. There is no personal background, though we learn he can speak German, so he was one of many Americans with German ancestry. There's a little bit of divisional history too. All up though, there are only 40 pages prior to his capture, with most devoted to the battle of Herrlisheim. The author does recount a few interesting stories of earlier battles but as he reveals he had five tanks shot from under him, there was quite a bit more to be said. With Herrlisheim there was quite a bit of detail. His unit loses half its tanks the first day and on the second the remainder are cut-off and wiped out. They face the 10th SS Pz Division and it is quite proficient and brutal. He was beaten up during interrogation and he and his fellow POWs are lucky to avoid a Malmedy style execution.


Muschell is suspected of being Jewish and he is assigned to a work detail rather than being allowed to sit the war out in a POW camp. He has a pretty horrendous time in Hannover. It is heavily bombed and he is guarded by very brutal SS guards. There is virtually no food and he suffers considerably from trench foot. The worst part was a horrendous train journey that almost defies belief. He is freed in early April and aside from his journey home, his story basically concludes.


The first thing to say, is this is quite a short book

An Amazon review by John E. Larsen on February 4, 2015
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Legendary Locals of Cheboygan

By Matthew J. Friday

Thursday, June 11, 2015


New net neutrality rules will take effect tomorrow

The new net neutrality rules take effect on Friday . The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit tossed out the telecom industry's request to block... Continue.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015


Gillibrand has 'serious concerns' about border patrol checkpoints

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) said she has “serious concerns” with the way U.S. Border Patrol agents conduct roadside checkpoints in New York's North Country. Continue reading via this link to WRVO public media

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Squirrel Knocks Out Power to Thousands in San Francisco Bay Area


SAN FRANCISCO:  A squirrel knocked out power for some 45,000 energy customers in the San Francisco Bay area on Monday, according to officials and the local Contra Costa Times newspaper.
Continue...

Monday, June 8, 2015


Wind, Solar Facilities Killing Millions of Birds


The Institute of Energy Research reports on a study in the Wildlife Society Bulletin, showing every year 573,000 birds (including 83,000 raptors) and 888,000 bats are killed by wind turbines - 30 percent higher than the federal government estimated in 2009, due mainly to increasing wind power capacity across the nation. Continue reading via this link to Heartland

Saturday, June 6, 2015

Couple Buys Pine Tree Point Resort


WNYF Channel 7 news is reporting that Pine Tree Point Resort in Alexandria Bay has been sold.


The property was purchased from Rick Thomson this week by Janine and Benjamin Ridley.  

The sale came days before the resort could have been sold in a Jefferson County tax sale.


Officials said Thomson owed $598,000 in county, school and village taxes dating back to 2010.