Category: Rantings

Just saw the beginning of the public hearing about $51 million sewer project.  Unless I am missing something the point is to reduce nitrogen from the current average 28 pounds a day and phosphorus from the current 17 pounds a day from the treated sewage we put in the Naugatuck River.  This is Biological Nutrient Removal or BNR which became popular around 1991.

Obviously there is nothing Torrington can do about changing the EPA requirements to reduce the nitrogen we contribute to the Long Island Sound, but it is helpful to know why we are spending such a large amount of money to do so.  And the engineering and architectural firms we have hired mention several other advantages to spending $51 million, but not really.  Suggestions of solar and bio-heating, cooling and lighting as well as suggesting that infrastructure built in 1939 needs replacing do not justify $51 million.  Certainly it is possible that some updating is necessary and good for the community.  But most of Torrington was built in 1939 or before.  Our population in 1939 was about 27k, and now is about 37k.

But we should understand the issue, and the questions, surrounding our need to limit our nitrogen waste to the  Long Island Sound and the phosphorus to the Naugatuck river.  In waste water nitrogen appears as ammonia, and so BNR is what we call the process that will remove ammonia from our waste water.  Nitrogen causes algae to grow especially in hot weather which contributes to low oxygen levels in the colder deep waters of Long Island Sound, called hypoxia, and that can affect ocean life.

The problem the EPA is telling Torrington to help solve with expanding BNR and spending $51 million is hypoxia in Long Island Sound mainly during August every year.  Here is a link to every map available through the EPA of the hypoxia problem which BNR in Torrington just might affect.  i urge everyone to check these maps for themselves as I can find no printed analysis of the problem.

MAPS

It seems to me no one will say clearly what the plan is.  But it seems to me the plan is that if all of the communities reduce their nitrogen discharge through BNR there will be more oxygen in the deep waters of Long Island Sound in August.  If there is more to it than that I would appreciate someone explaining what else is worth $51 million to Torrington.

Perhaps this is all good and true and right, that stopping hypoxia in Long Island Sound by spending $51 million in Torrington and like amounts in every other community  for BNR might be good for the whole world.  If so let’s be clear about it.  Is Torrington contributing $51 million to a BNR program because of a dubious EPA plan that may increase fish populations in Long Island Sound?

Human beings are not the cause of hypoxia.  The main cause is calm weather which keeps oxygenated upper waters from mixing with the cold deeps.  And nitrogen is byproduct of ammonia which can come from many biological sources.  We don’t know if messing with nitrogen levels is helping, hurting, natural or unnatural, or if our $51 million will have any impact at all on the Long Island Sound now or ever.  The EPA says “studies of the limited historical data base for the Sound suggest that summer oxygen depletion in Western Long Island Sound has grown worse since the 1950s”.  So the EPA believes the data suggests that hypoxia is worse now than it was in 1950.  But there is no statistical analysis I can find that shows such improvement and maps certainly don’t show any improvement since 1991 when the EPA started collecting data. I urge all of you to look at the maps yourselves.  We don’t know if hypoxia was better or worse in Long Island Sound when Columbus landed.

People in Torrington will not change the EPA, and it is possible that our efforts to slow hypoxia in the Long Island Sound are good for fish populations whether those fish populations are better or worse than they were in the year 1492.  That is not the point.  The point is we are about to spend $51 million on a program that has not been shown to have any impact at all and may or may not be required by the EPA.  We need to see the issues clearly and answer the questions about the effectiveness of our money in reaching environmental goals.

Beside fish populations who else might benefit from this $51 million?  Certainly the construction industry of the area.  But what surprises me, well, not really, is the $7 million or so that goes to “technical specialists” and administration and cost saving analysis.  That part of the program is what I question.  Who is worth so much money to advise us to spend so much on this project  without answering the questions I ask here?  And don’t we have a municipal government that can administer this money without paying so much to “specialists”?

Perhaps it is so simple that I am missing it.  The EPA requires BNR that may or may not reduce hypoxia in the Long Island Sound.  We need to spend $51 million ($7 million or so on the professionals who advise us to do so) and that is the end of the story.  If this is the issue say so clearly.  If not please tell me where I am wrong.  My suspicion is there is an EPA requirement that leads our government hire these specialists that cost so much money.  At least that is how it works in the Connecticut DEEP, but that is the issue of a different letter.

 

 

 

 

Other than reducing these two

Nice guy, just stopped by on a yearly check.  I am okay with that, of course.  Knowledgeable too.

But last year he made me take out all my fire extinguishers.  I am not allowed to have them UNLESS it pay a private contractor to check them periodically, or throw them away and buy new ones.

So I cannot have fire extinguishers unless I buy new ones every two years.  Is that a good law?  Perhaps if I have a fire and I have damage then I show that my three year old fire extinguisher could have saved me if I had been allowed to keep it I could sue.

I called Ray Drew at Water Pollution Control A? (authority?) in Torrington. EPA (Federal Regulations) are STUPID!!!

It doesn’t matter if we process a Trillion gallons of water daily or 1 gallon daily we are only allowed to release 248 pounds  of Nitrogen daily (90,000 annually) and 17.3 pounds of Phosphorus daily (6730 annually).

Why isn’t it a percentage of the total 15,000,000,000 (15 billion) pounds of water we process annually? We average 41,000,000 gallons of water daily to pass through our water treatment plant.  But if it were 10 times more water or ten times less water the amount of phosphorus and nitrogen allowed to pass through the facility is the same.

Ever wonder why our cars all have 1.6 liter motors or larger while cars in other countries have much, much smaller motors?  Our Federal EPA requires a percentage of the pollutants to be removed from the emissions, the exact opposite of what they require for water pollution control.  If we could keep a fixed number of pollutants per vehicle, or per passenger, or per weight, we could have much smaller engines, better gas milage, more efficiency.  But because the EPA requires a percentage of the emissions to be cleaned we need bigger motors to drive the emissions cleaning equipment.

 

I usually have my phone at my bedside at night, but last night I went to bed early and left the phone downstairs.  At 10:29 I got a call from (202) 800-5654.  I recognized the area code and have friends in DC so I called it back before 6 AM.  The “circuits were busy” according to the recording, suspicious.

So I googled the number: “got a call from this number saying my debit card was suspended, then it asked for my 16 digit debit card. I hung up. I called back and it said welcome to some…” “Phone number: 202-800-5654 is located in Washington, District Of Columbia. Around 40% of people reported it as “Scammer/Fraudster”. You are the 5th person …” “I have received several calls from this number, however, I don’t answer it because I do not recognize the number. There is never a voice mail. It is 8:15PM on .”

As a business owner with several phone lines I am used to putting customers on hold to answer a telemarketer or robo-call.  But this was 10;30 at night on a line that is supposed to be on the Do Not Call List.

All our government systems are just as broken as the Do Not Call list.  We all have horror stories about the IRS, the Justice System, the Police.  Right now our faith in the Police is challenged nationally by the shooting of an unarmed kid in Missouri 6 times by local police.  Then those same police manhandled two journalists.  Bullying is not good in school, but is common in government.

If you want to know how large corporations like Microsoft use their legal departments and the US Justice system to bully people and make money read my book.  It is not simple.  The book. But beyond the problems there are simple solutions, but what is standing in the way of the simple solutions are those who make money from the status quo.

We need to Simplify and Repeal laws based upon who profits.  If only lawyers and insurance companies profit we need a competitive system.  A government insurance company that will keep the lawyers fees reasonable. Arcane and silly court procedures and plea bargains are what allow innocent people to be bullied into injustice.  They are so common because they let lawyers do less work for the same money.

Re-examine all laws that have not been invoked in over five years to repeal redundant and unenforceable laws.

Laws that allow the building of an industry that wasn’t here before.  The environmental cleanup industry forces property owners to hire Licensed Environmental Professionals  and pay them hundreds of thousands of dollars to prove they do NOT have to clean up the property.  The system is backwards.  Our government should have a problem with contaminated property and should be the complaining party.  It should be up to the government to prove the property is contaminated, not make laws requiring huge fees to professionals.

Follow the money.  Check the laws to see who profits from them: lawyers, insurance companies, new industries?  No one cares if they pay their power or water or insurance bill to the government or to a highly regulated industry that is required to apply for a rate increase from the government before changing their rates.

Repeal of laws involving victimless crimes.  Tax and fine but don’t imprison drug addicts, prostitutes, and non-violent criminals.  

Prohibit tax money to advertise laws.  Prison is not a deterrent for parents who harm their own children. The tax payer should not pay for advertising threatening prison for negligent parents, seat belts, fattening foods, health risks…  Tax payers should not pay to advertise period.

And chase down and shut off the phones of those who abuse our public phones by calling ME at 10:30 PM to try to scam me.

I have blaspheme to defend:   Exercise is so much more important for health than diet as they should not be mentioned in the same breath.  Diet is NOT very important for health. Sure if you over eat or you abuse alcohol or you have a health condition like diabetes or a problem with cholesterol then diet is important to maintain health.

But if you don’t have any known health problems then there is no “health food” that anyone can prescribe for you.

If some kind of food bothers you avoid that food.  Get to know yourself and what tastes good and makes you feel healthy, but that is the best anyone can do. Exercise however, in moderation, will help anyone.  Everyone will be healthier if they become more active.

There is no magic food you can eat to be more healthy, but jumping jacks are that kind of magic.  Eat sensibly whatever you want but exercise 45 minutes a day four times a week and you will be much, much healthier than the couch tumor watching reality shows eating “health food” and supplements.

Our definition of health here is the absence of illness or injury.  If you are feeling well you are healthy, according to this.  I have no idea what definition of health we use for “health food” or that fresh grapes are more “healthy” than corn chips.  Perhaps someone can explain it to me.

Another blaspheme: honey or “natural” sweetener is not “healthier” than purified sugars or syrups.  It has been a recent development in the world psych that unprocessed is better somehow than processed.  Not long ago purified and processed was considered healthier than that which was fertilized with manure and washed in your kitchen sink.  But unless we have a definition of health we cannot know which is healthier.

Perhaps you feel better when you eat organic food, and if so then organic food is much healthier for you.  There is no reason for it that I can name, but if you feel better you are healthier.  If you don’t feel differently whether you eat a helping of cheesecake or instead an organic mango topped with fresh whipped un-pasteurized cream then neither is healthier than the other for you.

Authorities shoot an unarmed teen, whether justly or not, there is no accounting. Looking at the underlying systems in place in St. Louis Missouri as everywhere in America there should be no wonder millions have NO confidence in the police and the justice system.

We do not trust our Authorites.  Well, maybe if you are really, really white you might.  But most of us know the police are bullies and police are not accountable for the harm they cause in our lives and our neighborhoods.

The problem is the bullying.  Our authorities bully us.  Ironic because our authorities also make us pay for pubic service announcements and advertising explaining what bullying is and why it is bad in schools.

But our police and judicial system work almost entirely on bullying principles right up until you go to trial.  Do what the police say, no questions, and you will be okay, which is often difficult to do.  And if you get charged with a crime get a lawyer so the police and prosecutor don’t just put you in prison based on some silly procedural trick, or make a deal without regard to justice.

Sure our Constitution guarantees due process and equal protection regardless who you are, but that is not the experience of millions of us who intimately know our justice system.  Generally speaking the best thing any of us can do is go to trial where principles of justice might exist rather than take a deal that means your lawyers and the prosecutor have to do less work.  That is the basis of our judicial industry, shuffle money from the government to insurance companies to lawyers and put lots of people in the custody of lots of government employees.

The examples are countless.  Read my book Against Goliath for common legal bullying methods used by Microsoft against me, commonly called Predatory Litigation.  Microsoft’s legal department tries to earn money by charging people with copyright violation and extracting as much money as possible.

 

Microsoft hopes the person will have insurance and will hire a lawyer and a lot of professionals just shuffle money from corporation to corporation based upon the threat of going to trial, which no one wants to do.  If it goes to trial there might be some justice, as judge or jury involved, and the bullying has to stop, and maybe even change the ways copyright laws are used.

 

Want to earn $6500?

I have to pay that much to do what sounds to me like a very simple job. You can earn $6500 for checking a map, writing four letters, and certifying that there are no wells used for drinking water in a a 500 foot radius of my property in downtown Torrington. I am not allowed to do it. I have to hire a Licensed Environmental Professional to do it. Nice work if you can get it.

My LEP firm told me what they will do for this money is to complete a survey. But here are their words for what they will do:

“The survey typically consists of 1) identifying all properties within 500 feet of your property boundary 2) searching well drilling records at the health department, CT DEEP, and Dept. of Consumer Protection to identify wells, 3) contacting the water company to see which properties they serve, and 4) a drive-by survey. We typically don’t contact the property owners unless there is ambiguity as to whether there is a well on their property.”

Why do I need to find out if there is another well? It is not clear how my position changes if there is another, or if not. I don’t even know why I have to find out. So I wanted to appeal. I want to do the survey myself, or find some other LEP firm to do it cheaper. But because of the program I am in this is not going to be easy.

What you are about to read is deliberately designed by our government to be complicated and difficult to understand. I ought to shock but not surprise you. Our government is stupid. In this case it is the law that I must do whatever this LEP firm suggests and pay them whatever they ask, or get another firm.

If anyone in Connecticut buys or sells any building that was ever used as a mechanic shop, gas station or dry cleaner (me) that building is designated automatically by law as and “establishment” for the DEEP to regulate. The laws:

I will finish this later.

Nationstar Mortgage, PO Box 650783,  Dallas TX 75265

June 12, 2014

To those with the power to reverse late fees:

I spoke with Allie and Joe at the Chandler AZ office for about a half hour this afternoon from about 2:45- 3:20 PM. In that call I learned that I have been paying my mortgage a few days late every month since my refinance with Nationstar Mortgage.  This is the first letter I am writing, but certainly not the first issue I have had with your disorganized company.  I am writing this letter because Allie and Joe refused to credit back to me late fees.  I could write all day about your tactics and disorganized manner of conducting business.

I have received only two bills from you since the refinance, one dated in February and the other March.  I received those bills on April 14^th and have received none since.  I got a phone call on or about April 14^th in which I explained to your representative that I would be paying the bills on two consecutive days so you don’t get confused about how to apply my payments.  I set up my bank’s bill pay service to pay you before the 15^th of every month.

I have spoken many times to several Nationstar Mortgage representatives who always wanted an immediate payment over the phone for bills I have not received.  I have been told the bills were delivered via email or to the property address,  however I get all my email, and no such bills have been delivered to the property address except once, and they were the same statements I received at about the same time they were delivered to this office address.

I don’t believe it is malice that makes your company so difficult to deal with but I have no recourse but this letter.  You do not answer phone calls. Beginning in March I was getting daily or more robo calls from your offices for debt collection.  I always explained I was waiting for the statements and I was always told they could not fax, but they would mail and email the bills.  I bet I was told that a dozen times.  Often when I was not here I got messages to call you back and several times I tried to call back.  It is impossible.  Even today Allie gave me a phone number which I confirmed with her twice, and said I would try it back because I was sure it would not work.  She assured me it would.  It does not:  881-811-5279.  And of course I tried the number on the statements I received from you.  Whoever is reading this should try it some time, it is educational.

I have not received any more statements from you but the February and March statements, but I have made monthly payments according to what I believed was your payment due date.  Today I found out I was mistaken about the due date, and that you will not credit back to me late fees.  I could not possibly have known your due date until today.  Future payments will be on time because now I know, and because that is the right thing to do.  I am not acting out of fear of late fees.

I have no fear of a company such as yours.  You are more disorganized than any company I have had dealt with, and you are dangerous to those who can’t write letters like mine and appeal to authorities and fight back.  You need people to do so and then you might do the right thing.

I don’t believe it is out of malice that you treat me so badly but rather apathy and indifference to what is right.  Someone needs to challenge you from the moral high ground so you can see your unethical tactics clearly. I will take this late fee issue as high as I need to so that you will do the right thing.

I will be posting this letter and your reply on www.againstgoliath.com

Do the right thing and refund my late fees.

Kent Johnson. 233 East Main Street, Torrington, CT 06790