Earlier this week we encouraged our readers to call their representatives regarding the retention of hydrogen fuel cell technology production within the greater Rochester area. We then caught up with Dan Maloney who was able to shed some further light on this issue (paraphrased):

RT: Can you describe this technology?

DM: This is a technology that was actually developed in the 1800s. It has currently been refined. This Vehicle Propulsion System runs on pure Hydrogen. When Hydrogen combines with Oxygen, the result is an electrical charge and water. This technology satisfies three main goals of the Obama administration- green, building infrastructure and decreaseing dependency on foreign oil.

RT: What is needed to manufacture this technology? Are we reusing existing infrastructure, or making new?

DM: Both. Infrastructure for production and fueling stations do not exist. Fueling stations could be built into current gas stations. Tax incentives for gas station owners and capital improvement monies as part of the stimulus could be used.

RT: Why Rochester, as opposed to another American location?

DM: We’re sick of Rochester inventing things and then not receiving any of the payback for it. Some of the inovations out of our area:

• User friendly interface-invented at Xerox. Now known as Apple and Microsoft
• Digital Technology and the original Camcorder-invented at Kodak. Now produced by Sony and Panasonic
• Fuel injection-invented in 1950s at Rochester Products (now Delphi)-developed by the Japanese in the 1970s

Proximity-it’s time to reap the benefits of products being developed right here.

RT: How many jobs are we talking about creating?

DM: We’re talking in the tens of thousands as there are 2 systems being created here with this fuel cell technology:

• The Vehicle Propulsion System which will power our cars (and is the one that we are most familiar with)
• The Auxiliary Power Unit which is close to being ready for use in big rigs and has applications with military equipment (with the added feature of being very quiet, hence stealth capabilities) in addition to home and office use.

RT: Any last words you would like to leave us with?

DM: Batteries are a bad idea. You get an ever diminishing return. Ethanol is a bad idea. Way too much energy is spent in producing ethanol, a very poor return on your investment. The government currently subsidizes ethanol and oil. It’s time to pull the money out of that and put it into hydrogen fuel cell technology.

I offer this video which I found at Open Left:

Stlo7 wrote about the consequences of elections specifically related to the Employee Free Choice Act:

Co-sponsorship by Slaughter, Maffei and Massa. Excellent.

Chris Lee? Not so much.

For those living in the 29th - remember when Randy Kuhl discussed the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) terms of Communism (about 2:13 into the clip)? Recall that Randy once was for the EFCA act until he was against it. That, of course, was back in the day when Randy Kuhl had town hall meetings with constituents.

Yeah, elections do have consquences.

And it couldn’t come here soon enough.

Today will probably be a light posting day - many of us are on the ground in D.C. or away from our computers at local events.  still I’m sure we will squeeze in some posts.  it is what we do…

let’s start with this…

I read (via Rawstory) some very unfavorable worldwide editorial opinions on the Bush Presidency.  Remember when the Bush Legacy Bus Tour stopped in Rochester and tour director Julie Blust discussed the differences between the person and the philosophy?

As we remember President Bush, we need to remember that he simply is a symbol of a failed philosophy.  Conservatism simply doesn’t work.

What does the Bush Legacy mean to you?

Welcome to the Congress, Cable, COMIDA and County edition of In Case you missed it.

Congress -

Got to start somewhere and why not start with Congressional Swearing in ceremonies? - specifically Eric Massa’s.  btp reminds us about our first Massa post.  There were interviews leading up to the ceremony, We were on the ground in D.C. and attended the last reception and speech made as Congressman-elect, where the page was turned between campaign and legislative activities.  We discussed the Hydrogen Fuel car that Massa drove to DC and how our habits have changed over the years.  Massa answers questions about his trip.  I Headed over to watch the swearing in  wrapped up the visit with these reflections.

Meanwhile - Dan Maffei held in-district swearing in ceremonies.  Both Maffei and Massa were named as freshman to watch for very different reasons by Politico.  The list was bipartisan and a simple reminder that we are fortunate in upstate to have two freshman up and comers.

Meanwhile Louise Slaughter forms a bipartisan upstate Congressional caucus.  All the Representatives with districts in Rochester are included.

Finally, Chris Lee votes against women.  See you in 2010 Chris.

Cable

Public access cable is an important feature of the cable package many receive.  Here on the east side, many watch school board meetings, Town Hall meetings and such.  Well, for the past several years, there has been a power play with West side government entities trying to control the level of independence of Public Access.  Anyway, RT starts coverage.  It continues with video of West side Supervisors leaving a room and wonderful conversation in the comments.

COMIDA

COMIDA director Judy Siel tries to spin COMIDA.  Of Course, Judy is of the opinion that if COMIDA benefits aren’t granted, the projects won’t be done.  What, is someone going to pack up Greece Ridge Mall and move it to China?   Oh, how is COMIDA success measured?  The number of projects they approve.  Meanwhile, comments are due for Medley Centre and we ask how does COMIDA actually measure job growth?

County

Maggie asks for Federal dollars for her version of the Fast Ferry otherwise known as RenSquare and it looks like Senator Schumer is going to give it.

County Legislature Majority leader Dan Quatro  really doesn’t like debate.

The ROB-U-BLIND scandal gets more air play as the DA parses his words leading to speculation and ultimately making local electeds nervous.  The essence is that ROBUTRAD contractors did private work on public time for local elected officials.  Meanwhile, bigboy uses the Internets and looks at Cheryl Dinalfo’s house.

Short Takes

Greece Churches pray for Greece elected Officials.

With President-elect Obama pushing Infrastructure, maybe this LTE about high speed rail will come to fruition.

The Story of Stuff was discussed in Brighton.

Metro Justice is developing a strategy to improve the State Budget. Working Families Party weighs-in on the budget.  The New York State budget has problems (no kidding) and Comptroller DiNapoli says the numbers don’t add up.  In rather shocking news, New York State government is still disfunctional.  Let’s see how that changes as the Democrats finally take control of the State Senate.  GOP leader Dean Skelos adjusts to life in the minority.  Malcolm Smith commits to support upstate.

Tax Rates?  they need to be looked at carefully.

The unemployment computer system crashes,

We have another upgrade coming.

President-elect Obama delivers his weekly address again (via youtube - still very cool)

The Middle East is a mess - and the D&C editorial board says Israel has veered off course.

There is an on-line petition to “save” the speaking out essay in the D&C.

Questions are asked if Howard Dean has been slighted by not being part of Obama’s cabinet.  Maybe (commenter Andrea points out that Dean will continue to be involved)- but frankly I am more concerned with continuation of the 50-state strategy.

Finally airbare takes leave and goes to Washington.  Good luck.

See you next week.

Took a Snow-day from work today and was rewarded by this article, on my favorite subject , waiting for me in the Elmira Star Gazette. The author of this piece explains a bit about the melamine contamination of Baby formula which stlo7 wrote about here and then takes it a bit farther:

We were appalled to hear that melamine was deliberately added to the milk used for baby formula in China. Equally shocking, however, is the fact that melamine is used in the U.S. as part of the formula manufacturing process.

In October, the federal Food and Drug Administration said that it did not know of any safe level of melamine in baby formula. On Nov. 28, without further research, the agency announced that melamine and cyanuric acid are safe in baby formula at levels up to 1 part per million.

Nobody knows whether any melamine is safe. We do know that similar concentrations of either melamine or one of its relatives in their products has been found in formula made by Abbott, Nestle, and Mead Johnson, which make almost all of the formula sold in the U.S.

Pretty scary stuff. But, that’s not all…

* On Dec. 2, the New Mexico Health Department reported that one baby died and another was hospitalized because of infections caused by different strains of the bacteria Enterobacter sakazakii. Both babies had been fed powdered formula, which the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control says has been associated with contaminated powdered formula products.

* On Nov. 25, a 5-month-old baby, weighing only 8 pounds, 6 ounces, almost died from water intoxication and malnourishment. His mother had been using water to dilute the formula she got each month through the Women, Infants and Children program. She could not afford the $16 to $18 for each of the additional five to seven cans the baby needed.

$16to $18 dollars per can of possibly contaminated baby formula. WTF? So, we give it away free in the hospitals (thank you so much Mead Johnson, Ross and Nestle) until the mother is hooked (ie-milk supply not established related to lack of stimulation to breasts) then we send her home and say, you’re on your own, when all this time she could have been providing free food for her infant by nursing and building her supply at the same time. Does anyone else see a correlation with the cocaine pusher?

The author’s suggestions:

* Offer all mothers accurate information and practical help to enable them to get breastfeeding off to a good start.

* Give teeth to the current laws protecting women’s rights to nurse in public and pump and nurse at work.

* Ensure a safe, sustainable and affordable supply of formula for mothers who cannot nurse.

This will be more-or-less my last post at RT. I’m going to be blogging at TAP for the immediate future and then starting up a local project with some other bloggers some time after the election. I may stop by here from time to time depending on whether or not I still have posting privileges. I’ll certainly show up in the comments.

Thank you for all the comments and support you’ve given.

This is a small sample poll so take it with a BIG grain of salt, but it shows, at the very least, that NY-26 should be a competitive race:

A Brilliant Corners Research & Strategies poll of 400 likely voters shows that Alice Kryzan holds a 10-point lead over Republican candidate for Congress Chris Lee with 39 percent to 29 percent and 32 percent undecided. The poll, which was commissioned by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and EMILY’s List, was conducted September 15-17 with a 4.9 percent margin of error.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee slams Kuhl for getting money for a bowling alley in Canandaigua and not getting so much for the VA hospital there:

I’m not completely sure that zydeco music is appropriate for Canandaigua, but it’s an amusing web ad.

Sorry for the delay on this. Here’s Part II of our interview with former Chili Town Supervisor Tracy Logel. You can read Part I here. You may recall that, after a tough campaign, and an inappropriate (IMHO) battering on the D&C blogs, she was defeated by then Democrat David Dunning, who promptly changed parties and became a Republican shortly after his election.

RT: What role did the Monroe County GOP, and specifically higher ups like Steve Minarik, play in all of this?

TL: I mentioned both Steve Minarik, Republican County Chairman and Bernie Iacovangelo, Chili Republican Chairman in answering the previous questions. Personally I believe the Chili Republican Chair was behind Dunning from the time he first declared his candidacy. Bernie had been at odds with me from the day I declared my candidacy in the Primary against Hendershott back in 2003. He told me then NOT to run and as he said I would lose. I didn’t of course. Then I helped get Mary Valerio appointed to my seat in the Legislature. Again, Bernie was unhappy as he had a different candidate he wanted and NOT a woman especially Mary as she is the wife of one of Bernie’s ex- partners in the building business.

Not long after I took office, Bernie began calling caucus meetings at his office every Monday before Town Board meetings. These lasted for hours while the entire board was indoctrinated into his plan for the design and future of the Town of Chili. I stopped attending along with our Town Clerk, Richard Brongo and this is when Bernie began working on his plan to replace me. I complained that the caucus meetings were illegal, violating the Open Meetings Law and had contacted Freeman’s office in Albany to confirm that they shouldn’t be happening. Freeman agreed with me. As far as Steve Minarik is concerned, the Iacovangelo’s make large contributions to the party - need I say more. As long as Bernie could deliver a Republican Supervisor that was all that mannered. Just before this last election year, Bernie set up a meeting with Steve Minarik to have him ask me to step aside and let the Town Clerk, Richard Brongo run for my seat. Dick and I discussed it. We decided to stay with the positions we had so Bernie worked overtime to see that I was defeated. He promised to deliver Dunning to the Republicans the very night he won.

RT: What did you make of the constant attacks on you (and enthusiastic support for Dunning) in the D&C Chili blog?

Read the rest of this entry »

See the ad below:

This is truly pathetic:

Monroe County’s Clerk wanted TV cameras there when she made her announcement.

“Good afternoon, everyone. Today, I am proud to announce that the county clerk’s office has completed a review of our online office and has removed all Social Security numbers that were discovered,” Dinolfo said.

Except, all numbers weren’t removed. Just minutes after her announcement, her political opponent, Democrat Tom Hasman, showed us that it doesn’t take more than two minutes to find social security numbers from documents filed in 1993.

“If she’s pulled these numbers off the web site, then what are these doing here,” Hasman said.

For God’s sake, how hard is it for the clerk’s office to keep Social Security numbers off of its websites?

You’ve probably read about the proposed plan for the Treasury to buy approximately $700 billion in distressed mortgage-related assets from private firms. That makes this news very troubling:

Titans of the financial industry are battling to influence the government’s financial rescue plan, a package that will create new winners and losers in the sector.

[...]

House Republican staffers met with roughly 15 lobbyists Friday afternoon, whose message to lawmakers was clear: Don’t load the legislation up with provisions not directly related to the crisis, or regulatory measures the industry has long opposed.

Randy Kuhl has received 5K from the Credit Suisse First Boston PAC, 4K from the Goldman Sachs PAC, and 2K from the Morgan Stanley PAC in this election cycle. These firms are among the largest (still existing) investment banks and certainly in line for a huge payday if this plan goes through. There are undoubtedly other financial companies that have given generously to Kuhl.

Whatever one thinks of the bailout, to have these and other companies given hundreds of billions of taxpayer money without any strings attached is absurd.

It will be interesting to see if Kuhl listens to common sense or to Wall Street lobbyists here.

DragonFlyEye catches Joe Robach bragging about how he helped Gleason Works reduce the number of people it employs in the area:

New York State Senator Joe Robach’s recent campaign advertisment, touting his record of bringing “our fair share” to Rochester, has him standing in front of Gleason Works on University Avenue in Rochester. Below him, a caption reads “650 jobs for Gleason Works.” There’s just one problem with that caption: the 650 jobs Gleason Works currently provides Rochester is actually 300 jobs less than it was two years ago.

In July of 2006, Gleason Works underwent an 18.1 million dollar renovation, upgrading equipment and modifying their 750,000 square foot University Avenue facility. According to Monroe County’s website, of that 18.1 million dollars, 2.5 million dollars came from the Empire State Development grants, 1 million came from an RG&E grant, half a million came from the City of Rochester and 1 million dollars was secured through an unspecified form of direct NYS funding. Additionally, COMIDA approved the project, meaning that Gleason has been receiving tax breaks from the County of Monroe since then.

DFE has done solid, journalistic work on this issue and I recommend reading the entire piece.

If this election is going to be about anything beyond arugula and lipstick — and I’m not sure that it is — it ought to be about things like health care and the fall-out of the financial crisis. Last time we discussed the financial crisis, we noted that John McCain supports privatizing Social Security and that Kuhl has supported it in the past.

So let’s be clear on what privatization means. Privatization means replacing some or all of the Social Security tax with private, personal investment accounts. It’s pretty simple, though many journalists seem to have trouble understanding it.

With health care, the debate might also be thought of as a public versus private. A single payer system (which I favor) would replace insurance companies with a single government payer. Neither candidate is proposing that. Obama favors a mandated system in which we’d still have insurers but everyone would have some kind of insurance (unlike now). Massachusetts already has a system along these lines. McCain proposes mostly leaving our system as is, with a bit more federal money for high risk pools and new taxes on workers’ health care benefits.

It’s quite telling that a few weeks ago McCain said that he thought our financial system was working so well that we should model our health care system after it:

Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation.

The financial crisis is believed by most nonwingnuts to have been caused by the lack of certain regulations. Imagine what deregulating the health care system can achieve.

Again, these are issues where we deserve to hear the opinions of everyone running for Congress locally.

Rochester Congresswoman Louise Slaughter was on the Rachel Maddow last night, talking about offshore drilling and drilling in ANWR. It’s worth a look.