What is Middleboro IT director planning?

What is Middleboro IT director planning?

According to the Information Technology (IT) Assessment recently done by the Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management for Middleboro, the, “IT director stated that he spent 50 percent of his time on planning activities” and that, “In a town of Middleborough’s size, these planning activities should not require more than approximately 15 percent of an IT Director’s time.” In Middleboro, our IT director is spending 35 percent more time planning than most.

It also states that the town does not have a “written plan for business continuity/disaster recovery. This leaves Middleborough at extraordinary risk.”

At the presentation on June 16, the IT director corrected the statement that there is no disaster recovery plan. He said he has a list of names to call in an emergency and he can borrow equipment from a local offsite backup company.

A business continuity plan is used in cases such as the basement of town hall being flooded (that is where the town’s computer room is and it has flooded in the past). It would describe what and how to set up equipment for a short time in order keep the town functioning. A disaster recovery plan is for a major event, for example, a hurricane hit the area, like what happened to New Orleans with Hurricane Katrina. It would describe how to get critical computer services back in operation when the town’s normal infrastructure in damaged.

The IT Assessment also said that the town has no strategic plan for IT.

A strategic plan for IT is the road map for moving forward. It describes the goals for the IT department and how to reach them.

The town of Middleboro has an extremely inadequate business continuity/disaster recovery plan and no strategic plan for IT. What is our town’s IT director spending half of his time planning?

BOB DUNPHY

Middleboro

Bottle Bill

It's time for Beacon Hill to set aside the Special Interests and act for the good of the Commonwealth enacting an updated bottle bill to reduce solid waste.


From MassPirg --


Updating the Bottle Bill is a win for consumers and a win for the Commonwealth -- it decreases litter and makes it easier for cities and towns to recycle. But, with less than four weeks left in the legislative session, we need your help to convince our lawmakers to make the passage of the Updated Bottle Bill a priority.

Join us at next week's press event calling for swift passage of a bill that's been pending for more than a decade.

Since 1990, more than 15 billion containers have been redeemed under the Massachusetts bottle bill, contributing to a healthier environment, cleaner and safer communities, and a stronger economy. But as consumers' tastes change, the bottle bill must be updated to keep up with our times.

Updating the Bottle Bill would more than double the recycling rate for water bottles and most other plastic containers and would give consumers a greater incentive to recycle those containers.

Seems like a no-brainer, right?

But the bill has been held up for years. At the most recent hearing on the bill, there were well over 100 supporters in the room, including the League of Women Voters, the Sierra Club, the Mass Municipal Association and more. The opponents are a who's who of special interests: lobbyists for Pepsi, the bottled water companies, and liquor stores. It looked and sounded to all of us in the hearing room like the public interest versus the powerful special interests. We have to make the public interest voice louder.

And that's why I'm asking you to join us at the State House next Wednesday, July 7th, at 10:30AM. Click below to RSVP.

http://www.masspirg.org/action/healthy-communities/ubb-july7-event?id4=es

Consider dropping an email to your State Representative and State Senator.

BP: Access Denied

Coast Guard Restricts Reporters' Access to Oil Spill Sites





Oil Rain in Louisiana?



BraveNewFilms Drill Baby Drill

BP: Finally agrees to stop burning turtles alive

As if BP's public relations hadn't suffered enough, they continued to burn endangered turtles alive, until being forced to stop.

Photo from NOAA



Agreement Reached in Gulf to Prevent Sea Turtle Burning Deaths
Settlement Forces BP to Rescue Sea Turtles Before Oil Slicks Set on Fire

NEW ORLEANS— An agreement reached today among conservation groups, BP and the Coast Guard will ensure measures to rescue sea turtles from the surface before setting fire to oil slicks in the Gulf of Mexico. The agreement came as a result of a lawsuit filed on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity, Turtle Island Restoration Network, Animal Welfare Institute and Animal Legal Defense Fund.

“Endangered sea turtles need all hands on deck to work toward saving them from this terrible oil spill,” said Miyoko Sakashita, oceans director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s great news that BP and the Coast Guard have agreed to take steps to rescue turtles and prevent them from burning.”

The agreement came moments before the start of a legal hearing sought by conservation groups to resolve the threats to turtles posed by intentionally set fires intended to burn off spilled oil in the Gulf. BP and the Coast Guard agreed to develop a protocol ensuring no endangered sea turtles will be killed during burn containment practices. Conservation groups also want more assurances that qualified scientists and observers will be present at every burn to ensure that all turtles will be identified and removed before burns take place. The lawsuit, filed earlier this week, sought a temporary restraining order against BP to prevent the killing and harming of sea turtles.

In an effort to contain the massive oil spill, BP is conducting “controlled burns,” that involve using shrimp boats to corral the oil by dragging together fire-resistant booms and then lighting the enclosed “burn box” on fire. The “burn boxes” are approximately 60 to 100 feet in diameter. Endangered sea turtles, including Kemp’s ridleys, that inhabit the Gulf of Mexico are also being caught in the corrals being created by BP. This fact has been confirmed by Obama administration wildlife officials at the National Marine Fisheries Service. The turtle burning was exposed by shrimp boat captain Michael Ellis, whose comments were videotaped.

As of July 1, 594 stranded sea turtles had been collected dead in the Gulf area since the oil spill. Of those, 441 were dead when they were found and 153 were alive. Many more have likely been injured or killed but not found.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans by the law firm Meyer Gliztenstein & Crystal of Washington DC on behalf of Center for Biological Diversity, Turtle Island Restoration Network, Animal Welfare Institute and Animal Legal Defense Fund.


P.S. Here's more on this breaking news from The Washington Post.

Settlement Reached on Guarding Against Burning Deaths of Sea Turtles in Gulf
The Washington Post // July 2, 2010
by Juliet Eilperin

The Coast Guard and BP reached a settlement Friday with environmental groups over the issue of how best to guard against accidentally killing endangered sea turtles during controlled burns in the Gulf of Mexico aimed at curbing the oil spill's spread.

Three environmental groups -- the Center for Biological Diversity, the Turtle Island Restoration Network and the Animal Defense League -- had sued in federal court in New Orleans on Wednesday, charging that oil spill responders had taken inadequate precautions while conducting the controlled burns. While activists have not found charred remains of endangered Kemp's Ridley or other sea turtles in the region, they argued the animals are at risk because they tend to congregate in sargassum, seagrasses that burn crews frequently target.

Under the settlement, the two sides have agreed the Coast Guard will soon convene a group of scientists to determine how best to ensure that no endangered sea turtles die during controlled burns. The environmental groups will have input into assembling the group of experts, and the protocol scientists devise will be put on a fast track for public comment so it can be finalized quickly.

"Sea turtles are already suffering catastrophically from the oil spill and it would be outrageous to add insult to injury by burning them alive in the spill cleanup effort," said the Center for Biological Diversity's executive director Kieran Suckling in an interview. "It's a no-brainer to put sea turtle observers on the cleanup boasts and whisk the turtles out of the oil pools before they're set on fire."

No burning will take place in the gulf before Tuesday, because of poor weather conditions, and by then BP and the Coast Guard must inform the environmental groups whether they are prepared to put scientific observers on every burn boat to identify and remove all turtles before any burns resume.

If they can not make that assurance, Suckling said, the plaintiffs "will be back" in court challenging the controlled burns.

Neither the Coast Guard nor BP could be immediately reached for comment.

How many lightbulbs does it take .....

From ENN --

Lighting is a relatively heavy demand on the electricity grid, taking up around 19 percent. Annual carbon generated because of this amounts to 1,500 million tonnes, equivalent to pollution of more than half of the world's light passenger vehicles.


ENN recently posted How Many Energy-Efficient Light Bulbs Does It Take to Close 705 Coal Plants?
worth reading in its entirety --

The second major advance in lighting technology is the light-emitting diode (LED), which uses up to 85 percent less electricity than an incandescent bulb. Although LEDs are the ultimate in lighting efficiency, they are still too costly for most uses. They are rapidly taking over several niche markets, however, such as traffic lights, where they now have 52 percent of the U.S. market, and exit signs in buildings, where they hold 88 percent of U.S. sales. New York City has replaced traditional bulbs with LEDs in many of its traffic lights, cutting its annual bill for maintenance and electricity by $6 million. In early 2009, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the city would replace its 140,000 street lights with LEDs, saving taxpayers $48 million over the next seven years. The resulting reduction in carbon emissions would be like taking 7,000 cars off the road.

BP and Endangered Species

BP Blocks Attempt to Save Endangered Sea Turtles from Oil Spill

A shrimp boat captain in Louisiana hired by BP was blocked from rescuing juvenile Kemp's ridleys that were covered in oil in the Gulf waters. He was captured on video saying that the turtles are being collected in the clean-up efforts and burned up like so much ocean debris with other marine life gathering along tide lines where oil also congregates.

He witnessed BP workers burning turtles caught in the oil booms. Rescue efforts are being ended tomorrow.

STRP's Gulf Director Carole Allen responded to the news by saying "The burning of boom and oil when even one sea turtle was seen in the water is a despicable crime."

STRP's Chris Pincetich has been in communication with both the reporter who shot the interview and the Captain who witnessed the illegal killing of sea turtles, and is making arrangements to ensure that sea turtle rescue efforts are not stopped, and can be performed in areas with boomed oil.

Death by fire in the gulf
So-called burn boxes are torching oil from the water's surface at the sacrifice of turtles, crabs, sea slugs and other sea life.

But the burn operations have proved particularly excruciating for the turtle researchers, who have been trolling the same lines of oil and seaweed as the boom boats, hoping to pull turtles out of the sargassum before they are burned alive.

Much of the wildlife here seems doomed in any case. "We've seen the oil covering the turtles so thick they could barely move, could hardly lift their heads," Witherington said. "I won't pretend to know which is the nastiest."

"Turtles just take a long time to die."

Gulf whale found dead by scientists south of rig

In a troubling sign for the Gulf of Mexico's marine mammals, researchers this week found a dead sperm whale floating 77 miles south of the Deepwater Horizon rig site, where some 2.5 million gallons of oil are erupting daily from a mile deep.

Gary Conklin Dairy Farm, Plain City, Ohio

Please sign the PETITION --

SHUT DOWN CONKLIN DAIRY FARMS AND ARREST AND CHARGE GARY CONKLIN AND HIS CREW WITH ANIMAL CRUELTY!!!

SHUT DOWN CONKLIN DAIRY FARMS AT 12939 US HIGHWAY 42 IN N PLAIN CITY, OHIO IMMEDIATELY AND ARREST AND CHARGE GARY CONKLIN AND HIS CREW WITH EXTREME ANIMAL ABUSE, EXTREME ANIMAL CRUELTY AND EXTREME ANIMAL TORTURE!!!

Gary Conklin, owner of Conklin Dairy Farms, located at 12939 US Highway 42 N Plain City, Ohio 43064-8748 (telephone number (614) 873-8024) and his crew were filmed by Mercy For Animals committing horrific acts of Extreme Animal Abuse, Extreme Animal Cruelty and Extreme Animal Torture. During these horrific acts, ALL of the offenders were filmed laughing and joking about how they enjoy torturing these poor animals.
THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!!!

Gary Conklin, of Conklin Dairy Cattle Sales LLC, said Tuesday night in an e-mailed statement. ''We will not condone animal abuse on our farm.''

I have watched the video in it's entirety. Gary Conklin is on the video (at the 1:25 counter) and he is clearly abusing a cow. Gary Conklin is kicking the cow in the face, head and neck numerous times with extreme force!!! His claims of not condoning abuse can only be described as an out and out BOLD FACED LIE!!!

Sign this petition and demand that Gary Conklin and his crew be arrested and charged with Extreme Animal Abuse, Extreme Animal Cruelty and Extreme Animal Torture and that Conklin Dairy Farms in N Plain City, Ohio be immediately shut down!!!

"Animals Do Not Have A Voice Of Their Own. If We Do Not Stand Up And Speak For Them... Who Will?!"
~ Joan E Loza Mobry

SHUT DOWN CONKLIN DAIRY FARMS AT 12939 US HIGHWAY 42 IN N PLAIN CITY, OHIO IMMEDIATELY AND ARREST AND CHARGE GARY CONKLIN AND HIS CREW WITH EXTREME ANIMAL ABUSE, EXTREME ANIMAL CRUELTY AND EXTREME ANIMAL TORTURE!!!




Petition Text

SHUT DOWN CONKLIN DAIRY FARMS AND ARREST AND CHARGE GARY CONKLIN AND HIS CREW WITH EXTREME ANIMAL CR
Dear Elected Officials,

Gary Conklin, owner of Conklin Dairy Farms, located at 12939 US Highway 42 N Plain City, Ohio 43064-8748 (telephone number (614) 873-8024) and his crew were filmed by Mercy For Animals committing horrific acts of Extreme Animal Abuse, Extreme Animal Cruelty and Extreme Animal Torture. During these horrific acts, ALL of the offenders were filmed laughing and joking about how they enjoy torturing these poor animals.
THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!!!

This is the link to the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYTkM1OHFQg&feature=player_embedded#!

Please watch the video and see for yourself just how cruel and sadistic these horrific acts of violence against innocent animals are. I assure you that you will be equally shocked and horrified by these sadistic acts of Extreme Animal Abuse, Extreme Animal Cruelty and Extreme Animal Torture THIS MUST END NOW!!!

Gary Conklin, of Conklin Dairy Cattle Sales LLC, said Tuesday night in an e-mailed statement. "We will not condone animal abuse on our farm."

I have watched the video in it's entirety. Gary Conklin is on the video (at the 1:25 counter) and he is clearly abusing a cow. Gary Conklin is kicking the cow in the face, head and neck numerous times with extreme force!!! His claims of not condoning abuse can only be described as an out and out BOLD FACED LIE!!!

We The Undersigned Are Alarmed And Shocked That These Acts Of Extreme Animal Abuse, Extreme Animal Cruelty And Extreme Animal Torture Have Occurred And That They Have Been Allowed To Continue!!!

We The Undersigned Demand That CONKLIN DAIRY FARMS AT 12939 US HIGHWAY 42 IN N PLAIN CITY, OHIO IS SHUT DOWN IMMEDIATELY AND THAT GARY CONKLIN AND HIS CREW ARE ARRESTED AND CHARGED WITH EXTREME ANIMAL ABUSE, EXTREME ANIMAL CRUELTY AND EXTREME ANIMAL TORTURE!!!

We The Undersigned Demand That Gary Conklin And All Of The Abusers Seen On The Video Are Found Guilty Of EXTREME ANIMAL ABUSE, EXTREME ANIMAL CRUELTY AND EXTREME ANIMAL TORTURE And That Gary Conklin And All Of The Abusers Seen On The Video Receive The MAXIMUM PENALTY Allowed By Law!!!

We The Undersigned Request That These Poor Abused And Tortured Animals Be Sent To An Animal Sanctuary Where They Can Live Out The Remainder Of Their Lives Free From Acts Of Animal Abuse, Animal Cruelty And Animal Torture.

"Animals Do Not Have A Voice Of Their Own. If We Do Not Stand Up And Speak For Them... Who Will?!"
~ Joan E Loza Mobry

Thank You For You Prompt And Direct Attention To This Very Serious Matter.

Respectfully,
Joan E Loza Mobry
and


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