My psychic network says next election the lincoln planning board will all lose . ...no matter which way it goes. Ruling against your own constituents...big no no. No matter how big the bribes are. Psychic network ...just a loosely formed group has a 98% positive predicts. Heard it here first at BDN.

BRIBES BABY BRIBES!

They(Council and Planning Board et.al.) will reap what they have sewn. Lincoln worked very hard to get to where they are in this affair. With few exceptions, get rid of most of the council. Lincoln needs citizens, not special interests representing the community. And certainly, get rid of the professional lobbyist on that council!

rockstars: The Lincoln Planning Board is elected? In all Maine communities I know of, they are appointed by the Board of Selectmen for 3 or 5 year staggered terms. That way only one or so gets reappointed or not every year. The Good Old Boy network in action!

If you can't put a windfarm in an out of the way place like Lincoln, Maine, where exactly can you put one?

Bangorian, how about in your backyard?

And if you can't do it in a legal process , according to laws of the community, with consent of the community, nowhere! No bribes, no secret meetings, no collusion allowed, get it ?

Bribes? Collusion? Secret meetings? Where do you get your facts from, or is this taken straight out of the liberal play-book? Make false accusations and allegations to advance your agenda. Sour grapes. Are they afraid of releasing their names because they are from Mass. or Conn. or someplace? You people amaze me. Yes, I said 'you people'. No nukes! Down with "Big Oil"! No dams! But also no wind power! No energy of any kind! You say you bleed green but then start shouting NIMBY! If only we could harness the energy you have put into fighting this....

Gurn ...here is a fact for you to mull. First Wind formerly Evergreen paid for the services of Eaton Peabody to represent Lincoln, Burlington and Winn. Kirk Richie , selectman for Lee, had asked initially that Lee(tiny town) lend Evergreen $20,000 for them to research TIFs. Now Evergreen/First Wind is a giant corporation but needs to borrow money for a law firm to research ways for the towns to receive tax benefits and govt subsidies .

I don' know if Eaton Peabody charged the town of Lincoln for the work they did to keep the citizens from having a voice in their own town's decision or not.But all the Lincoln planning board and some selectmen who were pushing to keep First Wind from paying their fair share of taxes and instead to feed from the trough of tax payers is shall we say strange. It makes some people who believe that the govt should stay out of a town's own decisions and stop propping up global corporations downright frustrated.

Welfare moms vs. welfare dads I guess. There was a time when poor mothers could get a couple hundred dollars for having a baby. Recent history. Now corporations can get millions from tax payers and that is somehow better?

To: The Friends of Lincoln lakes group .... go get em! It's nice to see that someone is standing up for the rights, property values, and personal values of many of the citizens of the Lincoln area. I wish you nothing but good luck in your legal battle with First Wind.

How is it that Kirk Ritchie's involvement in this is not a conflict of interest. He lists and sells many properties for H C Haynes, who looks to be the biggest financial benefactor from these projects long term. Can't say that it's fact, but local rumors have Haynes being paid $3,000. per tower per year in the long term leases for the otherwise useless land that all those towers on Stetson Mtn. stand on. And will benefit again from this Lincoln/Lee/Winn/Burligton project. I've got no issue with Haynes making the money, but do have an issue with the seemingly blatant conflict of interest that Ritchie's involvement represents. Influence peddling and polictical graft ... no town (even the small ones) are immune.

Kirk Ritchie also stood up at the hearing in Lee to promote the Stetson Mt windfarm even though it was not in Lee and had nothing to do with Lee. The hearing was held there because there was no building close to Stetson Mt large enough .

He is co owner of the Springfield Fair...received money from First Wind for a tractor pull. Local businesses sponsor such events. First Wind in communication with Marcia Famous of LURC stated they gave money to the town of Springfield for their fair. Killing two birds with one stone?

The town manager of Mars Hill admitted he never read First Wind's proposal to build a wind farm there . He gave them permission anyway. Later on sold his house to First Wind and rented out property to First Wind employees.

There is a reason that small rural towns with an elderly population are "chosen." Bribery of public officials charges were brought against First Wind by the NY attorney general. ..as well as fraud, anti trust violations etc. There is a reason these charges never stick too. Not sure exactly why...think it is huge political clout. Our gov staked his career with First Wind to give them every thing they wanted. Even denying towns to have a voice in where the wind farms are sited. Not sure of that one either but it looks very suspicious in light of the charges brought by the NY AG.

Hey Northwoods! You can trace this WHOLE thing right back to Kevin Bacon! Why isn't he being held accountable? Anyway, what do you not understand about our elected representatives living and working in our community? Is it just because the lake friends do not (with a couple exceptions) live and work here? These folks aren't "professional politicians" like your heros in congress and the white house, they are taxpayers with actual jobs. This wind farm is SUPPOSED to benefit the community, as well as benefitting the environment. And Rockstars, I'm pretty sure that every citizen who has wanted to weigh in about this issue has had the opportunity. WE ALL HEARD YOU! You don't like it, and you've said why, over and over and over and over again. Thank you, but step back from the conspiracy theories because now it's time for you to move on into the next phase and work WITH the project to make it as great as possible.

Gurn...the old syle of politics ...bully and intimidate doesn't work anymore.No one has to read a comment unless they want to. We do not need any home made censors to tell us all govt is good. Anything else is a conspiracy theory. The definition of conspiracy is when two or more people conspire to commit fraud. Greed is a part of human nature so it happens. Name calling does not win points with adults.

I gotta admit.... I love reading these comments more than the articles themselves. You anti-wind people give me a good chuckle every time. "It's obviously a CONSPIRACY! They must be BRIBING people. They're paying off LAWYERS and LOBBYISTS!" I know it's hard to believe, but there are a lot of people who SUPPORT wind power. Not only will it bring clean energy to our homes, but it will also bring jobs and revenues to our towns. Anyway, keep it up. I enjoy the entertainment. Next falsehoods to be passed on: The projects don't generate any electricity! Oh wait.... you got that one down pat.

I am sure it makes you feel all empty now that First Wind has run out of money.Time heals all wounds.

Hay, all, lets get back to the facts of this case. Friends of Lincoln Lakes is a group of local property tax owners who are fighting to keep the sprawling industrial blight of wind turbines off the ridges above the lakes of the region. There are numerous legitimate concerns about this project articulated by this group. The civic process in Lincoln is a farce. When the Chair of the Planning Board refuses to recuse himself for conflict of interest, then limits each comment on a very detailed and complex application to 2 minutes per person, then proceeds to attempt to grant a permit for an application that the Planning Board members admit they haven't read, that is a gross violation of civic process. That is just one un-civic incident of many committed by elected and appointed officials of Lincoln. The vote to approve the First Wind application is a violation of Lincoln's Land Use Ordinance. The denial of standing for Friends of Lincoln Lakes at the Appeals Board was an outrage against citizen rights, when town officials repeatedly referred to the group by name collectively at various meetings and in writing for months. The evidence is clear. Bravo for Friends of Lincoln Lakes for standing up against such abuse of power against citizens.

To the Bangorian,

The answer to your question of where to put a 4-500ft tower with at least a 275ft rotor blade diameter. Not near somebodies home. Think about it, of course it will be bothersome, there is nothing we have now that compares to a structure that moves like a turbine. The only place you could possibly put something of that magnitude is offshore where the high winds are to even make it worth the 4mil per unit investment. Really, where do you think that money is coming from? Do you have a turbine of even a residential scale? Because I feel that is a huge missing form of information in getting any kind of perspective around wind technology. Wind is unpredictable, really just think about it. How do you harness that? A turbine is the best invention, but is subject to the wind and how it chooses to blow, no one is going to control that....ever.. and a wind generator is subject to those natural laws of wind. If you modify it with fossil fuels, then it's not really green anymore is it? That is what industrial scale units are doing with their modifications. It is about investments and money and does not support what people are trying to do about environmental impacts. It is also "back-rowing" to justify industrial scale turbine impacts by comparing them to other human impacts. Green activity does not create impacts, that would be contradictive. It is going to come down to scale whether the investors like it or not, wind power is not genuinely marketable, it is only green at ground zero application where it is used where it is installed at a livable scale like the 6 &10K units within a community. My 1k unit has a 9ft rotor diameter and caused flicker on the wall by my daughters bedroom and she was waking up with a headache for two weeks, I was pretty concerned! Then I saw the flicker and became realistically aware of a repercussion of wind power that was not in the brochure. I also looked at the rating and calculated it to a degree, but it has proven that wind will do what it wants and give what it wants and do what it wants. FoLL is fighting for their rights, I commend them for that and how hard it is to withstand comments and impressions from people who really don't seem to understand wind technology and political issues to know that they might just have a reason for fighting so hard to protect their constitutional rights. Yeah, there is a lot more to it.

For those who think that Friends of Lincoln Lakes is a group of left wingers, you obviously don't know 'em. There are members of at least 4 political parties that I know of. Yes, even my husband the conservative. There are many reasons that this project is not a good idea. We may not all feel as strongly about each and every one of them. However, all citizens regardless of party affiliiation are guaranteed certain rights under the US Constitution. The town of Lincoln in conjunction with First Wind (they were sitting hip to hip in the courtroom) is using sleazy legal arguments to keep citizens from being a part of the decisionmaking process in the town. I don't care what party you hale from. This is un-American.

Friends of Lincoln Lakes would be left wing to a certain well known republican. Everybody else would see FoLL as a group of concerned citizens...and not brand them. But hey if you are crooked and on the take ...what are you going to say. I'm sorry?

For all that would like to know, there is a list of members of the fiends of lincoln lakes on their website under the copy of the appeal. So many from out of town. According to the 2000 census, the population of Lincoln Maine is 5221 people. There are 17 Lincoln people shown as members of foll. That figures out to .33% of the population. Not 60%. Not 30%. Not even 10%. Not 5%. Not even one percent of the population. Point three three percent.

Go figure. I think the town does speak for the majority of people in Lincoln.

I am not persuaded. A flicker on someone's wall seems like a small price to pay for energy that is clean and non-polluting. The number of people who live in Lincoln who will be affected by a wind farm is relatively small given the enormous number of people who will benefit from the energy that it produces and the pollution that it does not.

There are many more members of FoLL not on the appeal I am told (wouldn't you like to know who?). How can they fund such an expensive fight?

The law protects any member of a group from intimidation and harrassment. Notice how certain town officials still try to figure out the depth of the support and where it is coming from. After all , their lawyer(s) cost big bucks. They are so concerned that a town survey is being circulated to get more input from the very citizens they tried to dupe.

The town tried to harrass at the appeal in January, and were so stupid they got sued. A few folks there in Lincoln think they own the town.

The sad fact is that some on council and appointed members of the planning board colluded with several corporations to attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of every day citizens, thinking that apathy would be in their favor to push this massive project in.They still hope it dies quietly, but in reality, things are first starting.

Some municipal members drooled over the thought of increased job security, toys and goodies to grow Lincoln government. A paid lobbyist and councilman for a couple of the local land barons refused to identify his affiliations and voted anyway, BTW, he is also a lobbyist for CMP!

It did not work did it?This process is just beginning to expose the facts on the local level and state DEP level. A evidenciary hearing is also requested as this continues, won't that be wonderful to question town officials on what really happened?

The group continues to grow, and funding is a grass roots effort it seems . Literally scores are contributing I am told, some on a regular basis. It is basic math, think of a grass roots effort of hundreds of people giving. Next time Lincoln, put it to a vote after a legal and fair process.

Right on FoLL! Everyone should contribute to this effort of these citizens using their constitutional power to right wrongs.

Lincoln will never function in this underhanded way again, no matter what the outcome of the turbine scandal.

Central Maine Power was sued along with First Wind for non payment of a transformer. Used the old check is in the mail scam to get it delivered..then didn't pay for it...said it was no good......then installed it in Mars Hill. This is the kind of business Lincoln Planning board listems to...not the citizens. I took a transcript of the trial to the Lincoln News before the Rollins Project was even known about. Lincoln News was not interested in printing the facts. We will not have good govt. until we have a good press.All this grief could have been avoided with the truth. Instead we got lovely green puff pieces about once a week to get us used to the fact that wind farms were enevitable for ME..Transcribing for First Wind and govt spokepersons.

One thing I have learned from the entire ordeal...ME has some crooked govt departments and the newspapers are complicit. Gov. office, Attorney General's office , LURC and DEP. They have made no effort to be open and honest. I am not saying there are not good people in all these departments...but they were mandated by their management to push wind farms.There was no public hearing for stetson II. The turbines were moved in before the permit was given by LURC. Now they are lying in fields...weeds grown up around them...no guards...just costing First Wind money to pay taxes on them.First Wind had to get a loan for operating costs for Stetson. And they are supposed to be making money? looks like some names were changed around again and perhaps Credit Suisse was paid off. Who knows. But their production numbers from FERC are being analyzed and they don't add up. The Conn Attorney General is investigating Iso New England for 50 million dollars worth of stand by energy not produced/ anti trust violations. That was paid in our electricty bills. Karma.

Ivegotta, ( gary ), you do have a point. A few folks here in Lincoln do think they own the town. The few folks are the fiends of lincoln lakes.

garysmom.......Have you ever heard of democracy?

What stake does GurnBlanston,bangorian and garysmom have in wind power? How much money do YOU stand to make? That would explain your approval of a project which damages the environment makes people sick and alters the ecology. The Friends of Lincoln Lakes have all political groups represented. We have Snowsledders, ATVer's, pulp truck drivers, skidder operaters, tree harvester jockeys, Doctors, lawyers, retirees, factory workers, business owners, all donating to stop a project which would never have begun without collusion and fraud from the state down to the local level. Maine battled to eradicate the ugly billboards years back because our beautiful state was worth showing in its natural setting. Same with windpower. If you cannot understand why they do not belong here after reading about the negative effects, there may be no convincing you. All we have to do is stop wasting energy for starters. Make appliances even more efficient. Give businesses tax incentives for using less energy. Stop the rate reductions for using excess power. That does not encourage conservation. Propane and electricity rates should increase as more is used, and be the least for users using the least. The state and fed have to embrace conservation and not be suckered by Enron schemes. The wind industry is out for our tax freebies and cap and trade smoke and mirror games. They are not green. Doesn't Matt Kearns drive a big stretch cab 4x4 Dodge? One would think they would all be driving electric or hybrid cars if they were so concerned about "clean air". Try and find any claims from a coal fired power plant that they reduced their CO2 because the wind turbines were spinning. I have tried and nothing has turned up. Denmark spent billions on windpower and their CO2 rose 34%. It doesn't work and I cannot believe more people are not opposing such an obvious scam. That is the power of money unfortunately. Even Rush Limbaugh sees the wind scam. I hate it when I agree with that right wing wacko.

To Bangorian,

So what I'm hearing you say is that my daughter's health is a small price to pay for the conditioned behavior of our society to always be looking for a quick fix instead of looking for ways they can become more personally responsible for the energy they demand. Sounds a little self-serving, or am I reading your message wrong? I guess it depends on the level of knowledge that you have around conservation and green application devices. Clean and non-polluting? Have you done your home-work? Those units at that scale need the heads changed out every month using 60 gallons of hydraulic fuel per unit, they also need to be fuel propelled on the many days that the wind doesn't blow at 12 MPH so that the mechanical components don't frig up. Oh, and how much do you know about "stray voltage". Better google that. It's good that your in the mix Bangorian, you sound like you need to get up to speed on this.

Greenisgood,

You need to harness your passion, step back and go do some real homework on this issue. :)

Happycamper1...what you said....brilliant ideas. Now how do we get them implemented?

CarolynR..see above sentence. Run for office?

rockstars,

You never know where things may lead to. All I know is that I can see a conditioning that has pulled the general public away from the political process. An intimidation in the form of political complexity that ultimately voids the Constitutional rights from the very first sentence in the Preamble. It was very Ingenious, I will definitely give them credit for that. We will make these changes together one awareness at a time. I have met a lot of motivated people. :)

What a wonderful govt we would have if our elected officials researched data significant to their constituents rather than holding their hands out for money . And what do they buy ..maybe here in ME..a nice camp at the lake. Then for years and years WE suffer for their camp or whatever. Wouldn't it be great if we had newspapers that actually wrote articles that gave two sides of every issue....and not just the corporations and govt. Go Carolyn and FoLL.

rockstars........democracy? Is that where we have competitive elections to vote in our representatives. These representatives speak for the people that voted them into office. " majority rule ". Is everyone crooked that does not support your views?? Some members of the fiends of lincoln lakes should run for local office. Now that is funny.

Why were they hauling windmill part to chester before they got the go-ahead, maybe they had allready been told ......ya, we'll make this happen.....sounds funny to me !!

farmerlin- They did the same thing at Stetson Mountain. Before anything got approved, they were moving them in. Seems they know something that the public doesn't...

farmerlin...they hauled them in for Stetson II before they got the go-ahead too. Flash a little money in front of some people's eyes and they lose all judgment. One wonders when state govt quit trying to put up a pretense of being honest. When I asked our Attorney General's office to look into the strange things going on with the wind farm business ...they said it was not their concern. Wonder what concerns them? I asked them that very question. They they said they would send out a detective. Of course they didn't. It was an odd answer anyway for an odd office of paid state employees.

Go to the Conn Attorney General's office website to see what a real AG office does. They have turned over the 50 million dollars paid out by Iso New England for stand by energy not produced to the justice dept. WE paid for that in our electricity bills. Wind farms are stand by energy..the stetson mt wind farm scam is propped up by ME state govt. The numbers are being analyzed from FERC. They don't add up.

If only the tax dollars that are going to build turbines were instead going to conservation and efficiency programs. The budget for turbines in Maine is about $7 billion - 2/3 of which is subsidies. That's about $14,000 per Maine household that should be going to improve insulation, replace wasteful heating systems, buy a fuel efficient vehicle, etc. These investments could reduce foreign oil consumption for heating and transportation by 40% in Maine - saving Mainers real money over the long term in reduced energy bills. 2700 MW of wind power will destroy about 300 miles of undeveloped mountains (otherwise known as sprawl). For what? About 4.5% of the daily demand of the New England grid. (2700 MW = 675 MW at 25% capacity factor. The grid operates at an average demand of about 15,000 MW.) In other words, almost meaningless contribution to electricity generation, fossil fuel consumption or green house gas emissions.

If we directed out tax dollars to where they would be most effectively spent no one would be complaining about the destruction of Maine's landscape. Communities would not be ripped apart by the competing interests of those who see turbines as a gift horse and those who see wind power as a Trojan horse. People would not be tormented by turbine low frequency noise. Tourists would still come to the western mountains for its majestic scenery.

Wind power is arguably the worst mistake Maine's government has ever made. Future generations will contemplate the destruction of the mountains and shake their heads in disbelief at our gullibility, greed, and apathy.

And to garysmom:

“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” -- George Orwell.

Deceptive individuals always fear ther truth.

Lincoln now uses Firstwind money to support its legal battle, so sad.

chelsie......

" Don't start no stuff, It won't be no stuff." -- Youngbloodz & Lil' Jon.

I am happy that First Wind and the town of Lincoln are being represented in this case. Fiends of lincoln lakes started this fight.

steve thurston...I wish we had people like you to represent US in Augusta. There are so many people who love Maine with a passion. Unfortunately, we do not get to vote for them.

If the money spent for subsidies went for insulation, replace wasteful heating systems and to buy fuel efficient vehicles Mainers would have more money to spend and our economy would improve too. One half of our electricity bills are for delivery. The CEO of Iso New England gets those pricy bonuses we have been reading about..guess that goes to delivery.FoLL will win and Lincoln will never be the same. Dirigo

Garysmom, you are so full of. . . . First Wind and Lincoln officials were meeting years ago to set the stage for this give-away. Friends of Lincoln Lakes did not "start this fight". FoLL is taking a stand against the destruction of the natural resources of the beautiful region, the plundering of which only benefits First Wind so they can reap the subsidies. FoLL did not "start this fight". Bad public policy, corrupt public officials, and an inept, most-uncivic process in Lincoln (and Lee) are the reasons why legal action is necessary. FoLL not only has to fight First Wind and Maine DEP on the industrial scale turbine project. The parallel and equally important battle for citizens rights and open, transparent civic process has to be fought with Lincoln. I am ashamed and embarassed for my home town of Lincoln and they deserve to be sued. I am proud to be a member of Friends of Lincoln Lakes and to take a stand for citizens rights. Every time I have gone swimming this summer and gazed up at Rollins Mt., I have appreciated its verdant beauty and it breaks my heart to envision the industrial blight and destruction of this ridge. I hear the call of the loon, now, so I must go.

First Wind is broke. They had to borrow money for operating costs for Stetson. Guess when they get on the grid they will start making money. Mainers balked at 2 billion dollars worth of transmission lines for the scam.

The First Wind website states Stetson is operational. Mars Hill is operating. So now that the FERC data is out and they are trying to say they actually sold power ..there will be repercussions. Con artists can only con for so long. Pity careers and businesses have been hurt but pay to play has it's risks.

BDN and Lincoln News will lose even more ground as being newspapers. They are propoganda . And propoganda is boring. Perhaps that is the reason subscriptions are down. BDN used to be my favorite newspaper.

Dean...( harry ) drink a little more of the Kool aid. you guys are funny.

Rockstars- what transformer from CMP are you talking about? Asking MPS guys, there was a transformer put in Mars Hill 2 Novembers ago and it did not come from CMP. Where does this stuff you post on here come from? Please have the" research asssitant you mentioned you had put some facts up. Like the FERC data you keep talking about. Is it that there really is no data and that's why you won't post a link to it?

Are you still trying to say that First Wind Energy LLC. and First Wind Systems are the same company? I posted links twice for you to show they are not, would you like me to post them again? Can you please tell me how Mainers paid for $50M in standby energy for Conn and why you are classifying wind as a stand-by generation system?

Garysmom- you seem to be in touch with what is really going on, good for you, keep it up.

Happy camper- Matt Kearns does drive a hybrid Ford Explorer and i would be hesitant to be siding with Rush Limbaugh. Taking advice from a guy who travels to areas well known for prostitution with someone else's Viagra prescription and says he's going golfing...come on.

Carolyn R- "Those units at that scale need the heads changed out every month using 60 gallons of hydraulic fuel per unit, they also need to be fuel propelled on the many days that the wind doesn't blow at 12 MPH so that the mechanical components don't frig up. Oh, and how much do you know about "stray voltage". Better google that." Where did you hear that wind turbines have heads (like automobiles is what i take your comment for) that need 60 gallons of hydraulic oil changed every month? From what I heard by an ex-GE technician who teaching at a community college in Presque Isle, they only have to change oil every five years, and it's less than 60 gallons. Stray voltage? Do you understand how electricity works? The power lines that the utility put in front of your house (that were there long before any wind turbine) put out more "stray voltage" than any wind turbine ever will. you should google something other than windwatch or wind action.

Here's a link to a story about stray voltage from the AWEA website, which states that stray voltage is a problem due to wiring on the customer side of the utility connection, not on the grid.

http://www.awea.org/faq/sagrillo/ms_strayvoltage_0406.html

Here is a link from wind-watch that says it is a pre-existing condition to dairy farmers, similar to what the awea story stated. Goes to show if you don't wire your buildings properly, you can and will have problems.

http://www.wind-watch.org/news/2008/11/04/region-forced-to-weigh-pros-and-cons-of-entering-into-wind-turbine-development/

If anyone trust Kirk Ritchie they have truly got to be insane

Try researching his dealings when he was a Private Investigator in Portland, disgusting

On 7/30/09 at 1:20 PM, rockstars wrote: Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Kirk Ritchie also stood up at the hearing in Lee to promote the Stetson Mt windfarm even though it was not in Lee and had nothing to do with Lee. The hearing was held there because there was no building close to Stetson Mt large enough .

He is co owner of the Springfield Fair...received money from First Wind for a tractor pull. Local businesses sponsor such events. First Wind in communication with Marcia Famous of LURC stated they gave money to the town of Springfield for their fair. Killing two birds with one stone?

The town manager of Mars Hill admitted he never read First Wind's proposal to build a wind farm there . He gave them permission anyway. Later on sold his house to First Wind and rented out property to First Wind employees.

There is a reason that small rural towns with an elderly population are "chosen." Bribery of public officials charges were brought against First Wind by the NY attorney general. ..as well as fraud, anti trust violations etc. There is a reason these charges never stick too. Not sure exactly why...think it is huge political clout. Our gov staked his career with First Wind to give them every thing they wanted. Even denying towns to have a voice in where the wind farms are sited. Not sure of that one either but it looks very suspicious in light of the charges brought by the NY AG.

Ritchie conducted an illegal publ;ic TIF vote in Lee.(town selectmen stood over the public sas they voted!) But they are afraid in Lee to call attention and protest the illegal vote there.

He works for Haynes , what would you really expect ?

Haynes owns Stetson, so the connection is direct.

What else is new here, bribes , corruption , secret sessions, packed voting and on , and on...