Previously on “The Secret History of Vermont”
Introduction
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Chapter 8: International Relations
There’s a sign at the Alamo Shrine in San Antonio, Texas that says that Texas is the only state to have been an independent country when it joined the Union. This is incorrect because the Republic of Vermont joined the Union as the 14th state in 1791 before Texas was even discovered.
Ethan Allen’s reputation never really recovered from his support for joining the Union and the wisdom of the idea is still debated among Native Vermonters who, in any event, never gave up the apparatus for international meddling.
The first task of the Vermont Department of International Management was to sort out the squabble between New York and New Hampshire who both claimed the exclusive right to tax the Republic (of Vermont). This was handled skillfully by Ethan Allen who alternately played one side off against the other when he wasn’t claiming that he had arranged for bigger countries to provide protection from both. Eventually the two U.S. states decided it was best if the small, but rambunctious, Republic was just ignored.
The VDIM helped arrange the terms for joining the Union and then turned its attention almost exclusively to what eventually became the unhappy Canadian Province of Quebec. Vermont’s first concern was to reassure Quebec that trade across the Vermont border would continue unhindered regardless of any silly rules, regulations, or tariffs set up by the U.S. Federal Government.
Poor Quebec. The proud French colony was essentially traded to England as a minor peace treaty concession and the psyche of the region never recovered. Quebec never had its fifteen years of Statehood. Surrounded by its traditional enemies without support from its progenitor the best Quebec could do was to try to maintain its culture while making the Rest of Canada (a proxy target with England being beyond reach) pay and pay and pay.
This suits Vermont just fine. In terms of honorable commerce, Vermont counts Fair Trade to be second only to Fair Trade with a Partner With Unfortunate Internal Difficulties.
Canada was confederated in 1867 and still doesn’t have its economic act together. Canada is full of smart and industrious people and has vast natural resources and is still sort of a minor economic appendage to the U.S., like an extra toe on one foot. Every time the Canadian economy starts to get a little momentum Quebec pops up and stops it in its tracks.
When the economy is slow Quebec hunkers down and lives off its generous Canadian federal subsidies. When the economy is revving up Quebec asks “Who needs Canada?” and starts talking about independence. Neither state is attractive to disappointed investors who would otherwise flood Canada and Quebec with money.
On the other hand Unfortunate Internal Difficulties is attractive if one’s goal is to buy stuff cheap, and Vermonters have traditionally tended towards the philosophy of “get rich by spending less” rather than “get rich by investing more”. Vermonters like it when their dollar is worth $1.30 in Canada and want to see it stay that way.
Canada is a small country, as countries go, but Vermont is an even smaller State, as states go. There’s very little that Vermont can do to impress Canada. Quebec by itself is huge compared to Vermont but Quebec is desperate for international recognition and tends to treat other non-sovereign states the way it wishes it were treated. Therefore Vermont’s influence is much greater than it should be. Vermont’s French speaking population, mostly in the Towns along the Quebec border, helps a lot too.
The U.S. Federal Government takes a dim view of its states prosecuting their own foreign policies so the Vermont Department of International Management has to be subtle. Most of the VDIM’s work is propping up the Parti Quebecois (the Quebec Independence Party) when its spirits or finances are flagging. Does the PQ need funds? Then Vermont signs an expensive contract for electricity with Hydro-Quebec, a division of the Quebec provincial government, which is usually run by the PQ. Is Canada’s legal maneuvering getting the better of Quebec? Then Vermont’s Lieutenant Governor gives a speech (in French) to the Quebec’s provincial legislature (the “National Assembly”) on the benefits of free trade.
Vermont thinks of Canada and Quebec like a maple sugar boiling table. With an unlimited supply of sap (Canada’s native resources) and a well tended fire (Unfortunate Internal Difficulties) Vermont can extract as much maple syrup as it wants.
The Republic of California and the Kingdom of Hawai’i were also independant countries. In fact, Hawai’i had more international recognition and was a mordern organized nation for the longest piror to annexation.
Could Vermont and Quebec secede from their respective countries? It sounds like a match made in heaven!
Quebec is a monster welfare queen, a lot of its budget is direct transfers from other provinces.
I wrote this about 20 years ago. Since then the Montpelier Legislature forced the closure of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant that supplied about 30% of the state’s power. It was replaced with “green” electricity from Hydro-Quebec’s vast hydro generators. This gave Hydro-Quebec so much influence that it bought some of Vermont’s power companies.
I guess you can win and still lose.
After that the Montpelier Legislature basically embezzled the fund created for the plant’s decommissioning.
LOL, of course!
They’re planning on using their syrup distilling techniques to concentrate the uranium, build the bomb and finally declare independence.
My introduction to Ethan Allen was in a book where a kid thought the Green Mountain boys were a baseball team.
I was around 10 when I read it.
I think it was a funny/serious book, but I am blanking on the name.
Another great story.
Yeah, these are fun.
Following in the footsteps of the great leaders of Vermont…
“Vermont can extract as much maple syrup as it wants”
Does that mean Vermont gets the sap from Quebec and cooks it down and calls it Vermont Maple Syrup?
Now I’m confused, but hoping Richard’s Home Made By Hand Maple Syrup is the real Vermont stuff and not some knock off Canadian imitation.
A few weeks ago I gave my home-made-by-hand sugaring friend the canning jars I accumulated over the year and a few days ago he returned one full of genuine Vermont sweetness. He taps a few trees on his property and on some other properties here in the village and is complaining that he’s getting too much sap. That isn’t stopping him from tending his sugarhouse most of the day. The signs are it’s going to be a good season.
Quebec makes more maple syrup than Vermont but that’s because it’s physically much larger and has more maple trees. The price of syrup is controlled by the province and there’s actually a maple syrup bank to stabilize the supply. It actually got robbed a year or two ago.
Could Vermont and Quebec secede from their respective countries? It sounds like a match made in heaven!
Greater St Lawrence Co-Prosperity Sphere?
I predict that an independent Quebec would turn into a corrupt hellhole. An independent Vermont would turn into a hellhole but with less corruption because there would be no money to be corrupt with.
Puerto Rico of the North!
“Vermont: Quebec’s wang.”
After that the Montpelier Legislature basically embezzled the fund created for the plant’s decommissioning.
Turn it into a tourist attraction; a regional arts and crafts market and makerspace.
Now I want french toast with maple syrup.
Sourdough french toast with maple syrup.
Or buckwheat pancakes with maple syrup.
Or maybe just maple syrup.
“Sourdough french toast with maple syrup.”
This is the way. With plenty of butter, of course.
Boy, howdy.
From homemade sourdough. No homemade maple though. No sugar maples here.
Challah is great for french toast.
Point for or against TikTok? (Paywall)
European ammunition maker says plant expansion hit by energy-guzzling TikTok site
Simple, sabotage the power lines to the worthless datacenter, shoot anyone who tries to reconnect it.
Field test a few mortar rounds.
LOL
Interesting trivia – Raufoss (Mk 211 Mod 0) .50BMG rounds are legal to own in the US, despite containing a high explosive/incendiary core. They’re quite hard to find and insanely expensive ($100/round, last time I saw any for sale.)
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/970191586
“Each shot costs as much as a Hi-Point”
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/977511944
Couple hours left on this one.
If I still had a fifty, I’d think about it…
Raufoss == Red Waterfall.
Anti-materiel round.
Tungsten and fire.
Looks like a matter of priorities. Now, a data center hosting Chinese surveillance apps, or a government-owned ammo plant? I am puzzled that the data center came out on top.
I don’t suppose adding generator capacity is on the table, of course.
So, Raufoss can’t work?
What you did there. I noted it in an ocular capacity.
Sourdough french toast with maple syrup.
[insert thumbs up emoji]
Exactly. I wonder where the nearest Cracker Barrel is.
not in Portland
Nammo, which is co-owned by the Norwegian government and a Finnish state-controlled defence company, has been told there is no surplus energy for its Raufoss plant in central Norway as a data centre that counts the social media platform as its main customer is using up the electricity in the region.
Can’t they just put more outlets in the walls?
Or run an extension cord next door.
I vaguely remember when this happened. I had no idea about this gem.
James Ray III’s Montclair murder trial begins in Newark this week
“Hi James, I see you’re cleaning your guns, so I figured this would be the perfect time to tell you I’m leaving you.”
I missed that!
What grown man keeps a diary?
One who needs to lay in his self-defense claim?
Dear Diary, I never thought this would happen to me….
Oops… nope, wrong forum.
Samuel Pepys?
Someone who doesn’t want to use Facebook and Twitter?
The things I remember best about Montreal are the strip clubs so… on topic!
https://archive.is/XLpFt
They seem to make a pretty good steak seasoning, too.
A lot of ink and unattractive poses.
<$0.20/round… if you buy 5000.
https://supervelammunition.com/certified-select-9mm-luger-115-gr-fmj
Since I've never shot this, I'm not willing to drop a grand on it. But maybe a case to check it out?
This was meant to go under the Norsk ammo thing.
A buddy of mine has shot up a ton of the 124grn. Super Vel. It’s fine. A little dirty, but no worse than Blaser or WWB.
Seriouser and seriouser
FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried paid out tens of millions of dollars worth of bribes to at least one Chinese government official, federal prosecutors alleged in a new indictment Tuesday.
The indictment said accounts belonging to Bankman-Fried’s hedge fund, Alameda Research, were the target of a freezing order from Chinese police “in or around” November 2021.
The indictment alleges that Bankman-Fried and others “directed and caused the transfer” of at least $40 million in cryptocurrency “intended for the benefit of one or more Chinese government officials in order to influence and induce them” to unfreeze some of these accounts.
The cost effective solution would be to hand him over to the Chinese. I don’t think they take kindly to that sort of thing.
Interesting trivia – Raufoss (Mk 211 Mod 0) .50BMG rounds are legal to own in the US, despite containing a high explosive/incendiary core. They’re quite hard to find and insanely expensive ($100/round, last time I saw any for sale.)
That reminds me; I saw some shotgun rounds (some sort of slugs, I think) at what seemed to be an astronomical price. My first thought was, “What the hell- do they penetrate and then blow up?”. Maybe they were just in the wrong place; I was looking at the sticker on the shelf.
There is all kinds of weird 12 gauge ammo out there. Not-supposed-to-be-lethal, “flamethrower”, who knows? I’d be interested in a few boxes of slugs with tungsten penetrator cores, but I don’t think such a thing exists.
https://www.koshersurplus.com/product/12-gauge-tungsten-super-shot-tss-armor-piercing-ap-buckshot-12-gauge-2-3-4%E2%80%B3-copy/
*no endorsement*
I was just curious…
Well, whaddaya know. That’s got to kick like a Clydesdale. They do seem a little confused about slug v. Buckshot. $12/shell is a little stout, though.
Hmm, firing Tungsten spheres down my barrel? Sounds like a DIY forcing cone extension…
https://www.firequest.com/G12-003.html
LOL
Their messaging seems a little confused.
A bit.
Restricted in NY.
I can’t help but thinking some of that stuff would burn up your barrel pretty darn quick.
Some jobs are once and done.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NynJOLt4eTY
About a million years ago, I had a summer job pulling trap at a local skeet and trap club. One evening, the manager took a round of Dragons Breath ammo out behind the patterning board and let it fly.
It was really pretty, but the grass fire it started took two hours to finally tamp down.
Garand Thumb with a video showing that if you douse someone with gasoline (and they are made of cardboard) you can set them on fire with a DB round.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER9nkOwwXro
“Moral damages”. Coming soon to the US of A…
Former F1 champion Nelson Piquet fined nearly $1M…