I’m not much of a beer connoisseur.  If I have 8 bucks, I go for a single malt scotch or cognac.  Then I have to tip at least 2 bucks.  Shit, as Harry Dean Stanton would put it.  But this isn’t about me or my ‘special’ tastes.

I stopped in Three Penny Taproom Thursday for its grand ‘expansion’ reopening.  And I flashed on what is wrong with Montpelier, and the whole fucking country for that matter.

They did a great job turning Three Penny into an elegantly comfortable cafe.  The new restaurant part is all wood decor, plenty of seating, plenty of space to move around, and good artwork on the walls.  A very ‘eclectic’ menu to go with the 24 also eclectic draft beers.  I says to myself, I haven’t seen an imaginative business like this in Montpelier since...forever.

This is the kind of place that people talk about.  And I’d bet money that this ski season word will spread.  Three Penny is the kind of place Americans go to when they’re looking to get away from the same-old same-old day-to-day drear that eats away at their pea-brains and causes them to say things like:  “What the fuck.  I’ll vote for Romney.  What’s the difference.”

The difference is in the imagination.  Wes, Scott and Matt won’t need a whole lot of luck to make Three Penny Taproom a showcase cafe in Vermont.  These guys don’t need luck.  They got brains.  There is imagination in the menu, the set-up, the old-fashioned barstools and wooden tables and chairs, the staff, and, if you look around, even imagination in the way some of the customers tip back a beer, as if to say:  “This is cool.”  And it is.

So………..WHY can’t the Town of Montpelier and the Downtown Merchants Association figure things out.  I mean, there it is (as the old Nam saying goes), right there on Main St..  Giving that section of Main St., from Rivendell Books to the NECI Restaurant, a kind of Greenwich Villagey feel.  A kind of beckoning away from upscale pseudo-glam with pizza towards a more thoughtful elegance for the mind and soul–with TWENTY FOUR DIFFERENT KINDS OF BEER THAT THE MIND AND SOUL FUCKING THIRST FOR!!!  Yes, you won’t find these beers at other places–not even in New York.  (New Yorkers, are you reading this?)  If the Town of Montpelier lets the Downtown Farmers Market move up that long steep hill to Vermont College, it ought to go to Matt, Scott & Wes and ask:  “Please help us.  We’re morons.  Show us how to do it.  Please.”

And, ON THE NATIONAL LEVEL, Three Penny Taproom shows the Corporate Reich on Wall Street and their Congress of YesMen/Women that some things just can’t be–refuse to be–co-opted or eaten up by the boorish Pig of Capitalism.  I suppose, Three Penny will be copied by other small entrepreneurs, but I doubt we’ll see a ThreePennys-R-Us chain.

Oh, all these Deep Thoughts are making me thirsty.  I believe I’ll break down and actually buy one of those beers instead of a scotch.  Three Penny is right next door to my office here on Main Street.  I can smell the beer from here.  It smells like…Victory.  Are you jealous?

Anyway, it’s a hot day.  A good day for a beer.  Beer as Alternate Energy?  Beer shot into the atmosphere to stop Global Warming?  Maybe when Obama’s on his campaign tour in Vermont, he’ll have brains enough to stop in.  He likes his beer, doesn’t he?

And YOU.  YOU check it out.  Do what I tell you.  If people had listened to me since ’66, we’d be in Alpha Centauri by now.  

Beer to power Warp-Speed Starships?  Hmmmmm…….

Peter Buknatski

Montpelier, Vt.

Here is a report about a recent study that finds life expectancy gains in the US to be “very moderate” and a five year gap between the wealthy and the poor exists. Data from 1930 to 2000 was used to determine trends and make forecasts on what the future life expectancy might be to the year 2055.

Among the findings of the Rice University of Colorado study called Stagnating Life Expectancies and Future Prospects in an Age of Uncertainty are the following: Average life expectancy in the US for a person born today is 78.49. Recently the world’s richest man Carlos Slim and others have called for increasing the retirement age to 70 or older. This average US age ,78.49, is lower than someone born today in Monaco 89.68yrs., Macau 84.43 yrs. and Japan at 83.91yrs..  

The study also found that gains made from the 1930 into the 1960’s have flattened out and despite disproportionate spending on health care the US international ranking on life expectancy continues to fall. Seems to me health care companies’ profits may have sky rocketed during this same period life expectancies were flattening out.

Also significant in terms of the growing awareness of US income inequity,

the most deprived U.S. citizens tend to live five years less than their more affluent countrymen, according to Justin Denney, Rice assistant professor of sociology, who was principal author for the study.

Professor Denny calls this “the ugly side of inequality,”

It is ugly and how about that 8.49 years of retirement?  

(In the interest of keeping abreast of this issue, I think the ACLU statement provides a valuable piece of the puzzle.  For that reason, I am straying from our usual disinclination to front page press releases, verbatim.

– promoted by Sue Prent)

ACLU-VT statement link, here.

Taser Shooting A Tragedy

One of the things the ACLU-VT has said consistently about Tasers is that they shouldn’t be used unless deadly force is justified. The death of a Thetford man after being shot with a Taser by Vermont State Police officers is a tragedy that demonstrates why we think this is important. A person is dead. An autopsy will determine the exact cause of death.

Tasers are not safe weapons. They are called “less lethal,” according to the manufacturer, Taser International. They are capable of causing death and serious bodily injury. They should only be used on a limited number of people, the barbs should not be shot at someone’s chest because of the risk of causing heart problems (we understand the Thetford victim was shot in the chest), and other risks incidental to the actual Tasing (such as a person crumpling and falling from the pain of the 50,000-volt shock and suffering injuries) must be considered before Tasers are used.

Between 2001 and 2009 “… there have been more than 400 deaths following police Taser shootings in the United States and 26 in Canada. Medical examiners have ruled that a Taser was a cause, contributing factor, or could not be ruled out in more than 30 of those deaths.” That’s according to an Oct. 21, 2009 article in the Arizona Republic, a newspaper that has followed closely the manufacturer’s success in selling the weapons to police departments, and the track record of the weapons.

The Thetford incident may also demonstrate why Tasers should not be used by police unless all officers have received ongoing, up-to-date training, and rigorous policies are in place for Taser use. These policies should not be cookie-cutter policies produced by insurance carriers, but policies that provide sound, informed police guidance and protection for the public. People can die if policies aren’t sound, and rigorously followed. Lawsuits are inevitable.

A Montpelier Taser Study Committee – formed by the city council when police there wanted to arm officers with Tasers – determined that the weapon is of limited use if the warnings issued by the manufacturer are followed.

It reached this conclusion by looking first at the warnings. Those warnings include that:

Tasers should only be used on “a very limited group of people” (not on people who are “physically infirm, elderly, or pregnant; suffering from drug effects, alcohol effects, or cardiac disease; in mental health distress; and suffering one of a long list of pre-existing conditions”).

Tasers should not be shot at someone’s chest, because of the risk of causing an “adverse cardiac event.” They should also not be shot at someone’s head, throat, eyes, and any pre-existing injury areas.

Taser use creates other risks, including serious injury or death, to people “who could fall and hit their heads, are on an elevated area, are restrained, are anywhere near a knife, are in motion, or are in water.”

“When all the cautions, prohibitions and limitations are accounted for,” the report concluded, “it is apparent that a Taser may only be discharged against a healthy, sober, rational, and clear-headed nonelderly adult who is not pregnant, running, nor in a dangerous environment, and that the device must be capable of being reliably aimed at the abdomen or the back.”

Complicating all this, the report noted, “is the fact that Tasers have a high potential for erroneous deployment, with the possibility of tragic consequences. That is because an officer in the field, managing difficult circumstances, simply cannot know enough to know if it is safe to use a Taser.” Further is “the fact that the probes from a Taser cannot be aimed as precisely as a gun or pepperball launcher, because the Taser probes move further apart as the distance they fly increases, at the rate of one foot for every seven feet of travel. This difficulty in accurate aiming means it is exceedingly difficult in the field to avoid hitting the prohibited areas of the body.”

Police officers face difficult situations every day. It’s the public’s job to make sure officers are fully trained and well-managed, and that they discharge their duties as responsibly as possible so public safety, for everyone, can be maintained.

The ACLU’s sympathies go out to the family of the victim, his friends, and acquaintances. We, like others, await the results of the investigation into this tragic incident.

Links to the Montpelier Taser Study Committee report, as well as other resources, can be found on the ACLU Web site at http://acluvt.org/issues/tasers/index.php

The Vermont State Police have issued a press release with further details about last night’s taser incident in Thetford. See the full text below the fold…

Colonel Thomas L’Esperance, Director of the Vermont State Police, provided the following statement at a press conference which was held at the Department of Public Safety Headquarter building in Waterbury earlier today:

On June 20th, 2012 at approximately 1511 hours, Troopers from the Vermont State Police Bradford Barracks were contacted by an Intake Crisis Technician at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center regarding a person that was reportedly suicidal.  That person called the hospital threatening to harm and kill himself and others, it was also reported that the person had weapons and was prepared to use them.  The person was identified as 39 year old Macadam Mason.        

Three Troopers from the Bradford Barracks initially responded to a residence, located at 1100 Sawnee Bean Road in the Town of Thetford.  The Troopers saw Mr. Mason inside the residence through a window and knocked on the door and asked him to come out and speak with them.  Mr. Mason was uncooperative and refused to comply with the Troopers request to speak with them.  The Troopers remained at the residence and called a family member of Mr. Mason asking if the family member could respond to the area to provide the Troopers with recent history of Mr. Mason that could aid in deescalating Mr. Mason.  When Mr. Mason’s family member arrived, Mr. Mason ran from the residence into a wooded area behind the residence.  Troopers called for medical personnel to come to the area to be available to assist if there assistance was needed. A Vermont State Police K-9 was also called in to assist with the search for Mr. Mason.      

A couple hours later Mr. Mason returned to his residence and was addressed by a Trooper and several verbal commands were directed at him, which he refused to comply with.  The Trooper noticed that Mr. Mason was unarmed, unarmed,  therefore he lowered his weapon and drew his taser.  The Trooper ordered Mr. Mason on the ground and Mr. Mason lowered to a squatting position, the Trooper continued to tell  Mr. Mason to get on his stomach, at which time Mr. Mason stood up and moved toward the Trooper with a closed fist yelling aggressively at the Trooper.  Mr. Mason and the Trooper were now less than ten feet from one another.  The Trooper continued with verbal commands for Mr. Mason to get on the ground, and after several failed attempts for Mr. Mason to comply, the Trooper deployed his taser, striking Mr. Mason in the chest.   Mr. Mason went to the ground and the Trooper immediately rendered first aid as he observed Mr. Mason was unresponsive.  The Trooper administered CPR and continued so until Rescue personnel took over the care of Mr. Mason and transported him via ambulanced to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH, where he was pronounced dead at the hospital.  

Several Vermont State Police Investigators from outside the area were contacted to conduct an  investigation.  The completed investigation will be forwarded to both the Orange County State’s Attorney and the Attorney General Office for review.  The name of the Trooper involved in this incident is being withheld for a 24 hour period, per policy of the Vermont State Police.

The autopsy is scheduled for 1:00pm today at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Concord, NH.  Results of the autopsy information are not under the jurisdiction of the State of Vermont, as that portion of the investigation will be directed by the authorities of the New Hampshire Medical Examiner’s Office.

No further information is available at this time.      

###

Oh boy. I took one look at my Times Argus this morning, and my mind immediately started writing the Republican press release that’s sure to come. If it hasn’t already.

Top story, from Peter Hirscfeld at the Vermont Press Bureau: “Democrats hire firm to dig into Brock’s past.”

Yep, the “name callers who dwell in the bowels of the Vermont Democratic Party” (quoth Jack Lindley) are at work again, looking for ways to destroy Randy Brock, Pure And Blameless Scion of the Green Mountains.

Er, yes and no. What the VT Dems actually did was hire an opposition-research firm to look into Randy Brock’s official past. Stanford Campaigns has filed a public-records request for information on Brock’s term as state Auditor in 2005-06. They are not, as far as we can tell, looking into Brock’s school report cards or nightlife proclivities. They aren’t sending out an army of trench-coated private dicks or dumpster-diving behind Brock’s house. The headline “dig into Brock’s past” is inflammatory and misleading, and is perfect fodder for a Republican howl of protest.

Oppo, for those just entering the 21st Century, has become a standard part of political campaigns. Shumlin hired the same firm to probe Brian Dubie in 2010 — that is, Dubie’s public and official record, not his personal life. Given that the Brock campaign has hired a bunch of high-powered right-wing campaign consultants, I’m sure they’re doing the same on Shumlin. Unless they’ve decided to save some bucks by simply borrowing Brian Dubie’s oppo files from 2010.  

Hirschfeld does Stanford Campaigns a big favor by extensively quoting its own puffery on how important and effective it was in 2010. I guess this is his way of inflating the importance of his “scoop.” On its website, Stanford claims a huge share of the credit for Shumlin’s victory over Dubie:

“The polls had Shumlin behind by 6 points, meaning he had to make up ground when every other Democrat in the country was just trying to hold ground,” the site says.


…”After two weeks of comparative television ads [based on Stanford material], Dubie had dropped 8 points as Shumlin established a slim lead that he held onto even as the bottom dropped out for Democrats across the country.”

Well, maybe. I don’t really recall it that way, and I imagine a lot of that is Stanford propaganda. In fact, since Stanford only works for Democrats, Stanford probably did oppo for a lot of those 2010 losers as well, and it didn’t do them any good.

In any case, VT Dem Chair Jake Perkinson draws the appropriate line regarding opposition research:

“I think there’s a big difference between pointing out deficiencies that an opponent might have … and slinging mud,” Perkinson said. “When you get into the realm of misleading or omitting important information, I think that qualifies as negative campaigning, and I don’t think that has a place in Vermont. I do think there’s a place for pointing out flaws in an opposing candidate.”

That’s exactly where the line should be drawn. If the flaws and deficiencies arise from a candidate’s public service, then they are fair game. And the Shumlin campaign is simply conducting due diligence by examining Randy Brock’s public record.

I realize that a newspaper has to put something on top of the front page every day… but as front-page stories go, this one’s a nothingburger.  

Thanks to Morgan and Kestrel 9000 for pointing me to this story from today's Burlington Free Press:

 Vermont State Police say a man has died after being tased by a trooper during a confrontation Wednesday afternoon in Bradford.

 http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20120621/news07/120621011/vermont-man-dies-after-being-tased-by-trooper

It happened yesterday, and the State Police responded to a call indicating that someone was suicidal and was threatening to harm himself or others.

 Troopers arrived with guns drawn but switched from guns to the “less lethal” Taser. The story has it that the man was “advanc[ing] in the trooper's direction”, although there was no indication that he had a weapon or attempted to assault the trooper.

 The autopsy is supposed to be done today, but I think we can all be glad that the state police were there to prevent this man from harming himself.

So I'm just curious: since the initial call came from Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and since the victim was supposedly suicidal, what protection will mental patients at Central Vermont Hospital in Berliln have once the Berlin police get their Tasers?

Slight correction: The ranking was not in Money Magazine, but on the website CNNMoney.com, which is a co-operative effort of CNN, Money Magazine, and Fortune Magazine. I’ve changed the references.

Following up on BP’s earlier post “Lisman’s hour between doom and gloom,” here’s some more good news for Vermont – -and bad news for Bruce, I guess.

CNNMoney.com has just posted a list of the ten most entrepreneurial states, as measured by the number of business startups (per capita) in 2011. And little old Vermont is #8.

Yes, Vermont, sworn Socialist enemy of business, quasher of the entrepreneurial spirit, smothered of enterprise through a deadly combination of Big Brother regulation and confiscatory taxation. Vermont, home of unwashed hippies, spoiled trust-fund kids, and lazy do-nothings sucking on the public teat. That Vermont is one of the most entrepreneurial states in the country.

Well, what do you know. Vermont’s on a list that includes low-tax havens like Texas, Florida, Alaska and Idaho. So tell me, CNNMoney, what makes Vermont so startup-friendly?

Smaller biotech, bioscience, environmental engineering and other tech companies are drawn to Vermont’s vibrant venture capital network and state funding for startups.

…Many innovative firms get their start in incubators based at the state’s top-notch schools, like the University of Vermont’s Fletcher Allen Medical School. Such academic powerhouses also help produce a highly skilled workforce for entrepreneurs to hire.

The list does cite Vermont’s high tax rates as a downside. But somehow, the state’s doing very well in spite of those taxes. Hmm, in fact, Vermont’s high ranking might lead me to believe that taxes aren’t the only, or even the most important, factor in making a state business-friendly. Properly-spent taxes contribute to a positive business climate through higher education, worker training, social stability, and adequate infrastructure.

(I’d take it even further and argue that single-payer health care would be an absolute boon to startups. One of their biggest concerns is health-care coverage for themselves and their employees. If you took that burden away, even at the cost of somewhat higher taxes, I believe it would be a net positive for startups and small businesses.)

Still, I have to admit I’m a bit surprised to see Vermont in the top ten. But the ranking got some affirmation from a Vermonter in the know: Cairn Cross, co-founder and managing director of FreshTracks Capital, a Vermont-based venture capital firm. “This is not a surprise to me since I spend my hours on the ground working with Vermont’s startup community,” he told me. “Anecdotally, I would say this is one of the best times ever to start a business in Vermont, and Vermonters are indeed starting businesses at a greater rate per capita than their peers across the country.”

Which is not to say that we don’t have our issues and our struggles. But here’s another reason for optimism. And for belief in the virtues of the Vermont way.

The complete CNNMoney list, from 1 to 10: Arizona, Texas, California, Colorado, Alaska, Missouri, Nevada, Vermont, Idaho, and Florida.

Like many women from my generation, I have often wondered what happened to the imprint of radical feminism that was left on American political culture as ‘sixties activism evolved into pragmatic action in the ‘seventies .

In this election cycle, Republicans seem determined to roll back the clock on women’s rights, and it appears that the outrageous scope of their overreach may have reignited the timbers that have smoldered quietly for so many years.  

The appearance of those gutsy “Nuns on the Bus” takes me back to some of the good Sisters of Charity at Immaculata  high school in Chicago.

It was these ladies who first radicalized me in my teenage years.  Not all of them, by any means; but a few key role-models carried views on social responsibility, pacifism, fairness, feminism…and even activism… that kept them on the cusp of contemporary relevance.

We were encouraged to think for ourselves and demand answers to tough questions. Post Vatican II, there seemed to be a renewed commitment throughout much of the American Church to charity, tolerance and enlightenment, rolling back hundreds and hundreds of years of intolerance and repression.  

Like “radical” feminism, that age of enlightenment in the Church was all too brief; and at the death of John XXIII, conservative forces within the Church quickly whipped it into an about-face, from which it has been marching steadily backwards ever since.

Immaculata is long gone, now.  Ironically, the limited success of feminism in popular culture was probably responsible for its demise.  The idea that girls and boys had different, and therefore separate, educational needs in high school fell from favor; and the overall decline of the Catholic Church under strict conservative control sealed the deal.

The Vatican is understandably chaffing as the American sisterhood once again takes up the reigns of social justice.  With its priesthood under fire for the most offensive possible systemic corruption, Vatican strategists can ill-afford to force a schism among the sisterhoods; but if this new sense of social mission and organized strength begins to expand in the sisterhoods, we could be looking at a dramatic shift in the political weight of the Church.

From where I sit, very much on the outside looking in;  I say, “Bring it on, Baby!”

 Here are two different outlooks on Vermont’s economic state from two groups that are normally of the same tribe. In the Campaign for Vermont’s June Email newsletter (find full copy after the jump) Bruce Lisman is going full heavy on the gloom.

SNAPSHOT VERMONT: “…an uneasy feeling hangs in the air”.

Lisman continues

“the sense of abundant opportunities has gone away and optimism is waning. Too many Vermonters are just getting by and private sector employers, who create jobs that fuel state government with taxes, are cautious.

This contrasts with the qualified, but noticeably more upbeat assessment found in the Vermont Business Roundtable’s CEO Economic Outlook Survey. After laying out some routine qualifiers the Roundtable chairman says

“The Roundtable’s survey results indicate an increasing degree of optimism in the economy when compared against the previous quarter,”

Key findings from the second quarter of 2012 over the first quarter of 2012 include:

An expected seven percent increase in stable company sales;

An expected six percent increase in stable capital spending; and finally;

An expected five percent increase in stable employment levels.

Vermont Business CEO’s see stable sales, an increase in capital spending and five percent increase in stable employment levels yet Lisman and the Campaign for Vermont are full of foreboding; their sense optimism is waning and an uneasy feeling hangs in the air they say.

What’s up with Bruce, what could the problem be?  

Well since he was an investment banker maybe a little wild speculation is appropriate.

I was told about neuroscientist John Coates’ study of testosterone and other hormone levels of trading floor bankers The Hour Between Dog and Wolf. Haven’t read the book but his findings apparently suggest that spikes in hormone levels affect behavior in ways that make the financial boom and bust crisis cycle almost unavoidable. Post crisis says Coates the financial industry becomes filled with anxiety and a sense of imminent danger, a "clinical population" of the psychologically battered.

Maybe post Wall Street crash Bruce Lisman needs to tune-up his hormone level. Aw, better keep it simple and assume Lisman’s Campaign just wants to sound like a little Mitt Romney or Randy Brock.    

                                             June 19 2012

JOIN US!  SNAPSHOT VERMONT: Despite the fact that most Vermonters are working, an uneasy feeling hangs in the air that hard work equates to barely keeping ones head above water. The sense of abundant opportunities has gone away and optimism is waning. Too many Vermonters are just getting by and private sector employers, who create jobs that fuel state government with taxes, are cautious.                                                                                              Vermont's population and their real personal income per capita have been flat lined, with both growing at less than .03 of one percent annually over the past decade. For Vermont businesses, this means that the number of customers and the dollars they can spend is essentially stagnant, or declining.(http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/50000lk.html)                                                                                       Despite the current state of our economy, since the start of the recession in 2008, and exclusive of federal funds, the state budget has grown by $390 million or 13.7%. This doesn't even take into consideration embarking on a new health care scheme with costs that are still unknown, and stands in stark contrast to the income stagnation over this same period experienced by Vermonters.

(http://www.leg.state.vt.us/jfo/appropriations/fy_2012_-_FY12_Total_Appropriations_Comparison.pdf)(http://www.leg.state.vt.us/jfo/appropriations/fy_2013/FY09 – FY13_Appropriations_History _final.pdf (page 31))                                                                                                                                                   WE CAN DO BETTER YOU CAN HELP  GET INVOLVED WITH CFV                                              Contact us at:info@campaignforvermont.org  Campaign for Vermont is putting progress before partisanship and uniting Vermonters.

Visiting JD Ryan’s five before chaos is always fun, especially to see how deftly he handles right wing trolls.  But JD is not just a keyboard commando; he has been involved with urban exploration for years now.  The photos he brings back from his field trips to abandoned buildings are quite haunting. In this interview, JD brings historical depth and humor to the work.

Initially, JD’s forays into urban exploration involved psychiatric hospitals. In 2010, he visited King’s Park Psychiatric Center, the Kirkbride, and the Cheney and Snow buildings at Hudson River State Hospital. These massive institutions represent an era when segregation of people with mental health trouble was the norm.

This spring JD travelled to the Catskills to visit the borcht belt, a series of resorts in New York. Though these buildings served a much cheerier purpose, JD’s photos capture the heaviness of times past.

So visit five before chaos for the politics, stay for the urban exploration, godlessness, and films of questionable quality. oh yeah, and the music. Here is a piece he wrote combined with asylum photos. The result is morosely beautiful.