At a discussion board I go to, City-Data.com, a conservative posted the following query:

There are a lot of responses to it. Here’s mine:

I won’t go all the way back to the day of my birth, but just a few highlights of government benefits that have helped me include:

I went to Catholic grammar school and high school, but my grammar school was located on a road paid for and maintained by the government. When I went to high school I traveled into New York City every day over government-built roads, crossed the Hudson River by means of the George Washington Bridge or the Lincoln Tunnel, both of which were built by the government, and then took public transit to get to my school. I regularly spent time in the government-operated Central Park while at school, and during the indoor track season I would have practice and meets at the 103rd Engineers Battalion Armory, now known as the Armory Track Center. Sometimes during the outdoor track season I would run in meets at Randalls Island, a stadium built with public funds; to get there I would travel across the Triborough Bridge.

I went to a public college and a public law school. Both universities were funded in large part by tax dollars, and my law school student loan was subsidized by the federal government. On occasion, while I was away at school, I traveled by airplane back and forth to my parents’ house. Those airplanes would land at publicly built and financed airports, and they were enabled to land safely by the publicly operated air traffic control system. While in law school I lived in married student housing, which was also built and operated in part by the use of public funds. I also worked at Little Caesar’s Pizza both as an undergraduate and a law student; the stores depended on public roads to get supplies and ingredients and to make deliveries, and the owners were able to deduct my pay from their taxes.

I have worked in employment that is in part funded by public funds. I have raised two sons, both of whom went to public schools and public universities, although one son graduated from a private college. When I want to communicate with them I might send them an e-mail or visit them on Facebook, made possible by the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency, or I might telephone them over wires put in place by operation of eminent domain.

I have owned three houses, one of which I still own. I am able to afford it in part because I can deduct the mortgage interest and property taxes that I pay. I can get to and from my house and to work on roads funded by the government. I don’t worry about crime or fires because I am able to rely on my publicly funded police and fire departments. I also know that I can accumulate savings because the federally financed Securities and Exchange Commission is able to maintain a reliable, market for private and public securities.

When my parents were sick and dying I never had to worry about whether we could afford their care because they had medical coverage supported in part by the Veterans Administration and Medicare. They were able to receive treatment from professionals whose training was subsidized by the federal government, and who were licensed and regulated by their state government. That’s how other members of my family and I get medical care, too.

I could go on, but I think I’ll stop at saying that anyone who doubts that the receive benefits from the government is a fool.

I do know one other thing: if I were in the top 1% instead of in the bottom 99%, the list of benefits I get from government would be a lot longer, and the value and price of those benefits would be a lot higher.

Quick update via the Freeps:

Vermont State Police Trooper Jared Hatch has been cleared by a citizens review panel for his actions during a vehicle stop on Interstate 89 in Middlesex last month that uncovered two immigrants that authorities say were in the country illegally.

…”Trooper Hatch’s questioning of the passengers was not motivated by the passengers’ actual or perceived race, color or national origin. The questioning by Trooper Hatch was consistent with the approach he has utilized in other stops irrespective of race, color or national origin and was in keeping with training that he has received as a law enforcement officer,” the commission said.

…The commission, which reviews conduct complaints about department personnel, met for about 90 minutes Wednesday afternoon with most of the meeting behind closed doors. Among those attending were Department of Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn and Vermont State Police Director Tom L’Esperance.

(A leaf storm this morning.  Goddamn leafies falling like snow!)

    BLEAK FALL

Peter Buknatski

Montpelier, VT.

UPDATE: Bennington area teachers have authorized a strike to begin October 19 unless something changes in the negotiations.

Bennington area teachers, in a second year working without a contract, will meet tomorrow at the Mount Anthony Middle School on East Street in Bennington for a strike vote, the results of which will be announced at a 5:30 press conference on Wednesday following the closed-door rank-and-file meeting. According to the press release from the Vermont NEA, the Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union school board has refused to continue negotiations, prompting the vote to decide whether or not to go on strike.

From the press release:

Teachers stand ready to stay at the bargaining table until a deal is reached. Last week’s negotiating session ended after the boards refused to even discuss – or read – the union’s latest contract proposal.

 That was the Vermont Trooper’s reply when asked if he had tried other methods to restrain an 86 year old man. ”No,not really” !

Should it be acceptable for the Vermont State Police to resort casually it seems to tasering an 86 year old man? Maybe a little review is in order.

John Simon was taken to into custody after he tried to bite and kick a trooper who responded to a report that Simon was allegedly trespassing on a property located on Ha’Penny Road in Peacham just before 5 p.m.  

State Police Trooper Lyle Decker used the Taser on Simon because he was kicking him, said Decker in an interview on Monday.  When asked whether the state trooper had tried to use any other way to restrain Simon, Decker replied “No, not really.” From the Vermont Press Bureau -paywalled

and also here    

This is just to announce to the indifferent ether that we are still paying attention to the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan.

Today marks the seven-month anniversary of the tsunami, and of the subsequent accident which occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

I thought it might be an appropriate moment to check in on how things are going over there, but what I found on Google regarding the actual progress of stabellization at this late date was…nada.  

There was this piece from the Guardian in September, that recounts how Tokyo Electric actually considered abandoning the plant following the disaster!

In interviews given recently to Japanese news sources,  departing Prime Minister Naoto Kan revealed a near total breakdown in responsibility at Tepco:

“Withdrawing from the plant was out of the question,” he said. “If that had happened, Tokyo would be deserted by now. It was a critical moment for Japan’s survival. It could have led to leaks of dozens of times more radiation than Chernobyl.”

and

Kan demanded an explanation from Tepco’s then president, Masataka Shimizu, but “he never told me anything clearly”

In light of that revelation, and given Vermont Yankee’s own track record of compromised credibility, one can’t but reflect on whether Entergy would cut and run under similar circumstances.

Then, a couple of days ago we learned that thyroid testing of children in Fukushima prefecture has begun.

Despite official insistence that there is no cause for alarm,  many are saying it is too little, too late.  

A 16-year-old girl who took the test had lived in Iitate near the crippled plant, and said she has been worried whether she will be able to give birth to a child in the future.    She expressed displeasure at what she sees as the slow reaction of authorities to residents’ fear of radiation, saying, “I wanted them to do an examination much earlier.”  

While it is not unusual for a celebrity murder to occupy public attention and the news cycle for months on end, there seems to be no equivalent sustained interest in reporting on what is arguably the most catastrophic industrial accident of all time, despite the fact that the story is still unfolding.

In honor of gay and lesbian history month – did you know that October is LGBT History Month? – and the second anniversary of my wedding (11 years and 6 weeks after my civil union; 31 years, 7 months, and 3 weeks after my spouse and I initiated our relationship), I present the following photographs:

While I was at home getting married (by a JP in front of the woodstove in our livingroom), my friend and colleague Ernie and his husband Kevin were marching in Washington, DC. They were wearing these tee shirts they had made for the occasion. And because Vermont had just passed marriage equality over the veto of a Republican governor, they received rousing cheers wherever they went.

The fact that the anniversary of the date the law took effect (September 1) went by without much public notice is as it should be: equality is the right thing to do, the right law to enact, and it should all be as matter-of-fact as getting a birth certificate.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, North Carolina’s legislature voted last month to place on the May primary election ballot a proposed* amendment to their constitution defining marriage as between one man and one woman. The Democratic governor, Bev Perdue, is opposed to the amendment – not the idea of banning samne-sex marriage, mind you – saying it’s a waste of time and energy since same-sex marriage is already illegal by statute.

Next summer, guess where the Democratic National Convention will be held?

Ding-ding-ding! You got it – North Carolina! Charlotte, to be exact.

Bonus points for guessing which state also has a so-called “right to work” law, a.k.a. freeloaders’ rights.

But the DNC thinks gay men and lesbians and union members (there’s some overlap there) are going to go out and bust their butts for Democrats.

I hear there’s a lovely bridge for sale near Zuccotti Park.

On the up side, Republicans in Minnesota, the other state looking at a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, are against the measure:

Wheelock Whitney, a former [Republican] candidate for Governor and Senator … spoke against the amendment for both political and personal reasons.

“I have a gay son.  I have a gay grandson.  I love them.  I’m proud of them, and I don’t like to see them discriminated against in any way,” Whitney said, adding that he’d already donated $10,000 to the cause.

Take with a grain of salt the Gannett news outlet’s assertion (linked above) that 29 states have considered and all have passed an amendment  excluding same-sex couples from their definition of marriage. The map up at the at the national Freedom to Marry organization’s website says otherwise. By their count, 24 states currently have constitutional amendments excluding same-sex couples from marriage. Seven states, including Minnesota and North Carolina, do not recognize same sex relationships but also do not (yet) have anti-marriage equality amendments.

We’re watching as we near the halfway mark on equality, knowing that DOMA must be defeated or America’s hypocritical pretense of “equality and justice for all” will continue to be exposed on yet another front.

[ * corrected]

I’ve often found myself in the position of being one of the Agency of Natural Resources’ harshest critics.  

Under the Douglas administration, the ANR’s team in the trenches seemed to always be hamstrung by the agenda at the top.  “Business friendly”  was a euphemism for regulation-light.

Now it’s time to give Deb Markowitz and the new, improved ANR their due.  The weekend papers carry an editorial by Sec. Markowitz that delivers some relief for the anguished concerns of environmentalists all over the state.

Irene did plenty of damage to the infrastructure of the state; but temporarily abandoning prudent regulatory practices in order to get the state up and running again came with it’s own set of damaging issues.  Some may have viewed the temporary lapse as an opportunity to be exploited rather than a trust to be honored.

In a year of  state fiscal restraints and federal obstructions, the Agency faced a dilemma:

Getting this balance right – with 2,000 locations with flooding impacted rivers and streams – is challenging, and responding to this statewide emergency clearly has strained the finite resources of the Agency of Natural Resources Rivers Program.

Now, the ANR has essentially changed the flashing yellow light to red, and reconstruction “traffic” will henceforth have to obey some rules.

Starting last week, staff began the shift from an exclusive focus on emergency response to working with communities, businesses and homeowners to maximize the long-term effectiveness of our state’s flood recovery work. We will be moving from oral authorizations to written documentation to ensure that work is done in conformity with the rules.

For those unwilling to accept the decision on a purely environmental basis, Sec. Markowitz offers this more pragmatic perspective:

Work in Vermont’s streams and rivers must be done with the knowledge that doing the work incorrectly is just money down the hole.

The Agency says it is looking forward  to

engaging Vermonters in a conversation about how we can rebuild Vermont to be stronger and more resilient to the next round of flooding.

Which brings me to the ongoing ANR Public Forums  addressing Act 250 permitting.

I approached the one last Thursday night in St. Albans with a degree of cynicism.  Notice of the forum in Franklin County had not been widely circulated, and I only learned of it the night before.

Honed by years of unsatisfactory interaction with the Agency during the Douglas years, I expected the forum to be dominated by the concerns of developers and contract engineers.

I was wrong.  

When I arrived, five minutes before the forum was scheduled to take place, I was surprised to enter a room that was completely empty except for two lawyers from the ANR seated at the front and looking anxiously for ANYONE to show up!

I quickly learned that coping with the aftermath of Irene has left the ANR severely strapped and without the necessary personnel to make more of a deal of the Act 250 Forums.  

The attorneys present, Donald Einhorn, and Ron Shems (Chair of the Natural Resources Board) were extremely welcoming and engaged.  I took advantage of my solo time with them to get right to the point about the Northwest Citizens’  particular experiences with the Act 250 process concerning Walmart.

After about ten more minutes, other people began to arrive.  Rep. Lynn Dickinson, developer Sam Smith, City Planning Commission member Ryan Doyle, and Michelle Monroe of the Messenger (who wrote an excellent account of the forum.)

That was it…just five souls representing the entire county!

But, as Mr. Shems observed at the end, the size of the group meant a more meaningful and fluid conversation was possible; and the diversity of viewpoints couldn’t have been better.  Everyone was respectful of one another despite our differences and we didn’t waste any time arguing.

The team from ANR took copious notes and did not hurry away at the end, lingering instead to compliment all of us on our knowledge of the Act 250 process and our civility.  Likewise, I think we all had nothing but praise for the encounter.

This truly felt like government as we expect it to behave in response to its citizen-employers.  

Well done, Sec. Markowitz!

Sunday October 9th

12:30pm City Hall Park

Burlington, Vermont

10/2/11, Burlington, VT.  Concerned Burlington residents will speak out in support of the two week long Occupy Wall Street protest. Community Organizer Jonathan Leavitt said, “In the midst of the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression, a crisis caused by the greed and recklessness of Wall Street, Vermonters are coming together calling for an economy that puts human need before corporate greed, and for the Wall Street bankers responsible to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. We’re calling for Vermont policy makers to put people first and stop balancing budgets on the backs of our most vulnerable friends and neighbors.”

Community Organizer Matthew Cropp said, ” Wall Street bankers took $700 billion in  bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses while they foreclose on the dreams of millions of Ameircans and sow the seeds of instability, joblessness and crisis. We’re calling on Vermont to lead the way in creating a just alternative to Wall Street’s unsustainable Too Big to Fail model”

Last Sunday, an estimated 200 concerned Vermonters met and marched in support of the occupation of Wall Street in order to show our solidarity and object to the increasingly brutal tactics being used by the police. After a march with chants of “they got bailed out, we got sold out,” a speak was convened on the steps of Citizen’s Banks where Vermonters shared stories of suffering through the worst economic crisis since the 1930’s.

The rally will convene in City Hall Park at 12:30pm and hold a General Assembly to provide updates about the situation on the ground in NYC, discuss effective ways of providing support, and plan actions to demonstrate our support locally.

Expecting twice as many protestors as last week’s two hundred people, organizers will be drawing connections to local economic justice campaigns: UVM workers struggling to win fair contracts will former President Dan Fogel gets a $660,000 golden parachute; The Vermont Workers Center’s Put People First campaign; the efforts of 11,000 Early Childhood Educators to win fair pay; and the efforts to stop Wisconsin-like budgetary slash and burn policies from taking root in the Statehouse and Burlington City Hall.

More info: https://www.facebook.com/event…