Avant-garde musician Captain Beefheart (Don Van Vliet) passed away after a long battle with MS. As the article says, his influence far surpassed his popularity, as he’s, shall we say, an acquired taste. I was never much of a fan, but being a hardcore Frank Zappa fan (a close friend and collaborator of CB) I can appreciate him, and the loss.

Consider this an open thread, one that’s as Safe as Milk.

And the outrages continue. Just in from Bernie Sanders’ office – the GOP just filibustered $250 checks for Social Security recipients:

The Senate today voted 53 to 45 for a proposal by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to provide $250 payments to some 58 million Social Security recipients and disabled veterans, but the vote fell seven short of the 60 needed to overcome a Republican filibuster and advance the bill…

Without action by Congress, there will be no cost-of-living adjustments for retirees and the disabled for only the second time since 1975, when a law took effect linking benefits to inflation. The outdated formula for calculating living costs does not accurately take into account the budgets of senior citizens who spend a disproportionate amount on increasingly expensive health care and prescription drugs.

And so the slide to the bottom continues…

While many were out on Black Friday shopping away, I had other plans…

Kings Park Psychiatric Center is located in Kings Park,NY, on the northern coast of Long Island, and about an hour’s drive from Brooklyn. It was in operation from 1885 until 1996. Situated on 521 acres, KPPC was almost like a self-sufficient town, with its own railway spur and power plant. It had power before many other parts of Long Island did. About five miles of service tunnels connect many of the buildings underground.

The 13-story Building 93 (above) which housed geriatric patients, was at one time, the tallest building on Long Island.

Go below the jump for more…

Now, 153 acres of KPPC is the Nissequogue River State Park, where the buildings still sit and rot. The other 368 acres lie vacant as well, with the exception of one building still in use as a small hospital.

I did a bunch of research on KPPC. I read a lot of stories about deplorable conditions here back in the day, as well as the usual mental health horror stories… lobotomies, electroshock therapy, insulin shock therapy, etc. It all went on here for quite some time.

It’s been heavily vandalized in some areas, as you can see from this picture of the morgue in Building 7:

A favorite target of urban explorers, bored Long Island suburban kids, copper pipe thieves and “paranormal” seekers, its fate is unknown. A study concluded last month, which looked into the price of demolishing all 57 buildings, revealed it to be 215 million dollars, with 86% of that for environmental issues, as there is a ton of asbestos here, which was quite visible, in addition to lots of flaking lead paint.

For now, it’s all on hold. The word is that it will be protected from development, but in these uncertain times, who knows? We visited 8 of the 57 buildings, so a return trip may be in order someday.

You can look at the complete slideshow of the photos(45) here.

Also, here’s a short but good documentary about KPPC that was included on some low-budget horror flick filmed there a few years ago.

Part 2:

I know how much you all just love taser stories…

The latest? The Times Argus is reporting (link behind paywall) that Montpelier police chief Tony Facos has requested money in the new police budget proposal for 14 tasers:

Facos included money for Tasers in the police department budget request that has been submitted to Montpelier City Manager Bill Fraser. Despite the request, it’s far from clear whether Facos will get his wish. Fraser will have to decide whether to include the chief’s request in the budget recommendation he is expected to make in early December to the city council. At that point, the council and the public would have a chance to weigh in.

The MPD requested tasers three years ago, and after public input, the request was denied. It’s not a done deal now at this point, as in addition to the council’s decision, there is still the matter of public input.

The police have a council ally in tough-guy councilman Alan H. Weiss:

When asked about some people’s opinions that Tasers have led to fatalities or are too easily abused, Weiss was dismissive.

“I just don’t give a damn about these attitudes,” he said. “What I’ve read and what I’ve heard about their use, they’re quite efficient and you don’t have to shoot anybody with a bullet or rap them over the head. One shot with the Taser and it quiets them right down.”

Only thing missing from Weiss’ comments was a “they probably had it coming” remark, but nevertheless, he’s sure to get an earful, for better or worse, when the public input starts rolling in.

(crossposted on five before chaos.)

In France, when they try to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62, we get this:  

Workers opposed to a higher retirement age blocked roads to airports around France on Wednesday, leaving passengers in Paris dragging suitcases on foot along an emergency breakdown lane…  Riot police in black body armor forced striking workers away from blocked fuel depots in western France, restoring gasoline to areas where pumps were dry after weeks of protests over the government proposal raising the age from 60 to 62.

Here in the states, as we have an ever-mounting attempt to eviscerate social programs, expand policies that favor the rich, ignore the poor and rape the environment, we get this:

This:

And, most dangerously and disturbingly, this:

Something wrong here?

Giving new meaning to the word "Free" Vermont, independent gubernatorial candidate Dennis Steele, who has a commanding negative 40-something percent lead over Pete Shumlin and Brian Dubie, has a bit of a donor problem that stands in stark contrast to his folksy demeanor and emphasis on "freedom". As Rowley over at VT Secession has just pointed out, one of Steele’s largest out-of-state contributors, a man named James Duncan, had this to say in one of his contributions to the Free Vermont listserv that Odum blogged about here a few weeks ago:

“As with all our problems in America, good people keep hacking at the branches instead of getting to the root of the evil that plagues us. Hence the cycles of war, economic depression, cultural Marxism, etc. continue. I just had a perfectly pleasant day ruined by reading Vermont Magazine. In the Letters to the Editor column, an obnoxiously militant lesbian threatens to cancel her subscription unless they include gay weddings in their next Weddings issue. The individual is a public relations professor and chairperson at a university. How unfortunate that such a rude individual has a position of influence over young people. I guess everyone has their unique perversions but society would be best served if they kept them to themselves and their private circle. I resent having someone else’s shoved in my face. At any rate, bandaids will be the order of the day until someone amputates the entire system.”

One can only wonder what else Duncan would like to amputate. No word yet from Steele as to whether or not he agrees with Duncan, or if he plans on returning the contribution.

I know that most of us don’t take these people seriously. However, there are some who might support Steele as some sort of “protest vote”. Just make sure you keep these things in mind if you do. Steele’s tied with perennial anti-Semitic candidate Chris Ericsson from the CAPSLOCK party, so he’s already in good company.

There’s some more data out now about the guv’s race over at the NYT’s FiveThirtyEight forecasts. If it’s to be believed, it’s encouraging…

It has Shumlin at 52.8% and Dubie at 46.3%. It puts Shumlin’s chance of winning at 79.6% and Dubie’s at 20.4%. I like those numbers.

The polling also doesn’t take into account secessionist candidate Dennis Steele, and his supporters’ contentions that he’ll get the majority of votes in the Northeast Kingdom, but I think it’s a safe bet we can write that one off, as realistic expectations don’t seem to be a trait shared by those folks. About anything.

The chart I would have liked to have seen, but probably won’t, is the correlation between Shumlin’s numbers going up every time Dubie has a debate opens his mouth. It’s as though Vermonters are suddenly learning that we have a mini-Bush running for governor or something. Barring any major screwups on Shumlin’s part or sudden truth-telling from Dubie, this is starting to look encouraging.  

( – promoted by JDRyan)

Just a heads up for those of you following the Washington County House and Senate races, from a press release:

The Harry N. Cutting American Legion Post 59 is sponsoring their biennial Waterbury Candidates Forum on September 16. The event begins at 6PM with a meet and greet and the forum will begin at 7PM. As in the past, the Legion has invited the candidates for both the House and Senate.

Rep. Sue Minter and Rep. Tom Stevens invite you to join us at this event – the Legion has graciously hosted these forums for several election cycles and we are grateful that they are again. We would love to see you show your support for us at this event. We are aware that there are school meetings going on at the same time (which we will both miss!), but we hope you will be able to spend some time at the Legion.

WDEV will be broadcasting the event live, and ORCA Media will also be recording this for airing on cable.

This is an important election and we appreciate all the support you have given us this year. Please share this with your friends – let them know!

See you there!

Waterbury Candidates Forum

Thursday, September 16, 2010

6PM, Meet and Greet

7PM – 8:30, Forum

Harry N. Cutting American Legion Post 59

16 Stowe Street

Waterbury, VT 05676

Hope to see you there.

Now, you all probably know Rasmussen tends to skew Republican (and as Eric Davis pointed out in the comments below, has a rather suspect methodology), but this released today is rather interesting:

Just days after emerging as the winner of an extremely close Democratic primary, Peter Shumlin is running slightly ahead of Republican Lieutenant Governor Brian Dubie in Vermont’s gubernatorial race.

The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey shows Shumlin, the state Senate president pro tempore, picking up 49% of the vote, while Dubie draws support from 46%. Two percent (2%) prefer some other candidate, and three percent (3%) are undecided.

Rassmusen aside, the more Dubie actually opens his mouth, we very well might see that gap get a lot wider in the coming weeks.

One of the nicest things about the Dem nomination being settled is the start of debates. More importantly, hearing Brian Dubie, without the shelter of his handlers, have to go out and make his case can not only work well for the Dems, it’s just so entertaining. The vague ambiguity as we witness him trying to grasp what he’s saying. The Palinspeak. And the Freudian slips.

Well, we didn’t have to wait too long, as the first guv debate took place today, on WVMT in Colchester:

Dubie said he would shrink middle management and act on recommendations offered but not yet pursued by Gov. Jim Douglas’ “tiger teams,” groups of employees and administrators who studied how to save money. He also said, surprisingly, “We are going to have to look at our programs and target the most vulnerable.”

Corry Bliss, Dubie’s campaign manager, said later the candidate got a little tongue-tied and what he meant to say was while looking at all programs, he would protect the most vulnerable.

Now, it’s not at the level of something like Bush’s “Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we,” but he’s off to a good start, finally offering specifics on how his “Pure Vermont” is gonna work its magic.

Keep ’em comin’, Brian.