My great-great-grandparents, Neils Peter Jensen & Anina Margarethe Jensen ~1890

Two women, Dad ~1940s

Brother, Cousin, Cousin, Cousin, Me ~1971

Brother, Me, Mom - 1969

Looking back over the nearly 40 years of my life, there have been few moments where I felt that I was truly a witness to history as it was happening.

But, one of the first was watching the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, and Forever special which — according to Wikipedia — was aired on NBC on May 16, 1983.

I was 13.

And I, and millions of others, were completely mesmerized by Michael Jackson’s performance of Billie Jean. Right from the opening bass line groove all the way through his brief first reveal of the moonwalk. It seemed like nothing short of magic.

Watching the video below, it’s kind of hard to understand what a cultural phenomenon was kicked off that night. But it was very real. And for the next four years of high school, Michael Jackson defined pop music for my generation. Whether you loved him, or rebelled against what he represented, you could not escape him.

Sure, he was easy to mock even in 1983. And increasingly so over the years. But, like many, I couldn’t help feeling deeply sad for an immensely talented little boy who clearly never fully grew up.

Philip Baruth (aka Bill Baroonth) makes it official…

A short break from the cheeky political analysis and irony, for one highly serious post. As many of you know by now, I filed Monday with the Secretary of State’s office to campaign for the State Senate from Chittenden County. The Bank and Treasurer Designation form indicates that I’ve begun campaigning already, in fact, begun raising and spending money, begun speaking with people around the County about the campaign and about what sort of message they want to send to Montpelier. Begun a whole new life, really.

Dad at Lake Bomoseen rental house, mid-sixites

Music by Jonathan Mann
Lyrics by Jay Bybee

the detainee is lying on a gurney
that’s inclined at an angle: 10 to 15 degrees
a cloth is placed over the detainee’s face
cold water is poured on the cloth

the wet cloth creates
a barrier through which
it is difficult or in some cases not possible
for the detainee to breathe

if the detainee
makes an effort to defeat the technique
by twisting his head to the side and breathing
out the corner of his mouth
the interrogator may cup his hands around
the detainees nose and mouth
in which case it would not be posible for him to breathe!

As we explained
in the Section 2340A Memorandum,
“pain and suffering”
(as used in Section 2340)
is best understood as a single concept,
not distinct concepts
of “pain” as distinguished from “suffering”…

The waterboard,
which inflicts no pain or actual harm whatsoever,
does not, in our view inflict “severe pain or suffering”.
Even if one were to parse the statute more finely
to treat “suffering” as a distinct concept,
the waterboard could not be said to inflict severe sufering.

The waterboard is simply a controlled acute episode, lacking the connotation of a protracted period of time generally given to suffering.