Saturday, February 25, 2012

Hunting/Iran/Sick Time/NYC

A bill in the legislature has been acted upon favorably to allow bow hunting on Sundays during deer season. One of the few respites’ we who run, hike and bike in the woods enjoy during kill season is the chance to actually enjoy that one lone day without the possibility of finding ourselves gutted and riding upon a truck.

I could say that most hunters are reasonable people who are not risk takers. They ID before hand their “kill” and proceed to hunt with caution and respect. Unfortunately each hunting season it seems incidents surface where some innocent bystander becomes a target for an over anxious hunter. Blame is usually placed on the victim - amazing!

I have a substantial list of places where I can go for a trail run in areas that are suppose to be off limits to hunters. Not unusually to find someone in an area they should not be in but confront them? Yeah…speak to someone with a rifle and three teeth and a pint in his back pocket. This is bad legislation.

I watched a mother buy some scratch tickets and proceed to let her daughter - about nine - scratch them off for her. Never seen the anti’s discuss that issue. Maybe they did?

The United States among others is now telling Israel to have a hands off policy regarding any pre-emptive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. Kind of a contradiction just based on our reaction 50 years ago to the potential of missiles in Cuba.

The latest is a Deputy Chief of The Boston Fire Department walking away with a truck load of sick and vacation time. Chief Keating managed to get about a 150K and a consulting gig.

Just got back from NYC for a few days. Saw a few shows and didn’t realize how short William Shatner is. Alan Ladd type short and his show was great - if you care for Shatner. I don’t. At least no one was dressed in a Star Trek uniform.

Warhorse you can keep. Depressing and predictable, Lincoln Center has magnificent theaters but did they ever think of putting in enough rest rooms? A real test for the kidneys.

Anything Goes has Cole Porter, Joel Grey and Sutton Foster. Fantastic show. Sutton Foster is about as good as it gets with talent and looks.

So far almost a million state tax returns have been filed and box 22 for paying at the 5.85% has had 257 takers for an average of $52. So much for the liberal elite doing the walk along with the talk. Average income for those doing both? $10,000 a year.

75M for five years was the contract J.D. Drew was given by the Red Sox in 2007. It was a bad contract as there was nothing in his performance to date to warrant such a payment. His career performance at that point showed he was simply not worthy of 15M a season for never being an All Star and never leading the league in any significant statistical category. Fans knew this and the press knew it. The management did not seem to see what everyone else saw. Think of this the next time you pay your G & E bill and a recent contract they handed out to their leader. Some contracts are just plain bad and never should be offered.

Sal is in town to testify and the State House looks like the set of The Walking Dead. Where oh where will the Sal dime land? How many will fall? Good bye pension kiss!

MiMi has resurfaced for another run at the BOS. To me that is very good news since the downtown flower displays appear a bit sparse. Or as Howie Carr would say: “How can we miss you if you won’t go away.”

The field is getting crowded for the rep seat for whatever districts we are now in. Since I am precinct two I guess that means me? Adam Bond has announced as has Roger Brunelle, Jr. Maybe more will follow?

Is Trucchi’s every going to open? That was a supermarket. Just how much renovation has to be done? Seems like some bridges in town got a quicker turn around.

I must have been taking a seniors nap when We The People was replaced by We The Special Interests.

I just love the beep…beep….beep moments going on with the current failed administration over sky rocketing gas prices. A few years back it was all the fault of Bush and Svengali Cheney in an unholy alliance with mystical “Big Oil” to rob is! The evil of it all! Now all of a sudden it is issues “We have no control over” and “market conditions.” Maybe it is supply and demand accelerated by speculators?

My wife - The Lovely Cynthia - will save a few pennies by going to Prime Gas rather than Cumberland Farms about a quarter mile from our house. The gas at Prime was 6 cents cheaper but is a six mile round trip. Do the math my dear. Fifteen gallons saves you about ninety cents but at 22 miles per gallon that savings evaporates with the RT drive. We males are just so enlightened.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Are The Flowers Blooming Yet?

BP has made some substantial profits and raised their dividends for investors and many of those investors are public service unions and public service pension funds. The doomsday in the Gulf simply did not happen and most mitigation is complete.

Gisele has managed to throw her hubby’s teammates under the bus by blaming Brady’s inept performance on others. As a power couple they are very low on my list and certainly make all three Manning’s - Archie, Peyton and Eli look All American with their selection of spouses that happen to have a wee bit of common sense.

Tom Brady will be 35 years old and can certainly beat up on the 25 teams in the NFL that are just pedestrian but against the big boys with crushing defenses Brady is just an average QB at this stage of his career. He is certainly on the downhill side and has stated he wants to “play into his 40s.” For you movie buffs he is non Ron Catlin.

Greece is once again controlling the markets world wide with their on and off again approach to austerity. The usual comments by the financial talking heads is that Greece is symptomatic of the rest of Europe. The Greek government is stuck between the EU and their own austerity program causing strikes and civil unrest.

I converted from Comcast to Verizon and IMO that is like would you rather be hung or shot? But one difference I did notice is Verizon has a real orderly control center in the basement. Nice boxes with no wires all over the place like Comcast had.

Pitchers and catchers report in two weeks.

Downward mobility. That is the economic phrase being tossed around regarding job creation. The jobless figures are now 8.3% or a U6 of 15.1%. Closer examination shows declining wages in these new or revived positions. The AFL-CIO has spoken out about it. A weakness that hopefully will change.

Europe is about to enter a second recession and England is a clear sign it is on its way. A small drop in GNP for the 4th quarter of 2011 signaled the Bank Of England to infuse more cash into the economy but with the staggering debt of Greece being only the first of many European countries on the brink trouble is ahead. Unbridled socialism comes with a heavy price tag.

Latest Obama budget is at 3.8T. So much for austerity.

Lots of rumors running around semi quaint Middleboro on who is running for state rep.

A fifteen acre park in Boston needs six folks with 100K+ salaries including a director making more than the mayor to be run? The Greenway is an example of pork gone wild.

“T” is in debt but makes a bundle of new hires? Amazing.

President Obama has reached or is that dropped to a new low. His loyalist are organizing “Truth Teams” that should number around (hopefully, for them) about two million to “help” and “educate” in swing states. Attack watch is special. Reminiscent of the old Soviet apparatchiks monitoring the housing blocks for non-compliance. Report your neighbor!

The economy is ticking slowly upward and still remains fragile. Unemployment is at 8.3% and the U6 is at 15%. A manufacturing report comes in positive and is offset by lackluster retail sales. New jobs are created and what transpires is downward mobility in their wages. Commodities go up and up and a visit to the super market shows that. Fuel costs represent an 800 pound gorilla. Hosing confidence (builders) is on a five month upward trend. Stocks have appreciated but earnings are flat and that could translate into contraction in manufacturing. Then Europe is a mess. The trend is at least up - slowly - rather than down.

The Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas is noted for their high caloric food. A gentleman in his 40s was attacking the 6,000 calorie burger with its twelve slices of bacon when nature took its course - he had a heart attack. No word on his condition.

Middleboro is still not out of the running for a casino. Looking at the latest rumors about a 100 cities and towns remain a possibility.

Monday, February 6, 2012

GIANTS!!!!

Once again Bogo has amazed all with another on target prediction of a Giants win and a Patriots loss.

The Keystone Pipeline issue just continues to amaze me. The United States uses fossil fuel. Scads of it. Without this we rely more on those who love our green but despise our red, white and blue. So we continue to rely on those we cannot and should not trust? Amazing!

Now some feel this venture is the end of the world as we know it. Please explain what magical miracles you have that will decrease our dependency? Are you waiting for Rossi and E-Cat? Some type of solar array? Tidal forces? I have seen no solutions by opponents that will bridge that gap of ten to twenty years until a viable alternative is available to complement our fossil fuel addiction.

Another State of The Snooze speech designed to incite class warfare in a pallid attempt to win votes. I’m sure Obama’s appeal to the something for nothing crowd will resonate if they manage to get to the polls.

The Fed predicts and will attempt to keep rates low for the next three years. Good news for stocks.

I saw this on a label “Pure syrup made from artificial ingredients.” Was for maple syrup. Usually they have something like “Contains 5% real syrup.”

John Kerry has two black eyes. I understand that is the result of asking Teresa about having an “open marriage.”

Now the idea is to tax candy and soda. Amazing! But no meals tax holiday since it is tough timers in the budget. Tough times? Check with Nancy Brennan and her six figure cohorts at the Greenway Conservatory. You look at their “Board” and it is a whose who of the Boston area with both parties at the feeding trough.

A treasure hunter found 3B in a wreck. Wonder how much the government will try to grab?

What is that I see in Deval Patrick’s rear view mirror? Why it is none other than Tim Murray who is getting further and further behind “Cadillac” as he distances himself from Murray.

A couple was recently conned out of a $100,000 in Middleboro. The perps were slezeballs but what were the vics thinking?

Parking rates to rise at Logan Central Parking. $3 more tacked on to make it $27 a day. Getting to Logan is easy using commuter rail and Silver Line. Even a limo is cheaper than parking for a week.

Komen Foundation bowed to political pressure and then reversed their stance when they bowed to more political pressure.