Sunday, May 27, 2012

Memorial Day Anecdotal Stuff

Why in the world is this birther issue continuing to be beaten to death?
Pow Wow Chow recipes submitted by the great consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren happened to be plagiarized. Now that is important!
Warren had a hilarious moment with FOX 25 last week. The reporter stuck to the “Indian Issue” while Warren did a song and dance - no drums or feathers - trying to avoid a direct answer. She bumbled along just an embarrassment.
Warren is probably more Indian than "The Raven."
I use to enjoy the History Channel until it got loaded down with reality shows. I could care less about staged pawn shop or storage locker encounters.
Deval failed in his attempt at making us healthier with a tax on candy and soda. I’m sure revenue had nothing to do with it.
Edgeway is becoming like The Truman Show.
More landfill (AKA - dump) increases. The results will be noticeable on power lines, gas lines and lightly traveled streets.
Ames Nowell and Franklin State Forest were - note were - two wonderful state parks now a mess. A fraction of the money spent on exorbitant salaries for assorted hacks on the Greenway in Boston could have saved both. Massasoit State Park will soon join the list.
If Obama hates business why did 2011 have the greatest corporate profits in history? Creative accounting? Loopholes? Don’t know.
George Will had a great line - “Harvard believes in diversity except in thought.”
According to a WSJ article the Obama spending binge never happened. Spending increased only a few percent but debt certainly did not. Less revenue and lack of spending cuts equals increased debt.
Mary Lou’s coffee chain is in the crosshairs of the EEOC for their practice of hiring perky young things in pink outfits. This is their business model and I’m sure the EEOC will be as successful at this venture as they were with Hooter’s.
Regarding Marylou's there was no complaint. None. EEOC took the action themselves.
MYA is involved in questionable cause. How many are being manipulated by adults? Reminds me of kids carrying casino signs a few years back. The cause may be an important one regarding smoking but it seems rather selective to tell local businesses what they can and cannot sell. That is where I break ranks and this is from someone who was involved in the very early days of the anti smoking campaign - meaning where product could be used and not sold. Maybe a few of the adults - young and old involved - could concentrate on candy and soda? Maybe even start with themselves? That stuff does pack on the calories.
Showrooming is killing Best Buy and other retailers with slim margins. A customer wanders the store and makes note of the item(s) they are looking for and then go home for an online purchase for a (hopefully) considerable savings.
Greece is a representation of what can happen elsewhere. If it was a "stand alone" situation it would be virtually nothing - a mere blip on the fiscal radar.
There has been a transfer from countries of questionable exposure to those viewed as a safe haven such as Germany. I have not followed that path the last week or so but the major players seem to be the most vulnerable countries - Italy, Spain and Portugal. Take the money and run. No Bedford Falls here, folks.
I have no idea how insular the United States is in this mess? I have read some that have it as a big yawn and others as the cataclysmic fiscal event of all time. Probably somewhere in the middle.
My view is materialistic since within fiscal upheavals is opportunity. Being a crass opportunists it is nice to have some free cash around to take advantage of the situation. I was fortunate in the bank bailouts to take advantage of some bargain basement prices on bank stocks.
In the meantime we have the garden planted just in case.
The Massachusetts Senate deep sixed any significant EBT reform so it is business as usual.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Schools/CEO's/Bullies/Beach Boys/Ticket Monkeys

Joe Biden said “This will be a summer of recovery.” Thanks, Joe, for another worthless opinion.
Fiscal problems in Europe have magnified so it will be cheap place to go for a vacation to see the sights or riot damage.
Red Sox success is tied to starting pitching. Pitching goes deep they win. Not so deep they lose.
Forty-nine former NASA employees came out against all they “Sky is falling” mindset surrounding Global Warming. Six where astronauts from Apollo including those of two missions with moon landings. Guess they must be right wing troglodyte Republicans.
Now Mitt Romney is a bully! According to “reports” that is exactly what he was 45 years ago and it targeted a Gay! Funny how all these years and all these campaigns this all of a sudden surfaces just as Obama makes his stand on Gay rights.
Mark Herd (former CEO - HP), Brian Dunn (former CEO - Best Buy), Harry Stonecipher (former CEO - Boeing) and Bill Clinton (former president of USA) - all but ONE lost their job over an inappropriate relationship with an employee
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Now that Face Book is having an IPO some data suggests that the gloss may be off. Seems folks spend significantly less time on FB after a year. The next MySpace?
Interesting breast feeding cover on Time. That is a clear signal of a floundering readership so lets just do something - anything - to bring attention to ourselves.
Beach Boys are celebrating fifty years as a group.
So are the Rolling Stones.
According to the right leaning Young Americans Foundation liberal speakers outnumber conservatives 7-1 at commencement.
Fauxcahontis is now a confirmed liar.
How about a by-law to have folks trim the grass around the sidewalks on their property?
How about another one for having folks put away shopping carts?
And along that line how about that tiny traffic island on the intersection of North and Oak Streets. Very nice job dressing it up.
As an atheist I could care less about the Kiwanis Cross. Its presence does not offend me as it seems to have a lawyer who I assume is also an atheist. Some atheist consider every possible violation of church and state as though ignoring some will have some type of public domain situation that could exist with brand infringement. Is that the logic? Or is it just plain bad manners? The cross is important to just about everyone in town so just leave it be.
Our asparagus crop was the best in memory. Still harvesting.
I have been keeping tabs and it was 7-1 in the last seven days. What that means is I saw one cop actually directing traffic at a work site and seven doing nothing - cell phone stuff, kibitzing with workers, drinking coffee and ignoring what they are actually getting detail pay for. On Route24 I saw three just talking among themselves - all were as the others cops like to say “Ticket Monkeys” (AKA State Troopers).
Brockton High School - again - received high honors as one of 87 schools honored nationwide for performance. BHS is somewhat of an anomaly since it has a substantial minority student population and a significant ESL population yet is excellent in one important area of note - MCAS.
On the other end you have Middleboro with a population of 92% that have the complexion of Elizabeth Warren yet continue under perform. So much for educational racial profiling.

Friday, May 11, 2012

The Race Card - Don't Leave Home Without It!

For decades now the liberals have used the race card as their feature to virtually any issue. Debate immigration? You’re a racist if you don’t agree. Entitlements? You’re a racist if you don’t agree. Affirmative action? Racist! On and on. Even our illustrious president is willing to shoot first and think later. The Cambridge cops? Well…let me side with Gates. Or having Trevor Martin as a son. And the bucolic Wright? Our courageous president certainly tossed him under the bus when the polling numbers showed no positives.
Of course why stop there? You can also apply for the famed sexist card, ageist card, gender card and so on. Any debate is quelled with simply painting your opposition with some type of damnation based on the fact that only the purity of the left is righteous. IMO that is fundamentally the most appalling aspect of the Democratic Party.
Now the usual suspects can point out - if they wish - to the various cards the Republicans choose to use. Big deal. I’ve posted my position on them many a time. The two of them have created the most formidable party in the country - the I’s party to which I have belonged since Studds days.
Back when affirmative action was all in vogue I remember all the dastardly names tossed at me in classes thanks to my entrenched position against it. Did I call that one right! In a matter of about fifteen years Black sanitation workers were being laid off or applicants denied so that slots could be filled for women. The latest aggrieved minority. You set the rules. Change the rules. Let courts go on the loose. Good luck, folks.
Will the Great Chief - Elizabeth Warren (AKA - Pinocchiohontas) be involved in the Native American casinos in Massachusetts?
My wife - The Lovely Cynthia - is petrified by my new truck an extended cab Silverado. This is a big truck and it seems to intimidate her. How bad is it? She said she would empty a load of mulch if I would just pick it up.
After they plow the snow FROM THE STREET into my driveway I intend to shovel it back.
What is the fine for dropping off a XMAS tree at a BOS meeting?
Uncle Omar’s nephew has decided to evolve. If it was Romney it would be a “Flip-flop” but with the damaged leader of the Free World it is “evolve.” To some it represents the zenith of courage but to me it is good politics. As long as the Republicans get focused on social issues the real issue of the underperforming economy will fade.
The Middleboro Gas & Electric is government entitlement at its very best. A lack of personal responsibility, limited over sight, salaries that are kept in a CIA vault and other fiscal data that appears to be highly classified material. The “management” seems responsible only to themselves and stone walls with every opportunity. Hopefully the new team in place will give full attention to a fiscal audit and how to dump the leader of this farce and his flack.
Josh Beckett of the Red Sox has made $69,000,000 so far in his career for his ability to toss that little white sphere. He will also make a shade under $16,000,000 a year through 2014. Beckett was one and probably the leader of the great chicken wing and beer blast of 2011. He recently missed a start over a slight muscle issue but the next day managed to play 18 holes of golf. This was followed by a dismal performance and when confronted about his golfing exploits stated “ My off day is my off day. We get 18 off days a season . I think we deserve a little bit of time to ourselves.” Beckett id dead meat in Boston but almost impossible to trade unless the Sox are willing to get ten cents on the dollar. Sounds like he can do PR for the G & E.
I saw a word on the BB blog that can be a fine if said in public. I would suggest chief Gates to lock him up but if you do that you’d have to feed him. Need an override for that.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

A No Swearing Post

One of the joys of running with “Bumpkin” is that - besides being able to out run him despite being 20 years older - is the chance - and I quote a famous local blogger to “educate him.”
His latest rant was on Trucchi’s super market and the price of soda. So I will have to give Bumpkin some lessons on being a smart shopper. After all Bogofree is “Buy one get one free.” So for the next few weeks on our jaunts I will pick up the pace a wee bit and that forces him to breathe rather than talk and I can lecture him on how to actually shop for bargains.
A wake up call has arrived at the state house in the role of a budget amendment that will open up the books of quasi agencies to public scrutiny since your tax dollars are involved. The same will apply to the various non profits that get partial government funding and all of this is long overdue.
Why in the world is that local camp ground in Middleboro still functioning? Common sense says shut the entire facility down until they comply but common sense appears to run into legal machinations. I was impressed that Al Rullo managed to maintain some degree of professionalism with the bombastic owner of what amounts to a fecal hot spot shouting out every few minutes.
I get a phone survey about every two weeks but on virtually all I am excluded when my age is mentioned. Seniors very rarely fit into the little niche that they are looking for - that magical 25-34 age group. Now if the survey is political I now become premium since my age group shows up at the polls.
Limited lifetime warranty. What in the world does that mean? Usually it means exclusions all over the place. A few years ago in Old San Juan my wife - The Lovely Cynthia - was in the Coach store buying Xmas presents. A sales person showed me this wallet that sold for about $100 - $95 more than I usually pay - and said it had a “Lifetime warranty. Wears out we replace it.” So I said “I’m 65 and at my age that is really not cost effective.” He agreed.
On Route 105 there is extensive road work being done near the MBTA entrance - try reading that sign. Anyways, on two of the days there was excessive traffic in the area as I attempted to get through. What was the paid detail doing? Not directing traffic. Not even looking at the roadway. Today in Lakeville I saw the same on a road project. Tough to squeeze through but the “detail” was busy investigating the cosmic convergence of the hole being dug. Waste of money.
The beautiful new casino for Taunton is all set. $500,000,000 edifice with thousands of jobs. Where have we heard that before?
A sales tax dispute has surfaced in Massachusetts over online retailers not having to collect a sales tax. One solution would to be like New Hampshire and have no sales tax
A new group of potential fines will be discussed at TM to once again restore Middleboro (AKA - Middleborough) to the civil and cultural epicenter of the past. Now if they had fines for eyesore public buildings the town would be in phenomenal fiscal shape. Meanwhile if you light up a joint in public the local constables will be able to present you with a $300 ticket. There goes a summer visit by Cheech and Chong.
In Concord my assertion that TM is the “Purest form of special interest” surfaced with a ban on bottled water. That was it - just bottled water and that was the single serve size. I listened to the reasoning behind it and it made little sense.
What is with that pile of industrial trash on the corner of Lincoln and Jackson streets? It looks like the remains of what U.S. Steel could not sell.
Why hasn’t the state DPW dedicated a hard right turn lane at the rotary?