Another week and another war.
I’m Scott Brown and I drive a truck. I’m Allin Frawley and I drive a hammer. Both have some remarkable similarities and I am not discussing their view of politics but their approach. Both have actually managed to combine state of the art and old time politics. Brown has shown a streak of independence that has riled up left and right and Tea Party types. Allin has no personal agenda other than to serve to the best of his abilities - summed up fairly well on his web site. Brown had the novelty of his truck. He actually used that truck to campaign around Massachusetts. Allin opened up a storefront and he is there whenever he can be. I can go in and pat him on the back or whine. Where do I go to see MiMi? The Café Milano at noon time? For Marsha do I slip a note under the door in the Town Hall basement IT Department for Roger to forward? In politics so much is perception and not necessarily political position. BOS is about as local as it gets.
The last store front I can recall was for Gary Studds waaaay back. I know because I worked in that campaign with the usual stuff of handing out info, holding signs and going door to door. To listen to MiMi in the recent Enterprise article one would get the impression that Allin’s campaign is being funded by Soros or the Koch Brothers.
Just a thought but being a good person does not necessarily translate into being a competent person.
Jack Healey had a nice letter for Allin Frawley in the Gazette and it represented quite a you know what slap to the M & M duo. Jack had served as town manager during part of Marsha Brunelle’s reign so it appears he had some real issues with her performance both as a TM and now as a Joe Citizen. His letter about summed it up.
MiMi Duphily also had her campaign letter in the paper and as tempting as it is I will be silent on that one.
So far letters of note have been from a former chair of the BOS and a former TM and I wonder if any will be in the paper from any sitting members of the BOS?
As I cruise around Middleboro (AKA - Middleborough) I notice that the number of election signs have started to blossom. I usually end up counting them and it is fairly even for all candidates with Jay Austin having a slight edge.
A few issues have surfaced in the BOS race but I think it will really come down to change versus no change as the primary issue. This will not be a one trick pony election as it was with the gin mill floundering around. If the status quo is acceptable then look for M & M to return.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
PBS/M & M/Newt
The newly empowered Republicans in Congress have not targeted the big ticket items such as Medicare and Social Security with their budget axe but have focused on NPR and the CPB to trim funding and even eliminate public subsidies. I applaud this move.
The Herald has run a series of articles that have clearly shown the excesses of the local affiliate WGBH which provides about 30% of the programming for PBS. Salaries and a cushy state of the art studio have been a central point but what caught my eye was PILOT. PILOT is payment in lieu of taxes that most if not all non profits - a joke in of itself - contribute to the City of Boston. WGBH moved into their new digs four years ago and have contributed the grand total of zero dollars despite having that new $85,000,000 studio. Prior to that the contribution was about $10,000.
Now those pesky Republicans view the fiscal attack up Elmo and the rest of the crew as political payback as the far left slant of PBS that is rather well known. Just as Juan Williams canned for expressing his opinion on FOX. Or one of the honchos at the public broadcasting trough who fell for an undercover scam that had him labeling Tea Party types as “racist.” That seems to be the code phase du jour for the far left to explain away opposing points of view. Having a nice British accent does not exactly mean what you hear is the truth and the resulting faux pas led to a resignation.
The budget input for tax dollars for WGBH represents about 8% of their budget so somehow they will survive. Maybe a nice tea (party) put on by some of the more concerned citizens in Cambridge and Brookline can make up the cash loss. Across the board the loss will be somewhere in the neighborhood of about 10% of the various public broadcasting leeches so that is manageable. Maybe the heavy contributions of the Koch Foundation can be increased? A last total the Koch Foundation had contributed $7,000,000 to PBS - not bad for a Libertarian/conservative.
If all goes down the tubes there is always the option for the executives to move into other positions at other non profits and I understand there is about a dozen slots that may open up soon at Blue Cross. In the meantime I will have to miss the mating ritual of some obscure Australian rodent or the opportunity to pay exorbitant amounts of money for DVD’s from groups and individuals who I have never heard of. Seems whenever I tune into WGBH and their various other incarnations I see a string of semi ads anyone. Just go ahead and let Ronald McDonald replace the obnoxious Big Bird.
Mansfield found it necessary to run Saturday sessions to make up for school days lost to snow. Naturally the “For the kids” teachers union stepped in with a union protest but it was unnecessary since the kids didn’t bother to show up. Session two was canceled.
MiMi and Marsha are running as a tandem team much like a tag team in the WWE. I have no idea of what their election platform will be? Plant more flowers? Tazer those who dare approach the sacred podium? Sit in the audience when a discussion gets around to the IT Department? Whine about a pooch on your street? So you get a mirror for your vote. Vote for both and you get exactly the same and from what I can gather MiMi should change her name to mimic since that is usually her path on the BOS - Mimic Marsha. Marsha has IMO reached that point in performance and presentation that is like a party guest who is boring the bejabbers out of everyone and proceeds to stay around and entertain you when everyone else has left. How can I miss you when you won’t go away? With MiMi I have no idea what she is doing aside from making comments that leave me just wondering if it is me only to discover - thankfully - it is not.
I remember back about a year ago when the gavel was forced to at least grovel a bit when you saw an interesting group lined up at the podium - Neil, Steve, Lincoln, and several other who I have left out that served the BOS quite well. Those with a clue approaching a Chair without a clue? At least it presented a stark beep…beep….beep moment as the Chair managed to backtrack a bit.
So it is fairly easy to understand who I will vote for and it will not be a bullet vote. The political chain that is the BOS has two weak links and maybe - hopefully - they’ll be voted off the island.
Why let a cheap shot go by? Homeowners stage a protest and Quelle and Frawley marched with them but our own twin Marie Antoinette’s offered them cake! What, MiMI, no flowers?
So Newt wants to get into the oral office and bring the entire nation to its knees like he does his paramours. Maybe GM will revive the Hummer in honor of Newt? As far as the arm candy she has figured out the way to his heart is not through his stomach. Maybe he can hook up with Clinton some day and discuss an oral history of the presidency?
Speaking of comedy in presidential politics it is not yet a done deal that Sarah Palin will run for the office. Is she a female Dan Quayle destine to be the punch line of jokes? Appears that way. The Republican Party ran roughshod over the Democrats in the last election cycle but appear to have quite a leadership vacuum for those running to grab the big enchilada. And I just love the personal foibles of some of the more morally anointed ones getting their PAC’s ready. I guess they have to fill the void of hypocrisy that Ted Kennedy left behind.
I read a nice assessment of President Obama where the connection was made to how he is an academic type that is prone to lecture and not leadership. Seems to be a high degree of vacillation when certain issues hit home with the Community Organizer In Chief.
The recent disaster in Japan is reflected in world wide financial markets with a massive sell off. Investors remind me of when a forecast of two inches of snow is in the works and the supermarkets empty of milk and bread in panic buying only with the financials it is panic selling.
The Herald has run a series of articles that have clearly shown the excesses of the local affiliate WGBH which provides about 30% of the programming for PBS. Salaries and a cushy state of the art studio have been a central point but what caught my eye was PILOT. PILOT is payment in lieu of taxes that most if not all non profits - a joke in of itself - contribute to the City of Boston. WGBH moved into their new digs four years ago and have contributed the grand total of zero dollars despite having that new $85,000,000 studio. Prior to that the contribution was about $10,000.
Now those pesky Republicans view the fiscal attack up Elmo and the rest of the crew as political payback as the far left slant of PBS that is rather well known. Just as Juan Williams canned for expressing his opinion on FOX. Or one of the honchos at the public broadcasting trough who fell for an undercover scam that had him labeling Tea Party types as “racist.” That seems to be the code phase du jour for the far left to explain away opposing points of view. Having a nice British accent does not exactly mean what you hear is the truth and the resulting faux pas led to a resignation.
The budget input for tax dollars for WGBH represents about 8% of their budget so somehow they will survive. Maybe a nice tea (party) put on by some of the more concerned citizens in Cambridge and Brookline can make up the cash loss. Across the board the loss will be somewhere in the neighborhood of about 10% of the various public broadcasting leeches so that is manageable. Maybe the heavy contributions of the Koch Foundation can be increased? A last total the Koch Foundation had contributed $7,000,000 to PBS - not bad for a Libertarian/conservative.
If all goes down the tubes there is always the option for the executives to move into other positions at other non profits and I understand there is about a dozen slots that may open up soon at Blue Cross. In the meantime I will have to miss the mating ritual of some obscure Australian rodent or the opportunity to pay exorbitant amounts of money for DVD’s from groups and individuals who I have never heard of. Seems whenever I tune into WGBH and their various other incarnations I see a string of semi ads anyone. Just go ahead and let Ronald McDonald replace the obnoxious Big Bird.
Mansfield found it necessary to run Saturday sessions to make up for school days lost to snow. Naturally the “For the kids” teachers union stepped in with a union protest but it was unnecessary since the kids didn’t bother to show up. Session two was canceled.
MiMi and Marsha are running as a tandem team much like a tag team in the WWE. I have no idea of what their election platform will be? Plant more flowers? Tazer those who dare approach the sacred podium? Sit in the audience when a discussion gets around to the IT Department? Whine about a pooch on your street? So you get a mirror for your vote. Vote for both and you get exactly the same and from what I can gather MiMi should change her name to mimic since that is usually her path on the BOS - Mimic Marsha. Marsha has IMO reached that point in performance and presentation that is like a party guest who is boring the bejabbers out of everyone and proceeds to stay around and entertain you when everyone else has left. How can I miss you when you won’t go away? With MiMi I have no idea what she is doing aside from making comments that leave me just wondering if it is me only to discover - thankfully - it is not.
I remember back about a year ago when the gavel was forced to at least grovel a bit when you saw an interesting group lined up at the podium - Neil, Steve, Lincoln, and several other who I have left out that served the BOS quite well. Those with a clue approaching a Chair without a clue? At least it presented a stark beep…beep….beep moment as the Chair managed to backtrack a bit.
So it is fairly easy to understand who I will vote for and it will not be a bullet vote. The political chain that is the BOS has two weak links and maybe - hopefully - they’ll be voted off the island.
Why let a cheap shot go by? Homeowners stage a protest and Quelle and Frawley marched with them but our own twin Marie Antoinette’s offered them cake! What, MiMI, no flowers?
So Newt wants to get into the oral office and bring the entire nation to its knees like he does his paramours. Maybe GM will revive the Hummer in honor of Newt? As far as the arm candy she has figured out the way to his heart is not through his stomach. Maybe he can hook up with Clinton some day and discuss an oral history of the presidency?
Speaking of comedy in presidential politics it is not yet a done deal that Sarah Palin will run for the office. Is she a female Dan Quayle destine to be the punch line of jokes? Appears that way. The Republican Party ran roughshod over the Democrats in the last election cycle but appear to have quite a leadership vacuum for those running to grab the big enchilada. And I just love the personal foibles of some of the more morally anointed ones getting their PAC’s ready. I guess they have to fill the void of hypocrisy that Ted Kennedy left behind.
I read a nice assessment of President Obama where the connection was made to how he is an academic type that is prone to lecture and not leadership. Seems to be a high degree of vacillation when certain issues hit home with the Community Organizer In Chief.
The recent disaster in Japan is reflected in world wide financial markets with a massive sell off. Investors remind me of when a forecast of two inches of snow is in the works and the supermarkets empty of milk and bread in panic buying only with the financials it is panic selling.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
More Bogo Brilliance
Charlie Sheen is a wreck. Listening to his incoherent and disjointed ramblings makes one wonder when the mother ship will beam him up. His illustrious behaviors have been well documented and need no repeating. Now these behaviors could be the results of excessive drug use and mental health concerns and maybe a combination of both but what I really take note of is the way the media is actually taking advantage of the situation. Sheen appeared on numerous outlets and I question why they even have him on. To my simple mind it appears that ratings trump personal disaster. Now I’m waiting for someone to step up in this situation either his family or his entourage to at least address the issue. In the meantime the paparazzi and media will continue to take advantage of a person obviously in need of intervention.
Giving a monetary handout to a street person has always presented me with a moral dilemma. A large portion are what we called “bums” or “vagrants” when I was much, much younger. What is an issue with me is slipping a buck or some change into a coffee can knowing with an almost certainty that I am feeding an addiction. Now I use to write a clearing of the conscious check to Pine Street Inn and Rosie’s Place but even those have been outed for having some rather excessive salaries so that is now gone. Some local food pantries and places such as The Conway House provide something with a bit more contribution security. As the years have gone by virtually all of our charitable contributions have been local.
On the above paragraph I remember a time I was in Boston and stopped at a light when a woman came to my car with a young child in her grasp and requested money for food since she and her child were hungry. Across the street was a Burger King so I told her to go over there and I’ll buy her a meal. Her response? “F**k you.” That’s what makes me jaded.
I remember several years ago on a visit to Mexico we observed Mexican youth washing the windows of cars snarled in traffic. This is quite commonplace and anyone who is in a major city sees it. I pointed out to my daughter and wife “Look at the shoes.” They both did and my daughter recognized some real high end kicks. Quite a lucrative business.
Been numerous reports across the nation regarding some rather violent and in your face activity towards counter demonstrators at state house rallies. The rallies supporting union rights have a strong union presence and some have taken to heart Capuano’s “blood in the streets” statement. Wonder why that is being downplayed as isolated incidents when the same “isolated incidents” happened at Tea Party rallies during the last election cycle. Seems like the only major media outlet to really focus on it is Fox.
Having a campaign headquarters as Allin Frawley has done returns me to those electioneering times of yesteryear when the practice - even for local elections - was quite common.
The Obama administration is a wreck and shows little signs of getting out of the quagmire and 2012 is just around the corner - but there is good news. Think Newt, Mitt, Rudy, The Donald and a few others and all looks rosy for an Obama repeat.
How did John “I’d Walk A Mile For A Camera” Kerry miss this one? A quirk in Colorado law allows some estates to pay taxes at the agricultural rate. Tom Cruise has a property he bought for 18 million yet pays $400 in taxes since he allows sheep to graze for a short period of time a few times a year.
Former CEO Cleve Killingworth of BC/BS is reportedly on the boards of at least a dozen other companies and many are non profits. How much compensation he receives from this is unknown. AFL-CIO union president Robert Haynes has been rather reluctant to discuss his 72K kiss from his board position except to say in is only “pennies a year” compared to the billions BC/BS rakes in. Tell that to the folks who have had their premiums doubled in the last three years. But some behind the scenes wrangling obviously took place and the board announced they are “suspending” Their salaries - translation is let’s do this until it all blows over.
William Good is a public sector employee who gets it. He is Commissioner of the Inspection Services Division in Boston and The Herald brought to his attention some rather disturbing problems with how his agency does business. His response? “You have identified a problem and we are going back and clean it up.” No deflection. No evasiveness. No getting defensive.
On Tuesday, conservative activist James O'Keefe posted a hidden-camera video in which NPR executive Tom Schiller bashed the tea party movement as "racist" and "xenophobic" and said NPR would be better off without federal funding. That is an excerpt from a wire story on the resignation of Vivian Schiller - no relation to Tom Schiller - from NPR. This agency should have been cut from the fiscal herd decades ago.
Mike Tyson is in trouble. No it is not a domestic incident, biting an ear off or a threat to “eat your children” but something even more serious - PETA. Iron Mike has a show on Animal Planet about pigeons and pigeon racing but he is no novice since he’s been doing this for 30 years. Well…PETA is all up in feathers over this and has started to picket his house - now that is something I’d really want to do if Mike goes off on one of his bipolar rants. When I lived in Marshfield decades ago a neighbor was involved in pigeon racing and I can’t think of anything that would get me upset about it. His wife claimed the birds got more attention and better care than her or the kids and she was right.
The Wall Street Journal has reported a significant slowdown in municipal bond offerings as state budgets have to be addressed before adding long term debt for capital improvements. The bonds also will have to start paying more attractive (punitive) interest rates thanks to ratings drops. Same applies to local communities.
Newt Gingrich has a unique solution for all husbands that are involved in affairs - the passion for my country made me do it. Yep, Newt, that will go about as far as your presidential attempt.
Giving a monetary handout to a street person has always presented me with a moral dilemma. A large portion are what we called “bums” or “vagrants” when I was much, much younger. What is an issue with me is slipping a buck or some change into a coffee can knowing with an almost certainty that I am feeding an addiction. Now I use to write a clearing of the conscious check to Pine Street Inn and Rosie’s Place but even those have been outed for having some rather excessive salaries so that is now gone. Some local food pantries and places such as The Conway House provide something with a bit more contribution security. As the years have gone by virtually all of our charitable contributions have been local.
On the above paragraph I remember a time I was in Boston and stopped at a light when a woman came to my car with a young child in her grasp and requested money for food since she and her child were hungry. Across the street was a Burger King so I told her to go over there and I’ll buy her a meal. Her response? “F**k you.” That’s what makes me jaded.
I remember several years ago on a visit to Mexico we observed Mexican youth washing the windows of cars snarled in traffic. This is quite commonplace and anyone who is in a major city sees it. I pointed out to my daughter and wife “Look at the shoes.” They both did and my daughter recognized some real high end kicks. Quite a lucrative business.
Been numerous reports across the nation regarding some rather violent and in your face activity towards counter demonstrators at state house rallies. The rallies supporting union rights have a strong union presence and some have taken to heart Capuano’s “blood in the streets” statement. Wonder why that is being downplayed as isolated incidents when the same “isolated incidents” happened at Tea Party rallies during the last election cycle. Seems like the only major media outlet to really focus on it is Fox.
Having a campaign headquarters as Allin Frawley has done returns me to those electioneering times of yesteryear when the practice - even for local elections - was quite common.
The Obama administration is a wreck and shows little signs of getting out of the quagmire and 2012 is just around the corner - but there is good news. Think Newt, Mitt, Rudy, The Donald and a few others and all looks rosy for an Obama repeat.
How did John “I’d Walk A Mile For A Camera” Kerry miss this one? A quirk in Colorado law allows some estates to pay taxes at the agricultural rate. Tom Cruise has a property he bought for 18 million yet pays $400 in taxes since he allows sheep to graze for a short period of time a few times a year.
Former CEO Cleve Killingworth of BC/BS is reportedly on the boards of at least a dozen other companies and many are non profits. How much compensation he receives from this is unknown. AFL-CIO union president Robert Haynes has been rather reluctant to discuss his 72K kiss from his board position except to say in is only “pennies a year” compared to the billions BC/BS rakes in. Tell that to the folks who have had their premiums doubled in the last three years. But some behind the scenes wrangling obviously took place and the board announced they are “suspending” Their salaries - translation is let’s do this until it all blows over.
William Good is a public sector employee who gets it. He is Commissioner of the Inspection Services Division in Boston and The Herald brought to his attention some rather disturbing problems with how his agency does business. His response? “You have identified a problem and we are going back and clean it up.” No deflection. No evasiveness. No getting defensive.
On Tuesday, conservative activist James O'Keefe posted a hidden-camera video in which NPR executive Tom Schiller bashed the tea party movement as "racist" and "xenophobic" and said NPR would be better off without federal funding. That is an excerpt from a wire story on the resignation of Vivian Schiller - no relation to Tom Schiller - from NPR. This agency should have been cut from the fiscal herd decades ago.
Mike Tyson is in trouble. No it is not a domestic incident, biting an ear off or a threat to “eat your children” but something even more serious - PETA. Iron Mike has a show on Animal Planet about pigeons and pigeon racing but he is no novice since he’s been doing this for 30 years. Well…PETA is all up in feathers over this and has started to picket his house - now that is something I’d really want to do if Mike goes off on one of his bipolar rants. When I lived in Marshfield decades ago a neighbor was involved in pigeon racing and I can’t think of anything that would get me upset about it. His wife claimed the birds got more attention and better care than her or the kids and she was right.
The Wall Street Journal has reported a significant slowdown in municipal bond offerings as state budgets have to be addressed before adding long term debt for capital improvements. The bonds also will have to start paying more attractive (punitive) interest rates thanks to ratings drops. Same applies to local communities.
Newt Gingrich has a unique solution for all husbands that are involved in affairs - the passion for my country made me do it. Yep, Newt, that will go about as far as your presidential attempt.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Too Much To List
At least the rain cleaned off my car.
Companion tickets for airline travel have long been a marketing ploy to get you hooked into specific credit card offers. These are traditional BOGOFREE (Buy One Get One Free) items but they come with a catch. The ticket is only good in specific inventories or fare classes. I have one from American Airlines and decided to attempt to use it but knew what would happen. Round trip airfare from Boston to Houston - Hobby for two tickets came out to $781.60 booked online with all taxes and fees. The same fare booked with an agent (required and $20 per ticket) amounted to $824.20. So using a “free” ticket actually cost more. No surprise.
The above are usually handed out with a credit card offer for 25,000 to 40,000 air miles which is what I am after. Sometimes you may get a pass to their executive club, companion tickets, money off coupons and so on but most are worthless. Just go for the air miles and don’t pay for the card - first year is usually fee free - then cancel out when they hit you with a fee. Impact on your FICO score is negligible. You can also negotiate at that point and I have had the fee dropped and been given 5,000 to 10,000 bonus miles. Remember the more you charge the more they make off merchants who have to pay a fee - all eventually passed on via higher prices.
Capital Planning Committee was well organized in their presentation and their recommendations. The condition of some of the equipment is beyond belief especially those fire trucks. This represents heavy use equipment in all sorts of weather conditions and the results become obvious.
Barney Fife department. A Girl Scout leader says young members of her troop thought they were headed to jail when a Georgia police officer told them to quit selling cookies.
The city's police chief and mayor spoke with the officer. They say he did nothing wrong and that it was a misunderstanding. The troop now has a permit to sell. And to smooth things over, the city is offering the girls a pizza party. Here is the real story. That cop was an idiot. Carrying a badge and having a gun does not make for common sense.
One of the big problems I have with overrides for education is the money goes into salaries and benefits.
The Gas & Electric fiefdom has budgeted $38,000 shutters. I guess they don’t shop at Lowe’s. Maybe they can un-budget it and put that 38K back to the ratepayers? Historical preservation is nice but lower rates are nicer.
So the stock market goes nuts and oil prices go through the roof over Libya. Libya produces about 2% of the world supply which is about what is probably spilled by tankers. The Saudi’s were on record as saying any loss of production from Libya would be made up by increased production from their fields yet that had no influence on the speculators.
Under funded pensions in the public sector amount to about 3 trillion.
A government shutdown is now possible but it is not a rare occurrence from what I have read. Been at least ten in the last 30 years with no shutdown of social security checks. Despite this Obama has said that may happen. Always count on scare tactics.
Teachers should be compensated to the best of the ability of a community but when the fiscal well has been tapped out then a certain reality must set in.
The Herald had an article about court officers having a second job by altering their schedule. Seems to be rather commonplace and many of the court officers are compensated in excess of a $100,000 a year. The pubic is becoming aware that there are now two classes of people - the public service elite and those who compensate them.
The GM of the Boston Celtic - Danny Ainge - shipped out about half his team at the trading deadline. The team is in first place and has the second best record in the NBA so this is a substantial risk. Check back in June for tar and feathers or sainthood.
I just can’t imagine a bigger political disgrace than Democratic legislatures fleeing rather than voting. You oppose a bill and do not have the support to stop it so you play hide and seek. If this happened in Massachusetts the Republicans would be perpetually on the lamb.
Soon the candidate night action will take place. Oak Point (Where every day is a tax free holiday) will have one sponsored by their extremely pro active vets group.
Those pesky Tea Party types have actually been serious about cuts and debt reduction. Seems that too many Democrats have now developed a status quo regarding the perfect storm with benefits and wages to the public sector.
The real action of those influenced by the Tea Party appears to be in the various state legislatures were the perpetually passing down of fiscal insanity has finally caught up. Cuts have to be made or taxes raised.
Have got tickets for the Red $ox games in Houston and Kansas City. I guess spring is here. Even made plane reservations for myself and my wife - The Lovely Cynthia - for KC using air miles. My wife will not attend games but “hang” with other ladies who are indulging our baseball wishes. Oh the payback I face on this!
Warren Buffett remains “optimistic” about our economy. Hey if I had 50 billion or so I would be optimistic.
Rush the blabbermouth has pointed out another wonderful inconsistency in the White House by shedding some caloric light on the eating habits of the First Lady. Michelle Obama does not exactly practice what she preaches to the hoi polloi.
I just wonder when the activity of pirates will grab some type of concerted effort on the part of nations. Seems the defensive exercise is rather shoddy and inconsistent.
The Razzies were handed out and I pay more attention to that award than the Oscars.
The sports team that generated the most revenue in 2010 was Real Madrid a soccer team that made 583M.
Freedom Of Information Act has shown a wee bit of negativity regarding late Senator Ted Kennedy including his rental of a brothel in Chile and a petulant and pompous attitude. Ted is a great example of DYKWIA (Don’t you know who I am?) mentality that seems to have been passed down the genetic food chain to his son “Patches.” I will say I greatly admired JFK and even more so RFK but Ted I had no use for since I have personally witnessed some of his DYKWIA behavior.
You know you are getting old department. The last WWI vet died at 110. I remember attending parades in the early 1950s when you had vets from the Spanish - American to Korea marching. The WWI group was about the age I am now. I do believe the last vet of the Civil War dies in the mid 1950s.
I saw The King’s Speech and it was an entertaining movie but I passed on The Fighter.
Regarding The King’s Speech I found dramatic license taken with the character Lionel Logue who became the therapist for the Duke of York. Logue was shown to be somewhat of a down and out character when the reality was he was financially quite comfortable with an extensive collection of wealthy clients that allowed him to also treat those with limited resources for free. Logue was a well respected professional who was actually the founder of British Society of Speech Therapists. In regards to The Duke of York he confidently made many speeches before the address that became central to the movie. It’s the movies!
Another scammer made contact with me the other day and it was not the English Lottery or some lost relative in Nigeria. This was a cold call from Texas Allied Petroleum for investment in a drilling operation. Just a mere 60K for a ten times that return and complete with a slick brochure that arrived the next day. Only issue is in this day and age one with even my limited internet skills can do ten minutes of basic research that shows this “company” has more red flags than a May Day celebration in Red Square.
The return call was a thing of beauty and lasted less than a minute especially when I pointed out the long trail of complaints and that all their fiscal reports were company created and unaudited. The sad thing is that some folks get dizzy with the promised returns only to be duped out of large sums of money. Be aware that they will often attempt to have the prospective sucker (investor) use their IRA as a means of investment. There are enough shady characters with legitimate credentials without having the fly by night frauds hanging around.
Companion tickets for airline travel have long been a marketing ploy to get you hooked into specific credit card offers. These are traditional BOGOFREE (Buy One Get One Free) items but they come with a catch. The ticket is only good in specific inventories or fare classes. I have one from American Airlines and decided to attempt to use it but knew what would happen. Round trip airfare from Boston to Houston - Hobby for two tickets came out to $781.60 booked online with all taxes and fees. The same fare booked with an agent (required and $20 per ticket) amounted to $824.20. So using a “free” ticket actually cost more. No surprise.
The above are usually handed out with a credit card offer for 25,000 to 40,000 air miles which is what I am after. Sometimes you may get a pass to their executive club, companion tickets, money off coupons and so on but most are worthless. Just go for the air miles and don’t pay for the card - first year is usually fee free - then cancel out when they hit you with a fee. Impact on your FICO score is negligible. You can also negotiate at that point and I have had the fee dropped and been given 5,000 to 10,000 bonus miles. Remember the more you charge the more they make off merchants who have to pay a fee - all eventually passed on via higher prices.
Capital Planning Committee was well organized in their presentation and their recommendations. The condition of some of the equipment is beyond belief especially those fire trucks. This represents heavy use equipment in all sorts of weather conditions and the results become obvious.
Barney Fife department. A Girl Scout leader says young members of her troop thought they were headed to jail when a Georgia police officer told them to quit selling cookies.
The city's police chief and mayor spoke with the officer. They say he did nothing wrong and that it was a misunderstanding. The troop now has a permit to sell. And to smooth things over, the city is offering the girls a pizza party. Here is the real story. That cop was an idiot. Carrying a badge and having a gun does not make for common sense.
One of the big problems I have with overrides for education is the money goes into salaries and benefits.
The Gas & Electric fiefdom has budgeted $38,000 shutters. I guess they don’t shop at Lowe’s. Maybe they can un-budget it and put that 38K back to the ratepayers? Historical preservation is nice but lower rates are nicer.
So the stock market goes nuts and oil prices go through the roof over Libya. Libya produces about 2% of the world supply which is about what is probably spilled by tankers. The Saudi’s were on record as saying any loss of production from Libya would be made up by increased production from their fields yet that had no influence on the speculators.
Under funded pensions in the public sector amount to about 3 trillion.
A government shutdown is now possible but it is not a rare occurrence from what I have read. Been at least ten in the last 30 years with no shutdown of social security checks. Despite this Obama has said that may happen. Always count on scare tactics.
Teachers should be compensated to the best of the ability of a community but when the fiscal well has been tapped out then a certain reality must set in.
The Herald had an article about court officers having a second job by altering their schedule. Seems to be rather commonplace and many of the court officers are compensated in excess of a $100,000 a year. The pubic is becoming aware that there are now two classes of people - the public service elite and those who compensate them.
The GM of the Boston Celtic - Danny Ainge - shipped out about half his team at the trading deadline. The team is in first place and has the second best record in the NBA so this is a substantial risk. Check back in June for tar and feathers or sainthood.
I just can’t imagine a bigger political disgrace than Democratic legislatures fleeing rather than voting. You oppose a bill and do not have the support to stop it so you play hide and seek. If this happened in Massachusetts the Republicans would be perpetually on the lamb.
Soon the candidate night action will take place. Oak Point (Where every day is a tax free holiday) will have one sponsored by their extremely pro active vets group.
Those pesky Tea Party types have actually been serious about cuts and debt reduction. Seems that too many Democrats have now developed a status quo regarding the perfect storm with benefits and wages to the public sector.
The real action of those influenced by the Tea Party appears to be in the various state legislatures were the perpetually passing down of fiscal insanity has finally caught up. Cuts have to be made or taxes raised.
Have got tickets for the Red $ox games in Houston and Kansas City. I guess spring is here. Even made plane reservations for myself and my wife - The Lovely Cynthia - for KC using air miles. My wife will not attend games but “hang” with other ladies who are indulging our baseball wishes. Oh the payback I face on this!
Warren Buffett remains “optimistic” about our economy. Hey if I had 50 billion or so I would be optimistic.
Rush the blabbermouth has pointed out another wonderful inconsistency in the White House by shedding some caloric light on the eating habits of the First Lady. Michelle Obama does not exactly practice what she preaches to the hoi polloi.
I just wonder when the activity of pirates will grab some type of concerted effort on the part of nations. Seems the defensive exercise is rather shoddy and inconsistent.
The Razzies were handed out and I pay more attention to that award than the Oscars.
The sports team that generated the most revenue in 2010 was Real Madrid a soccer team that made 583M.
Freedom Of Information Act has shown a wee bit of negativity regarding late Senator Ted Kennedy including his rental of a brothel in Chile and a petulant and pompous attitude. Ted is a great example of DYKWIA (Don’t you know who I am?) mentality that seems to have been passed down the genetic food chain to his son “Patches.” I will say I greatly admired JFK and even more so RFK but Ted I had no use for since I have personally witnessed some of his DYKWIA behavior.
You know you are getting old department. The last WWI vet died at 110. I remember attending parades in the early 1950s when you had vets from the Spanish - American to Korea marching. The WWI group was about the age I am now. I do believe the last vet of the Civil War dies in the mid 1950s.
I saw The King’s Speech and it was an entertaining movie but I passed on The Fighter.
Regarding The King’s Speech I found dramatic license taken with the character Lionel Logue who became the therapist for the Duke of York. Logue was shown to be somewhat of a down and out character when the reality was he was financially quite comfortable with an extensive collection of wealthy clients that allowed him to also treat those with limited resources for free. Logue was a well respected professional who was actually the founder of British Society of Speech Therapists. In regards to The Duke of York he confidently made many speeches before the address that became central to the movie. It’s the movies!
Another scammer made contact with me the other day and it was not the English Lottery or some lost relative in Nigeria. This was a cold call from Texas Allied Petroleum for investment in a drilling operation. Just a mere 60K for a ten times that return and complete with a slick brochure that arrived the next day. Only issue is in this day and age one with even my limited internet skills can do ten minutes of basic research that shows this “company” has more red flags than a May Day celebration in Red Square.
The return call was a thing of beauty and lasted less than a minute especially when I pointed out the long trail of complaints and that all their fiscal reports were company created and unaudited. The sad thing is that some folks get dizzy with the promised returns only to be duped out of large sums of money. Be aware that they will often attempt to have the prospective sucker (investor) use their IRA as a means of investment. There are enough shady characters with legitimate credentials without having the fly by night frauds hanging around.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
In The News And Other Stuff
Tea Party backed Republicans in Congress lost out on their bid for an additional 22B “For the children” cuts in social services. Unfortunately everyone has a turf agenda to “protect” certain interests such as The Crying Man Speaker still attempting to get those jet engines for his district. But the deficit conscious Republicans did manage to slash 61B while providing protection for certain companies. Now on to the Senate and then to the President. Chances are it will eventually be watered down or eliminated. Bottom line is everyone is going to get nailed if the spending and deficit is to be controlled.
Governor “two and out” Patrick refused to up the unemployment for MA employers thus saving 400M in extended costs to businesses that would have to eventually be passed along in the pricing chain.
A charity started by two returning vets of Iraq and Afghanistan proved to be a sham. They were even given office space in the state house by the administration only to be outed by Gatehouse News. One expenditure was $800 at Foxwoods. Ouch! Looks like the lesson learned was how to mirror the rampant corruption of Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Republicans - first year branch - and Obama managed to agree on a minor budget slicing last week of alternative jet engines that would trim 450M from the budget. Not much in the context of the federal budget but more than the budgets of Middleboro, Bridgewater, Lakeville, Carver, Raynham, Wareham, Halifax and a few other towns combined.
Senator Marc Pacheco has made my political phony sidebar in the past and I could easily toss him out there again. Marc now is exploring being mayor and a state senator. Living proof of what we all know that being “In the House” in Massachusetts is a part time job with full time pay. Of course what has been dragged out is “others have done it.” Gee…a history of hacks padding their pension.
Maybe Pacheco is a political Mormon so instead of two wives he has two jobs.
Wisconsin has done what BB would love and - hey, BB, it’s the Republicans doing it! They are slashing the pensions and proposing a rewriting of collective bargaining laws with state workers. One of the proposals is to have the workers pay 12.5% of their health care cost. 12.5%! The other proposal is to have them fund half their retirement. Democrats actually left the state rather than be forced into watching this pass. Similar situation is surfacing in NY where a liberal Democrat Andrew Cuomo has all of a sudden become a fiscal conservative going to war with public service unions.
Governor Walker of Wisconsin did exactly what he said he would do if elected. He was elected and actually followed through. Now leaving the state in a snit is not part of the political process since if you are disturbed by his policies just vote him and his cronies out of office on the next round and make changes.
The fiscal tsunami that has hit the United States first surfaced in Europe where governments have had a “smell the coffee” moment and realize the stark reality that the money is not there. To get the money would require a round of oppressive tax increases.
Back home the same reality is now firmly in place as pragmatic democrats and republicans attempt to come to grips with the fiscal realities.
In Middleboro the annual shortage has been going on for decades and I imagine more this year. You have a community with the lowest median income of any town in the county, rising health care costs, mandated programs to fund, contractual obligations and really quite limited new revenue and no rescue on the horizon. Labor costs are the big budget buster and unfortunately that is where the axe will eventually fall. After four rounds of failure with 2 and ½ I doubt any life line will show up.
The value of a second opinion also applies to cars. My wife - The Lovely Cynthia - had a “noise” emanating from her pristine vehicle. Muffler? Don’t know. Had it checked out and was told it was a possible transmission problem which they do not handle. Go to a transmission service and have them look at it. I know from previous experience this is $2,000+ so I went to get a second opinion. This time it was a wheel bearing. Mechanic on the test drive with me said so after about 15 seconds. Bearing replaced. Noise gone. Savings? A bundle.
Local UFC or former UFC fighter is in the news. Has quite a path of destruction with assaults and destruction of property. Time to get some help.
The IRS is one government agency that scares the bejabbers out of us. They have attempted to become more reasonable through the years but this next little missive is not about that but about their web site. User friendly. You can track your refund. They also answer tax questions via the internet. That has been an excellent source for me.
I’d love to see a one time tax free holiday for car buying. This is the ultimate big ticket item and I just refuse to buy a new one when I have to toss away 6.5% on top of an excise tax.
National Grid offers a series of rebates for those wishing to purchase a new high efficiency gas burner which I did. Next comes getting that rebate. How many roadblocks can one company put in place to avoid paying? They are requesting information that was not even on their checklist. Somehow I am getting the whiff of small claims court.
There is a web site that lists what the honorarium for speakers of some notoriety. Bill Belichick has a fee of $50,001. What is the one for?
Airline tales of joy. I have a friend who is going to Hawaii and when he went to get his flight the airline was going to bump him since he was a non revenue passenger (airmiles). Eventually his compensation was a night room at the airport Hilton with several food coupons. A flight the next day first class on both legs. And finally a check - not a voucher - for $800. That is the best one I can ever recall.
Governor “two and out” Patrick refused to up the unemployment for MA employers thus saving 400M in extended costs to businesses that would have to eventually be passed along in the pricing chain.
A charity started by two returning vets of Iraq and Afghanistan proved to be a sham. They were even given office space in the state house by the administration only to be outed by Gatehouse News. One expenditure was $800 at Foxwoods. Ouch! Looks like the lesson learned was how to mirror the rampant corruption of Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Republicans - first year branch - and Obama managed to agree on a minor budget slicing last week of alternative jet engines that would trim 450M from the budget. Not much in the context of the federal budget but more than the budgets of Middleboro, Bridgewater, Lakeville, Carver, Raynham, Wareham, Halifax and a few other towns combined.
Senator Marc Pacheco has made my political phony sidebar in the past and I could easily toss him out there again. Marc now is exploring being mayor and a state senator. Living proof of what we all know that being “In the House” in Massachusetts is a part time job with full time pay. Of course what has been dragged out is “others have done it.” Gee…a history of hacks padding their pension.
Maybe Pacheco is a political Mormon so instead of two wives he has two jobs.
Wisconsin has done what BB would love and - hey, BB, it’s the Republicans doing it! They are slashing the pensions and proposing a rewriting of collective bargaining laws with state workers. One of the proposals is to have the workers pay 12.5% of their health care cost. 12.5%! The other proposal is to have them fund half their retirement. Democrats actually left the state rather than be forced into watching this pass. Similar situation is surfacing in NY where a liberal Democrat Andrew Cuomo has all of a sudden become a fiscal conservative going to war with public service unions.
Governor Walker of Wisconsin did exactly what he said he would do if elected. He was elected and actually followed through. Now leaving the state in a snit is not part of the political process since if you are disturbed by his policies just vote him and his cronies out of office on the next round and make changes.
The fiscal tsunami that has hit the United States first surfaced in Europe where governments have had a “smell the coffee” moment and realize the stark reality that the money is not there. To get the money would require a round of oppressive tax increases.
Back home the same reality is now firmly in place as pragmatic democrats and republicans attempt to come to grips with the fiscal realities.
In Middleboro the annual shortage has been going on for decades and I imagine more this year. You have a community with the lowest median income of any town in the county, rising health care costs, mandated programs to fund, contractual obligations and really quite limited new revenue and no rescue on the horizon. Labor costs are the big budget buster and unfortunately that is where the axe will eventually fall. After four rounds of failure with 2 and ½ I doubt any life line will show up.
The value of a second opinion also applies to cars. My wife - The Lovely Cynthia - had a “noise” emanating from her pristine vehicle. Muffler? Don’t know. Had it checked out and was told it was a possible transmission problem which they do not handle. Go to a transmission service and have them look at it. I know from previous experience this is $2,000+ so I went to get a second opinion. This time it was a wheel bearing. Mechanic on the test drive with me said so after about 15 seconds. Bearing replaced. Noise gone. Savings? A bundle.
Local UFC or former UFC fighter is in the news. Has quite a path of destruction with assaults and destruction of property. Time to get some help.
The IRS is one government agency that scares the bejabbers out of us. They have attempted to become more reasonable through the years but this next little missive is not about that but about their web site. User friendly. You can track your refund. They also answer tax questions via the internet. That has been an excellent source for me.
I’d love to see a one time tax free holiday for car buying. This is the ultimate big ticket item and I just refuse to buy a new one when I have to toss away 6.5% on top of an excise tax.
National Grid offers a series of rebates for those wishing to purchase a new high efficiency gas burner which I did. Next comes getting that rebate. How many roadblocks can one company put in place to avoid paying? They are requesting information that was not even on their checklist. Somehow I am getting the whiff of small claims court.
There is a web site that lists what the honorarium for speakers of some notoriety. Bill Belichick has a fee of $50,001. What is the one for?
Airline tales of joy. I have a friend who is going to Hawaii and when he went to get his flight the airline was going to bump him since he was a non revenue passenger (airmiles). Eventually his compensation was a night room at the airport Hilton with several food coupons. A flight the next day first class on both legs. And finally a check - not a voucher - for $800. That is the best one I can ever recall.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
President Day Post
In Boston there is a tradition of saving your shoveled parking space with items to prevent access to those not worthy - the ones that didn’t shovel it out. Now a city ordinance allows this to happen for 48 hours and then the rules change but folks still have the items out ignoring the “Mumbles Mandate.” The trash collectors have been told to remove them since they are considered refuse so chairs, toilets, barrels and other items are collected. In Middleboro that would not be a problem since they don’t pick up the stuff.
The Republicans in Congress seem to be in a bit of reverse on budget slashing as their machetes have turned into a pocket knife.
The Patriot Act had a surprise as 26 Republicans came to their collective senses and voted against extending it.
Charlie Sheen would make a wonderful addition to Congress or maybe as Prime Minister of Italy?
The basketball season continues on at the professional level. I remember “back in the day” when Gene Conley would be pitching for the Sox and backing up Bill Russell. Now that season seems to extend half way through baseball season.
Back when the Sox traded Frank Sullivan (6’7”) for Gene Conley (6’8”) someone asked Frank Lane - a notable GM - who got the better of the deal? His reply: “Red Sox by an inch.”
I wonder what will become talking points for the BOS race? My personal question if I manage to get off my posterior will be “What do you plan to do for health care cost reduction in union negotiations?” Same can be said for patient zero in the local health care issue - the teachers union.
Metro South Chamber of Commerce is offering a great trip to China in November. This is a nine day trip with most meals, four and five star hotels and airfare from Boston for $2,050 per person.
Scott Brown is now approaching 8 Mil in his campaign fund. That will be an attention getter for any potential opponent. Brown has drawn fire from the right, left and middle so he must be doing something right since I am so use to our Congressional delegation pandering to the far left.
The Scott Brown money will only grow and grow exponentially if he wins in 2012 since he’ll be on the front burner for Republican presidential hopes for 2016. Money equals access to power.
I saw another letter by Marc Pacheco in the Gazette responding to Jim Thomas. Naturally - like many others from left of center - he dragged out the new code words “toxic” and “Vitriolic” to describe Thomas previous letters. Spare me the tears, senator, since after listening to Barney Frank for years Thomas is actually Ms. Manners. Once you start getting them to respond - and Pacheco has - you have won.
Now my dear Barney Frank is not going to give up his 400 or so years of “service” in Congress and quietly - wait - quietly and Barney? LMBAO - ride into the sunset and return to his previous employment - pumping gas back in the 50s! No dreaded private sector for Barney. So now the political musical chairs begin - what moonbat will be on the outside looking in? If I was in Congress and the major portion of my district was west of Worcester I’d be checking on my pension payout.
I’d love to see Sarah Palin and her daughter Bristol appear on Jeopardy. Well….maybe “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” OK….than a 1st grader. My money would be on the kids.
Mitt Romney is suppose to be making another run at being the Leader of The Free World. Almost enough to make me vote for President WOW - if I voted for a national slate at all.
The rotary relief has been deep sixed again. Looks like I will continue to take five minutes rather one minute to get through now that the exotic pathway has been eliminated. But putting my personal negativism aside it’s demise is not something I would pin on the BOS, TM, Planning Board, DPW, IT Director and anyone else for it just seems to be a semi greedy developer.
When they finally get around to actually doing something with the rotary it would IMO end up being a local version of “The Big Dig” with escalating costs, shoddy workmanship and a time line that will last until we are all like the Jetsons. I imagine that project will be very, very costly.
I saw our delegation meet with the BOS so I tried to drift through all the political speak and make some sense of it but all I managed to hear was “tough” as far as cities and towns getting anything.
Watching the Three Amigos or is it Stooges before the BOS I once again saw my aversion to suits and ties. I really think a tie is absolutely stupid. Just dumb to me. My wife - The Lovely Cynthia - thinks a well dressed man is attractive. So that places me in the non attractive category. The one good thing about suits is that they seem fairly timeless as some I have are 30+ years old and still in style and still fit.
Martin Gaskell lost out on a job at The University of Kentucky over his religious beliefs. Gaskell describes himself as a “Theistic Evolutionist” which means he accepts Darwin and believes the earth is actually billions of years old. He did what is commonplace - he sued. Enough email evidence and other evidence was available to have UK settle for 125K. Gaskell is an example of a reputable scientist with impeccable credentials who can also be very religious. They are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
I have never been to The Alley Theater that has opened in Middleboro but I wonder if it is the type of venue that can show films? Many out of the ordinary films do not reach the suburban audience so one has to migrate to various places in Boston or Cambridge to see these films. I don’t care for the term “Art Films” but that is the general moniker assigned to that genre. Be nice to see if someone could give it a go in this area especially if they could combine it with a dinner.
More on entertainment. Spider Man The Musical has been in the news with all the problems they are running into which are mostly self-inflicted thanks to some rather exotic special effects. This is now turning into a $65,000,000 dog. Still in “previews” frustrated critics finally got fed up and gave it reviews - Spidy got squashed! How bad is it? Playbill is offering steep discounts on their web side and Audience Rewards is giving away a thousand points for buying a ticket. I’ll pass.
The military budget will soon be front and center as even the Tea Party crowd has stated it needs to be examined. Trouble is when the “bad guys” start something that is when we go to the cops and in international politics the cops happen to be our military. What bothers me is how we choose to define the “bad guys” as it seems that the military has been used more as an extension of diplomacy of Teddy Roosevelt (carry a big stick) than anything resembling a long range plan.
Right now the United States has eleven aircraft carriers. A carrier is not just a flight deck but a fearsome force that has as much firepower as most countries and that does not even include the nuclear arsenal. Is eleven really necessary? Is it necessary to station troops in England? Germany? Japan? The percent of out budget used for military expenditures is simply outrageous especially in the context of having two questionable wars occurring simultaneously. Our Force de Frappe seems excessive.
Thankfully the Republicans has targeted NPR and PBS for zero funding.
Maybe the Republicans and WOW can get into dueling budget cutting. A sort of mine is smaller than yours?
The Motley Fools are investment advisors but not in a traditional sense. They tend to debase some stocks and especially mutual funds which is where for several years they have directed their collective angst - mutual funds. I enjoy them and have found their advice interesting. But now they have started their own mutual fund. Welcome, boys, to reality and the world of making really big money.
The Hayden Planetarium has reopened after a year of renovations to bring it into the 21st century. The Museum Of Science in Boston is a very dated facility just like the aquarium but at one time they were the blueprint for similar projects all over the country and even the world. Both have shown their age but steps are being taken to once again make both premier attractions.
Spring training has opened so prepare for an endless stream of mindless stories.
Troubles in Egypt did not have any serious impact on the stock market the last few weeks and that is not unusual. I read an article that showed markets are not really impacted long range by significant events such as Pearl Harbor, 9/11 or the assassination of JFK.
The deepest skiing snow base in New England is the Blue Hills. 55 to 75 inches.
Rather amusing watching the BOS debate for twenty or so minutes about getting a free ambulance. Looks like the vehicle is in rather good shape with nothing really to be done to it. So why the debate? Take it. If it is a pile of bolts junk it. I got $400 for a beat up Hyundai with a engine that was shot.
Japan has had the second largest economy for 43 years and it is now number three behind China.
A sign that the boom times have returned is how the financial picture is improving for Sand Las Vegas, MGM, Wynn Resorts, Boyd Gaming, Penn National Gaming and a slew of others whose central focus is enticing you to lose your money. Their stocks are all at or near 52 week highs.
The Republicans in Congress seem to be in a bit of reverse on budget slashing as their machetes have turned into a pocket knife.
The Patriot Act had a surprise as 26 Republicans came to their collective senses and voted against extending it.
Charlie Sheen would make a wonderful addition to Congress or maybe as Prime Minister of Italy?
The basketball season continues on at the professional level. I remember “back in the day” when Gene Conley would be pitching for the Sox and backing up Bill Russell. Now that season seems to extend half way through baseball season.
Back when the Sox traded Frank Sullivan (6’7”) for Gene Conley (6’8”) someone asked Frank Lane - a notable GM - who got the better of the deal? His reply: “Red Sox by an inch.”
I wonder what will become talking points for the BOS race? My personal question if I manage to get off my posterior will be “What do you plan to do for health care cost reduction in union negotiations?” Same can be said for patient zero in the local health care issue - the teachers union.
Metro South Chamber of Commerce is offering a great trip to China in November. This is a nine day trip with most meals, four and five star hotels and airfare from Boston for $2,050 per person.
Scott Brown is now approaching 8 Mil in his campaign fund. That will be an attention getter for any potential opponent. Brown has drawn fire from the right, left and middle so he must be doing something right since I am so use to our Congressional delegation pandering to the far left.
The Scott Brown money will only grow and grow exponentially if he wins in 2012 since he’ll be on the front burner for Republican presidential hopes for 2016. Money equals access to power.
I saw another letter by Marc Pacheco in the Gazette responding to Jim Thomas. Naturally - like many others from left of center - he dragged out the new code words “toxic” and “Vitriolic” to describe Thomas previous letters. Spare me the tears, senator, since after listening to Barney Frank for years Thomas is actually Ms. Manners. Once you start getting them to respond - and Pacheco has - you have won.
Now my dear Barney Frank is not going to give up his 400 or so years of “service” in Congress and quietly - wait - quietly and Barney? LMBAO - ride into the sunset and return to his previous employment - pumping gas back in the 50s! No dreaded private sector for Barney. So now the political musical chairs begin - what moonbat will be on the outside looking in? If I was in Congress and the major portion of my district was west of Worcester I’d be checking on my pension payout.
I’d love to see Sarah Palin and her daughter Bristol appear on Jeopardy. Well….maybe “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” OK….than a 1st grader. My money would be on the kids.
Mitt Romney is suppose to be making another run at being the Leader of The Free World. Almost enough to make me vote for President WOW - if I voted for a national slate at all.
The rotary relief has been deep sixed again. Looks like I will continue to take five minutes rather one minute to get through now that the exotic pathway has been eliminated. But putting my personal negativism aside it’s demise is not something I would pin on the BOS, TM, Planning Board, DPW, IT Director and anyone else for it just seems to be a semi greedy developer.
When they finally get around to actually doing something with the rotary it would IMO end up being a local version of “The Big Dig” with escalating costs, shoddy workmanship and a time line that will last until we are all like the Jetsons. I imagine that project will be very, very costly.
I saw our delegation meet with the BOS so I tried to drift through all the political speak and make some sense of it but all I managed to hear was “tough” as far as cities and towns getting anything.
Watching the Three Amigos or is it Stooges before the BOS I once again saw my aversion to suits and ties. I really think a tie is absolutely stupid. Just dumb to me. My wife - The Lovely Cynthia - thinks a well dressed man is attractive. So that places me in the non attractive category. The one good thing about suits is that they seem fairly timeless as some I have are 30+ years old and still in style and still fit.
Martin Gaskell lost out on a job at The University of Kentucky over his religious beliefs. Gaskell describes himself as a “Theistic Evolutionist” which means he accepts Darwin and believes the earth is actually billions of years old. He did what is commonplace - he sued. Enough email evidence and other evidence was available to have UK settle for 125K. Gaskell is an example of a reputable scientist with impeccable credentials who can also be very religious. They are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
I have never been to The Alley Theater that has opened in Middleboro but I wonder if it is the type of venue that can show films? Many out of the ordinary films do not reach the suburban audience so one has to migrate to various places in Boston or Cambridge to see these films. I don’t care for the term “Art Films” but that is the general moniker assigned to that genre. Be nice to see if someone could give it a go in this area especially if they could combine it with a dinner.
More on entertainment. Spider Man The Musical has been in the news with all the problems they are running into which are mostly self-inflicted thanks to some rather exotic special effects. This is now turning into a $65,000,000 dog. Still in “previews” frustrated critics finally got fed up and gave it reviews - Spidy got squashed! How bad is it? Playbill is offering steep discounts on their web side and Audience Rewards is giving away a thousand points for buying a ticket. I’ll pass.
The military budget will soon be front and center as even the Tea Party crowd has stated it needs to be examined. Trouble is when the “bad guys” start something that is when we go to the cops and in international politics the cops happen to be our military. What bothers me is how we choose to define the “bad guys” as it seems that the military has been used more as an extension of diplomacy of Teddy Roosevelt (carry a big stick) than anything resembling a long range plan.
Right now the United States has eleven aircraft carriers. A carrier is not just a flight deck but a fearsome force that has as much firepower as most countries and that does not even include the nuclear arsenal. Is eleven really necessary? Is it necessary to station troops in England? Germany? Japan? The percent of out budget used for military expenditures is simply outrageous especially in the context of having two questionable wars occurring simultaneously. Our Force de Frappe seems excessive.
Thankfully the Republicans has targeted NPR and PBS for zero funding.
Maybe the Republicans and WOW can get into dueling budget cutting. A sort of mine is smaller than yours?
The Motley Fools are investment advisors but not in a traditional sense. They tend to debase some stocks and especially mutual funds which is where for several years they have directed their collective angst - mutual funds. I enjoy them and have found their advice interesting. But now they have started their own mutual fund. Welcome, boys, to reality and the world of making really big money.
The Hayden Planetarium has reopened after a year of renovations to bring it into the 21st century. The Museum Of Science in Boston is a very dated facility just like the aquarium but at one time they were the blueprint for similar projects all over the country and even the world. Both have shown their age but steps are being taken to once again make both premier attractions.
Spring training has opened so prepare for an endless stream of mindless stories.
Troubles in Egypt did not have any serious impact on the stock market the last few weeks and that is not unusual. I read an article that showed markets are not really impacted long range by significant events such as Pearl Harbor, 9/11 or the assassination of JFK.
The deepest skiing snow base in New England is the Blue Hills. 55 to 75 inches.
Rather amusing watching the BOS debate for twenty or so minutes about getting a free ambulance. Looks like the vehicle is in rather good shape with nothing really to be done to it. So why the debate? Take it. If it is a pile of bolts junk it. I got $400 for a beat up Hyundai with a engine that was shot.
Japan has had the second largest economy for 43 years and it is now number three behind China.
A sign that the boom times have returned is how the financial picture is improving for Sand Las Vegas, MGM, Wynn Resorts, Boyd Gaming, Penn National Gaming and a slew of others whose central focus is enticing you to lose your money. Their stocks are all at or near 52 week highs.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
DIET/FRAWLEY/BOS/EGYPT/BB/OTHER STUFF
The Bogo diet has started. Every year around this time I manage to gain about five pounds. Now to many that is nothing but to the real BB (Buffed Bogo) it is so why accept it? My body just seems to want a layer of winter fat despite that I have a fairly high exercise activity level and really always have except when I am in rehab mode for an injury or surgery so that part of the puzzle is in place. But the weight? So I cut way back by eliminating all sweets and breads and concentrating on smaller portions. Snacks consist of diet tea or soda and fruit or crackers. Maybe not top notch on the Dr. Oz scale but filling. In a week that five pounds has vanished but I will go on a bit longer and trim another five or so - maybe.
On the diet front or is that behind I just get a load of all the gimmicks for weight loss. It really is quite basic: Eat less. Eat right. Exercise more.
But with the diet I use I live for Sunday. Sunday is the very, very best day since that is treat day. The treat is a Honey Dew coffee roll. I savory Sunday and that coffee roll. I microwave it for ten seconds. Each bit of frosting is devoured and licked off my fingers. I know - visual - but you all do it. Admit it. I take that treat in bits and pieces as I slowly work my way to the center. That is my reward. This will probably be a three or maybe a four Sunday diet. When it is done I will resume my normal eating patterns and not worry about any gains since exercise burns about a 1,000 extra calories a day.
The nanny state of Massachusetts is doing enough meddling into how we make choices in just what we are going to eat. The perception is that the citizenry is waddling around - especially children - as borderline obese. Not true for this state as we are ranked among the very healthiest in the nation. Go concentrate on Mississippi or Alabama.
If Michelle Obama wants to be the obesity police maybe she can start with her good friend Oprah.
I consider the continual ranting of the provocateurs of the nanny state diet and foods division way out of bounds. Quite intrusive to tell restaurants what they should serve and how we should eat since there is enough information available for people to make healthy choices and restaurants have certainly responded to their customers wishes by balancing menus. I will not be shocked if childhood obesity becomes a legitimate reason for having DCF look into the rotund family and classify junior being a porker as a form of child abuse.
Call centers are starting to again be located back in the United States as customers have expressed frustration over dealing with representatives for whom English is a second language, do not understand the nuances of our form of English and have no concept of our culture. Cost cutting was fine but the blunt realization is too many customers have expressed their ire over this so bad news for foreign employment but good news for domestic employment.
The more I listen to Sarah Palin the more it seems like she belongs to the woman’s contingent of our BOS.
Allin Frawley is listed on my sidebar as he now has a web site to inform on his campaign for BOS. You know Allin as a regular and quite persistent in both attending and requesting information from the sitting BOS. I will vote for Allin and it is quite simple why. He is willing to invest time, learn, do diligent homework, has a notable work ethic and has gone 100% on record as allowing access.
The two members up for re-election have - IMHO - had their shelf life expire. Marsha Brunelle has displayed a culture of arrogance since the days of the casino issue and that has not changed. The final token for me was her ill fated attempt several months ago to limit access. She can frame it any way she wants but the bottom line it looks bad - really bad - when six former and quite well respected BOS members show up for a verbal lynching. I saw some real backtracking but no apology. Then toss in the ongoing drama with the IT Director. MiMi I have referred to as a political version of the appendix since no one knows what it does and if removed does no harm. After watching meetings on TV the term “empty suit” comes to mind.
The Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) has closed their doors. This is the last vestige of pragmatic Democrats - the kind a moderate to liberal Republican could vote for. Blue Dogs as they were likely to be called. I guess the party wishes to return to the days of McGovern, Mondale and Dukakis.
Egypt has a world of troubles going on as another iron fist attempts to maintain control as various factions will certainly use this convoluted mess to prop up their own “politics,” especially politics immersed in religion.
There will be spill over and I am sure the Saudi’s and their pampered and oil drenched royalty will be center stage and right now this is having an eerie comparison to the domino effect of the fall of communism back a few decades ago. Maybe this will have similar consequences or it just might be the turmoil that seems to surface occasionally in so many nations of questionable democratic principles or none at all.
What is happening in Egypt is a cry for democracy without any real operational experience in democracy. Without that a vacuum is easy to be created so something like the Muslim Brotherhood - banned for fifty or so years - can step in. The United States is attempting in both Iraq and Afghanistan to do the same things - seeds of democracy. Good luck with that! Our blueprint is not necessarily a strict rule of majority as much as it respect and protect the minority. In the mess that followed the hanging chad there was no revolution in the streets. Doubt if you can see that mind set transferred to countries with no background in it.
Back in 1990 communism was on life support anyways as all the half-truths that had been formulated for decades were beginning to unravel thanks to technology. Nothing like having underground video tapes by the millions floating around in various controlled counties that show that much of the propaganda was simply false. Sort of confirmed liars on an international scale. And now that carries over to Egypt where the first thing to do is attempt to control the flow of information my shutting down the internet. Communication - especially the visual and instantaneous kind - goes beyond the internet.
There was a great book written called “WW III - August, 1987” that detailed the fall of communism with the outbreak of hostilities in Europe. What the main focus was actually happened and that is the tenuous relationship between Russia and the various occupied nations of the “Communist Bloc.” In the book those nations quickly ignored or revolted against their “maters” from Moscow and that was later mirrored in the fall of communism in Europe.
President WOW is attempting to promote a new found centrist position regarding his approach to business. Had all the right platitudes tossed out in a recent speech before the Chamber of Commerce but a mountain of damage has already been accumulated by his administration. His speech had a less than enthusiastic response.
The Wheeling-LaBelle Nail Company of West Virginia has closed a victim of foreign competition and the recession and that leaves Acorn Manufacturing’s Tremont Nails of Mansfield as the only nail producer in the United States to carry the made in U.S.A. label. Tremont Nails manufactures traditional square cut nails and much of the process and craftsman can trace their skills back to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.
In Germany and Japan the school year is about 230 days. I know from personal experience that in Japan the students do not receive homework but are “encouraged” to join after school clubs which further hone the academic skills learned during the day.
We have had exchange students for an entire year and they have been from Japan and Poland (twice). Interesting approach to how behavior issues are handled in the classroom. As the students get older the accountability magnifies and if behaviors beyond the norm continue the students are simply tossed out. No second, third, fourth or fifth chance. No IEP. No appeal. No nothing. You are on your own. Obviously the United States has a more egalitarian approach but consider that when testing scores are given. Sometimes our scores are skewered by students who in other countries would not be given the exams (SPED) or have been tossed (behavior).
The exchange students we have had also preferred our methods of education as they thought they created an environment that encouraged independent thought, free exchange of ideas and the ability to explore areas of interest. Of course these were also students that had the ability to sustain their own education - driven would be the word.
Chrysler ran a two minute ad in the Super Bowl that feature rapper Eminem and the ad finished way down on the popularity charts. I thought it was a great ad as it focused as much on the city - Detroit - as it did on the product itself. Great visuals of a rust belt icon attempting to recovery and a industry on which it depends upon. Having a local kid do it was great.
I’ve been finding Pravda online English edition an interesting read.
A contractor in another town charged a senior citizen $4,800 for clearing a roof - a job that normally goes for $250. Fortunately others stepped in and the money was returned.
Thank you to Alex Rodriquez (AKA - “Slappy” or “A-Roids”) for his splendid display of up close and personal feeding by his between strippers gal pal Carmen Diaz while both wallowed in a luxury suite at the Super Bowl. Now in the great scheme of things this is trivial beyond trivial but to the A-Fraud and Yankee haters this is just more ammunition to bring to the baseball posting boards - not that I would partake in such activity.
BB will never be known as “Mr. Research” based on his latest column and his use of ONE study to make a determination on charter schools. This is too significant issue to point to ONE study as a determining factor. Studies from various other sources such as the Manhattan Institute, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Columbia and even Stanford show positive results. You can also look at testing results from National Assessment of Educational Progress that supports the Stanford study BB quoted. Fine on of success and find another that highlights failure. The results vary and can be linked to availability of resources, how the charter school is defined, the methods of data acquisition and a myriad of other possibilities. IMHO the bottom line is charter schools have been fine but not world beaters. I hope BB is not going to do any “classes” on research techniques.
On the diet front or is that behind I just get a load of all the gimmicks for weight loss. It really is quite basic: Eat less. Eat right. Exercise more.
But with the diet I use I live for Sunday. Sunday is the very, very best day since that is treat day. The treat is a Honey Dew coffee roll. I savory Sunday and that coffee roll. I microwave it for ten seconds. Each bit of frosting is devoured and licked off my fingers. I know - visual - but you all do it. Admit it. I take that treat in bits and pieces as I slowly work my way to the center. That is my reward. This will probably be a three or maybe a four Sunday diet. When it is done I will resume my normal eating patterns and not worry about any gains since exercise burns about a 1,000 extra calories a day.
The nanny state of Massachusetts is doing enough meddling into how we make choices in just what we are going to eat. The perception is that the citizenry is waddling around - especially children - as borderline obese. Not true for this state as we are ranked among the very healthiest in the nation. Go concentrate on Mississippi or Alabama.
If Michelle Obama wants to be the obesity police maybe she can start with her good friend Oprah.
I consider the continual ranting of the provocateurs of the nanny state diet and foods division way out of bounds. Quite intrusive to tell restaurants what they should serve and how we should eat since there is enough information available for people to make healthy choices and restaurants have certainly responded to their customers wishes by balancing menus. I will not be shocked if childhood obesity becomes a legitimate reason for having DCF look into the rotund family and classify junior being a porker as a form of child abuse.
Call centers are starting to again be located back in the United States as customers have expressed frustration over dealing with representatives for whom English is a second language, do not understand the nuances of our form of English and have no concept of our culture. Cost cutting was fine but the blunt realization is too many customers have expressed their ire over this so bad news for foreign employment but good news for domestic employment.
The more I listen to Sarah Palin the more it seems like she belongs to the woman’s contingent of our BOS.
Allin Frawley is listed on my sidebar as he now has a web site to inform on his campaign for BOS. You know Allin as a regular and quite persistent in both attending and requesting information from the sitting BOS. I will vote for Allin and it is quite simple why. He is willing to invest time, learn, do diligent homework, has a notable work ethic and has gone 100% on record as allowing access.
The two members up for re-election have - IMHO - had their shelf life expire. Marsha Brunelle has displayed a culture of arrogance since the days of the casino issue and that has not changed. The final token for me was her ill fated attempt several months ago to limit access. She can frame it any way she wants but the bottom line it looks bad - really bad - when six former and quite well respected BOS members show up for a verbal lynching. I saw some real backtracking but no apology. Then toss in the ongoing drama with the IT Director. MiMi I have referred to as a political version of the appendix since no one knows what it does and if removed does no harm. After watching meetings on TV the term “empty suit” comes to mind.
The Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) has closed their doors. This is the last vestige of pragmatic Democrats - the kind a moderate to liberal Republican could vote for. Blue Dogs as they were likely to be called. I guess the party wishes to return to the days of McGovern, Mondale and Dukakis.
Egypt has a world of troubles going on as another iron fist attempts to maintain control as various factions will certainly use this convoluted mess to prop up their own “politics,” especially politics immersed in religion.
There will be spill over and I am sure the Saudi’s and their pampered and oil drenched royalty will be center stage and right now this is having an eerie comparison to the domino effect of the fall of communism back a few decades ago. Maybe this will have similar consequences or it just might be the turmoil that seems to surface occasionally in so many nations of questionable democratic principles or none at all.
What is happening in Egypt is a cry for democracy without any real operational experience in democracy. Without that a vacuum is easy to be created so something like the Muslim Brotherhood - banned for fifty or so years - can step in. The United States is attempting in both Iraq and Afghanistan to do the same things - seeds of democracy. Good luck with that! Our blueprint is not necessarily a strict rule of majority as much as it respect and protect the minority. In the mess that followed the hanging chad there was no revolution in the streets. Doubt if you can see that mind set transferred to countries with no background in it.
Back in 1990 communism was on life support anyways as all the half-truths that had been formulated for decades were beginning to unravel thanks to technology. Nothing like having underground video tapes by the millions floating around in various controlled counties that show that much of the propaganda was simply false. Sort of confirmed liars on an international scale. And now that carries over to Egypt where the first thing to do is attempt to control the flow of information my shutting down the internet. Communication - especially the visual and instantaneous kind - goes beyond the internet.
There was a great book written called “WW III - August, 1987” that detailed the fall of communism with the outbreak of hostilities in Europe. What the main focus was actually happened and that is the tenuous relationship between Russia and the various occupied nations of the “Communist Bloc.” In the book those nations quickly ignored or revolted against their “maters” from Moscow and that was later mirrored in the fall of communism in Europe.
President WOW is attempting to promote a new found centrist position regarding his approach to business. Had all the right platitudes tossed out in a recent speech before the Chamber of Commerce but a mountain of damage has already been accumulated by his administration. His speech had a less than enthusiastic response.
The Wheeling-LaBelle Nail Company of West Virginia has closed a victim of foreign competition and the recession and that leaves Acorn Manufacturing’s Tremont Nails of Mansfield as the only nail producer in the United States to carry the made in U.S.A. label. Tremont Nails manufactures traditional square cut nails and much of the process and craftsman can trace their skills back to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.
In Germany and Japan the school year is about 230 days. I know from personal experience that in Japan the students do not receive homework but are “encouraged” to join after school clubs which further hone the academic skills learned during the day.
We have had exchange students for an entire year and they have been from Japan and Poland (twice). Interesting approach to how behavior issues are handled in the classroom. As the students get older the accountability magnifies and if behaviors beyond the norm continue the students are simply tossed out. No second, third, fourth or fifth chance. No IEP. No appeal. No nothing. You are on your own. Obviously the United States has a more egalitarian approach but consider that when testing scores are given. Sometimes our scores are skewered by students who in other countries would not be given the exams (SPED) or have been tossed (behavior).
The exchange students we have had also preferred our methods of education as they thought they created an environment that encouraged independent thought, free exchange of ideas and the ability to explore areas of interest. Of course these were also students that had the ability to sustain their own education - driven would be the word.
Chrysler ran a two minute ad in the Super Bowl that feature rapper Eminem and the ad finished way down on the popularity charts. I thought it was a great ad as it focused as much on the city - Detroit - as it did on the product itself. Great visuals of a rust belt icon attempting to recovery and a industry on which it depends upon. Having a local kid do it was great.
I’ve been finding Pravda online English edition an interesting read.
A contractor in another town charged a senior citizen $4,800 for clearing a roof - a job that normally goes for $250. Fortunately others stepped in and the money was returned.
Thank you to Alex Rodriquez (AKA - “Slappy” or “A-Roids”) for his splendid display of up close and personal feeding by his between strippers gal pal Carmen Diaz while both wallowed in a luxury suite at the Super Bowl. Now in the great scheme of things this is trivial beyond trivial but to the A-Fraud and Yankee haters this is just more ammunition to bring to the baseball posting boards - not that I would partake in such activity.
BB will never be known as “Mr. Research” based on his latest column and his use of ONE study to make a determination on charter schools. This is too significant issue to point to ONE study as a determining factor. Studies from various other sources such as the Manhattan Institute, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Columbia and even Stanford show positive results. You can also look at testing results from National Assessment of Educational Progress that supports the Stanford study BB quoted. Fine on of success and find another that highlights failure. The results vary and can be linked to availability of resources, how the charter school is defined, the methods of data acquisition and a myriad of other possibilities. IMHO the bottom line is charter schools have been fine but not world beaters. I hope BB is not going to do any “classes” on research techniques.
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