Start Of The New Year Post

Tom Brady made the GQ list for best dresses males and the Bogo missing from the issue was an oversight I am sure. I know that BB was represented in the torn and stained flannel shirt section. Special note was given for his ability to wear a shirt three sizes too small and appear - and I quote GQ “Like a Bumpkin.”

In NYC the big story has been the lack of snow and garbage removal thanks to a blizzard. This story has been going on for ten days and is reflective of how the little things get to folks. Heads have already rolled and more are expected to follow. I was in NYC for three days and trust me the locals are really pissed. NYC also picks up Christmas trees - probably buried under the trash.

NYC is the epee center for the nanny state nutrition police and it is displayed up front in calorie counts on the menu. My wife - the Lovely Cynthia - loved the idea of seeing this since she is in a perpetual state of diet. I could care less and it seems most of the population is the same.

To get to NYC we took the train so when you go Middleboro to South Station and then South Station to Penn Station it is about five and a half hours on the train but certainly beats the traffic crap shoot with the bus. The trains were comfortable, clean, on time and with a rather spiffy clientele. For us an advanced purchase one way ticket was $49 each.

As the train went zipping along I just stared out at the large number of abandoned buildings - mostly factories and warehouses - that were along the route. Amazing how much manufacturing has been lost. Maybe Suo will give some insights from the trenches since I have little knowledge about it.

I did notice many buildings converted for other use primarily into housing. Be nice if the obstructionist can be mollified so that Starr Mill can be reused.

The train stopped in New London and I have not been there for many years. A few years ago Limo had proposed a trip to the gin mills and a tour of the area including New London. I jumped on that offer but I don’t think any other anti like moi or pro did. Now I’ll have to go down in the summer and look around as the waterfront area seemed quaint and dynamic.

Now the classic Huck Finn is being sanitized to remove potentially offensive language. I’m sure I’m next on the list for that treatment.

Barney Frank accepts all the science of global warming. Now BF is enraged because a federal agency has refused to expanding fishing - hurting New Bedford - since there is no science to support it. BF refuses to accept their science but gleefully accepts the science of Al Gore. Go figure.

The Massachusetts Parole Board is an upfront example of exactly what is wrong with this state. This collection of connected hacks averages out to about a 100K a year for scrutinizing the prison records of offenders. It appears that once one “finds God” or completes an extension course they have been rehabilitated and can return to society. The public outcry will soon dissipate and it will be back to business as usual. Find it interesting that in New Hampshire they get a $100 a day for being a board member and meet only a few days a month.

The Legislature and governor have managed to make the ultimate fiscal sacrifice and get their pay about one half of one percent.

Middleboro is now raising fees since according to the TM they have not been raised in twenty-two years. If that is true - and after 50 Xmas trees I wonder - then they are making up for lost time as the raises are substantial.

One poster on the 4,677th best blog in Middleboro claimed that since she has an artificial tree she is subsidizing the removal of mine. What a silly argument. No doubt this same “visionary” also supports not paying real estate taxes if you have no children in school or have ever had children. Government is not a menu picking one item from column A and one from columns B and C.

It has to be a slow news day when the annual plunge of the L Street Brownies takes place and it ends up as a prominent news story. Why is that even news worthy? Right up there with the annual St. Patrick’s dinner when the criminals ….I mean the politicians - make inane “jokes” about each other. At least the yearly Brownie adventure now has some charitable connections. I also understand there are a few of these polar bear types are even in picturesque Newport. If folks need inane and idiotic foolishness just read the blogs of BB or the Confirmed Liar. Naturally my blog is exempt from being classified as inane or foolish.

And as far as career criminals it was nice to see the warm welcome in The House for the return of two convicted felons and former speakers - Sal DiMasi and Tom Finneran. This happened about the same time Diane Wilkerson (D-Maidenform) picked up a three and a half year vacation as a guest of the Commonwealth. Maybe the parole board can let her out?

Rodney Dangerfield was one of my favorite comedians and he had a great line regarding the neighborhood he grew up in: “I was fifteen years old before I realized the cops also got paid by the city.”

There is one thing I have discovered even more obnoxious than Bogo and that is that idiotic Kars For Kids commercial.

The next commercial I can do without is the yearly idiocy of Toyotathon that has convinced me to buy any other car but.

On the other end I love the “I pick things up and put them down” commercial by Planet Fitness.

Professional computer folks are IMHO compliant in an incredible display of intrusion on our own privacy in that they are either employed by or contract out their services to companies that track your online movements via cookies or just target you with specific pop ups. I would love to see some type of frivolous legal action (hello, AB!) take place to put a head lock on what they do and the companies they work for. Maybe a $1,000 fine for every unwarranted popup?

Can you bet on the Apocalypse? Sure can. Where disaster awaits so does profit in the wonderful world of cat or catastrophe bonds depending upon the circumstances. Virtually all bonds have a limited yield (2% to 14%) if no earthquake, hurricane or 100 megaton blast takes place during a specific time but if it does your investment can be vaporized. The investment is really part of the insurance market and say the disaster you are linked with such as Bogo writing a coherent blog results in getting paid. No disaster you score! I’m going with the Mayan calendar on this one.

In other financial news the IPO of Facebook may take place in 2011. This is expected to be valued at more than 50B. Investors are all thinking another Google.

The Republicans are in office two days and unemployment drops from 9.8% to 9.4%. Boy those Tea Party folks are sharp.

Shelf Plus Pricing. I had never heard of this until Mouse Print published a post on its use by Avanza Supermarkets. What it does is add a specific percentage to your order for each or certain items. The advertisement will read something like $3.29 a pound and then in mouse print “An additional 10% will be added on at the register.” This was not exactly a new concept and has been used by other businesses.

Locally I enjoy Hannaford’s. I scan that meat section constantly for discounted items which seem in abundance compared to other markets. Right after New Year’s I got a nice prime rib discounted almost $3 a pound. Their specialty market has some great cuts but most are also available in the meat department. The fish department is rather small and can be pricy compared to Market Basket but they usually have a few specials each week that make it more reasonable. Bakery is also a regular stop. Hannaford’s has it all over Stop & Shop and Shaw’s. For seafood Larry Carver is also worth a visit but can be a wee bit expensive for certain cuts but the quality and freshness can’t be beat.

A friend of mine - which being a friend of mine shows a certain lack of selective standards - used the term polymath - a phrase I have not heard in decades. The first time I ever heard it was in graduate school at B.C. and it was spoken by a professor named Andrew Buni. He used the term to describe the budding historians that populated his class and asked that we all be polymathic or renaissance men and women. I hope the others in that class did better than I did at achieving that goal.