Late October Rubbish

Allin Frawley about summed up how I feel about the Oliver House – it’s the land, baby!

If that Oliver House was put where the real representation is – the ballot – it would end up the same way the police station did. The only possible rescue was assuring voters the house would stay put with no funding source from Middleboro – especially CPA.

The Oliver House is another prime example of the need for electronic voting at TM. No public display of standing up. Debate all you want but make it a secret ballot. Of course this would require actually moving from the 19th century and into the 21st.

Recently returned from Texas and their sales tax is amazing! They tax food and clothing at 8.25%.

Texas, like most of the rest of the country, has some bizarre affinity for gated communities. Here in the People’s Republic those are very rare birds indeed. Yankee independence? Deep rooted egalitarianism? Rejection of wealth and class?

The MBTA will purchase some new rail cars and the price tag is 1.3B. The deal goes to a state owned Chinese rail company and several “activist” have pointed out the apparent liberal hypocrisy here in Blue Massachusetts. Imagine if it was a Koch Brothers company.

Some of the rail cars will be headed for the Red Line. How appropriate.

Part of the deal would be assembly of rail cars in Springfield. But the real money flows back to China.

The Obama administration appoints a high profile political hack as Ebola Czar!

I will certainly vote yes to have casinos in Massachusetts.

Nice to see pro casino ads that focus on the environmental clean-up that Steve Wynn will do to get his gin mill in place. Now who will clean-up the casino industry and our own commission?

The Republican alternative to government is less taxes and the Democrat one is more taxes. No wonder I am an independent.

Three and out for the Super. Probably next in line is Paul Branigan.

And with MCAS the Middleboro results were – as usual – tepid.

Liberty, Texas built a nice police station a few years ago for 2.5M for 10,000 SF. Sweetwater will soon have one for 20,000 SF for about 5M. National average is around $240 per SF, but seems like many do it for considerably less. Nice that some places have realist up front and not manic preservationist.

What’s with all the still black and white photos in political ads? Usually with the victim (opponent) with pursed lips or a frown.

Cat Stevens is heading back to the money trough in the United States for a series of concerts. Stevens is now called Yousef Islam and has professed some real man-love to radical (is there any other kind?) Muslims.

When last seen Olga Roche was being sacked as commander of child welfare. Or was she? Turns out in the land of the hacks it is never over until the pension is inflated. Roche took sick leave and was retained as a “consultant” until the magic day arrived – her 60ith birthday and a nice pension bump. Charlie Lincoln would be proud.

The TM search is down to three. I’d always go with the person with the conservation background.

A deposit on water bottles? I’d raise that to a buck on everything including Styrofoam cups.

What is all the buzz about new trash barrels? That has been in the works for quite a bit. ‘Bout time it is out and rolling.

Ghost crap! Are these people serious? All in fun, I guess, unless some actually take it for real.

What is even more bizarre is that triangle swamp garbage in the Bridgewater area. Been running trails in and around that for years and can only recall being chased once by a slime creature.

Caillou is the most vile kids show imaginable. This whiny little brat should be a up in lights example for poor parental skills. This Canadian show should be reason enough for war with our neighbors to the north.

Deb Goldberg is running for state treasurer and has pontificated about divestiture in PRIM on fossil fuel companies. For the uninitiated this is a translation of all the evil associated with “Big Oil.” No doubt her virus would spread to “Big Banks,” “Big Insurance”, and to me – “Big Mouths.” Goldberg represents the worse that liberalism has to offer – a pathetic gentry class totally out of touch.

Ocean Spray Cranberries will no longer shoot commercials in Massachusetts. The new venue is Wisconsin.

Been a long time since Middleboro high school football won anything. Now they have.

Slogging towards town meeting

Steve Wynn goes on CNBC and hammers away at Obama calling him “immature” and “cannot believe we elected someone so inexperienced.” Two days later the Feds indict three mooks involved in wire fraud revolving around the land Wynn has purchased for a gin mill in Everett. Revenge? Probably.

The situation with the mooks is just so typical of the gaming industry – I guess it is a rather bizarre term for it – “Industry?” Anyway, the pinky ring fingered set gravitate around it and have ever since gambling started.

In Massachusetts gaming is on the ballot and it most certainly will pass. I’ll vote for it.

The Boston Red Sox will be in the playoffs in 2015. They have already started throwing money at some of their problems.

Aaron Hernandez continues to have charges whittled away as more and more evidence gets tossed. Why are the police so freaking dumb arse when it comes to acquiring evidence? Proper punishment would be to band all involved from any paid details for two years.

This is the description of the Granby, MA public safety complex. Granby is about 1/3rd the size of Middleboro but note that the structure is both fire and police. Cost is 6.5M. The police portion of the building is 17,000 SF.

“Engineering services for a new 23,926 sq. ft. 2 story public safety facility. Project included 1 bay vehicle drive through sally-port, booking and holding facilities, evidence processing and storage, found property storage, mens and womens locker rooms, training facilities, detectives area, chiefs and administration area, patrol offices and report writing spaces, E911 dispatch area, break room, communications equipment room, lobby with toilet and interview spaces and public area community/training room. Project also includes a (10) bay vehicle apparatus bay with adjacent hose storage turnout gear and miscellaneous storage areas, (2) room dorm section, kitchen and day room. Building is energy efficient, modern, tested technologies to comply with the Massachusetts Energy Code. Building was designed around the LEED Certification base approaches for energy conservation, controls, system designs, documentation and installations.”

Tying the police station to a historical building was the death knell for the project. That became obvious with the famed Bumpkin poll and post-election analysis.

I have no issue with a purchase of a “Traitor’s house,” but I do have issue with spending 2M to fix it up. That is not exactly “pristine” as one BOS member has stated. I will also feel quite comfortable stating that is going to be just for starters.

My grandfather’s house in Pennsylvania was a sixteen room brick farm house with several hundred acres of farm land. His neighbor was Dwight Eisenhower. The farm was eventually sold for development with the stipulation the farm house be maintained and any addition work be done before a shovel full of soil was turned over.

In Bridgewater their CPC wasted over a million bucks with the same lofty aspirations for a wreck. It failed. The house cannot be sold and no one is interested in renovation. The positive is the land is protected.

Town meeting is upon us and the usual local characterless will come out to make the whole process as boring as possible. I am sure this quaint ritual does have some significance from a historical perspective, but it has long passed its shelf life. Folks could care even less than they do about the general elections.