This And That

A change in format this week and for two reasons - laziness on my part and a lack of traffic. The original intent of this blog was to focus on the foibles of Jessie Powell and - to a lesser extent - her enabler. As the traffic increased suggestions were made to label each week which I did. Traffic has diminished considerably so no need. I have certain technical limitations and just do not wish to go into a format such as Nemasket and Middleboro Matters. Both have their niche so why repeat the process? My blog title has also undergone a minor change and I have reverted to the title of a few weeks back. Jessie will always have a place of “honor” in the title. Post away as you please with comments on these musings or any others. Open to all.

Speaking of enablers the recent dust up between Suo and BB seems to have reached an impasse but one burning question remains unanswered. Just who stands to profit from this casino? That was never answered and someone stated it was a “core issue.” I agree but IMO you will NEVER get an answer.

Side note to a fellow blogger. The revenues from ALL gambling operations in Rhode Island represent 11.1% of the budget and not one-third as was posted.

Governor Patrick pledged not to support a tax increase. Naturally in a startling profiles in courage moment he caved it. Ah…where is Jane Swift? I also admire the concept of “new sources of revenue” to describe tax increases.

The economy has stalled. I thought this was going to continue but, alas, the debt both public and private is crushing. I was always amazed at how - and rightfully so - the Democrats would hammer Bush over the enormous deficits his administration was running up. This is even worse. Watch for inflation. Coming your way soon for either you or your children.

Middleboro received some bad fiscal news regarding a clerical error by the town accountant. More adjustments and review to address the fiscal shortfall but Middleboro is quite experienced in that matter. Maybe pull a “fuzzy math” expert in as a consultant?

The casino issue is still on the table as far as monies that have been shipped our way. As long as the economy falters the prospect of investment in gin mills just won’t happen. In the background is the specter of the South African version of the pinky ring set and their minions. They’ll be back somewhere looking to cash in when and if the economy improves.

Had to have a aged dog executed two weeks ago. My wife - the Lovely Cynthia - had said “no more dogs.” Fine with me so naturally she is getting another mutt. Arrival tomorrow via a shelter.

The Red Sox are in a great position but are being closely dogged by Tampa, NY and even Toronto. All four teams have 40 wins and are well on their collective ways to finish over the .500 mark. Everyone has a decent shot at the division and probably a Wild Card slot but the Sox do have the best pitching and you win with pitching.

Post any comments you wish.

OPEN POSTS WEEK THIRTY-ONE

Recent polls have show a reaction - negative - starting to creep in regarding WOW’s policies particularly in the area of health care, spending, bailouts and GM. His approval ratings remain high but questions arise. Respondents disapprove of his handling of the Gitmo situation.

Now the tribe is fed up with the evil twins from South Africa. With “The Raven” safely put under federal ice for several years a degree of insight has capture those now in the know within the tribe and they realize this deal screws them. Big surprise! Welcome to the club. All those dollar signs, capital improvements , jobs and infrastructure upgrades dazzled the locals as - no doubt - a few of the per diem payments that Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun generated grabbed the attention of the tribe. IMO “The Raven” is patient zero in this whole mess.

It’s symbolic, Governor! The Patrick administration is spending thousands plastering his name on signs across the Commonwealth. The money is important. Every penny counts.

Speaking of Penny the Sox have one that could be worth more than any penny a numismatist could place a value on. Trade him or keep him he has done remarkably well.

Enterprise is running a series of articles on disability abuse. The stories are amazing. I remember years ago The Herald having photos of “disabled” public safety recipients doing rather strenuous labor and athletics‘. Meanwhile the real disabled get the shaft from the state.

Hack holiday of all time is Bunker Hill Day. Hilarious the way Howie Carr “outed” how the prominent hacks spent this hallowed day. As we say - LMCAO!

Republican Senator John Ensign is in difficulties over an affair he had with an aide. Meanwhile the most pompous politician in the country - Barney Frank (D- Hot Bottom) sits in an important chair position despite his past behaviors. Is there a double standard? IMO in is quite clear there is. Maybe it even goes beyond the very obvious bias against Republicans since Gary Hart managed to get tossed asunder as did John Edwards.

Letterman finally owned up to his “humor.” Amazing that some can finally come clean. Wonder who I’m talking about? LMCAO!

Suo is posting further collects on his endless BB file.

PETA is all in a dunder over Obama swatting a fly. Was it a transgender fly? A Republican fly? PETA also whines about treatments of and additives that we place in our animal kills as they sit on supermarket shelves or await execution. I’ve always found that interesting considering Pam Anderson is a spokesperson. I guess synthetic additives for humans are OK.

Post away

OPEN POSTS WEEK THIRTY

I recently returned from California and one thing I found quite fascinating was a visit to the Sutter Mill site near Placerville. This was ground zero for the California gold rush and what that did to local tribes was devastating as the wealth of the land was plundered and tribes displaced. I’m no “fan” of giving something excessive to Indians based on past excesses by invaders - their term for us - but I am not foolish enough to make any bizarre justifications for what we did either here, there or across the Americas. History is clear on that.

California has a glut of tribal casinos and that is no surprise. The state has many tribes and each managed to find a slot to try and take advantage of the system or be taken advantage of themselves by investors. I only went to one and that was Thunder Valley which was a mid size operation when compared to our Connecticut gin mills and proposed Middleboro casino.

We also ventured over to Reno and Virginia City and spend most of one day in Virginia City. Interesting place since the day we were there the weather was cold and wet with as much rain in one day as they get in six months. Had a nice meal at a saloon/casino and paid visits to the usual collection of specialty shops.

California is one of the few places where the governmental structure is on a par with Massachusetts. They have found a way to tax everything including even newspapers. Back home our legislature has risen to the task of proving that government in this state is to perpetuate the hack system at our expense. Sales tax increase and a soon to be gas tax increase and eventually a increase on the income tax. Forget the cost of doing business as this state seems to pride itself on putting up fiscal and regulatory roadblocks to business. A bit of pension reform took place but that is just a PR bone tossed to the holli polli and will eventually be gutted or circumvented. Again, the end result of a one party government that has stayed around too long. Don’t know if a surge in Republicans or reform Democrats could change the system but there could not possibly do worse.

From a column by Cal Thomas quoting Newsweek editor Evan Thomas: “In a way Obama’s standing above the country, above - above the world. He’s sort of a God.” From a blog by Russian Staislav Mishin as published in The Boston Herald commenting on Obama’s fiscal policy regarding spending: “If this keeps up for more than another year, and there is no sign it will not, America at best will resemble the Weimar Republic and at worse Zimbabwe.” I have some real issues with the media fawning over Obama and a fiscal and interventionist policy that is a clear shift to the left. How prophetic that a Russian ends up commenting in his article about the Marxist trends in America.

Had Limo take me to the airport. Great service. Nice ride. Relaxing. Thanks, Mike.

Hal has some nice photos on his Heckuva web site.

Green School is making some progress and the leader of the pack - Lincoln Andrews - has no illusions to this being a slam dunk success. A long process is taking place evaluating the structure and the viability of any refurbishing. He’ll keep all informed.

The baseball team from NY seems to have run into a roadblock with the local entry. Pity.

I have changed my banner - again. As always JP will have a place of honor in the title either in full form or abbreviated form.

OPEN POSTS WEEK TWENTY-NINE

An interesting week in Northern California for me in the Sacramento area. This state is in a worse fiscal mess than Massachusetts so that is something to feel good about in a bizarre kind of way. Sacramento has an interesting Old Town section that runs along the river front. Like similar projects in other cities it is a renovation and restoration of a former area of warehouse, saloons and low end rooming houses. All gentrified with high end condos, museums and the usually mix of shops from eclectic to those with tourist trinkets and high end specialty shops.

The purpose of the visit was a wedding and since it was family - my son - so everything was hectic with folks flying in from all over the country. Rehearsals, dinners, get together and finally a wedding on Friday made for a busy few days and now is a more relaxed tome to sightsee.

This area is honeycombed with casinos and we also took a day trip to Virginia City, Nevada and Carson City, Nevada. Virginia City is a quick walk around after a harrowing drive along Route 341 after a two hours drive through the mountains from Sacramento to Reno.

Many of the folks that attended the wedding are from this area and to them they now have casino overload as expansion has diluted the market. There is little in the way of the environmental issues that confront a Middleboro gin mill since the casinos are generally in remote areas on tribal lands and are not the glitzy monstrosities so prevalent or proposed in our area. The economic impact is relatively nil since this state is population rich.

I have not heard much on the Green School initiative so maybe Suo will have an update this week. I’ll keep it as a partial banner for another week.

Post away

OPEN POSTS WEEK TWENTY-EIGHT

In our house the Queen of Recycling is my wife - the lovely Cynthia. My major tasks are cutting up cardboard into itty bitty pieces and stomping of empty containers to flatten them out. I guess that is commentary on my weight. Maybe I can hire BB to do it? Anyways, we have the three bins for various items and that is an aggravation. In Attleboro they now have single stream recycling so everything is tossed in together inside soon to be delivered 64 gallon containers. Waste Management handles the pickup and uses their plant in Avon to do this. In the meantime folks can use the 18 gallon bins until the new ones arrive. I’d love to see that here in Middleboro.

David Ortiz is done. He is missing cream buffs that in the past would have been hammered hard somewhere. No more. This happens in baseball occasionally where a star player suddenly loses it overnight - Al Rosen, Ralph Kiner and Jeff Boroughs come to mind. The Sox have been very patient but the time for a change is necessary and that does not mean sitting for a few games but for a few weeks. Sox cannot trade him since his value is zero and his contract is for 12 Mil for this season and next. But for a five year period he was just about the best clutch hitter I have seen on any team.

Gatehouse News has announced - like The Globe - significant pay cuts. Gatehouse is best known for destroying two South Shore papers - The Enterprise and Patriot Ledger. The Enterprise has become virtually useless especially the sports section. Makes you appreciate the Gazette until they finally suffer corporate interference.

Someone commented on the content of this blog regarding readability of late and I have to agree. There has not been much “action” lately and that means some faux pas action by the usual suspects. Most of the irreverent comments from those who stop by need something to actually comment on. I certainly don’t want it to sink to the level of nemasket.net - now that would be difficult.

Slight change to the banner for a bit in support of Green School.

OPEN POSTS WEEK TWENTY-SEVEN

The recent sales tax increase proposal has certainly got the ire of the citizenry up. As one who voted in favor of the income tax repeal I can gladly say “I told you so.” Please enjoy your helping at the Crow Mart.

I contacted several legislators on this issue and the response has always been the same. In fact - exactly the same. “It pained me to vote for it.” “I saw no alternative.” “I have filed legislation to address reforms.” All the legislators were Democrats since they have a monopoly on the legislature and the few Republicans have the good sense to realize a fiscal con game. As far as those responses. If it hurts so much don’t do it! As my doctor would say: “If it hurts doing that don’t do it.” The alternative is simple - get the reforms out front. Most of us common folk know what has to be done. The filing legislation is the biggest joke it politics. The ready made excuse. How much legislation is “filed” and never gets acted upon? Another linguistic con game. Taxes are the government cost for “doing their business” but a good portion of us in Massachusetts now seriously question how this business is run. When your government appears to have all the integrity of Lehman Brothers and ENRON there are problems.

The Green School issue has certainly stormed ahead. The money count is rising rapidly and some are stepping up with resources such as the painting contractor offering services. Some wish to play the blame game on how we got here and that is quite easy to do but does not resolve the issue. What this will come down to is feasibility. In the meantime contact Lincoln Andrews about contributions either fiscal or other.

Post away.

OPEN POSTS WEEK TWENTY-SIX

The recent airline crash in upstate NY focused on several problems and I will give my own take on a few. The pay. A first officer usually is paid in the vicinity of $37,000 per year after the first year and prior to that it is in the $20-24 per hour range. This is fairly standard on most airlines and represents their pay based on a maximum of 1,000 hours per year on jet aircraft. The pilot of the crashed commuter plan was flying a turbo prop and therefore could fly 1,250 hours per year maximum. Pay increases rapidly and by the third year it jumps to $66 per hour and that is based on gate to gate time. Clock runs when you leave the gate and stops when you pull into the gate. A captain - usually a 3-5 year period - will earn about $100 per hour and that will increase with sonority and aircraft flown. A senior captain can be in a $150,000 - 200,000 range.

Aircraft flown is interesting. My son flies the series that carry between 48 and 96 passengers. Once they exceed a certain number of seats the FAA requires an additional flight attendant so they will keep configuration under 50 and under 100. His routes are varied and it is not unusual to fly five legs in a day - five takeoffs and landings in a variety of conditions. In the last year he has probably had more take offs and landings than some pilots have had in ten years.

The commute is something else. Most of the pilots have extensive commutes and that was brought out in the Buffalo incident. My son lives in Massachusetts and is based in Milwaukee so he is usually on either a Mid West, Delta or FedEx flight to get to and from his home base. He left Friday night and will overnight in Milwaukee at company expense and then fly for four days. On one recent flight from Milwaukee there were seven pilots onboard from different airlines returning to Boston. One pilot was based in Salt Lake City and has to commute four to five times a moth. The pilots and crew of airlines fly at no charge on any airline that has room and this can apply to off days as well. Hop a flight and have a mini vacation.

The traditional training ground for commercial pilots has been the military. That has changed dramatically to where only 25% of current commercial pilots have military backgrounds. My son does have military but not with fixed wing aircraft. Why has this happened? Deregulation. Pay, benefits and working conditions have changed substantially and the aura and shine of being a commercial pilot is long gone. Not unusual for even a senior captain to have a part time job. I know one former pilot who worked for Eastern, Piedmont, Braniff and retired from TWA…well, TWA actually got retired and he packed it in. Notice the trend? Four failed airlines. His pensions all vanished and was forced by regs (since changed) to retire at age 60.

The commuter turbo that crashed is the new trend setter in regional passenger routes. Smaller, more fuel efficient and more cost effective such as the CRJ series I mentioned. No 180 seats with 50 empty. But the training is questionable as are the working conditions. The thing to remember is that in virtually all crashes it comes down to pilot or human error.

Nancy Pelosi! I heard the talking heads on her news conference from hell and managed to catch it on the rerun. What a wreck! This may have been the most embarrassing display I have ever seen at a press conference.

President WOW will continue with terror tribunals. No problem with that IMO.

The economy took a big step backwards last week as several indicators show a stall situation and that is totally frustrating to all. I really want to eat some crow on this situation as I felt it would take a few years to straighten out several decades of foolishness. Right now this may be just a step backward and two steps forward. Keep a close watch on the S & P index and if that gets to a 1,000 in a few months things will be looking a lot better.


Post away.