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Bill O'Reilly: Former Cape Cod Newsman
03/31/06 · 6:01 pm
posted by Opinionator
in The Opinionator (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
If you are mystified and sometimes enraged by Bill O’Reilly I want to recommend a great article about him in the New Yorker Magazine dated March 27, 2006. The article is called “Fear Factor” and is written by Nicholas Lemann, the dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University. It riveted me by its treatment of O’Reilly’s history in broadcasting and the forces which have shaped his public persona. In the 80’s he was a reporter for CBS and while vacationing on the Cape, discovered that Provincetown was a gay Mecca. He took a camera man down there and did a piece on what a bad influence that was on teenagers. CBS would not broadcast it and he left the network shortly thereafter.
Lemann writes about the out-of court sexual harassment settlement with Fox News producer Andre Mackris two years ago, his hatred of Frank Rich, Keith Olbermann, Al Franken, the ACLU, George Clooney and many others. These days he can only get minor liberal luminaries to debate him, removing some of the color from his confrontations. The writer describes his “nimble” gift of coming across as a populist, decent, straight shooting American commentator.
The writer sees O’Reilly’s 10 years of longevity as uncommon in show business, referring to his “baroque” period. Lemann writes that he has risen to the top in ratings because of his ability to remind his viewers how much the left hates him. An interesting observation is that he defies description as liberal or conservative on many issues. He is, for instance, against the death penalty, for gay marriage and not completely against abortion. He may not be all that fair and balanced, but Lemann maintains that Fox viewers understand that means “the news the way you already see it.”
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Slots of Fun on the Cape?
03/31/06 · 8:28 am
posted by Democrant
in Massachusetts Democrant (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
With what seems to be the initial Federal recognition of the Wampanoag Tribe happening today, that news must be considered with the deliberations on allowing slots machines in Massachusetts. Once that genie is out of the bottle, it would allow the Wampanoags to build a casino on the Cape. I don't know what the implications would be in terms of degree of control any of our local oversight bodies would have over this.
Is this the kind of development people would like to see on the Cape? My gut says the whatever local economic benefits there would be, are more than offset by a number of quality of life issues. Still, it is only a gut feeling, and more information would be forthcoming further down the road, if the road is even taken.
While the State Senate overwhelmingly approved slots by a 29-7 vote, Speaker DiMasi has spoken out against this. Then again, the Speaker was in favor of the tuition aid bill for children of illegal immigrants, and that failed. Still, the House would need to come up with a favorable vote that was more than the 2/3's needed to override the promised Romney veto on this.
Nevertheless, it still brings up the interesting issue to ponder as to the implications of a casino on Cape Cod.
With friends like Mass Audubon what's a Tern to do?
03/31/06 · 7:15 am
posted by Magical Eye
in Magic Eye (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
One of my most memorable and beloved characters or kids as I like to call them, is Breezy, my little Least Tern foster chick who came to me years ago from Breezy Point, Long Island, NY via a couple who picked him up on the beach thinking he was an orphan.
He looked like a tiny pipe cleaner toy from a child's Easter basket, with his fuzzy little cotton-ball head, two shiny black eyes and sharp pointed beak, on top of a fuzzy cotton-ball body with stubby featherless wings, long legs and webbed flipper feet. It was love at first sight.
Of course, he was not an orphan when he was found in a Federally protected Tern Colony but his 'rescuers' were clueless and by the time he came to me, hours from the beach, he was indeed an orphan.
Best thing about Breezy was watching him eat and go from an adorable helpless fuzzy-toy to formidable 'raptor' in a nanosecond! He'd tear his fish from my fingers and wolf them down whole. And like a raptor he even coughed up cigar-like pellets of indigestible bone and scales.
Well, that wasn't the best thing. The best thing was watching him grow from a tiny little piece of fuss to an exquisite living work of art with long pointed wings and God-given beauty that took my breath away.
Of course, with the beauty comes the awesome responsibility of teaching him to hunt and survive in the wild. Not an easy task for a bird that hunts live fish in the waves on the wing. And from a house and back-yard in suburban Westchester, at the time, that was impossible.
Fortunately for Breezy, and me, my good friend Meryl worked for the National Park Service and so he was delivered back home where his parents remained and into the protection of the rangers at Breezy Point. I simply held him in my cupped hands opened them and the breeze took him away into a flock of terns fishing the waves, as they do. Amen Breezy. I will always love you.
This week Mass Audubon made a grave mistake for Breezy , his cousins the endangered Roseate Terns and all the migratory birds who use the Nantucket Sound for their survival. They came out with a premature blessing for Cape Wind, a 24 square mile (the size of the island of Manhattan) industrial wind power plant and its 130 giant, taller than the Statue of Liberty, turbines with no real evidence that these bird killing machines will not do what they have been doing all over the world, killing birds and bats in horrible numbers.
It would seem that human politics is more important to Mass Audubon than the birds it claims to protect.
Photo from http://wanconservancy.org/p0030tern.htm (Related)
Go George Mason
03/30/06 · 6:43 pm
posted by Monponsett
in East of Boston (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
S ports related thoughts on a nice spring day... I'm injured, and I can only work in brief paragraph form:
- College ball sells differently than pro hoops do, but a Louisiana vs Northern Virginia NBA finals series or World Series would be a financial butt-raping that the league wouldn't recover from in a TV contract year season. I can recall a lot of ugly scenarios being painted for an Indiana/Utah NBA finals that we almost got a few years ago.
That said, go George Mason!
- Enjoy it while it lasts, because they already fixed the hole in the dyke... but notice how a few years after the elite high school kids start going to the NBA in great numbers, you don't see Duke in the Final Four? I already want the Celtics to get that Greg Oden kid who will do his one year apprenticeship at Ohio State next year.
- Speaking of NBA drafts... while watching the Knicks suck this season, know that they traded away their #1 pick (which may just be the #1 overall pick) to the soon-to-be-competitive Chicago Bulls for chubby center Eddy Curry. No hope for the future.... and the present sucks, too. They should be pretty awful about the time Oden "finishes" college.
- I've been laid up a lot recently, and I've been watching a lot of normal (read: non-sports) TV. One of the great shocks to my system is the show COPS .
Keep in mind the fact that I watch almost nothing on TV but sports when I tell you that- in a lifetime of NFL viewing- I have only seen maybe 5-10 instances where a white man was able to run a black man down from behind. The white guys on COPS never lose a footrace.
I'd advance "crack" as a theory, but lots of NFL guys smoke crack. Taking LT and Michael Irvin as evidence, you'd figure that crack would actually improve the rogue's ability to get away. Nope. I must add that the cops catch all the white guys, too.
Granted, the footage is edited so that the good guys always solve the case... and much like the coyote/roadrunner show, you kind of figure out that you won't get to see anyone beaten on prime-time TV. Still, they should try to show a few fruitless chases now and then.
I'd imagine that the show wouldn't get the ratings if it consisted of a series of shots involving teens running from cops, who sort of chase them for 50 yards before giving up. I still think it would make for compelling viewing. "G*ddamn kid runs like a f****** deer..."
Crooks get away from the white cop on Law and Order ... but he usually has a young black/Hispanic partner.
- I'm verty, verty interested in how the Patriots spend their first round pick next month. Our starting WRs look like Deion Branch and an aging Troy Brown, we lost the brutal Willie McGinest at OLB, we played a bunch of jabronis at cornerback all last year, our offensive line is shaky, and we even need a kicker.
We pick fairly late (21st), but we'll be drafting a starter. A lot of sites have us drafting a Corey Dillon replacement, although the McGinest move has started prognosticators towards selecting us a big linebacker. I'd personally try to get a cornerback, although we'll probably go with the BAAATT... "best athlete available at the time."
We won't take a kicker in the first round. Bill Parcells raised eyebrows once by taking Scott "Missin" Sisson in the fourth round. I would imagine that we'll take whoever we can get.
- Best name in the draft? D'Brickashaw Ferguson. He's too big to laugh at in person, but I'll say it here for everyone to see.... that's a goofy name. Ashton Youboty is pretty funny, too.
- Two fun things happen next month. The Boston Marathon and Opening Day for the Red Sox are both merely weeks away. I could give a damn about the marathon, but a lot of people love the stuff. Bet on whoever has the most Ys, Ks and Es in their first name, and you should do a-ight.
The Red Sox lost Damon, but they still have Manny and Big Papi. The rotation looks like Clement, Schilling, Wells, Beckett, and maybe Wakefield. If I have to wait another 86 years to see them win again, I'll kill someone by 65 or so.
- Speaking of droughts, the Bruins are now the only local team not to win a championship in my lifetime. They just canned G.M. Mike O'Connell after a six year reign of error, and we don't look good for making the playoffs.
I seem to recall Boston being a hockey town when i was a kid, but they have had a frightening loss of momentum recently. I taught for several years in both city and suburb, and I never once saw kids talking about hockey. I personally like hockey, but one gets the sense of looking down on a dying patient when watching it. Boston needs to make that team interesting very quickly.
- It'll be hard to do it this year without a big shot of Winstrol in the arse, but I can't wait to see Bud Selig having to suck up to Barry Bonds when he cracks homer 756. That will be one of the funniest prepared speeches of all time. With Bonds and all time hits leader Pete Rose both banned from the Hall Of Fame, it's getting to the point where a team of persona non gratas could beat the best team you could scrape up out of the HOF.
Action Alert! Save the Sound from Industrialization
03/30/06 · 1:28 pm
posted by Magical Eye
in Against the Wind (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
It has come to my attention that Don Young's safety amendment to the Coast Guard Bill may be decided in Washington today. Please call and let your voice be heard in favor of this vital amendment.
Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI): (202) 224-3934
Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN): (202) 225-6211
If passed, this amendment could effectively put a stop to Cape Wind's private take-over and degradation of 24 square miles (the size of the Island of Manhattan) of one of our most important Natural Treasures, the Nantucket Sound.
Those allegedly insurmountable problems with radar
03/30/06 · 11:58 am
posted by CCToday
in Renewable Energy Revolution (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Jack Coleman's Wind Farmers Almanac (Related) has more fun with the Luddites
Those allegedly insurmountable problems with radar in Great Britain
One UK wind farm is adding 230 MORE turbines
If these problems are as serious as Cape Wind's opponents allege, why do we so rarely hear of accidents involving ships and planes because of them? Citing a single example in the 15 years that Europeans have been building offshore wind farms, and land-based arrays even longer, shouldn't be a problem for them - but they can't.
The photo on right is of the Middlegrunden offshore wind farm in Denmark - taken from a plane about to land at Copenhagen Airport.
Cape Wind's oppoents also claim that radar problems in the UK are so serious as to have virtually sidelined the wind industry. Yet the North-West Daily News newspaper in Britain reported on Monday of plans to proceed with 230 more offshore wind turbines off Walney Island - in addition to 30 already planned for this year and another 30 to be built next year. The map is the wind farm location on right is at the harbor's entrance.
A link to that story is here (Related) .
According to the January issue of Windpower Monthly, operating wind power capacity expanded 49 percent in the UK last year, from 897 to 1,337 MW. Surely they must be building wind turbines somewhere - such as off Walney Island - to achieve that level of growth.
UK to increase wind power by 50% in four years
According to Windtech International, as reported on Monday - "By 2010, the onshore wind industry will generate 50 per cent more electricity than previously predicted , and will have installed 6,000MW of wind power capacity, generating almost 5% of UK electricity supply delivering nearly half of the Government’s 2010 renewable energy target, according to a report published by the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA). The link to that story is here (Related) .
And why is it that opponents of the wind farm place such enormous faith in advances in technology allowing us to build first in deep-water, open ocean settings - but no faith in technological advances to resolve issues involving radar?
(photo credit, http://dalager.com)
Cape Wind's Worst Nightmare: The REAL Truth about Radar
03/30/06 · 8:17 am
posted by Magical Eye
in Against the Wind (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Magical has been waiting for this story to break. And today it has.
After reading this story please click on the link at the bottom to read the news breaking documents courtesy of windstop.org (Related) .
Rep. Young and Congressman Delahunt, The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, Cliff Carroll and Bill Koch have been consistently maligned by Cape Wind and its proponents including an extremely biased press like the Boston Globe. But today the truth about radar interference and off-shore wind farms has been set free!
The picture to the right from the UK maritime agency radar study shows a 40 foot boat hidden due to side-lobe radar interference.
Click on picture to enlarge.
Radar risk threatens wind farm
Here is the story (Related) from the Cape Cod Times in its entirety.
*** Click HERE (Related) HERE to read all of the newsbreaking documents now available to the public on the windstop.org site.
Aububon, Denmark research dovetail
03/30/06 · 6:36 am
posted by CCToday
in Renewable Energy Revolution (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Jack Coleman's Wind Farmers Almanac (Related) always has more data on Renewable Energy than most. In the BBC story he references below, a study says " Birds simply fly around the farms or between the turbines ":
Mass Audubon position dovetails with research in Denmark showing neglible impacts to birds from offshore wind turbines "Migrating birds are unlikely to be seriously affected by offshore wind turbines, according to a study."
Thus began a story reported last June by Richard Black , BBC News environment correspondent, who described research involving the offshore wind farm at Nysted, Denmark.
"Scientists found that birds simply fly around the farm, or between the turbines; less than 1 percent are in danger of colliding with the giant structures," Black reported.
Which is just about what you would expect birds to do in the presence of large turbines with turning blades. As species go, birds tend to be rather skittish, at least those I've seen, even without the presence of wind turbines.
The report corroborates what I saw visiting Nysted in May 2005. The closer we got to the 72-turbine wind farm on a chartered fishing boat, the fewer birds were to be seen.
Environmental researchers described by the BBC report began their work in 1999, four years before the wind farm was built. This gave them plenty of time to "compile a long-term picture of how turbines have affected the flight-paths of migrating ducks and geese," Black reported.
"The results clearly show that most of the birds just fly around the Nysted farm," Black wrote. "Most of those that go through appear to thread a path between the turbines."
The full story can be found by following this link (Related) .
For the Birds
03/30/06 · 6:09 am
posted by Magical Eye
in Magic Eye (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Who will stand up for the birds?
Not Mass Audubon, that is for sure.
For them, as Jack Clarke of Mass Audubon says "Maybe we're going to lose a couple of birds here and there"...
I ask you, would entrust your child's life to anyone who would make such a statement as "Maybe we are going to lose a couple of children here and there"?
This is not what a wildlife advocacy group does. They do not sanction the killing of birds. Furthermore the potential killing of threatened and endangered species like the Roseate Tern, the Piping Plover, the Peregrine Falcon and more... is where small numbers can make huge differences in populations.
What would motivate them to come out now in support of Cape Wind and their killing machines? I can only think of two reasons. Politics and Money.
To read more about how some of us on Cape Cod Today feel about this issue click on the following links.
RUM SOAKED CROOKS!!!
03/29/06 · 11:54 am
posted by CCMM
in Cape Cod Maritime Museum (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Come to the Cape Cod Maritime Museum for an evening of salty live music courtesy of the Rum Soaked Crooks!
7.30 pm, Saturday April 1st 2006
These scallywags have sailed into many an unsuspecting port with their tuneful mix of sailors' chanteys, ballads and ditties, leaving toes a-tapping and choruses echoing in their wake. Accompanied by concertina, guitar, ukulele, banjo and fiddle, their songs and stories commemorate captains and cooks, mermaids and mythical monsters, deckhands and denizens of the deep.
$10 admission ($8 for Museum members) includes dessert and beverage.
Space is limited, so reserve your tickets soon!
Questions? Tickets? Contact Cathrine Macort at (508) 775 1723 or email lchmacort@yahoo.com (Related) lchmacort@yahoo.com .
Proceeds will benefit educational programs and outreach at the Cape Cod Maritime Museum.
McCain Fries for This One
03/29/06 · 8:23 am
posted by Democrant
in Massachusetts Democrant (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Well, it seems as we watch our own governor veer towards the right, he'll have company with John McCain. That's not to say that McCain wasn't conservative in the past, he certainly has been. But you could also count on McCain for his straight talk, as they say, and willingness to point out things even within his own party that he felt were contrary to the public good. Apparently, those days are over. From The Nation:
The Nation -- So much for "straight talk." If you needed any more proof that the maverick John McCain will run as the ultimate insider come 2008, scroll down.
McCain, February 28, 2000, Virginia Beach, Virginia:
I am a pro-life, pro-family fiscal conservative, an advocate of a strong defense, and yet Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and a few Washington leaders of the pro-life movement call me an unacceptable presidential candidate. They distort my pro- life positions and smear the reputations of my supporters.
Why? Because I don't pander to them, because I don't ascribe to their failed philosophy that money is our message.
Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton on the left, or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right.
Press release from Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, March 28, 2006:
American military hero and Arizona Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) will deliver the Commencement message at Liberty University on May 13, at 9:30 a.m., in the Liberty University Vines Center.
While Sen. McCain and Liberty University Chancellor Jerry Falwell have had their share of political differences through the years, the two men share a common respect for each other and have become good friends in their efforts to preserve what they see as common values. This will mark his first ever appearance at Liberty University.
More from the Lynchburg, Virginia News & Advance:
Falwell said McCain's appearance at LU's graduation is another sign that McCain is wooing evangelical Christians.
"He is in the process of healing the breech with evangelical groups," Falwell said.
Falwell said McCain has expressed a willingness to support a Federal Marriage Amendment, an issue dear to conservative Christians.
Our cover story on McCain back in November showed him juggling images of Teddy Roosevelt and Falwell. The "agent of intolerance" has become his new best friend.
Criss-crossing the borders
03/28/06 · 2:30 pm
posted by CCToday
in Media Watch (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
EDITOR's NOTE: Ric Oliveira is Publisher of the 32-year-old O Jornal (Related) as well as the nearly two-year-old El Latino Expreso (Related) El Latino Expreso , the largest Portuguese and Spanish newspapers in Southeastern Mass and Rhode Island. He is also the son of immigrants who says he " doesn’t know his place ." We think he has found it. With a majority of U.S, citizens speaking a second, original language within a few years, Ric's comments here as a guest columnist should be read by anyone who wishes to exist in harmony in our new, bi-cultural, world.
The future of the Ethnic Press
By Ric Oliviera, Ric@ojornal.com (Related)
Last week the Center for Media Policy at UMass Boston staged an event entitled The Future of the Ethnic News Business Conference.
And for the first hour it was exactly as billed as ethnic publishers, ad agency members and others in tune with the issues spoke of the troubles in securing advertising.
It was an honest and breathtaking discussion of how the experience of an ethnic media outlet approaching an ad agency resembles looking in the mirror and having the mirror turn away. Unlike some discussions held on this subject in national forums, the blame was not placed on the individual publications for not having audits (even though most audit companies until recently could only audit in Spanish or English), but rather as one speaker stated “the institutionalized problems” of ad agencies which have few ethnic representatives, little knowledge of the different language groups and even less understanding of immigrant consumption and buying power.
The discussion revealed strategies and ways to get around the agencies and try to get the clients to focus their efforts on the “other half of the physical communities they are trying to market within.”
And while the advertising piece of this conference was worth the price of admission, the second panel entitled, “Issues from the Newsroom: Practicing Good Journalism with Limited Resources was well…. Not as revealing as the marketing side. In fact, the news discussion seems to have been catered to portraying the dailies in a good light with only a token discussion of life in the ethnic media.
Judging from the Boston Herald’s Saturday news report (Related) on the conference where the word ethnic was mentioned once only because it was the title of the conference, and the entire piece was dedicated to the future of the internet and Boston Herald Publisher Pat Purcell’s views of that, it was a living example of the ethnic media reality.
Ooh, but there was a nice picture of the Umass Chancellor, Ellen Hume (Related) , Director of The Center on Media and Society (Related) and Mr. Purcell the keynote speaker: Not an ethnic person in the bunch and no mention of anyone else.
Invisible still.
And that is what is so disturbing about this alleged discussion of the future of the ethnic media. The panel itself was (outside of myself), included Chazy Dowaliby, editor of the Patriot Ledger of Quincy, Charles Kravetz, station manager and vice president of news at New England Cable News, Adam Smith, English editor of Sampan , a Chinese paper, and Foon Rhee, city editor of The Boston Globe . All experts in what they do and who have resumes which would make anyone proud.
Then there is me, an expert at nothing really, except what I see and well, at expressing what I see and think – whether it is polite or not.
The discussion started off with Ms. Hume praising the panel and stating that she did not believe in conspiracy theories that daily newspapers were not doing their jobs.
Sadly, while it may not be true of the newspapers on that panel, if you believe that a newspaper’ s job, is to reflect the population it serves and to cover everyone, than not many do not do their jobs to these standards( the Boston Herald being consistently the most egregious offender.)
Of course, there are many reasons for why dailies struggle to know what is happening in great swaths of their distribution areas -. the biggest of which concerns a shortage of those who can speak two languages.
Let’s face it, if you were able to maintain a second language, are you going to work for reporter’s wages when language skills are in such demand and outside of the news business and language experts are extremely well compensated?
Other issues come right out of the newsroom: Who wants to spend their days arguing everyday why a story about an immigrant group, immigration or immigrant tales, are newsworthy day in and day out?
It gets tiring.
Ethnic reporters can get labeled as being difficult because they say what they see and often times, the editors are so insulated from the difficulties of immigrant life, they have trouble understanding the relevance of what their eyes and ears on the streets are reporting back to them. Then there are those ethnic reporters who are ghettoized: Forced to cover their communities. This can be a problem if that is all they are allowed to write about or it can be an honor for those who care about the communities they serve. In general, newsrooms are not friendly places when you find yourself unable to find coworkers who understand the realities of immigrant life in America. At times I was blessed for working at friendly dailies or at least they where friendly by the time I left.
BACK TO THE PANEL:
Although being told in regards to the panel that “we have invited them here we should not embarrass them,” I was worried less about embarrassing them as I was about explaining exactly how our papers are different from the mainstream. You see ethnic papers and the English dailies are tied together like Siamese twins but with different hearts and minds. At times, the dailies make life miserable for the immigrant communities within their range and for the ethnic publications who must battle against stereotypes and assumptions – many of them false about immigrants- both legal and illegal.
At times the dailies are incapable of taking stories to the next level when they deal with immigrants. Often they cover immigration like the cops beat. Are there any columnists in the state who side with immigrants – outside of ethnic papers?
I stated that it was important for ethnic publications to advocate for their communities because often the daily papers advocate against them. The readers of ethnic papers are often the English voiceless and invisible and easy targets.
Advocacy does not mean becoming the print version of Fox news, but to do what the dailies are not doing- ask the questions they do not know or think to ask. Mainstream editors do not always think of immigrant communities when they assign stories or seek to cover an angle.
They do feature stories well, but are lost often when it comes to the big issues like immigration and the impact of immigrant life on a family and the most importantly the children.
I used as an example this statement:
Most people in mainstream society agree that is wrong and not right for children to be punished for the sins or crimes of their parents. Everyone nodded. Well, why is it okay for us to then punish the children of illegal immigrants when they apply to college?
What’s the answer? Have you read about this angle lately or ever?
And why did the state let the 1993 Education Reform bill which required two languages to be spoken by students at the end of high school, evaporate? Why are not children who have the gift of two languages treated like those who have a gift for math or science? All are legitimate news stories?
I also mentioned how immigrants in the state are unable to have their views aired in the public discussions that seem to decide so much. Remember when Governor Mitt Romney was running (in this state) and said we need to teach English to the children of immigrants? The Boston Herald championed the bill. Now of course all immigrant children must learn English - on this all sides agree - but there was really no debate allowed on how best to accomplish this. The bill passed by more than 60 percent. Now a little more than 30 percent of the children in the new Romney/Unz/Boston Herald Immersion program, can function in English. Those are numbers to be proud of. What will happen to the other 70 percent? Where are the stories now? Who cares? This is why ethnic papers must advocate while also being true to journalistic values.
This is about where I was cut off for all but another 15 seconds at the end of the discussion. I had crossed the line of course. I got in 4 minutes out of 40, not bad!
And as we know, the problem with people like me is that we don’t know when to stay in our place. When we climb out of the ghetto’s we are told nice job, now shut up and don’t make waves. I am too stupid to understand this since as a child of immigrants I never learned proper English!
Ms. Hume went on to comment on how far some of the ethnic papers need to go pointing out how my Spanish paper has a bikini clad women in it. Yes, we do have aspiring models in our paper. And the kicker is that my Latina employees ( female) think we need more women wearing less ( I don’t agree but it shows how not every culture views sexuality the same).
But what Hume didn’t realize was that the cover story of that same paper was about how angry the Latino community was about the Immigration debate in this nation, the House bill and how poorly they are represented in the mainstream media. Oh yes and about the demonstrations that were upcoming. Most of the mainstream media did not see the widespread protests coming!
Here’s another important point. It is not enough to know who your communities are but also what they stand for!
But while being shut down is not an issue for me but rather a norm in Boston, what bothered me the most about the discussion, was that I am still wondering what was accomplished in determining the future of the ethnic media in the news side?
I know I upset some people and the Boston Herald, Hume and the Umass Boston got a nice photo op. And it would be wrong of me to ignore the most notable aspect of the news discussion: the admission that some of the major papers and NECN jump all over stories in ethnic papers without giving them credit. But I get stuck on some things.
With more and more immigrants coming into the state every year, is it any wonder why many ethnic papers are growing and some dailies are shrinking? Could it be, because we do what they can’t, don’t or won’t do?
Is this not our niche and why should be ashamed of doing it well.
Editor's Note : Since Ric wrote this piece, the U.S. Hispanic newspapers and magazines held a conference in Las Vegas. The story " Gonzales grilled at conference, Immigration hot topic for attornet general " from the LasVegas Sun is here (Related) . Please add your comments below.
Wrapping up news from the governor's race
03/28/06 · 8:46 am
posted by Democrant
in Massachusetts Democrant (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Yesterday's New Bedford Standard Times (Related) had a good article on Gabrieli's impending run for the corner office. Representative Koczera is quoted as saying: "He's a candidate who might click with the general public."
Apparently, he's not had the opportunity to hear Mr Gabrieli lull conventions and other gatherings into a near dream like state. Where exactly were all these people clamoring for Gabrieli to run for governor say.... 3-4 months ago? The party insiders were all in Reilly's camp, Reilly stumbles, the insiders get worried. Please not the insiders are prone, this year as in past gubernatorial elections to roll for uninspired, insider candidates.
Don't think for a minute that there aren't a number of consultant types whispering in Gabrieli's ear. He'll spend money and that's good for them. The Herald had an article last week about Gabrieli paying people to get signatures (Related) . Apparently his groundswell of support is insufficient or unwilling to do the work other campaigns have volunteers for.
I am also amazed that the article states there is some concern about Deval Patrick being too liberal to win. Please note that the 2005 ADA ratings for the entire Massachusetts congressional delegation ranged from a low of 85% up to 100%. No, the reasons for the Dems doing so poorly in the governor's race has much more to do with the type of candidates nominated and running as GOP-lite, not standing for anything. In contested Congressional races in 2004 in Massachusetts, Bill Delahunt's 66% was the lowest percentage any incumbent received.
Today's Herald talks about Reilly needing to pad his big birthday bash (Related) fundraiser with freebies. Well, seeing as how I got one of those comps for a $500 fundraiser, I'd say there is a ring of truth there. I will be unable to attend, as surely what I would deem as proper attire would not roll at this or any other $500 per person fundraiser .
If you haven't seen Deval Patrick speak before, you can catch his appearance last night on NECN here (Related) . All the candidates will be on, you can catch these on NECN.
Average Single Family Tax Bills
03/27/06 · 4:07 pm
posted by Opinionator
in The Opinionator (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
The Department of Local Services of the Massachusetts Department of Revenue gathers interesting statistics from state reports which the towns send in to get their tax rates approved. This blog draws from that material and explores the average single family tax bills for the towns on the Cape, and the relative size of these bills compared to all 306 towns in the state. This kind of comparison is more useful than examining tax rates because different communities are at different places in their property re-assessment schedules. If you think your taxes are confiscatory, you will feel no differently after you see this. You will be able to determine, however, your effort compared to the efforts of other property owners here on the Cape and in the entire state and it can help dispel misinformation about relative spending by government. Towns are “unlisted” when they have residential exemptions which preclude calculating an average tax bill.
I have also listed 1999 per capita income for these towns. 1999 was the latest year available.
Community
Average Single
Residence Tax
Bill - 2006
Rank Out of
306 towns in
State
Per Capita
Income
1999
Barnstable
unlisted
unlisted
$25584
Bourne
$2946
202
$22092
Brewster
$2716
231
$24638
Chatham
$3007
187
$28594
Dennis
$1807
298
$25428
Eastham
$2292
277
$24642
Falmouth
$2736
225
$27548
Harwich
$2877
212
$23063
Mashpee
$3119
175
$25215
Orleans
$3253
163
$29553
Provincetown
unlisted
unlisted
$26109
Sandwich
$3861
105
$26895
Truro
$3335
155
$22608
Wellfleet
$2734
228
$25712
Yarmouth
$2254
281
$22731
Full Speed Ahead For Teen License Bill
03/27/06 · 11:00 am
posted by Codfish Press
in Codfish Press (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
By Greg O’Brien, Codfish Press
I know a 17-year-old driver, a good kid but typical of his age, who was clocked three months ago coming home from Nauset Regional High school in North Eastham at 82-miles-an hour. Two weeks later on a Saturday night, he was rounding a blind corner at about10 pm in a secluded neighborhood—radio at ear-piercing tilt—and sideswiped a parked car, demolishing the right front end of his Toyota.
I know him because he’s my son.
When I first learned of the accident, the questions raced through my mind at warp speed: Was alcohol involved? Was anyone hurt? The answer to both, this time, was no. But I don’t want there to be second time.
Rear-ended by an alarming and often tragic rash of traffic accidents involving teenage drivers, state lawmakers have pledged to radically revise state driving statutes that apply to teenagers, raising the legal driving age a full year to 17 years and six months. House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi told the Boston Globe last week he hoped to have the legislation on the governor’s desk by mid summer. If approved, the rewrite would be among the most restrictive in the nation.
Although it won’t have an immediate effect on my son (his general grounding and loss of wheels has), such legislation is essential, and should be enthusiastically embraced on Beacon Hill, considered on both sides of the aisle as one of the most critical bills before the House and Senate. Critics of the proposal insist that raising the driving age will not address the problem, opting instead for stricter enforcement of existing laws. But the sad statistics of poor teenage driving screech out like brakes jammed on a highway.
According to highway safety associations, teenage drivers account for only seven percent of all drivers, and yet are involved in more than 14 percent of all fatal crashes—the primary cause of death and injury to teenagers 15 to 19. The carnage is measured in the thousands; close to 6,000 teenagers a year in this country die in fatal crashes, most of them occurring between 9 pm and midnight.
Contributing factors include: lack of driving experience, poor driving skills, distractions, risk taking, bad judgment, driving at excessive speeds and, the most disquieting of all, alcohol and drug use.
Young, immature drivers often assume they are indestructible, and drive as they do in the fantasy video games of their obsession. Encouraging a 16-year-old to draw the line between the real and imagined is like getting an infant to take its first step. They wobble and fall until they get it right.
All the more reason to extend the age for teenage driving. What do we lose by it? Well, parents may have to shuttle their kids around for another year. What do we gain. Maybe a score of lives!
It’s a savings that can hit close to home.
At time of record profits, Big Oil off the hook for billions in royalties owed to the government (make that, owed to you and me)
03/27/06 · 9:32 am
posted by Jack Coleman
in Media Watch (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
A real eye-opener of a front page story in today's New York Times (Related) , under the headline, "Vague Law and Hard Lobbying Add Up to Billions for Big Oil" -
An excerpt - "For more than a decade, lawmakers and administration officials, both Republicans and Democrats, have promised there would be no cost to taxpayers for a program allowing companies to avoid paying the government royalties on oil and gas produced in publicly owned waters in the Gulf.
"But last month, the Bush administration confirmed that it expected the government to waive about $7 billion in royalties over the next five years , even though the industry incentive was expressly conceived of for times when energy prices were low. And that number could quadruple to more than $28 billion if a lawsuit filed last week challenging one of the program's remaining restrictions proves successful.
"The big lie about this whole program is that it doesn't cost anything," said Representative Edward J. Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat who tried to block its expansion last July. "Taxpayers are being asked to provide huge subsidies to oil companies to produce oil — it's like subsidizing a fish to swim."
NIMBY environmentalists say Washington Times
03/27/06 · 8:20 am
posted by CCToday
in The Blogfather (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
FOR YEARS NOW a story line in Massachusetts has featured the Kennedy family, enthusiastic environmentalists all, loudly opposing one of the most environmentally progressive schemes in the state's history: a large, offshore wind farm known as Cape Wind, to be placed in Nantucket Sound, the only viable site for such a farm off the New England coast. Although the farm would cleanly and quietly produce three-quarters of the total electrical demand for Cape Cod and nearby islands -- a region that could otherwise soon be facing serious power shortages -- and although it has passed through multiple regulatory hoops, both Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his uncle, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), have denounced the project, in part on the grounds that it would spoil the views "from 16 historic sites and lighthouses on the cape and nearby islands" and presumably from their own summer house as well... Read the rest of The Washington Post editorial here (Related) .
In a highly unusual concordance, The Conservative Republican Washington Times today agreed in their Editorial below with yesterday's Washinton Post Editorial condemning Congressman Don Young's attempt to stop the Cape Wind project - The Editor
NIMBY environmentalists
In the interconnected world of energy and environmental policy, where difficult tradeoffs have always been the rule of the day, a win-win solution like the Cape Wind offshore windmill project doesn't come around very often. Embracing cutting-edge technology, Cape Wind epitomizes the long-term need to exploit renewable energy sources to alleviate America's dependence on fossil fuels. And it could do so in real time... Read the rest of The Washington Times (Related) The Washington Times
Is There Trouble in Copland- Taxpayers are asking Questions?
03/27/06 · 8:14 am
posted by The Yarmouth Taxpayer
in The Yarmouth Taxpayer (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
This past Thursday in the weekly newspaper, The Register , there was a letter to the Editor titled, OK Mr. O’Keefe, We Give Up! (Related)
The letter was written by The Yarmouth Police Officers Association, which is comprised of members of Local 422 of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers. In looking to an incident that happened in Chatham in March 2005 this Blog received the following letter. The letter we received is published and is unedited.
The Letter:
In a recent letter to the editor in the Register the Yarmouth Police Association lambasted District Attorney O’Keefe for reasons that can only be explained as selfish. Striking O’Keefe for his “personal flaws. Or his lack of social skills” is cover for the true issue behind the attack. O’Keefe has criticized the Yarmouth-Barnstable SRT team for going to other communities and providing police services at the expense of Yarmouth and Barnstable taxpayers. In a recent article in the Cape Cod Times regarding a 5-hour stand off that involved the apparent suicide of Jeffery Gibbs, in Chatham. O’Keefe is quoted as saying “ I was most concerned about the manner in which the so called SRT team was used that day”. O’Keefe said his main problem was the deployment of regional tactical officers in a town where they weren’t sworn officers. Since Chatham and the SRT team had not worked together, chain of command issues resulted, O’Keefe said. It raised the questions of who was really in charge, you must always make sure that the left hand knows what the right hand is doing, said O’Keefe. A private investigator, Peter S. Robbins of Centerville based International Investigative Resources is investigating the possibility that the apparent suicide was caught on tape by a security camera kept
in the home, the tape is missing.
So why would the Yarmouth Police Association attack O’Keefe because of his statements on the above SRT call out? The answer is simple, money! The SRT team from Yarmouth-Barnstable is called out on average 5 times per month. The team has approximately 26 officers, some of which are on overtime, some already working their shift. Either way, every time the team is called out it creates overtime, whether it’s for the officer responding on his day off or to back fill for an officer leaving his patrol to respond to a situation somewhere on the Cape. Consider that the Chatham call out cost the taxpayers of Yarmouth and Barnstable $6,000 and then multiply that by 5 callouts per month and the costs jump to $360,000 in added expense to the Taxpayers of Yarmouth and Barnstable and a windfall of overtime for the officers involved.
Do we really need a joint SRT team? Do we need to pay our officers extra to travel to other communities to provide police services? The answer is yes and no, if Yarmouth and Barnstable want to work together so that they can serve warrants and deal with issues within their own two communities, fine, because the service is reciprocal. However, what benefit does the taxpayers in Yarmouth, for instance, gain from sending their men to Chatham, Nantucket or Wellfleet? Absolutely zero, what happens if an officer gets hurt in Chatham, is Chatham going to pay the workman’s compensation claim? Is Chatham going to pay to fill the manpower lost as a result of the injury, no! To address the issue further is the fact that the State Police already offer these services at no additional cost to the taxpayers of any town, they assume all liability and have a solid chain of command structure. The Chiefs would argue that the State Police take too long to respond, but to my knowledge neither Yarmouth nor Barnstable has asked for the State Police Swat team to respond to any incident in many years. Since it took the Yarmouth and Barnstable SRT team 45 minutes to respond to Chatham, how much longer would it have taken the State Police to respond, only to later find out they were not needed at all? We are wasting money with these SRT teams and that is the dirty little secret the Yarmouth Police Association doesn’t want you to know, so they attack an excellent District Attorney for “personal flaws.or his lack of social skills”, as if we all don’t know of a few police officers lacking the same attributes.
Wade Stevens, Cummaquid, MA
The Yarmouth Taxpayer:
The above letter does raise quite a few questions. Is the Town of Yarmouth (Taxpayers) reimbursed for the overtime costs when they are used in other Towns? Does the Town need to hire 5 new Officers, as requested in the Towns Override? Why wasn’t the State Police Called? How much does it cost the Taxpayers in Yarmouth to cover the SRT Team in insurance? These are just a few questions, and add them on to what Mr. O’Keefe has already raised. The Taxpayers have a right to have answers. They’re paying for it. The young Men and Woman in the Yarmouth Police Department are Professional to the core. They have chosen a dangerous career, and have the full support of this blogger and the hard working taxpayers in the Town of Yarmouth. The public letter in the newspaper by the Police Association, about the Barnstable District Attorney Mr. Micheal O’ Keefe, has opened the door for the Taxpayers to now start asking questions, about how their tax money is being used.
Washington Post & Washington Times Editorials agree
03/26/06 · 10:32 am
posted by CCToday
in The Blogfather (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
FOR YEARS NOW a story line in Massachusetts has featured the Kennedy family, enthusiastic environmentalists all, loudly opposing one of the most environmentally progressive schemes in the state's history: a large, offshore wind farm known as Cape Wind, to be placed in Nantucket Sound, the only viable site for such a farm off the New England coast. Although the farm would cleanly and quietly produce three-quarters of the total electrical demand for Cape Cod and nearby islands -- a region that could otherwise soon be facing serious power shortages -- and although it has passed through multiple regulatory hoops, both Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his uncle, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), have denounced the project, in part on the grounds that it would spoil the views "from 16 historic sites and lighthouses on the cape and nearby islands" and presumably from their own summer house as well.
...Here's one possible explanation. According to capecodtoday.com (Related) , the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, founded by Nantucket Island and Cape Cod homeowners and receiving 80 percent of its funding from just 30 people, has spent more than $1 million on Washington lobbyists, including some with ties to Mr. Young. One of the alliance's founders, William Koch -- owner of a Cape Cod summer home, as well as an oil and gas billionaire who might have other reasons to dislike wind farms -- has separately funneled money through his company's Washington lobbyists to another firm that has ties to Mr. Young... Read the rest of The Washington Post editorial here (Related) .
In a highly unusual concordance, The Conservative Republican Washington Times today agreed in their Editorial below with yesterday's Washinton Post Editorial condemning Congressman Don Young's attempt to stop the Cape Wind project - The Editor
NIMBY environmentalists
In the interconnected world of energy and environmental policy, where difficult tradeoffs have always been the rule of the day, a win-win solution like the Cape Wind offshore windmill project doesn't come around very often. Embracing cutting-edge technology, Cape Wind epitomizes the long-term need to exploit renewable energy sources to alleviate America's dependence on fossil fuels. And it could do so in real time... Read the rest of The Washington Times (Related) The Washington Times
Health Care is a Human Right & Individual Responsibility
03/26/06 · 6:09 am
posted by Aaron
in Aaron Maloy's Blog (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
When Governor Romney launched his proposal to allow for universal health care in Massachusetts many took him very seriously.
As usual legislative leaders scrambled to put together their own plans to rival Romney's so that they could claim credit should health care for all in Massachusetts ever come to fruition. Too late. Governor Romney took the initiative and deserves full credit for being the health care reform catalyst. Using Massachusetts as a political lab we can forecast the success of universal health care on a national level. Should this become a reality Mitt Romney is the appropriate harbinger.
Playing politics with our health
Health care in not something that we can play politics with. According to a very credible health care advocacy group about 18,000 people die every year because they lack comprehensive health coverage. That is so wrong! Cape Cod has about 1/1000th of the country's populations and a very high percentage of the uninsured and underinsured. These statistics suggest that about 18 people on Cape Cod die every year because they lack adequate coverage. Again, this is wrong!!!
Everybody has a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness guarantee by our constitution. I stand behind our Governor in fighting for human rights, and as a member of the Massachusetts legislature I will also fight to protect businesses from damaging and fatal taxes like the 5-7% payroll tax. We are very lucky that we moved haved beyond that. This would have forced many businesses to pay their employees lower wages, raise the prices on their commodities, hire less employees, and for some, leave the State.
This distinction between an unfeasible destructive tax and spend proposal by the Democratic leadership in the legislature and Governor Romney's rational and realistic vision is even more reason why I am proud to run for State Rep. as a Republican. If we can elect more officials who think and operate like our Governor, imagine the kind of progress that Massachusetts will make......and the money we will save.
Don Young's motive: the best theory yet
03/25/06 · 6:36 pm
posted by Chuck
in Renewable Energy Revolution (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
An excellent op-ed (Related) by science writer Wendy Williams in yesterday's Providence Journal-Bulletin that may hit closest to the mark in explaining Alaska Congressman Don Young's inscrutable interest in Cape Wind, an offshore wind proposal several time zones from his district.
Instead of the influence of lobbyists and billionaire yachtsmen like the Alliance's Bill Koch , Williams explains, Young could be motivated by vein-bulging contempt for environmentalists and even more for Theodore Roosevelt IV .
"Could simple human nature be at work in Nantucket Sound?," Williams asks. "Mr. Young, a large man whose in-your-face politicking recalls Lyndon Johnson's , could also be seen as an angry and bitter silverback who for some reason hates, beyond all reason, the environmental movement. He has reportedly called environmentalists a 'self-centered bunch, the waffle-stomping Harvard-graduating intellectual idiots.' (What's waffle-stomping?) Environmentalists are also 'socialists,' who are 'not Americans, never have been Americans, never will be Americans.'
"Mr. Young particularly despises the U.S. Forest Service," Williams writes. "Well, it seems that a great-grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt , the man who gave us the U.S. Forest Service, gave a speech a decade ago before the Women's National Republican Club that repeatedly chastised Don Young . The gist was that Young and others like him were destroying the Republican Party. And it seems that this very same speaker -- Theodore Roosevelt IV , a chip off the old Rough Rider block -- is handling, through Lehman Brothers, the financing of the Nantucket Sound windmills.
"It seems that when someone up in Alaska asked Mr. Young several weeks ago why he cared so deeply about Nantucket Sound, he suggested that the questioner look into who was arranging the financing . Mr. Young is said to possess a very strong memory.
"Could the Washington warhorse have held up the Coast Guard bill for months just because he didn't get to stomp waffles at Harvard?," Williams posits.
Globe revenue dropped 12% in February
03/24/06 · 2:31 pm
posted by CCToday
in Media Watch (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
The Boston Herald reported today that the financial situation at the Boston Globe is scary. The Herald Financial Page story reads in part: The Boston Globe dragged down the financial numbers of the New York Times Co. with a huge drop in ad revenue last month that one analyst described as "a disaster" and the worst he's seen among major U.S. newspapers. "It's pretty nasty numbers," said Ed Atorino, managing director of investment firm Benchmark Co., referring to a 12 percent revenue plunge in February by the Times' New England Media Group, made up overwhelmingly by the Globe.... The Times Co. is apparently eyeing staff reductions and other cost-cutting measures at the Globe.
The investment house Goldman Sachsreacted negatively (Related) to the NYT's earnings report according to yesterday's newspaper trade journal Editor & Publisher,
Goldman Sachs issued a pessimistic report on newspapers' revenue trends this afternoon in the wake of The New York Times February numbers announced earlier today. It reads in full: "We believe the February revenue report from The New York Times Co. illustrates the continued difficulty in the operating environment for newspaper publishers. Consistent with our expectations, ad revenue growth remains anemic, particularly in the New England Media Group (where ad revenue dropped 12% in February), and cost pressure continues to hurt profitability, evidenced by an EPS guidance range that implies margin contraction...
The Herald also carried a column by Brett Arends (Related) with this speculation of what is happening at Boston Globe:
Rightly or wrongly, the question being asked in the newsroom down on Morrissey Boulevard right now isn’t whether there are more job cuts coming. It’s how many. “Janet Robinson was in town this week, and Arthur Sulzberger is coming next week,” as one staffer put it to me yesterday, “so it can’t be good news.” Robinson is the Times’ CEO, Sulzberger the chairman. You’d be hard pressed to find any good news at the Globe right now. Certainly not the latest financials. Nor the New York Times share price, which fell yesterday to its lowest level in nearly eight years. Nor a warning from Moody’s that it may soon downgrade the company’s debt.
Arends went on to write in The Herald;
The least valuable content? Opinion. The blogosphere produces little news, but it is proving that anyone can produce mere vaporware. Maybe that’s why 17 million people visit The New York Times’ Web site each month, but so far only 171,000 have actually paid up for the privilege of reading columnists like Thomas Friedman, Maureen Dowd and Paul Krugman.
Former Cape Cod Times publisher gets a promotion
According to numbers just released for Dow Jones/Ottaway Newspapers, the parent company of Cape Cod Times , the economic outlook is at least as dire: not only the mega-loss of all Filene's advertising, but the coming recession being caused by a half billion dollars (Related) coming out of The Cape's economy to pay for increased energy costs. At Ottaway Newspapers, advertising linage decreased 9.0% in February (Related) due to declines in auto classified, non-daily, display (read Filene 's) and national advertising, partially offset by a gain in real estate classified advertising.
As reported last month in the Media Daily News (Related) ,
In yet another clear example of the inroads online publishing is making against its traditional print counterpart, Dow Jones announced a reorganization that includes a combined print and online Wall Street Journal news operation... The Community Media Group includes the Dow Jones's portfolio of 15 daily and 19 weekly Ottaway community newspaper properties in nine states. It will be led by John Wilcox , who was Publisher of Cape Cod Times until recently will become senior vice president of Dow Jones, president of Dow Jones Community Media Group, and chairman and CEO of Ottaway Newspapers, Inc.
The BlueMassGroup website reported much the same, but added,
"want more on how newspapers and the internet do or don't work together? Check out this long and very interesting article (Related) at Editor & Publisher about the various ways newspaper are trying to integrate the Internet into their operations... or this recent Molly Ivins' column (Related) diagnosing and prescribing various cures for what ails the newspaper industry... or this interesting Pew survey (Related) showing that local TV remains most Americans' primary news source, followed by national TV and radio, and that among Internet users the Internet comes in fourth for broadband users but fifth for dial-up users (fourth place for them goes to newspapers)."
All Give, No Take
03/24/06 · 10:54 am
posted by Monponsett
in East of Boston (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Football has been a lot of fun lately... which is odd, because they haven't been playing. Football has a sort of silly season that started last week and rolls past the NFL draft into early summer. We've just begun the free agent period, we're about a month away from the draft, and one man's loss is another man's gain.
The Patriots have been on the wrong end of the import/export ratio process, and the hits have happened on offense, defense and special teams. The Patriots have a history of refusing to pay elder veterans top dollar- they've cast aside Ty Law, Lawyer Milloy, Ted Washington and other key spokes. Their record speaks for itself, but the process is ugly. "Surgical" might be a good way to describe it, and it doesn't live that far from "ruthless."
I know at least 10 people who now have obsolete Patriot shirts, with the funniest being a counselor I know who rocked a red Grogan shirt with a belt as a sort of dress on Patriots Day before the most recent Super Bowl. I just recently lost a Flutie shirt, and Stephen's electric blue Undertaker Brown jersey isn't in any shape to be worn anywhere other than working under a car... but it can't be thrown out. I think it's sort of like throwing out a worn flag, in that some sort of ceremony must be followed.
Adam Vinatieri, Willie McGinest, Ty Poole, David Givens, Christian Fauria, Tom Ashworth, Tim Dwight and a cast of thousand have left the Patriots just this week. Ad-V to the Colts hurts, because it's easy to loathe the Colts. It isn't Clemens/Yankees bad, but it's a lot different than Givens to the Titans.
The only guy we signed is some bust WR from the Chargers. We lost three WRs- Givens, Dwight, and Andre Davis. I was rooting for Keyshawn to come here on the cheap, but he looks like Carolina's baby at the moment. Givens was sort of the 1A to the 1 of Deion Branch as far as being Brady's favorite target. It seems possible that we'll draft one, and maybe two.
I'll miss McGinest. He was a genuinely brutal man who went for the head, and putting him on the same field as Rodney Harrison made the defense into a sort of crime syndicate. His greatest moment was either stuffing Edgerrin James on the goal line to preserve a road win, or the game where he broke Jim Harbaugh's thumb and nose on successive sacks. He owned Peyton Manning to the point where he could trade him in prison for Newports.
Adam had his share of great moments. His foot won us 2 Super Bowls, a Snow Bowl, an Ice Bowl, and he took down Herschel Walker on a kickoff return as a rookie. He seemed to kick better as the weather got worse, a nice quality to have when you work in New England. If we lose a playoff game on a botched field goal- or, worse yet, if Adam boots us out himself, so to speak- a new Curse may just be born.
It seems like we aren't going to sign anyone until the veterans start getting cut as camp opens. We'll have an interesting draft, as we need a linebacker, a cornerback, a kicker, a few wideouts, a tight end, a tackle, and God knows what else. We'll be working from Need, a far cry from the best-athlete-available picking we did during the Fat Times.
Things have been working themselves out for the Patriots recently, and it's fair to assume that Belichick has some sort of plan in place to deal with the exodus.
Now is the time for all good politicians...
03/24/06 · 10:33 am
posted by The Blogfather
in The Blogfather (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
...to blog for their party
We have asked every Cape Codder who is seeking elective office in this November election to let us create a free "Cape Blog (Related) Cape Blog " for them.
To date four have taken us up on the offer, and they're all Republicans. Is this an example of why the GOP does so well at the polls even when they're in the minority?
Free, Write and Twenty-one
So I'm calling all candidates again. Check out our Blog Chowder (Related) Blog Chowder , and join the fun. Remember, " all ink is good ink ," as long as they spell your name correctly. Right now most Dem and GOP candidates are totally unknown to voters outside their own inner circle.
You don't win elections that way.
We assume that one reason some pols have not responded is the normal, human desire to not attempt something new in which they have no experience.
We have a cure for that.
The Care & Feeding of Cape Bloggers
CapeCodTODAY.com is willing to train each of you, and at no cost whatsoever. We have a simple tutorial which we supply, and someone is always available if you get in a jam. More importantly, we check every new post of every blog to look for errors, which most times we fix ourselves and email you what went wrong.
We even supply photos and other art to enhance your writing.
In the next weeks we are putting on group training sessions for politicians by party. The Republicans have accepted our offer, and we'll start training any GOP candidate who wishes to join Bob Dwyer and myself in our training room on Route 134 in Dennis.
How about some of you Democrats getting after your Committeemen and Committeewomen to let us do the same for you?
Here are the GOP bloggers already getting free (L) INK on CapeCodTODAY.com:
Barnstable County Bill (Related) (Doherty)Peter Porcupine (Related) (GOP spirit)Don Howel (Related) l (Related) ( GOP Rep. candidate for Lower cape)
Aaron Maloy (Related) (GOP Rep. candidate for Lower Cape)
Any Cape pol who isn't blogging should turn green with envy. These are all well written, interesting messages which will change minds and influence elections. Our web traffic (the number of people who read our website) has tripled in the past twelve months, and we credit most of that increase to local interest in our blogs which now numbers over fifty and run the gamut of local interests from a forty-something Cape Mom (Related) writing about her world to a Big Brothers/Big Sisters staffer who is just beginning a two-thousand mile hike along the Appalachian Trail (Related) from Georgia to Maine and writing about it whenever he gets a connection.
If you're a pol (or anyone else who wants to blog on CCtoday), email me at wb@eCape.com (Related) and we'll have you blogging in a "Cape Cod Minute".
The truth about radar and Cape Wind
03/24/06 · 8:33 am
posted by Magical Eye
in Against the Wind (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Jim Gordon, Cape Wind and its proponents like Jack Coleman, PR man for Clean Power Now, would have us believe that radar safety is of no concern and simply something made up by Don Young, Bill Koch, the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound and Cliff Carroll of windstop.org to kill the Cape Wind project.
But, to many of us, it is obvious that Cape Wind is so determined to have its way, it is actually putting its industrial wind power plant ahead of the safety and security of the nation.
What Cape Wind is not telling us (and they have to know this) is that wind farm permits are now being denied across this country because of the affect they may have on military radar and National security. One such project of 133 turbines in Wisconsin, similar in size to Cape Wind, has now been placed on hold while the US Air force studies in possible affects on the Brownsville-area radar. And another, a 33 turbine facility in Texas.
FAA's Bruce Beard says "The issue is new because of the military's new roles in air space surveillance following the Sept. 11 attacks." "The Air Force using its own radar equipment and that of the FAA, tracks and potentially intercepts planes that lose radio contact with the FAA, he said."
"So right now we're trying to figure out how we're going to commingle with everybody getting most of what the want, without damaging our radar service and without preventing the use of wind turbines being developed," said Beard, national operations manager of obstruction evaluation services at the FAA."
Cape Wind's refusal to come up with a working alternative is what will kill its project, not, those who attempt to protect the Nantucket Sound from industrialization and those who attempt to protect our national security from stealth attack.
*A letter from the FAA dated 02/01/06 has just come to my attention stating that each of the four wind turbines applied for by the Town of Yarmouth have been denied as being too tall (389 feet above ground and 439 feet above sea level) since they would intrude into the instrument air space for Barnstable Municipal Airport but would also have an adverse physical or electromagnetic interference effect upon navigational air space or air navigation facilities.
Headlines:
Today's 3/27/06 Cape Cod Times story (Related) on safety hazards posed by turbines in Falmouth causing FAA to reject their proposal.
"Yarmouth leaders must now come up with alternative sites for a wind turbine project after the Federal Aviation Administration ruled that the proposed structures, within two miles of Barnstable Municipal Airport, would be a ''presumed hazard." " The FAA wrote, in a Feb. 1 letter, that the wind turbines would interfere with the airspace and radar systems near the airport."
Horicon wind farm permit on hold, could interfere with radar
WBAY (Related) , WI - 9 hours ago
That's while the federal government studies how the facility could affect a radar used by the Air Force. Wildlife groups oppose ...
Horicon wind farm permit on hold, could interfere with radar
Duluth News Tribune (Related) , MN - 10 hours ago
BROWNSVILLE, Wis. - A permit for a proposed wind farm in Horicon is on hold while the federal government studies how the facility ...
Horicon wind farm foes find unlikely ally in US Air Force
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Related) (subscription), WI - 20 hours ago
By THOMAS CONTENT. Wildlife groups that want to block construction of a wind power project near the Horicon Marsh and its refuge ...
Wind Farm Setback By Federal Opposition
WEAU (Related) -TV 13, WI - Mar 22, 2006
The Federal Aviation Administration ia on record opposing placement of 87 of the 133 turbines for a wind farm near the Horicon Marsh. ...
Radar new issue for Horicon wind farm
The Capital Times (Related) , WI - 7 hours ago
BROWNSVILLE - A permit for a proposed wind farm in Horicon is on hold while the federal government studies how the facility could affect a radar used by the ...
Be happy about Greeks bearing Gyros
03/23/06 · 2:55 pm
posted by Billy Bacchus
in Cheap Eats (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Royal Pizza is a Greek gourmet bistro until the tourists arrive
Several of you may recall that wonderful Greek restaurant on East Main Street, Hyannis called " My Place ." The food was so good that culinary professors from Boston colleges and universities came there for the roast lamb and Chicken Kiev and ignored the rest of the Cape's charms.
It's been gone for 15 years, but we can still taste that great, Greek food in our memory... and you can taste it again at Royal Pizza on Lower County Road in Dennisport; at least until the summer crowds arrive and chef-owner Paul Bolanos (on right) gets too busy making pizzas.
Greek specials nightly until ???
It should be common knowledge by now that all Italian pizzerias are owned by Greeks. The problem has been that most only make pizza.
But not Chef Paul. He is a native of Piraeus, Greece's great seaport, and he attended Johnson & Wales in Providence, and went on to manage four star restaurants in that town before he escaped to the Cape.
It's Greek to me
Each evening he features three or more Greek specials. On our first visit, my wife and I had his Chicken Suvlaki Plate (a shish-ka-bob with onions and peppers) which came with incredible cole slaw and french fries, $7.50.
We also shared a Greek Spinach Pie ( Spanakopita ) which came with a first class Greek salad, $6.50. The portions are huge, and the quality matches or surpasses any Greek cooking we've ever sampled, and it's right here in the mid-Cape.
Today when I returned for lunch I had his Nassos Wrap which is a wonderfully tangy sauteed eggplant surrounded by feta, onions, lettuce and tomatoes, $6.50.
If you go tonight you can try Paul's Moussaki which also comes with a Greek salad, $8. In the future he plans to offer a Paspipsoe Plate (meat with large noodles covered with Béchamel sauce) and Greek salad, $8.
A twelve-foot wide regular menu
Royal Pizza has one of the largest menus we've ever seen, every gourmet combination imaginable from $6.00 and dozens of sandwiches, calzones, pasta dinners and dinner plates, all at very reasonable prices.
For instance, the kids menu offers chicken fingers or ziti and meatball for $4, and Paul features Bliss ice cream if you have any room left after dinner.
Royal Pizza , 374 Lower County Road, Dennisport at Sea Street, (508) 398-2949. Full liquor license.
Matalin to speak at b-day party fundraiser for Healey
03/23/06 · 2:47 pm
posted by Jack Coleman
in Politicalendar (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Mary Matalin , one of the best-known political strategists in the Republican Party, gives Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey's campaign a boost when she speaks at a luncheon fundraiser doubling as a birthday party for Healey on Friday April 7 in Boston.
The event will be held at noon at the Hilton Back Bay, 4o Dalton St.; the requested donation is $125.
Matalin, shown above with hubby James Carville , has worked as an adviser in both Bush administrations and for Vice President Cheney. Carville is an equally prominent Democratic strategist and consultant. That he and Matalin have remained married more than a decade continues to amaze observers on both sides of the aisle.
(photo credit, strangepolitics.com)
When NIMBY becomes PIIMBY
03/23/06 · 10:36 am
posted by WB
in Renewable Energy Revolution (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Wind Power Cost Dropping Below Conventional Sources Marks Key Milestone in U.S. Shift to Renewable Energy
"When Austin Energy, the publicly owned utility in Austin, Texas, launched its GreenChoice program in 2000, customers opting for green electricity paid a premium. During the fall of 2005, climbing natural gas prices pulled conventional electricity costs above those of wind-generated electricity, the source of most green power. This crossing of the cost lines in Austin and several other communities is a milestone in the U.S. shift to a renewable energy economy," says Lester Brown, President of Earth Policy Institute
Austin Energy buys wind-generated electricity under 10-year, fixed-price contracts and passes this stable price on to its GreenChoice subscribers. This fixed-price energy product is quite attractive to Austin's 388 corporate GreenChoice customers, including Advanced Micro Devices, Dell, IBM, Samsung, and 3M. Advanced Micro Devices expects to save $4 million over the next decade through this arrangement. School districts are also signing up. Round Rock School District, for example, projects 10-year savings to local taxpayers at $2 million.
Facing a Texas-style stampede of consumers wanting to sign up for the current remaining supply of green electricity, Austin Energy has resorted to a GreenChoice raffle that will be held on March 23. All its customers - both residential and business - were invited to participate in the drawing.
NIMBY vs. PIIMBY
Interest in wind energy is rising as production costs fall. Although media attention focuses on communities with a not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) response to wind turbines, such as the large, off-shore wind farm planned off Cape Cod, in most of the country wind farms are enthusiastically welcomed. Here, it's the PIIMBY syndrome - put-it-in-my-backyard... Read the rest of this Environmental News Network story here (Related) , and comment below.
Read (Related) why (Related) Cape Cod's failure to seize the renewable option will cause a recession here (Related) .
Barros draws a crowd for his fund-raiser
03/23/06 · 6:59 am
posted by CCToday
in Cape Politics (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Last night's event at Grill 16 in Hyannis brought out GOP's Old Guard
By Walter Brooks, cctoday
The Grand Old Party's grand old guard showed up in droves last night to support Centerville resident and New Bedford attorney Ric Barros , at left in photo with Rep candidate Will Crocker , in his bid to replace Democrat incumbent Rob O'Leary in the Massachusetts Senate this November.
But first he has to get past Nantucket's Doug Bennett who is waging a very different campaign.
Turtle & the Hare?
Ric Barros has been a veteran Republican activist since his college days at Umass and B.C.
The year he graduated in 1984 he was a candidate for Congress in the 10th Congressional District Republican Primary and ran again against former Congressman Studds a second time in 1986.
This will be his second try for the State Senate seat. Four years ago he was a delegate for Senator John McCain at the Republican National Convention.
Last night's fund-raiser charged $100 for the finger food (cash bar), and there appeared to be around fifty Republicans in the room, so his quest against twenty-something upstart Doug Bennett will not be the typical money war in the media.
Bennett's style centers around a lot of leg work and standing at rotaries holding a sign.
Barros supporters at Grill 16 included our DA Michael O'Keefe , Governor's Council candidate Phil Paleologos , Dick Neitz running to replace Rep. Cleon Turner in the First Barnstable, and Scott Nickerson who is seeking reelection as County Clerk of Courts shown on right talking to new attorney in town, Chris Sherman of Carrie L. Woods & Associates in Barnstable Village.
Also in attendance was retired State Rep. Tom George and GOP State Committeewoman Cynthia Stead .
The GOP hasn't fared that well in this increasingly Democrat county, and Ric Barros has often willingly faced unreasonable odds for the good of his party.
This year will see vigorously contested primaries in both parties. While that's a healthy sign for our democracy, Ric's friends last evening cheered him on in yet another quest for office.
See Ric Barros' website here (Related) .
Read about his opponent for the GOP nomination here (Related) .
Plumbing The Depths Of Our National Debt
03/22/06 · 10:46 pm
posted by Codfish Press
in Boston Cod (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Greg O'Brien, Codfish Press
Like children who just cracked the code to their parent’s home equity account, Congress last week drilled deeper into your pockets, raising the limit on federal government borrowing by $781 billion. Tapping into more debt and giddy with the cash reserve, lawmakers—both Republicans and Democrats, many of whom are facing reelection in the fall—then spent more than $100 billion (much of it on the war in Iraq and hurricane relief) without any offsetting budget cuts.
“On vote after vote in the House and Senate, lawmakers demonstrated the growing gap between their political promises to rein in spending and their need to respond to emergencies and to protect politically popular programs,” the Washington Post reported.
Goofy, gap-toothed Alfred E. Neuman must be amused: what me worry? Hey, amigos, we got plenty of scratch, as the saying goes; it’s just tied up in debt. And the hemp is getting tighter and tighter, but no one seems to be noticing that we’re all gasping in shades of red and blue.
Remember the good old days of the Grand Old Party? As the Bush bus rolled into Washington amid a ticker-tape parade of tax cuts, we actually had a surplus in the bank. The statutory debt limit has now risen by more than $3 trillion—no chump change for a party that preaches fiscal restraint. “The problem we have had on the budget all along is a lack of adult supervision,” economist Bruce Bartlett told The New York Times, suggesting Congress can’t be blamed for looking after its parochial interests. “It’s the president’s responsibility to look out for the national interest, and I think that responsibility has been largely abandoned over the last five years.”
Not quite. Letting Congress off the hook for our current budget crisis is like allowing your teenage son out on a Saturday night after a Friday night bender. But Bartlett—who served in the Reagan administration in the Office of Policy Development and in George H.W. Bush’s Treasury Department as deputy assistant secretary for economic policy—makes a strong case in a new book critical of Bush’s grim economic record. Financing two wars, responding to domestic disasters and bucking up homeland security, all while granting tax cuts, has left us as a nation many days late and millions of dollars short in fulfilling a collective mission.
Sorely lacking in preparedness in critical health issues, our government is now giving us the bird. Renowned avian flu expert Robert Webster warned ABC News last week that there were “about even odds at this time for the (H5N1) virus to learn how to transmit human to human.” He cautioned, “Society just can’t accept the idea that 50 percent of the population could die.”
Sky-is-falling-rhetoric for some, but we are about as prepared today to confront a flu pandemic, as we are to tackle trillions in debt. Head Boy Scout Bush seems to have forgotten the motto. Anyone got a spare handbook?
Blender Dissection: Fun for the Whole Family
03/22/06 · 10:45 pm
posted by capemom
in Cape Mom (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Yarmouth Estimated Tax Rate Hike- Part III
03/22/06 · 2:42 pm
posted by The Yarmouth Taxpayer
in The Yarmouth Taxpayer (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
"We don't have deficits because people are taxed too little. We have deficits because big government spends too much." —Ronald Reagan
The Town Of Yarmouth Warrant has been published with the recommendations of the Finance Committee for the Annual Town Meeting to be held at the Mattacheese Middle School in West Yarmouth starting on April 11, 2006 at 7 pm. The General Election will on May 2, 2006
lor="#cc0000"> Average Tax Bill:
The average tax bill in Yarmouth for a single Family tax bill is $2,254 dollars. This places Yarmouth 281st out of 306 cities and towns in Massachusetts. This means that 280 cities and towns have a higher average tax bill than Yarmouth and 25 have a lower average tax bill. The Town of Dennis is ranked 298th. Note: Ma Division of local services in this comparison excludes Condo’s
The Question? :
Will Yarmouth be able to keep its low tax rate?
Present Tax Rate vs. New Estimated Tax Rate :
The present tax rate in Yarmouth is $ 5.93 per thousand dollars of assessed value.
The new estimated Tax increase within the limits of Prop 2 ½ of $.28 will raise the tax rate to $6.21 . An increase of 2.1% over last year. To add the CPA taxes of 3 % add $.19 to calculate individual share. This does not include any increase from the override.
The Town Override $ 819,000:
Now if the Town Taxpayers/ Voters pass the Town Override ,Article #13 on the Town Warrant, http://www.yarmouth.ma.us/ (Related) and is approved on the Ballot in May the following estimated tax of $.13 will be added to the $6.21 .The new Tax estimate would be $6.34 .
The DY School Override $1,026,527:
There will be a second override this year. This will also have to be approved at Town Meeting and at the General Election in May. The impact of the DY School override will add another $.16. Total estimated Tax Rate will be $6.50 per thousand dollars of assessed value.
The New Fire Station:
The new proposed Fire Station to be built in West Yarmouth could add another $.07 ( Estimated ) to the $6.50 estimated tax rate if the bids come in for Town Meeting. The result would be a new estimated tax rate of $6.57 .Now, if the Fire Station bids are not ready the town is looking at a Special Town Meeting later this Year.
Re Appraisal - Town Property :
In Article 6 the Town will be asking for 89,000 to do a full appraisal of all the properties within the Town. The figures for 2005 from Barnstable County show that the values of homes on Cape Cod increased 5.9 percent although the volume of sales are down. The new property appraisal could have an effect on individual property owners. The result could be an increase in taxes based on the new property values when the appraisal is completed for next year.
Bottom Line- The Taxpayers:
The Taxpayers/Voters will have the finial word if they want to increase their property tax base. They will have a say at Town Meeting first. Now if the Voters at Town Meeting don’t approve the overrides the overrides will not be on the ballot in the May Election. If the overrides are passed then the Voters will have a second vote at the General Election It is important that the all Taxpayers/Voters attend Town Meeting to speak on these important issues we face on the Town Budget or the overrides. The money to be approved or disapproved is Your Tax Dollars , so I urge all to attend Town Meeting and get involved.
"Mass murderer of newspapers" lives here in the summer
03/22/06 · 11:08 am
posted by CCToday
in Media Watch (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
This report is in the current edition of the Columbia Journalism Review:
The Evolution of Dean Singleton
Once, Angry Reporters Threw Beer Cans at Him. Now He's Reaching for Journalistic Respectability.
BY SCOTT SHERMAN, CJR
Last June, a leading American newspaper publisher journeyed to Moscow, where in a gilded conference room deep in the Kremlin, he addressed an audience that included presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin. The occasion was a White House- and Kremlin-sponsored summit of media executives, who will jointly endeavor to remake the Russian media along free-market lines. "A free, independent media is the backbone of democracy," the publisher proclaimed to his guests. "But media cannot be independent without economic viability. And that viability must come without government participation." The publisher was quick to dispense advice on journalism ethics. What happens, he was asked during his visit, if a wealthy advertiser insists that a story be killed? "Listen to me," he intoned, "Never, never, never do we let an advertiser influence our independent press!"
Those sonorous words did not emanate from Donald Graham or Arthur Sulzberger Jr., but from William Dean Singleton, one of the most controversial figures in the newspaper world. The New York Times noted his reputation as "the industry's leading skinflint." James Squires, a former editor of the Chicago Tribune, described him as "a rare bird indeed," a "bone-picker publisher . . . who can wring blood from a turnip." Some newspaper veterans view the fifty-one-year-old Singleton as a latter-day Frank Munsey, who buried four New York dailies in the early part of the last century and whom A.J. Liebling called "a mass murderer of newspapers"...
Singleton also owns four cattle ranches in Colorado, along with a home on Cape Cod where, during the summer months, he goes sailing with the musician James Taylor...
Singleton is the CEO of the privately held MediaNews Group, the seventh-largest newspaper company in the U.S., with forty-eight dailies (and 121 nondailies) in eleven states. The best-known papers in MediaNews are The Denver Post, the Los Angeles Daily News, and The Salt Lake Tribune, which Singleton recently acquired with the aid of the Mormon church...
Read the rest of this CJR story here (Related) , and comment below.
The trail beckons
03/22/06 · 10:32 am
posted by Jordan
in Somewhere on the Appalachian Trail (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
The Hike begins
On April 3rd, 2006, I will set out from Springer Mountain, Georgia to conquer the grand-daddy of all long trails.
The Appalachian Trail, known simply as the "A.T." among those who hike on it, is a 2174.6-mile-long scenic mountaintop footpath used each year by thousands of backpackers from around the world to fellowship with wilderness and commune with nature.
Remote for detachment, narrow for chosen company, winding for leisure, lonely for contemplation, the Appalachian Trail beckons not merely north and south, but upward to the body, mind and soul of man."
A little history
Many others went before me. Here' s a description from another hiker: The Appalachian Trail is a 2174.6 mile footpath through fourteen states along the Appalachian Mountain chain stretching from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine. Since the first hilers attempted the entire trail in 1948, only about 4,000 people have claimed to successfully hike the entire distance. This figure includes thruhikers and section hikers that have hiked the entire trail a piece at a time over the course of years until completing the whole distance. In 2000 only about 15% of aspiring thruhikers succeeded.
At some points the trail goes directly through a town especially when it is necessary to cross a large river. Some parts of the trail like the Smokey Mountains and Shenandoah National Park receive very high usage by the public. Other sections like the "Hundred Mile Wilderness" in Maine are frequented by few...
Bitten by the "American Idol" bug
03/21/06 · 5:35 pm
posted by Jack Coleman
in Media Watch (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Never thought it would happen, but it did.
I came to "American Idol" through politics, a subject of much greater interest to me. A few weeks ago, the trajectories of one of the show's contestants ran eerily parallel to that of her father - the talented 17-year-old singer from Wrentham, Ayla Brown (shown at right with another contestant, the buoyant Gedeon McKinney) , and her father, State Senator Scott Brown .
Contrary to my expectations, Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey did not pick Brown as her running mate, and Ayla was eliminated from contention on the show that same week.
It was through the Browns that I decided to give this television phenomenon the benefit of a doubt and find out what all the excitement is about. For the most part, I like what I see.
First of all, anyone reaching this stage on "American Idol" - there are only 11 singers left out of tens of thousands initially vying to get on the show - must be talented. Those who survive each week do so only through an occasionally brutal winnowing process involving three judges - Randy Jackson , Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell .
Watched the judges over the last few weeks, they strike me as well-cast in their roles. Abdul and Cowell occupy opposite ends of the spectrum - she's unwilling to say anything harsh, Cowell is all too willing and sometimes over the top and Jackson falls between.
That the show is broadcast live gives it the same sense of immediacy held by "Saturday Night Live" in its heyday, the expectation of never knowing what might happen or who might show up. It also raises the stakes for the performers who know they won't get a second chance once they take the stage.
Another thing I like is that not all of the performers look like they could grace the cover of Cosmo or GQ. More often than not, they resemble the kids in your neighborhood, the ones carrying a musical instrument when they get off the bus, dutifully walking home to practice in solitude.
In an age when irony remains the rage, it is so refreshing to see young people willing to break from the mold, to reject the rigid tenets of cool that have dictated aloof disdain for decades. Caring about something, especially a young person's tentative sense of his or her talent, carries enormous risk. The potential for heartbreak and humiliation hovers constantly, yet these kids say, the hell with that - I'm doing it anyway . It is a leap many people never make, regardless of their distance from adolescence.
The show is not without its disappointments, such as the night Ayla Brown didn't make the cut only one day after her father learned he would not be Healey's running mate. The camera panned in for a close-up of this 17-year-old girl whose dreams had just been shattered on live TV, and as the father of daughter about to turn 5, I felt a stab of revulsion.
It also stung the night Gedeon McKinney was voted off, because he was the other reason I became interested in the show. My wife was watching on an earlier night while I was working on the laptop and I heard what could only be the angelic voice of Sam Cooke . Only it wasn't Cooke, it was this 17-year-old kid who picked up where Cooke left off, before a jealous husband with a gun caught up with him in a motel room. I'm also the father of a boy who's nearly 7, and watching Gedeon gamely accept his loss made me think of my son.
Even when it disappoints, "American Idol" conveys a timeless lesson to the brave performers taking part, and those of us watching from home. Better to learn at 17 than 27, or later, what life can dish out. And to give it your best shot, regardless.
Scott Nickerson to kick off re-election campaign
03/21/06 · 4:20 pm
posted by Jack Coleman
in Politicalendar (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
A letter from Bugsy's dad
03/21/06 · 2:29 pm
posted by CCToday
in Letters to the Editor (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
This is the one year anniversary of my first blog post on Cape Cod Today.
Walter and Julie Brooks were kind enough to invite me for a guest post to their very popular Cape Cod Media blog. This is a story about my dog, Bugsy (on right), and my experiences blogging in Barnstable over the past year.
The other day I stopped by the Cumberland Farms near my house to pick up a gallon of milk and the Barnstable Patriot . This is my Saturday morning routine. I left Bugsy in the car.
The clerk gave me a funny look when I pulled the Patriot out from under a pile of out-of-town papers at the bottom of the newsstand. She looked at me like I was the only person on all of West Main Street that had ever bought the local paper.
I threw her a big smile, shrugged my shoulders, "They have color pictures now. You have to buy it," I said.
She gave me an unconvinced look. "Yea, they were bought up by the Cape Cod Times, weren’t they?”
“Yes. But, it's really not a bad paper. The Times hasn’t ruined it."
"Do you work for them?" she asked suspiciously.
"No, I write about them. Actually, my dog does," I said pointing to the car where we could see Bugsy with his nose pressed to the window and his tongue out.
She gave me another unconvinced look. Then from nowhere, a big smile crossed her face, "You're Bugsy! Cape Cod Living - I read you all the time."
"I just run the errands,” I said throwing up my hands in defense, “Bugsy’s in the car waiting for his milk."
"I love Bugsy! You know my Aunt Ruth used to write for the Barnstable Patriot over in Marstons Mills. She wrote the local gossip column. She talked about who was getting married, who has having kids, and the occasional town scandal. She was real popular. But, you and Bugsy are great!"
"Thank you. I wish Bugsy wrote a gossip column. My life would be a lot easier," I said thanking her for the milk.
“Ah..don’t worry,” she said dismissing my concerns. “Until John Klimm runs for dog catcher, you’ve got nothing to worry about.”
Barnstable doesn’t like its bloggers. They haven’t taken to us. Some question what we’re trying to accomplish. Recently an anon-y-mouse wrote and called me “a Cape Cod intellectual hopeful” and accused me of trying to “bring down Barnstable's government under the guise of ‘saving the poor taxpayers.’”
Now, I’ve got this fish named Coddah tagging me around town leaving comments like this:
“I have to ask why the most vocal critics of Barnstable also work so hard to be the most obnoxious people in bloggerville?
There are a lot of people in town who are interested in bettering local government. Unfortunately, once the 'ship of fools' gets involved in a topic, many reformers with common sense run the other way.
Every community has its issues...but to solve them we need to work on better answers, not bigger insults.”
For once, Coddah and I can agree on something. I too am tired of the insults - especially from the likes of this cold fish.
Coddah likes to “talk the talk” and pretend that he’s a sane, rational person open to innovation and creative thinking. In fact, he’s a troglodyte that is capable of recognizing the many contributions bloggers have already made to Barnstable’s often stale political landscape. What Coddah doesn’t understand is that blogging is about finding better answers. Blogging is not a nefarious plot to overthrow town government.
Coddah should realize that the solution to Barnstable’s “blog problem” isn’t following me around town slinging anonymous insults. The solution to Barnstable’s “blog problem” is more and better blogs.
Maybe Coddah should start a blog of his own? Then, the next time he stops by a Cumberland Farms to buy some milk for his dog, someone there will give him a big smile and a green light to keep on blogging.
For more misadventures with Bugsy, the Pug dog, please visit capecodliving (Related) . Tell ‘em Walter sent ya.
What you learn from traveling overseas... about things going on at home
03/21/06 · 9:30 am
posted by bcbill
in Barnstable County Bill (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Bill’s excellent adventure to Martha’s Vineyard…
In the last blog report I went through the experience of getting to a regional Airport, TF Green. This time my schedule called for me going to the Vineyard to appear on the Jim Powell report to talk about areas of collaboration between Dukes and Barnstable County. They include the Cape Light Compact, support from our Cooperative Extension service, joint conferences among the environmental commissions of Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard and the Cape Cod Commission and of course some regional transportation issues. You can watch the results on public access TV.
Going over in the middle of the day in March there were not more than a couple of dozen folks going over some with cars and several without. I drove 40 miles from Harwich to Falmouth about 45 minutes, plus waiting and shuttle time about 35 minutes, waiting at the terminal and travel to the Vineyard about an hour and one half (45 minutes on the water).
I was being picked up but I could have taken the bus or a taxi for the short ride to the High school where the taping would be done. Not Bad at all.
On the way back it is now the end of the day and I see a potential scenario for the future of Cape Cod.
Gathered at the terminal for the 5:00 PM Ferry are about 150 people mostly construction and day laborers who are returning home. For if you think that costs of housing are high on the Cape they are much higher there. The solution appears to be bring people in for the day and then send them home at night. This suggests a transportation theory of dealing with balancing the need of service workers and where to put them if you don’t want to support an affordable housing strategy.
The return trip was uneventful and I was home at 7:00 PM. Total cost was $8 for parking, $13 for the round trip fare and about 80 miles added to the odometer.
I came away with an observation that I think has to be addressed by the residents of Cape Cod . How important is it that the people who work here are stakeholders in the community? That question has been asked in other places in the world where there is a growing dependence on the importation of a labor force to handle “undesirable” entry level jobs, but usually when policy makers are looking at outcomes.
After the Berlin Wall fell there was an interest in integrating the East German workforce into the economy of West Germany. The “guest workers” were asked to return to their countries of origin mainly Turkey and Palestine, even though they had been there for years and had raised families put down roots etc. The outcome was predictable there was a big uproar which had the Germans backing down. Then Part two, many of the jobs that the guest workers held were civil service jobs with big benefits and guarantees of continued employment. So in a changing economy in which newly acquired citizens were trying to get employment which at this time even low paying jobs would be acceptable, they could not. That outcome was predictable as well. Racially motivated attacks by the new skin heads, the fear of the return of the fascists (aka neo-Nazis) and continued unrest. Of course, we are more enlightened then the Germans in that we don’t require a blood tie to the German race to be considered for citizenship. That last has been eased to accommodate some of the guest workers application for civil rights, but it is a work in progress.
The point of all of this is that an island strategy where we do not accommodate the interests of the workforce to be part of the place that they serve may lead to other less manageable problems. So maybe a transportation solution may not be completely successful.
All of this points to the need to look at this in the clear light of day and have a multi tiered approach that both looks at the short term need of affordable housing and the long term needs of the people we are adding and the people who are already here.
Mystery Month Continues
03/21/06 · 8:13 am
posted by JTS
in Off the Shelf (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
March is mystery month at all five Dennis libraries with events scheduled for adults and children.
Dennis Reads for Children - Principal Kevin Depin of the Ezra Baker School will read from the children's mystery The Mona Mousa Code tonight, Mar 21, 6:30pm at the South Dennis Library and tomorrow night, Mar 22, 6:30pm at the Jacob Sears Library.
Fiction's First Detectives: From Poe to Poirot - Who created the mystery genre and how did it develop into the mania it is today? Attend this talk by South Dennis Library Director Anne Speyer at: Dennis Memorial Library, Mar 23, 7pm and Dennis Public Library, Mar 28, 7pm.
Book Discussions - Read Absolute Certainty by Rose Connors, then attend a book discussion at either Jacob Sears Library, Mar 22, 2pm or South Dennis Library, Mar 25, 1pm.
Treasure Hunt - Become a Dennis detective. Learn about interesting places around town while searching for mystery scrolls. A great family adventure! Pick up your Dennis History Detective packet at any Dennis Library beginning Mar 25.
Meet Author Rose Connors - "Dennis Reads Together" wraps up with an author visit on April 2 at 2pm, at the Dennis Memorial Library.
For more info on any of these events visit your local Dennis village library.
In other news ...From Mar 22 - 31, works by Cape Cod woodcarver Carl Wood will be on display at the Dennis Public Library. Mr. Wood specializes in creating whimsical pieces that hearken back to traditional themes with such hand crafted works as carousel art, rocking horses, 19th century cigar store figures, American eagles, fish, birds, and folk art. These amazing works of art in wood speak to the artist's research of each subject and his extreme attention to detail. Mr. Wood works out of his barn studio in West Harwich.
Jack Sheedy - Reference Services, Dennis Public Library
"Vietnam and the Presidency" conference at JFK Library to be shown on C-SPAN
03/20/06 · 4:50 pm
posted by Jack Coleman
in Politicalendar (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
The "Inside the White House" panel discussion with, from left, NBC News anchor Brian Williams, Ted Sorensen, Jack Valenti, Henry Kissinger and Al Haig (photos by Jack Coleman)
How many times do you get a chance to see a discussion of the Vietnam War featuring JFK speechwriter Ted Sorensen, LBJ confidant Jack Valenti , Nixon national security adviser Henry Kissinger and Reagan Secretary of State Alexander Haig ? (the photo at left shows Kissinger, with the red tie, chatting with Sorensen).
Not often, to say the least, and it's too late to witness the real thing, held March 11 at the John F. Kennedy Library (Related) in Boston as part of a two-day "Vietnam and the Presidency" conference.
But you'll be able to watch it this week on C-SPAN (Related) , along with several other panel discussions.
The first segment, to be shown tonight (Monday) at 8, features keynote speaker and Nantucket summer residence David Halberstam , author of "The Best and the Brightest," widely considered among the best books in explaining the rationale for American intervention in Vietnam.
At 9 tonight, C-SPAN will show a panel discussion on "How We Got In: The United States, Asia and Vietnam," with University of Kentucky professor George Herring , University of Colorado professor Robert D. Schulzinger and Marilyn Young of New York University, with Allen Weinstein , Archivist of the United States, moderating.
These will be followed at 8 p.m. Tuesday with a discussion of "Vietnam and Presidential Tapes," with David Kaiser , professor of strategy and policy at the Naval War College; Timothy Naftali , director of the Presidential Recordings Program at the University of Virginia; Miami University history professor Jeffrey Kimball; and moderator Sharon Fawcett , Assistant Archivist for Presidential Libraries.
At 8 p.m. on Wednesday, NBC News anchor Brian Williams interviews former president Jimmy Carter , as shown on video at the conference. This will be followed at 8:40 p.m. with the discussion featuring Sorensen, Valenti, Kissinger and Haig, moderated by Williams, on what it was like "Inside the White House."
Next on Thursday at 8 p.m., ABC News war correspondent Steve Bell , "Fire in the Lake" author Frances Fitzgerald and former CBS anchor Dan Rather (shown in the photo at right signing a program for an attendee) share their views on "The Media and the Role of Public Opinion," followed by the conference's final discussion, "Lessons Learned," to be shown 8 p.m. Friday, with former NATO commander Wesley Clark , decorated Vietnam veteran and U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel , R-Neb., Vietnam-era veteran and New York Times columnist Bob Herbert and former POW Pete Peterson , the first American ambassador to Vietnam after the war.
Better Government, Now
03/20/06 · 8:23 am
posted by Democrant
in Massachusetts Democrant (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
This tidbit caught my eye from the State House News:
Survey finds 6% of cities and towns post all key records online
Only 23 of the state's 351 cities and towns post online all key records, such as governing body agendas and minutes, budget information, and local bylaws, ordinances or codes, according to the Massachusetts Campaign for Open Government. The Common Cause of Massachusetts-led campaign launched an awareness effort aimed at tripling the number of communities that post key records over the next year.
Common Cause Massachusetts Director Pamela Wilmot said too many municipalities see their web sites as pure promotional tools, not informational venues. Municipalities that posted all targeted records range from Pelham (population 1,422) to Boston. "It's time to bring local government into the 21st Century," said Wilmot, adding that www.maopengov.org (Related) over the next weeks will provide information about public records, open meeting laws and potential violations.
2 of of 15 town here
Well, here on the Cape only Barnstable and Provincetown are among the 23 that post these key records. Quite simply in this day and age, there is no excuse not to make as much government available online as possible.
Deep Water Wind
03/20/06 · 7:59 am
posted by Magical Eye
in Against the Wind (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
I have patiently waited to see if CapeCodToday would publish this story (Related) on GE's 27 million dollar deal with the U. S. Department of Energy to develop deep water wind turbines that would make Cape Wind's proposal for their off-shore wind power plant in the Nantucket Sound obsolete. But it is obvious that this isn't going to happen.
Why not publish a story concerning state-of-the-art wind power? Is it because Cape Wind, who has been claiming The Leadership role in off-shore wind, will now look like old news and old technology, as it should?
If The People are to allow private enterprise such a foothold on public property it should be based on real solutions to real problems that can not be solved any other way and thus worth the sacrifice. But in this case Cape Wind is a giant experiment at public expense that is already passé in terms of off-shore wind technology.
Full Story on Deep Water Wind HERE (Related) :
Deep water wind technology already in the works in Europe. See Audra Parker's (of APNS) article HERE (Related)
And then tune into NPR (Related) to hear a more balanced view of the Cape Wind debate.
You can't keep a good Bug(sy) down
03/19/06 · 5:11 pm
posted by WB
in Media Watch (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Our erstwhile Barnstable blogger Bugsy is still waging his private war for the public improvement of his adopted town at his original site here (Related) where this weekend he introduced us to a vibrant new blog written in support of our local Fire-folks, see their blog here (Related) .
The above is called Barnstable Heros and it's mantra is " This Blog was set up so the Fire Fighters and Police Officers of the Town of Barnstable have a voice ."
Here's what Bugys has to say about them:
There's a new blog in Town: Barnstable Heros
Ann Canedy has said her Fire Study Group will recommend to the Town Council that the Fire District Consolidation Study proceed. There will be a vote next month. There is no guarantee that the town will approve the study and if they do, it won't be cheap. I pity the poor Town Councilors that have to take on the issue. It won't be a walk in the park.
I have been impressed with how well organized and adaptive the Barnstable Firemen are. Even in such a relatively unknown space as the Barnstable blog-o-sphere they quickly organized themselves into a formidable online presence. They are well led. And, they have a keen understanding for how to sell their services to the town. I'm hopefully they stick with their site. So far, it looks promising...
Romney on C-SPAN tonight
03/19/06 · 2:12 pm
posted by Jack Coleman
in Politicalendar (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Gov. Mitt Romney appears on C-SPAN'S hour-long "Q & A" program (Related) tonight at 8 to answer questions from host Brian Lamb on Massachusetts politics, his likely campaign for president, daily routine and other matters. The program occupies the same time slot once held by "Booknotes," which was also hosted by Lamb ("Q & A" airs a second time tonight at 11).
The mating sounds of dinosaurs - continued
03/19/06 · 7:02 am
posted by WB
in Media Watch (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
If anyone still wonders why the daily newspaper industry is in its death throes, the first section of today's (Sunday) edition of our local daily is a good example.
Except for a story about a new gas turbine at Barnstable High, the only local news in the front section was a stem cell story which Paul Gauvin had reported a month ago in the weekly Barnstable Patriot :
Barnstable boy, family head for China stem cell treatment
Click here (Related) to see Paul's February 24 story. It is ironic that while most if not all Sunday editions of America's daily newspapers have the least local news content, that edition is the most profitable by a huge margin due to all the inserts and wired and canned boilerplate used to surround the advertising rather than locally written stories. The goose has killed the golden egg.
The missing local news is the result of margin bottom-lining and NOT the idea of the local editors. Ottaway has always been one of Dow Jones' most profitable properties, the Cape edition especially, but the greed of the media moguls who rule has no limit.
If further evidence is required, check these previous items:
Former Times sibling sold - again (Related)Does anybody want to buy a newspaper? (Related) Why I left The Times (Related)
"Green Energy" - NOT
03/18/06 · 1:54 pm
posted by CCToday
in Letters to the Editor (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Dear Editor, I thought you and your readers might be interested in a few facts as far as the postings of a so-called blogger ( Green Energy ) who, is as you know in reality is trying to sell a product which he purports to be a much better choice for us than what Cape Wind is offering.
He suggests that we purchase his equipment which will utilize and “store” the electricity that is wasted because… according to his postings… the power companies always operate at full capacity and produce more electricity than we can use… and somehow it, well… I dunno how, but… He says it is “lost forever”.
Having a pretty extensive background in electricity myself I challenged his claims a month or two back and said he was full of crap. He is apparently at it again with the new & improved version of his pitch as noted on last weeks ‘UPI wrap up on Cape Wind and the Don Young amendment (Related) ’ . I did respond to that as you will note but at this point is well… “Old news” I guess.
I think it is important for a variety of reasons that Green is exposed as the fraud he is.
One reason is that the uninformed should understand that what he is peddling is not as he says it is. It is nothing more that a glorified emergency backup system with it’s own inherent problems.
Secondly, what he is suggesting as far as the electric generating utility companies so called “lost electricity/energy” is pure bull…
And thirdly, he says that the power companies do not “ramp up & down” in order to meet or adjust to load demands.
I have been in contact with a former power plant operator who is presently in a different, yet related position in electric power generation. I would consider him an expert in his field. He would prefer not to become embroiled in this dialog but the information I obtained is readily verifiable thru a variety of sources he assures me.
For the record:
Green Energy states that the smokestacks discharge (noxious) gases @ 5,000 degre and to vary the output of electric generation would cause the smokestacks to contract & expand as much as 24”.
Therefore he postulate - The facilities cannot ramp up and down to meet the varying needs of the demand us consumers are calling for over a 24hr period or whatever the timeframe. Furthermore he states that electricity is somehow “lost” (a real funny indeed!) because of the fact that the power plants generate at 100% ALL the time and this so called lost electricity can somehow be ‘captured’ by his the special product lines available (seemingly exclusively) thru his company.
These are the facts:
Steel melts @ ~2,500degrees. So much for the steel in the 5,000 degree smokestacks he is suggestive of. Boiler operating temperatures range from 2,000 to 2,500 degrees. Steam is generated to turn the turbines (which in turn turn the generators) @ ~1,000 degrees. Exhaust is released into the smokestacks (after various heat recovery elements) @250-300 degreesSo much for Greens so calle “Basic Physics", the lunacy he taunts a fellow blogger with.
Next…
This is ACTUALLY HOW ur local power plants generate electricity, as opposed to what ‘Green’ supposedly “knows”:
The Canal Plant…
Unit #1 Operates @100% 24hrs a day 365days a year… for the most part… This sounds good for Green huh? Unit #2 Ramps up and down (amazing) usually on the order of 50% every day/night & occasionally… SHUTS DOWN.The Brayton Point Plant…
Unit #1 Operates @ 100%... Just like the Canal Plant Unit #2-3 Ramp up and down… Just like @2 @ the Canal Plant Units #’3-5 Start up as needed & fill in / ramp up and down like #’s2&3Electricity, other than in batteries, can neither be stored or lost. Yes, there are “transmission losses” due to the voltage drops experienced in long transmission line runs. That however is not recoverable as "Green Energy" would like you to believe. Electricity is generated and used as the demand requires… No more & no less.
So, as far as the so called “surplus energy” this dude is saying is available for our use and therefore we don’t need anymore new generating facilities - be it Cape Wind, friendly Nuclear, or non-renewable Oil, Coal or Gas - it is just… “Blue Smoke” belching from so called… “Green Energy.”
And as he taunts us with his sarcastic… “ I gave this blog the answer a couple of times before so if you are so technical and have been paying attention… you may already know the answer. ”
I know… He’s full of it… And, I don’t mean the answers.
Stephen Peckham is a long-time Electrical Contractor both on Cape Cod and Nantucket.
Duel at Weehawken
03/18/06 · 11:43 am
posted by Opinionator
in The Opinionator (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
The Burr-Hamilton duel
I think one of the most morbidly strange episodes in American history is the story of the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr which took place in 1804 in Weehawken, New Jersey.
This duel is not news to many, but thinking about the horror of it all is interesting. Burr and Hamilton were friends and at a dinner party Hamilton said something that offended Burr and Burr challenged him to a duel. Although their quarrel was in Albany, they had to go across the Hudson River from New York City to Weehawken to duel because it was illegal in New York. Aaron Burr was Thomas Jefferson’s Vice President. Alexander Hamilton was George Washington’s first secretary of the Treasury.
His picture adorns our ten dollar bill.
Imagine the horror of Vice President Dick Cheney dueling former secretary of State Colin Powell for an unknown reason. We would think they had both lost their minds. . (I will refrain from saying something about Cheney’s recent hunting accident.) I use Colin Powell when I make this modern comparison because he, like Hamilton, was a famous general as well as cabinet member.
If history teaches us anything from this event, it is that politicians must “lighten up” and watch what they say. I read inflammatory statements from politicians and about politicians right here on the Cape as well as on all the right wing and left wing blogs I like to study.
Hamilton was killed in the duel, he died the next day. Aaron Burr was ruined politically and we didn’t hear much from him again. Hamilton was today’s equivalent of a Republican; Burr was today’s equivalent of a Democrat. What an unnecessary tragedy.
Lighthouses and the Cape
03/18/06 · 10:56 am
posted by CC Rockhopper
in Cape Cod Rock Hopper (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
I have had for the longest of time a fascination with lighthouses. Their function, locations, shapes and their history. I have over the years enjoyed visiting several of the lighthouses on the Cape and studying about those that are no longer around. This memory will hopefully encourage you to seek out more information and go visit an existing Cape lighthouse and how we can help keep them from disappearing and keep their memories alive for the future.
First, do you know how many lighthouses have called the Cape their home? At least 30 plus lighthouses and stations have graced the shores of Cape Cod. The earliest I could find was established in 1746 on Nantucket the Brant Point Light. Today the grounds are open to the public and the lighthouse is within walking distance of the ferry landing however the tower is not open to the public. If you can only name between 7 and 10, your are a beginner. If you can name between 10 and 15, you have been to a couple I am sure. To name between 15 and 20, you like lighthouses and have been around the Cape a few years. Name over 20 and you are a lighthouse buff. (Oh by the way I could not have done over 20 before I started this blog).
Second, how many of these lighthouses are still around today? Amazingly there are only about 5 that no longer exist in any shape or form. Billingsgate in Wellfleet, Bishops and Clerks outside Hyannis, Cuttyhunk Light on Cuttyhunk Island, and some of the Nantucket Range and Cliff Lights. Most of the lighthouses however have had to been rebuilt over the years and many more then once. Also many of lighthouses and stations have been deactivated and are no longer in use as lighthouse but have found use as either private residences or as rentals or even an Inn like Bass River Light in DennisPort.
One of the lighthouses that are still accessible to the public is Highland Light, also know as Cape Cod Light in North Truro. We have visited several times to see it and 2 years ago we did the full tour and had a wonderful time going up inside the tower to the top. There are others like Chatham and Nobska that are accessible but not open to the public as they are still working stations. Please check before going to be sure the lighthouses you are going to are open to the public and their hours.
Just a short drive from the Cape is this countries oldest working lighthouse Boston Light located in Boston Harbor. The lighthouse is open by arrangement: . Boaters must drop off passengers and anchor offshore.There are also public tours in season, on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
The rich history of lighthouses is a wonderful thing to look into. The people that manned them, the conditions they endured. What was the primary reason a particular lighthouse was built and how did they serve the public. Finally how have they survived or what caused them to disappear.
The Cape has wonderful examples to go and visit, so go, then support them, before all that is left is just a memory. There are many wonderful web sites devoted to Lighthouses and their preservation. Below is a few that I found helpful in putting this blog together and that you may find helpful in your travels and inquiries.
www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/h_lhindex.html (US Coast Guard site)
www.lighthousefriends.com
www.lighthouse.cc/ma.html (Related)
www.birdsandbeacons.com
www.Nantucketonline.com (Related)
Have a wonderful day and go visit a lighthouse on your next trip, you wont ever forget the experience and have a wonderful time at making memories while on Cape Cod.
Thanks for your kind words
03/18/06 · 9:17 am
posted by Aaron
in Aaron Maloy's Blog (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Wow! I am truly very touched by all the kind words in this newspaper's story (Related) about me.
I was equally touched at the story of how my worthy opponent for the Republican nomination Don Howell is involved in and truly supportive of Cape Cod's foster children. Here's how I would approach improving the lives of foster children if elected to serve the 4th Cape Cod District as your State Representative.
Perception IS reality
I would start by changing the way that foster children are perceived. Foster children are refered to as "clients" which I see as very dehumanizing. These are children, not business commodities and hearing themselves referred to as clients can be damaging to foster children.
Another thing that I will change is the "marriage" between Pharmaceutical companies and the State. Many, many foster children have prescription drugs pushed on them. Does something sound wrong here? It sure does to me.
Prescription drug companies have profited off the misfortunes of foster children for too long. We need to get to the real problem. Drugs aren't always the cure to the ills that emerge in abused and neglected children, and in fact, some credible studies suggest that they have adverse affects. Many people are unaware of this.
I will work hard to promote effective foster care recruting efforts here on Cape Cod where there is a major foster home shortage. Because of this shortage many siblings are separated from each other causing families to fracture and frequent shifts in residential placements.
These children need permanency, stability, love and support. In order to increase the number of success stories for foster children and rescue those who fall through the cracks, we need to see them as human beings with fragile needs, not objects, commodities or economic strains.
If nominated in the Republican Primary and elected in November, I will reform the system accordingly.
Aaron (508) 965-9377, or email staterepmaloy@hotmail.com (Related) .
P.S. Correction to NPR story (Related) : I attended 4 high schools but definitely changed schools at least 6 times while in foster care.
When the State Fails Foster Kids
03/17/06 · 8:44 pm
posted by Don
in Don Howell's peripatetic world (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
I was really touched hearing about Aaron Maloy's tough go as a child. I've worked with kids in various ways all my life. But as a foster and adoptive parent, I have had more than a few problems with how these poor kids were "represented" by the current system (a story for another day). Now, not all folks involved in foster care are uncaring (far from it), but some of the laws and rules are just plain nutty - and extremely frustrating to foster parents.
Let me start off with praise for MSPCC, the dedicated foster parents, the few DSS workers who "get it", and, certainly, the gritty kids like Aaron who DO make it But, let's face it, with the system we have (the laws AND the people who pass and administer them), it's a wonder anything good happens in the end.
In a future piece, I would like to share stories about our other foster child (the one who ran away, was gladly allowed by DSS to become a high school dropout, to became pregnant - with the assistance of her DSS worker - and is now an uneducated single mom with no parenting skills at the age of 18!). She was the sister of our adopted daughter and we tried so hard to love and nurture her, too. But we got to her too late and were never allowed (or supported by DSS) to parent her by setting boundaries, talking directly to her teachers or establishing discipline. For now, please allow me to share our recent experience with our DSS adopted daughter.
We adopted our daughter when she was nearly 14. We already had two of our own kids for whom we were trying to save some extra for money for college (not easy on the Cape even in the 90's). "No problem", we were told, "the state pays for all college tuition expenses with DSS adoptions." Our adopted daughter and I continued to hear this comforting promise many times through the years. So my wife and I continued to put aside money for our other two children when we could.
Well, our youngest may not turn to be as successful as Aaron, but she's a good, bright, bubbly kid who wants to eventually work with problem and challenged children. When she wanted to go to college out of state, we swallowed hard, because we "knew" that she would have gotten free tuition. But, knowing, as we did, that no one in her birth family had ever graduated from college, we shared her dream and HAD to help it come true. So, we took out loans and helped to move her into her dorm at Mitchell College in Connecticut. In the spirit of bad karma, she wound up rooming with a really tough foster child who hated being there and harassed our daughter enough to have her come home in October crying. We welcomed her home and said "don't worry, when you're ready again, you can get free tuition in any Mass. State college."
So she eventually enrolled in this past CCCC spring semester as a full time student, with an eye towards a BA through another state school. Much to our shock and surprise, tuition accounted for only $330 of the $1480 bill - the rest was characterized as "fees." I called DSS in Boston (8 calls in three weeks - yet another story) and they confirmed this. My wife and I were devastated. I called Senator O'Leary's office and they informed me that he was in the process of writing new education legislation and would call me back.
As luck would have it, several weeks later as I still waited for that call, I went to a Cape Cod Selectmen's and Councilor's Association meeting and Rob O'Leary was there! I questioned him about this general problem in front of the group and was told that the Legislature had not fully funded the education entitlements, grants and assistance through the years. So, yes this was true. I asked him "hadn't the legislature voted recently on giving illegal aliens free tuition?" He responded that they deserved it and it wasn't their fault that they were here illegally. As a parent with two birth children who don't get such help, I was angered. As an adoptive parent, I was furious. So, I went to the heart of the matter, "this is not an entitlement or grant. It was a promise that was made to kids who had no one but the state to protect them." He still didn't get it. Nobody does.
These kids aren't where they wound up out of choice. Trust and attachment issues follow them every day of their early lives. They had not promised this "benefit" to my wife and I. Rather, they had promised it to a kid to make up for the way things turned out. They broke that promise. Period. Not much of a big dollar promise either, judging by the percentage of children in foster/adoptive care who even use it. Just as bad, they used it as a recruitment tool for later age adoptions.
Its bad enough that foster kids find it hard to trust adults in general. Its really too bad that they have to learn at such an early age that you can't trust State Government either.
Barros to kick off campaign for state senate
03/17/06 · 3:34 pm
posted by Jack Coleman
in Politicalendar (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Republican Ric Barros , an attorney from Centerville, formally announces his plans to challenge State Sen. Robert O'Leary with a campaign kick-off and fundraiser on Wednesday, March 22 from 6-8 p.m. at Grill 19 (the Old Asa Bearse house), 415 Main St., Hyannis.
Requested donation, $100; RSVP to Deb at 508-362-5350 or via email to ricbarros@comcast.net (Related) .
Peake supporters in Harwich to host house party
03/17/06 · 9:06 am
posted by Jack Coleman
in Politicalendar (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
P'town Democrat Sarah Peake's ( at right ) campaign for state representative in the 4th Barnstable District gets a boost on Saturday April 1 (I kid you not) with a 4 p.m. house party at the Harwich home of Gail and John Bangert (Related) John Bangert ( in photo above ).
For directions and more details, call 508-487-5694 or send an e-mail to sarah@sarahpeake.org (Related) .
Peake's campaign website can be found at www.sarahpeake.org (Related) .
Bill Koch's doublespeak
03/16/06 · 12:36 pm
posted by WB
in Renewable Energy Revolution (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Reading about this in a news story is one thing, but actually seeing it better conveys the full effect -
At right is an excerpt from a lobbying disclosure document filed by Kessler & Associates Business Services, a Washington-based lobbying firm lobbying on behalf of another one, U.S. Strategies of Alexandria, Va., which is retained by Alliance co-chair Bill Koch.
Note the curious wording about the services Kessler & Associates would render for U.S. Strategies - "Wind Project Advocacy."
Who knows, maybe the people in the government office where the document was filed saw that and sighed - "awwww, how noble. These guys actually believe in something."
Then you realize how cynical and Orwellian those three words truly are.
War is peace, ignorance is strength and poison-pill opposition is wind project advocacy.
The anguished journey up for a young candidate
03/16/06 · 11:54 am
posted by CCToday
in Cape Politics (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
GOP hopeful Aaron Maloy pulled himself up by the bootstraps
As a child he survived 20 foster homes & 6 high schools to work his way through college
If there was ever a good example of why it's better to allow the local GOP to find its own candidates rather than have them foisted upon us as Governor Romney did last election, it's in examples like the current race for the GOP nomination to run for Shirley Gomes seat as a State Rep for the seven Lower Cape towns.
Harwich Selectman Don Howell (Related) Don Howell is competing for the nomination with Aaron Maloy ( spelled with one"L") who grew up in Wellfleet and now lives in Orleans where he helps low income families find health care providers.
Maloy was the subject this morning of the magnificent WCAI/WNAN "The Two Capes" in the fourth program in the series called "Foster Care in Yarmouth (Related) ".
Here's the series' host Sean Corcoran speaking to Aaron Maloy today:
Sean Corcoran : State homeless advocates report seeing more and more former foster children on the streets and in shelters, including those on Cape Cod. Each year, some 600 youth 'age out' and leave the state's foster care program when they turn eighteen, and services such as healthcare and counseling end. When Aaron Maloy was twelve years old, he fled his Yarmouth home, and ran as fast as he could to the fire station at the end of the block, away from his rampaging mother.
Aaron Malo y: "This is where I went to elementary school for a little bit, Ezra Baker, and that's the playground, and this is a place I lived with my mother when I was taken away into foster care. And that's the fire station I was telling you about right down there. ... This is where we lived. It looked more junky when we were living there, though."
Sean Corcoran : Twelve years later, the house is weathered and broken. A basketball hoop, with just a makeshift piece of plywood for a backboard, hangs crooked near the back door. The place looks deserted.
Aaron Malo y: "I remember I was the poorest kid when I went to school. I was the poorest kid, and you know, there's a lot of wealthy people in this town, and I was definitely the poorest. And my crappy, junky house with my mom's twenty-year-old beat up car out on the lawn. So when I was out at all the kids would be like, oh, there's Aaron Maloy's house, you know. Poor white trash, you know. Not all the kids, but the more upper crust kids at the school. They'd look at that and say, oh, Aaron lives in a dump."
Sean Corcoran: Today, thirty-five percent of the students at Ezra Baker are considered by the state to be low income, so it's likely many of the children in the school yard had families that were struggling, too. Aaron just happened to be living out his troubled childhood across the street. Until the day he burst through the firehouse door.
Aaron Maloy: "I said, I really don't want to live this life. This is not the way I want to live. I just basically escaped, and for me, foster care was a better life than living with an abusive mother who was mentally ill."
Sean Corcoran : Aaron doesn't remember exactly how many different foster homes and shelters he lived in from age twelve to eighteen. It's likely more than twenty, he says. He knows how many high schools he shuffled through, though. Six.
Aaron Maloy is a success story. In the spring of 2004, he was one of only two former foster children kids from Southeastern Mass. to graduate from college. But he almost didn't make it.
When Aaron turned eighteen, he did what more than half of the eighteen-year-old foster kids do each year-- he signed himself out of the custody of the Department of Social Services. He left as soon as he was allowed, and he found himself in a predictable dilemma -- unable to sustain himself on the wages he made working in retail on Cape Cod.
Aaron Maloy: "I basically started my freshman year in college homeless. I went there off the street. I was living in a tent on Cape Cod... I was sharing a pop-up tent with a relative of mine in somebody's backyard. And I was broke...
"I'd always wanted to go to college. I always wanted to make something of myself. I always wanted to pull myself out of poverty. I spent eighteen years living in poverty and I was sick of it. I wanted something better for myself..."
When I spoke to host Corcoran today he mentioned how Aaron had not even mentioned that he was a candidate for office either before, during or after taping the show. This is a modest, young person in the ancient tradition of "Progressive Republicans."
This profoundly insightful series (see hit here (Related) ) should be read or listened to by every taxpayer on Cape Cod. It continues through March 28:
March 13: Two Cape Cods (Related) , Perception vs. Reality
March 14: Hunger in Chatham (Related)
March 15: Lack of Mass Transit in Truro (Related)
March 16: Foster Care: Aging Out in Yarmouth (Related)
March 17: Child Care: Sea Babies in Wellfleet
March 21: Measuring Poverty in Dennis
March 28: Homeless in Hyannis
You can reach Aaron Maloy at (508) 965-9377, or email staterepmaloy@hotmail.com (Related) .
School Testing: Less than Meets the Eye
03/16/06 · 10:38 am
posted by Opinionator
in The Opinionator (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
ir with testing is a remarkable phenomenon to me, who cannot even remember his high school SAT scores. The Federal No Child Left Behind Law promotes standardized testing excessively. There have got to be additional ways to hold schools accountable. We would never purchase a book solely on the appearance of its book jacket, and yet we appear to judge our children and greatly influence their futures by test scores. Colleges by the dozen are dropping or weakening SAT requirements, but I see no evidence that slows down anxious parents and school officials from their promotion of the almighty test. A recent glitch in SAT correcting shortchanged millions of students by about 200 points recently. Look for parent lawsuits and maybe even suicides on this one.
tional time and dollars, the passion for testing in our schools can take the emphasis away from critical thinking and problem solving and replace these needed skills with a fact-based approach to knowledge. For the 21st Century, I care less that students might not know the identity of Winston Churchill than that they grasp the issues which make some Muslims hate the west. There are some aspects of higher order thinking that can be measured by tests, but the emphasis which anxious test makers and teachers put on drilling for simple facts makes the whole issue most troubling. We don’t need ambitious and uninformed candidates for office preaching the gospel of loving the test.
Former governor Cellucci to speak on "unquiet diplomacy"
03/16/06 · 6:43 am
posted by Jack Coleman
in Politicalendar (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Opening the 98th year of the venerable Ford Hall Forum (Related) lecture series in Boston, former governor Paul Cellucci will discuss "The Importance of Public Diplomacy in a post-Cold War, post 9/11 World" on Thursday, March 23 at 6:30 p.m. at the Old South Meeting House, 310 Washington St., (corner of Milk Street). Admission is free.
Cellucci, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Canada (2001-2005) after he was Massachusetts governor (1997-2001), will sign copies of his new book, "Unquiet Diplomacy." In March 2005, he was appointed vice president of corporate development at Magna Entertainment Corp.
The Lt. Guv presumptive rallies the Lower Cape GOP
03/15/06 · 12:07 pm
posted by WB
in Cape Politics (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
At the 400 East (Related) in Harwich last evening, the "Grand Old Party" listens to Reed Hillman, Kerry Healey's chosen running mate. From left, State Senate candidate Ric Barros, his competition Doug Bennett, State Rep Shirley Gomes and her hopeful replacement, State Rep candidate Don Howell and at the rostrum GOP Lt. Gov. candidate Reed Hillman who subbed for Kerry Healey.
The Lower Cape GOP is snubbed by Lt. Governor Healey
She sends her hand-picked designee for Lt. Governor in her place
The Lower Cape GOP expected to hear Lt. Governor Kerry Healey last night at the 400 East in East Harwich. She didn't show.
Instead the pols and their roomful of supporters, some of whom had traveled even farther than MS Healey would have had to, were introduced to Reed Hillman (Related) Reed Hillman , the former State Rep and State Police Colonel who hopes to be Healey's running mate this Fall.
The Lt. Governor sent word that she had to testify at a hearing, but as late as yesterday afternoon her attendance in Harwich was still being touted, and few hearings we know of occur at 7pm. The party line is that her other meeting was vital which raises the question: Fine, so why didn't she or her staff alert the party and press. Touting Reed Hillman would still have packed the house.
If this is an example of how Kerry Healey will treat the rest of the state's GOP old guard, she hasn't got a snowbird's chance in Harwich next November.
Hillman warmly received, most local candidates attend
The large crowd which came to honor MS Healey gave a warm reception, however, to her substitute, and just about every person sticking their necks out to run as a Republican in this increasingly Democratic stronghold, was in attendance. Hillman was self-effacing and witty, and proved to be a great crowd pleaser, albeit a friendly crowd to start with.
Dick Neitz (Related) Dick Neitz , who will try again to unseat Cleon Turner for State Rep in the mid-cape, rushed from a Dennis selectman's meeting to welcome the absent MS Healey. He's shown with his charming wife Betty Neitz on the right, and the early word on the street is that losing last time mellowed the candidate, who is an even more likable guy today. His opponent for the GOP nomination last time, GOP State Committeewoman Cynthia Stead (Related) Cynthia Stead , was also in attendance, as was GOP stalwart and erstwhile newspaper publisher Bob Dwyer (Related) Bob Dwye and DA Michael O'Keefe (Related) .
No GOP "wash-ashore" carpetbaggers this election
Two year's ago Governor Romney foisted a couple "wash-ashore" Republican candidates on the Cape's GOP, and they went down in flames.
This year Romney is too busy running for president, and the state GOP has ignored the cape long enough to allow several capable and well liked locals to attempt to alter the balance on Beacon Hill, a change even many Democrats might welcome.
Harwich Selectman Don Howell (Related) Don Howell , who writes a blog for this newspaper, shared the limelight with his opponent Aaron Maloy (Related) on right for the GOP nomination to succeed the much-loved Shirley Gomes who attended with her male-model, good looking hubby Dick.
The packed room included Jim Powell from Martha's Vineyard who hopes to replace Democrat Fred Turkington as State Rep. The former and Doug Bennett should get a medal for coming that far to rally the troops.
County Commissioner Bill Doherty (Related) who also blogs here was collecting signatures, and both candidate vieing for the GOP nomination to unseat Rob O'Leary were in the room, Ric Barros of Falmouth and Doug Bennett from Nantucket.
Cafeteria Catholics
03/15/06 · 8:43 am
posted by Opinionator
in The Opinionator (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
A new term of ridicule being used lately is Cafeteria Catholics.
I guess that means that some people who call themselves Catholic do not wish to follow all the teaching of the church. They select what they wish to follow just as they choose the entrees and desserts in a cafeteria line. They fill their food tray with what they wish and it is no one’s business except them and God.
Calling people Cafeteria Catholics is particularly offensive because it has as its purpose the quelling of dissent. If you don’t agree with everything the church teaches you are a Cafeteria Catholic, which, I suppose, to many is “not a real” Catholic. This is all very interesting to me and prompts me to ask if there are Cafeteria Democrats, Cafeteria Republicans, and maybe even Cafeteria Parents.
Probably one of the easiest types to identify is a Cafeteria Child.
If the family rule is be home at midnight, the Cafeteria Child may show up at 1:00 A.M. If junk food is discouraged by a parent, a Cafeteria Child will wolf down Big Macs and fries. Was Copernicus a Cafeteria Catholic?” Or Galileo? Of course we know Martin Luther was one and probably some of them went on to become popes and great cardinals of the church.
Are we free to question our faith? Doubting Thomas was not condemned by Jesus Lord. I like to think that I like everything the cafeteria offers, but some things I prefer to others.
A quick glance at my tray may suggest I am a Cafeteria Catholic but that would be a mistake. I buy the whole product but sometimes I engage in dissent on some things under some circumstances. I cannot accept that being a person who raises questions makes me a heretic.
Cleon Turner to Announce for Re-Election
03/15/06 · 8:42 am
posted by Democrant
in Massachusetts Democrant (Related)
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Cleon Turner will officially kick off his campaign for re-election on Monday night, March 20th at the Liberty Hill Inn in Yarmouthport (corner of Willow St. and Rt 6A) from 7-9 PM. All are welcome to attend.
The hard thing about being a state rep is really constantly having to run, with terms being two years. I have been particularly impressed with Turner's initiative on pushing the state back towards the initial commitments made towards regional school districts.
He has held hearings thoughout the state on this matter that is of significant relevance to the First Barnstable district.
State Rep. Turner to announce bid for re-election
03/14/06 · 4:08 pm
posted by Jack Coleman
in Politicalendar (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
State Rep. Cleon Turner , D-Dennis, formally announces his plans to run for re-election in the mid-Cape's 1st Barnstable District on Monday, March 20 at 7 p.m. - scheduled to coincide with the first day of spring? - at the Liberty Hill Inn, Willow Street and Route 6A in Yarmouthport.
Turner faces opposition from at least one opponent on the other side of the aisle, Republican Dick Neitz of Yarmouth, who lost to Turner in 2004.
Nothin' but Net
03/14/06 · 1:42 pm
posted by SM
in Media Watch (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Check out today's Cape Cod Times. Tuesday's Business Section. The three news stories are all from the AP wire. No local business news.
Is it too much to expect a little local business news on the day that they run a special section for it?
Coincidently, on the same day the biggest business to business conference of the year is taking place on Cape Cod? Which the Cape Cod Times is sponsoring?
Reducing Stress: Part V
03/14/06 · 9:36 am
posted by Bellissimo
in Bellissimo (Related)
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And here's the last in my top five ways to reduce your stress this season:
You Are Your Most Important Customer
?Yeah, right?, you might be saying. Yes, it?s true. And if you aren?t taking care of your most important customer, your business won?t be as successful as it could be. Making sure you get everything you need (sleep, proper diet, exercise, alone time, etc.) really pays off. You?ll constantly be putting your best face forward, and any resentment you may have been feeling will dissipate. You?ll be able to provide all your other customers with the best experience and service possible. Which can do nothing but good for your business!
Remember, you can get access to all of my Top Ten Ways to Reduce Your Stress This Season by signing up for my no-cost e-course. Click here to sign up. (Related)
Sebastian Junger to appear on C-SPAN
03/13/06 · 8:40 pm
posted by Jack Coleman
in Media Watch (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Former Wellfleet resident and "The Perfect Storm" author Sebastian Junger , a contributing editor at Vanity Fair magazine, is among the guests on C-SPAN'S "Washington Journal," which starts at 7 a.m. on Tuesday (March 14).
Oscar Party Successful!
03/13/06 · 3:05 pm
posted by BigBrotherBigSister
in Big Brother Big Sister (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Our Oscars Night Party at The Island Merchant (Related) The Island Merchant was a blast!
On the right, Jill Crovo , Charles Crovo and Kristy Spinelli of Dunhill Companies of Osterville.
Weichert Realtors Dunhill Group (Related) Weichert Realtors Dunhill Group was our corporate sponsor for the event.
Joe and Beverly Dunn , owners of the Island Merchant.
The Dunn's were proud to host the Oscars Party, and even prouder to donate the proceeds to Big Brothers Big Sisters
Tammy Barboza , Development Director, and Stu Peoples , Executive Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cape Cod & the Islands.
Guests to the party Michael and Diane DiBona with their son, Michael, Jr.
Thanks to all that attended for making it a wonderful night!
Reducing Stress: Part IV
03/13/06 · 12:40 pm
posted by Bellissimo
in Bellissimo (Related)
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Hope you all had a great weekend! Here's the fourth in my top five ways to reduce your stress this season:
Remember ?I Live Here?
This is one of the most difficult things to do in the height of the season. Each day, try to remember that you are one of the lucky ones?you get to live here. So much seasonal stress comes from visitors trying to cram in as much activity as possible while they?re here; and that can spill over into your life as well. If you?re like me, you have a few special, ?secret? places, where you can get away from all the hubbub and the crowds. Pictures of these places?on your bulletin board, as your screen saver, in your wallet?can really help you remember that you live in paradise. And you don?t have to leave it at the end of the season!
During our busy season, I find myself chanting this often. Especially when I'm sitting in mid-summer traffic...
Money can't buy love
03/13/06 · 12:34 pm
posted by SM
in Cape Politics (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Alan Solomont, Democratic fundraiser extraordinaire, is tired of losing. He has backed too many losing candidates since Bill Clinton. National as well as statewide. Knowing that money is the key to most races, he and Steve Grossman, decided to team up with AG Tom Reilly back in 2004 for a run for governor.
The plan was to raise the most money anyone has ever raised and lift the bar to enter the race so high, no one else could challenge. That they did, raising over $4million for Tommy boy.
They say money can't buy love. Well, money can't make a candidate good either.
That kind of money seems to make some people crazy. Reilly actually thinks he was the one raising all that dough. So when it came time to make an important political decision, he went his own way, with disasterous results.
By picking Marie St. Fluer as his running mate, Reilly chose not listen to Solomont or Grossman. He listened instead to Wayne Budd and Ralph Martin and Flash Wiley. St. Fluer was their candidate. (By the way, how much did they raise for Reilly?)
Not only did Reilly choose badly, he managed to burn another major player in the Democratic party in the process, Chris Gabrielli, Solomont and Grossman's candidate for running mate.
So Solomont, tired of losing and backing lousy candidates, has decided to take matters into his own hands. He's encouraging Gabrielli to get into the race for Governor.
This is a two sided coin minted to prevent Solomont from losing again. It's designed to help Reilly by splitting the vote against him between Gabrielli and Deval Patrick. It also hedges Solomont's bet on Reilly because Gabrielli may prove to be the better stalking horse of Deval Patrick.
Solomont and Grossman jumped into the race too soon, they never saw Deval Patrick coming. It's too late now. They are stuck with Reilly, and have to try to salvage his campaign.
But it's hard to tell whether Reilly is fully congnizant of Solomont's stagecraft? For that matter, is Gabrielli?
Expanding The Search For Intelligent Life
03/13/06 · 11:55 am
posted by Codfish Press
in Boston Cod (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
By Greg O’Brien, Codfish Press
At 300 miles wide—the distance from Boston to Philadelphia—Enceladus, a snowball of a moon circling Saturn, appears to be a “hot spot” for life. NASA’s orbiting Cassini probe has detected what scientists speculate are water geysers on the moon’s icy surface, suggesting this celestial chunk of ice might be an incubator for life, intelligent or otherwise.
High-resolution images indicating geyser-like eruptions of ice crystals and water vapor could be proof positive of underground reservoirs of water close to the surface—a fundamental ingredient for life.
“We have the smoking gun,” declared Carolyn Porco, a Cassini imaging scientist, noting Enceladus should be put on a short list of remote places in the universe that might support extraterrestrial life, along with Mars and Jupiter’s moon Europa.
Just a day after these findings were reported in Journal Science, NASA announced Friday that the well-traveled Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter had downshifted into an orbit above the red planet to begin a two-year search for life.
Imagine the possibilities: if life is found on Enceladus, Europa or Mars, how might have it progressed elsewhere?
Ever since Galileo Galilei squinted into his telescope, we’ve been agog over the possibilities of finding life, perhaps intelligent, in the universe—spending billions of dollars in the hunt, and fueling speculation that such discovery might shake our faith in the Almighty at its primal roots. But nothing could be further from the truth. God never promised us a rose garden, nor did the Lord say we were the only ones here. The prospect, however far-fetched, of an intelligent existence beyond our borders is intriguing, life altering (as we know it), and should be pursued with old-fashioned common sense.
That said we ought to fix our eyes on our own planet in the search for intelligent life, a black hole of a place for thoughtful dialogue and behavior. We have a country today driven by hateful, polarizing partisan politics and a world amuck with radicals seeking to blow the place up. Our vision, while expanding in the universe, is constricting at home, threatening an implosion of more violence, anarchy and worldwide starvation.
Are we prepared, scientists inquire, to meet long distance cousins in the universe? Hell, no! We’re not even prepared to meet our own fundamental needs on earth—whether it’s plucking abandoned blacks off a highway bridge in storm ravaged New Orleans, responding to the threats of an avian flu pandemic, patching the world’s porous security networks to prevent further acts of terrorism, or bottling the nuclear genie that could render this planet less habitable than the moons of Uranus.
Until we collectively understand that working together means basic problem solving, not just processing partisan political or cultural points of view, we will continue as a species to lack vision.
Let’s face it, intelligent life elsewhere or not, we’re all we got here!
Bill Frist for President?
03/13/06 · 8:08 am
posted by Opinionator
in The Opinionator (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
The Tennessee straw poll about a Republican presidential nominee leaves me a bit cold. The press is saying that Governor Romney did well, but he was a distant second, very close to third, fourth and fifth. John McCain may have hit the nail on the head when he affirmed the poll’s importance by asking people to vote for President Bush as a show of solidarity. I hope no one is surprised by the victory of Senator Frist in his home state. Kind of reminds me of Dick Cheney searching for a Vice Presidential candidate and finding himself!
Longtime radio newsman Will Crocker to address Barnstable Republicans
03/13/06 · 7:23 am
posted by Jack Coleman
in Politicalendar (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Will he or won't he? Looks like former WQRC newsman Will Crocker ( shown on right interviewing Carly Simon at a Hyannis Mets game, click on photo to enlarge ) has decided to challenge State Rep. Demetrius Atsalis in the mid-Cape's 2nd Barnstable District.
Crocker appears before members of the Barnstable Republican Town Committee tonight at 7 p.m. to talk about Cape Cod media and broadcasting, according to the committee's website (Related) .
The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at Rene Poyant's real estate offices, 282 Barnstable Road, Hyannis.
Bergstrom to kick off campaign for state rep in Outer Cape's 4th
03/13/06 · 5:41 am
posted by Jack Coleman
in Politicalendar (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Democrat Ron Bergstrom of Chatham makes it official on Sunday April 2 when he kicks off his campaign as a candidate for state representative in the 4th Barnstable District. The event will be held from 3-5 p.m. at the Barleyneck Inn, 5 Beach Road, East Orleans. Light refreshments will be served; all are welcome to attend.
The Wheels on the bus go round and round?. Or to go thru where people do not normally go.
03/12/06 · 4:47 pm
posted by bcbill
in Barnstable County Bill (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Some of you may know that I have been a proponent of public transportation.
I have been active on various committees over the years and I have been representing the town of Harwich on the Cape Cod Regional Transportation Authority (Related) for several years. One of the outcomes of that will be the soon to be started “Flex Route” .
The “Flex Route “ has the intention of providing regular year round buses to connect Harwich to Provincetown. It starts on June 1 st and the first week is free. And it will go where and when it is to get people to work, kids to play and seniors and others to the things they need to do. But that’s not what I want to talk about in this update.
Advocating public transportation for me means using it. Last week I went on a trip to Washington DC and decided that instead of driving to the Braintree T stop and then on to Logan which I have been doing for the last 20 plus years I would try the road less traveled.
Providence TF Green is exactly the same mileage from my house as Logan Airport . When I was working in the dreaded private sector I could drive to Green and park more easily but had never tried to take the bus. It is a regional airport and I didn’t use it too often because getting back home was limited because there were fewer flights. But this was an experiment in getting there by bus.
My wife dropped me off at the intermodal transportation center aka the Hyannis bus station. I bought a round trip ticket getting my senior discount. Innocently I asked when will it get to the airport. The answer was it goes to Providence. Ok what time do I connect to the shuttle that goes to the Airport. Their shuttle (free) goes to Kennedy Plaza where you get the RIPA (A local bus). And that gets you to the TF Green Airport.
I had plenty of time and I needed it. The Bus got to Providence at 2:30 PM at 3:00 PM the shuttle went to Kennedy Plaza. At 3:15 PM we arrived and the driver said the RIPA bus is over there someplace ask someone which one to take.
I interrupted three security guards/police? in their conversation and they said it wasn’t their job to give directions, find a RIPA supervisor. No supervisors in sight, I asked a kid who was a college student who said take the #16 when I started to board another kid said the bus went by the Airport but didn’t stop. He knew what he was talking about and told me which bus to take. About ten minutes later that bus came. It was an express and in 30 minutes I was where I was supposed to be with about an hour to spare. I started at 12:30 and my flight was at 5:10 PM.
After a great conference I reversed my direction. First the plane was delayed about an hour. When I got on they asked for a volunteer so I got off when they said the next flight was ten minutes later, which it was.
Got to the TF Green walked outside and got on the bus to Kennedy Plaza. It was not an express. I now have seen the byways of Warwick, Cranston and Providence and know that ESL is greatly in evidence. An hour and half later I arrive at Kennedy Plaza where I watch the free shuttle pull out as we pull in. A $12 cab ride later it was an hour until the next shuttle and the bus to the Cape leaves at 5:45 PM if I wanted to wait for the free shuttle I would wait until 8:45 PM.
The Cab got me there with 10 minutes to spare and when I called my wife she told me that there was a problem with the interior lights in the car and she had to leave while it was still daylight to pick me up.
Lessons learned? On April 21 st the Cape Cod Joint Transportation Task Force is meeting and I have a story to tell. When My future plans call for Air Travel its back to Braintree and the T to Logan. I have left out the part about the luggage.
The real question is do we (Cape Codders) want to use TF Green as an alternative to Logan? If we do there has to be better access than I had, if public transportation is involved if it is to be useful. You also have to ask if there is a justification for thinking about another regional airport in Southeastern Mass that could be easier to access for us than either TF Green or Logan. and then there is rail yet another story to look at for interconnectivity.
Lt. Gov. Healey to meet with Cape Republicans
03/12/06 · 2:06 pm
posted by Jack Coleman
in Politicalendar (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Lt. Gov. and Republican candidate for governor Kerry Healey addresses members of the Lower Cape Republican Council on Tuesday March 14 at 7 p.m. at the 400 East restaurant in East Harwich, 400 East Route 39, just off Exit 11 of Route 6. The gathering takes the place of the council's monthly meeting.
Ron Kaufman may be Mitt's new main man
03/11/06 · 7:08 pm
posted by WB
in Cape Politics (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Chair of CC Nat'l. Seashore Park Committee seen around the State House
‘Entry fee’ for White House race could top $100 million
"It's the organizational prowess and ability to put together a national organization to raise money that is the real test, and it's that ability that translates into dough," said an adviser to a potential 2008 Republican candidate.
The standards of the "money primary" vary depending on a candidate's strategy. For a front-runner, $100 million by Dec. 31, 2007, may be the goal, but candidates trying merely to become the main challenger face a lower hurdle.
Ron Kaufman (Related) ( Cape Cod National Seashore Advisory Committee chair and former brother-in-law of White House chief of staff Andy Card ) who is helping Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) explore a bid, said the competition to become the challenger would require much less because $40 million to $50 million is more than enough to compete in the early caucuses and primaries. A victory early on would spark a financial outpouring to sustain the remainder of the campaign.
Kaufman's view was shared by supporters of Sen. Clinton, who is expected to have little trouble raising $100 million by the end of 2007 if she runs. The Clinton backers said a legitimate challenger to her would need to raise between $35 million and $40 million to finance strong campaigns in Iowa, New Hampshire and other early states.
..Meanwhile, back at the Romney ranch
Trent Wisecup, who has been charged with spreading Gov. Mitt Romney's political influence around the country as head of his so-called leadership committee, has resigned from the job amid the emergence of other political advisers.
Wisecup was the understudy of Michael Murphy, the political strategist with whom Romney parted ways in December. Murphy had also been providing political advice to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., for whom he worked during the 2000 presidential campaign, and he had been unwilling to make a choice between Romney and McCain as they both consider runs for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.
In addition, Ron Kaufman , the former political director in the first Bush administration and a longtime Massachusetts politico, has taken a more visible role shaping Romney's political activities, as has been longtime Romney friend Bob White, gubernatorial chief of staff Beth Myers and Fehrnstrom, the governor's chief spokesman...
Kaufman was spotted last week in the Statehouse. When approached by a reporter and asked the reason for his visit, he smiled and replied, "I'm the Republican National Committeeman from Massachusetts. It's only natural that I'd talk to the governor."
GOP plots for Hillary factor
One Republican 2008 operative, discussing campaign strategy on the condition of anonymity, said it would be "irresponsible" for a candidate to be thinking solely about spending needs for a primary election campaign without weighing "the consequences of what Hillary is bringing to the financial table and how quickly a potential nominee will have to turn his attention to dealing with her campaign."
Headline in today's Globe:
Reilly leads, Patrick gains in new poll
Democratic pair seen ahead of Healey
Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly held a double-digit lead over his rival, Deval Patrick, in the Democratic race for governor, but support for Patrick has surged, a new Boston Globe poll of likely primary voters suggests...
Sources:
Boston Globe (Related)
Leadership PACs (Related)
Washington Post (Related)
Boston Globe (Related)
Detroit News (Related)
The Year Round Teacher
03/11/06 · 5:20 pm
posted by Opinionator
in The Opinionator (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Any serious thought about a longer school day or year for students requires enormous budget increases to pay teachers who would be expected to convert to a work year up to one third longer. Presently, most teacher contracts define the teacher work year as from 180 to 185 days. The coveted summers off consists of the months of July and August, about 40 work days. School vacations in December, February and April in most districts, contain about 13 non-working days, exclusive of holidays.
In total, teachers have about 53 non-holiday Mondays through Fridays a year off.
A five day week worker with two weeks of annual vacation spends about 237 non-holiday Mondays through Fridays a year on the job compared to the 180 days of a teacher. The non teacher works 57 more days a year, the equivalent of almost three months. The six hour work day of teachers is closer to seven hours long, if you factor in pre and post activities which are almost daily imperatives. Using the factory model for an eight hour day, there is space in the teacher day for more instruction. It is minimal space however, and student fatigue can interfere with plans for a longer school day. The real extra time is found in an extension of the teacher work year.
By instituting the position of “all year teacher” we could gradually convert individual 180 day teacher contracts to full time ones. We could use these all year teachers to perform services for which now we now pay overtime. These services could include summer school, curriculum development, inservice education, individual tutoring, and participating in site based management activities now often performed by administrators. Economic payback could come in the form of eliminating overtime accounts and reducing the number of administrators. While they would not offset all the costs of a longer teacher year, they could cover many costs.
The phased in nature of this program, perhaps 20% of teachers per year, would soften the financial cultural shock of this fundamental change and would allow school officials to develop individual student programs based on academic need. High schools could offer nine month courses and eleven month courses. The plans of special needs students could be crafted to reflect the all year resources of a school. Year round elementary schooling could fill a vital need for some disadvantaged students. Students could elect or be assigned to these many situations on the basis of strengths and weaknesses.
This model of radical change would be expensive as well as traumatic and confusing for students and teachers. Perhaps the biggest obstacle to it would be the tens of thousands teachers who have chosen their careers partially because of the “summers off.” That is why it is critical to offer significant increased remuneration and to make the program phased in and voluntary. It would require a deep commitment to improving schools and a trust in educators to plan it well and make it work.
Planking the Catboat Sarah
03/11/06 · 3:55 pm
posted by CCMM
in Cape Cod Maritime Museum (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Today's weather was so beautiful that our boatbuilder/director/curator Mark Wilkins decided to push ahead with planking the new replica catboat Sarah.
We hauled our turkey fryer out into the parking lot, balanced the rusty water boiler on top, (BTW, many thanks to Tony Davis of Arey's Pond Boatyard (Related) for providing the museum with a fabulous alternative to the beer keg that we have used in the past), plugged the hose into the 6 foot long plywood steam box and fired her up.
The cypress plank sealed inside the steambox was destined for the starboard side of the hull. It had been very meticulously shaped to fit snugly against the lowermost garboard plank that Mark fastened into place a couple of weeks ago.
After "cooking" the wood at temps up to 180 F for about 25 minutes it was ready to go. Mark unsealed the end of the steambox and pulled the plank out. He handed me (his trusty plank-holder - I do other stuff too, but this part of the job is highly entertaining) the cooler end and slotted the forward-end onto the rabbet on the stem. After clamping the nose into position he worked down the cypress strake, both of us twisting it flat against the white-oak frames, curving it around the hull and clamping it down at every possible station on the way.
It went on perfectly - much more easily than previous planks. Perhaps it was the slightly higher than normal steam temperature? Or perhaps it was a fluke. We'll test the hypothesis next time and keep you posted...
BTW, There is nothing like the smell of hot, damp cypress. Even when the door to the boatshop is closed, it permeates throughout the Museum, mixing with the aroma of new carpet and old manila line. Wonderful ! Drop in for a visit soon yourself.
The Sopranos
03/11/06 · 6:00 am
posted by SM
in Renewable Energy Revolution (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Sen. Rob O'Leary, Cong. Bill Delahunt and AG Tom Reilly.
The practice of men singing soprano began in the 16th century. Due to Catholicism's traditional ban on females singing in church, castrati were employed as church singers. The first castrati appeared in chapel choirs. The Duke of Ferrara had castrati in his chapel choir.
Most opera singers of the Baroque period were castrati. The male heroic leads would often be written for a castrato singer. When such operas are performed today, women or homosexuals take these roles. However, some opera with parts for castrati are so complex and difficult that they cannot be performed today.
Not so with Cape Wind, The Opera .
Ted Kennedy, the Duke of Hyannisport, the last remaining obstacle to the wind farm, has had his emissaries to state and federal government and his candidate for Governor, effectively castrated. They can't sing on this seminal issue without consulting with their benefattore or patrono .
So the Opera must go on. And the castrati must continue to sing... soprano.
But castration is by no means a guarantee of a promising political career.
State rep candidate Gottwald planning breakfast fundraiser
03/10/06 · 6:16 pm
posted by Jack Coleman
in Politicalendar (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
State representative candidate Ray Gottwald of Harwich, running for the Democratic nomination in the Outer Cape's 4th Barnstable District, will hold a breakfast fundraiser on Thursday March 30 at 8 a.m.
The event will be held in Boston at law offices with the decidedly political name of Nixon Peabody LLP, 100 Summer St. RSVP by calling Gottwald at 508-430-1666 or by e-mail at RayGottwald@aol.com (Related) .
For more information on the Gottwald campaign, go to www.RayforRep.com (Related) .
Reducing Stress: Part III
03/10/06 · 10:56 am
posted by Bellissimo
in Bellissimo (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Ready for the third in my top five ways to reduce your stress during your busy season? Here you go...
Take a Walk
Sound too simple? It is simple. One of the best ways to relieve stress is to get outside, breathe and move around a bit. It can be as quick as a walk around the block, or as complex as driving to a remote spot and hiking for an hour.
There are many benefits from removing yourself, even for a short time, from the physical environment where you are experiencing stress. You allow your internal ?stress meter? to automatically reset. You gain a bit of perspective. You do something great for yourself, even if no one else is treating you well that day.
If you'd like to experience the entire top ten ways to reduce your stress this season, sign up for my no-cost e-course, Ten Ways to Reduce Your Stress This Season (Related) Ten Ways to Reduce Your Stress This Season .
Tom and Cliff talk independence
03/10/06 · 7:14 am
posted by CCToday
in Renewable Energy Revolution (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
F rom Jack Coleman's wind farmer's almanac (Related) -
Tom and Cliff talk independence
The setting: Independence Hall, Philadelphia, July 1776. Bay State delegate Clifton Carroll walks into the room, sees Jefferson and shakes his head in amused disgust. Jefferson reads aloud, editing the words he has written.
Jefferson - ... 'when in the course of modern events' or 'human events'? .... most decidedly 'human events,' yes. And the other clause that vexed me so - 'life, liberty and the right to happiness' ... or ... (looking up in contemplation) ... as I'm more inclined in my own sundry endeavors, 'the pursuit of happiness' ... yes .... 'pursuit of happiness' ... it has a most goodly ring to it (he looks down and resumes writing).
Carroll - still at it, eh, Tommy?
Jefferson (startled, his thoughts interrupted) - oh, greetings to my fellow patriot from Massachusetts, birthplace of our Revolution. You appear in fine spirits this morn, Mr. Carroll. What say you about this auspicious enterprise?
Carroll - well, Tommy boy, hate to burst your bubble, but we are bound to have major league problems with this independence scheme you've hatched.
Jefferson (puzzled) - .... major league ...?
Carroll - The way I see it, just about everything we do revolves around our remaining simpatico with England. Without them, we're doomed. You don't seriously believe the yokels on this side of the pond can make a good of it, do ya?
Jefferon - well, based on my readings of Locke and Montiesque ...
Carroll (waving a hand dismissively) - the high-falutin stuff is all fine and dandy, but I'm talking real world here. We cut our ties to England, first thing they do is send the British Navy to remind us who's boss. You know what they means for Cape Cod? Major league navigation problems - we'll never be able to sail our waters without getting whacked.
Jefferson - ... whacked ...?
Carroll - right you are, Tommy. Listen, I know from first-hand experience this self-governance schtick ain't all it's cracked up to be. The Pilgrims tried the same thing, writing up that whatjamacallit, the Mayflower Light Compact, right there in P'town harbor. Once those crazy ideas took hold - hell, you wouldn't recognize the place anymore, especially in summer.
Jefferson - but is it not true the denizens of Provincetown are most skillful in the theatrical and visual arts?
Carroll - sure, if that's your cup of tea, but it gets worse. Starting with what the Pilgrims did gets us right to where we are now. And haven't you noticed the effect all this is having - slaves looking at you sideways, the hired help talking back, and you should hear my wife these days - she thinks "independence" (he wiggles fingers in universally annoying gesture for quotation marks) should be extended to women and slaves - yeesh!
Jefferson (awkwardly) - yes, well, the same thought had crossed my mind ...
Carroll - don't get me wrong, Tommy, I support liberty, freedom, all those good things - just not here. There are certain places where they don't belong - like the 13 colonies. Maybe in the future, further out, when people are ready for it - we get to that point, I'm the first guy across the Delaware. But for now, let's do all we can to preserve this pristine jewel we have going with the British Crown.
When you get a chance, check out a website called SaveOurCrown.org ...
Barbie Does Trader Joe's
03/09/06 · 9:35 pm
posted by capemom
in Cape Mom (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Some time ago, in a previous blog posting (Related) on Cape Cod grocery shopping, I promised to do a couple of buy and tries , that is, I would try various newish food products at local grocery stores and let you know about the especially good ones, or steer you clear of the bad ones. At long last, I am happy to present Barbie's Buy and Try .
I found all these products to be very, very tasty, reasonably healthy, and popular with kids--what more could you want? But to run photos of just the products? What a snore. So I tarted up the product pics by helping myself to some of my daughter's Barbies. They are almost as good at their job as Holly (Related) or Janice (Related) on The Price is Right .
Georgetown University Cheerleader Barbie is proud to show you Trader Joe's (Related) Cornbread Mix. I made this and it is fluffy, crispy, and just a little sweet. Way, way better than that cardboard-tasting Jiffy mix sold in the Stop and Shop. You need to add oil, milk, and an egg to the mix and it's good to go in the oven.
Easy, nutritious, and not high in fat: Trader Joe's Chili in a can is the bomb. The Indian Princess (dot, not feather) Barbie is posed in a moral dilemma: Should she stick with the organic vegetarian chili with tofu (which is dee-lish, btw) or commit a huge Hindu sin and gorge on the
99% fat free beef chili (also yummy) and risk being reincarnated as a toll booth collector? Also, TJ's sells a chili in a glass jar that is quite the nosh.
Happy Birthday Princess Barbie (who lost her tiara in a tragic vaccuum cleaner incident) presents Ronzoni's new line of whole wheat pasta called Healthy Harvest . This is found in the Stop and Shop, not TJ's. It is not super dark or earthy in flavor; hence, it passes the kid test and it is better for them to be eating whole wheat, plus it will help transition them to other whole grain products. This is the only pasta we eat now and it comes in the usual shapes.
I recall that quite a few of the commenters on my last grocery blog posting were men who did the grocery shopping for their family. Not only are they to be commended, but rewarded....hence the piece de resistance (or piece of something at least):
A naked Rapunzel Barbie lounging on two varieties of the BEST BEST pasta sauce that I have ever bought. It is at TJ's and is cleverly named Trader Giotto's. It is only $2.99 per jar and is at least twice as good as all that $7 to $9 a jar top shelf sauce you see at the Stop and Shop. It is light, bursting with flavor, not greasy, and not peppery. The kids love it. It comes with and without meat.
Please feel free to share any other grocery gems, or socially acceptable comments about our hard-working Barbies, in comments below.
Reducing Stress: Part II
03/09/06 · 2:12 pm
posted by Bellissimo
in Bellissimo (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Today I give you the second in my top five ways to reduce your stress this season:
Notice Your Stress and What?s Causing It
Are you stressed out by the increased traffic in your town? Do the longer lines at the grocery store really get to you? Or does the ?you exist to serve me? attitude of some seasonal visitors set you off?
For a day or two, pay special attention to what really pushes your stress button during the high season. Once you know what?s really causing your stress, you can come up with strategies to minimize and/or avoid it. For example, finding a different or ?secret? way to work. Or shopping at off hours. Or smiling and saying hello to everyone you pass?you?ll be amazed at how many return the favor!
Capital Punishment & the Sanctity of Life
03/09/06 · 1:15 pm
posted by editor
in Letters to the Editor (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Dear Editor:
An interesting recent news item was that California twice had to postpone an execution due to the problem of finding a doctor willing to administer the fatal drugs. I wonder about the involved doctors’ concerns over contributing to a “cruel and usual punishment.” Shouldn’t their (and our) concern more properly be over the immorality of killing other human beings?
While the death penalty continues to maintain the support of a majority of the public, I predict that by the end of this new century, thoughts on capital punishment will evolve in the same way that those on slavery did in the 19th century and segregation in the 20th. Both of those concepts had the support of a majority of the public and legal standing, but over time came to be seen as civil evils. The supporters of capital punishment are filling the modern equivalent of the supporters of slavery and Jim Crow, which were both legal and supported by many religious institutions, in spite of their inherent immorality.
We live in a time when respect for the sanctity of life is continually diminishing. This can be seen in a federal government that supports the killing of its own citizens at an ever-increasing rate, a governor who wants the authority to kill Massachusetts citizens, and the ever more violent “entertainments” presented to our youth that demean life and teach them killing skills.
It is time that we demand that the sacredness of life be respected; initial action steps should include ending capital punishment and making sure that our youth are removed from the viewing of violent TV, movies and video games.
Ralph F Cahoon
Barnstable, MA
Ph.D, Player Hater Degree
03/09/06 · 8:32 am
posted by Monponsett
in East of Boston (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
(Part of the "Most Hated Athletes" Project from AOL Sports)
Hatred is good.
Sure, that sounds wrong. It's supposed to. As cathartic as a good Hate can be, it can get ugly when misdirected. Once sanctioned, it is actively encouraged. Otherwise, people won't kill for their governments. Maybe all Hitler needed was a big hug and some understanding... but his reign of terror didn't truly end until the Russians started shelling his bunker.
The Russians hated Hitler, and they were right to. His drang nach osten killed about 3 times as many people as the Holocaust (Kids... if a teacher ever asks you who suffered the most during WWII, the answer is "USSR"), and it explains the Cold War better than any "commies hate your freedom" nonsense that the arms manufacturers give you.
We're not really here to talk about THAT kind of hate. We're generally a happy bunch here at CCT. We're here to hate on athletes, which is more of a grey hatred than a blood-red, kill 'em all hatred that one might bear towards their daughter's rapist.
This is also good, because that sort of hatred would lead to players being killed on the field. The best athlete hatred I've seen in my young life was the Colombian guy who got blasted by a fan after scoring in his own goal against the USA in a World Cup soccer game.
Still, that was episodic, regional hatred. That guy could have lived next to you in America, and chances are good that you wouldn't give a damn. America is a lot bigger than Colombia, and it registers across thousands of miles when we hate someone.
Sooooooooo.... with that in mind, let's look back on some athletes who took it to that next level. We're not talking Bonzi Wells(6th in a similar Maxim poll) here... I'm looking for people who were on the serious end of some legitimate, cross-country hatred. Not all of them deserved it, but life sort of works itself out that way from time to time.
- Jackie Robinson
Sure, he's considered to be, in his own way, a great hero. I personally admire the hell out of the guy. He had what must be considered to be amongst the biggest balls in America. He broke the color line. He withstood a ton of abuse and snobbery. He shook it all off to become a truly (by his playing of the game) great baseball player.
In what must be viewed as an ugly picture of the American sports fan, Robinson was frequently harassed. He took in death threats like you or I take in oxygen. Dudes on his own team wouldn't associate with him. There were many towns which would have gladly lynched Robinson if given the chance. Jackie was the 100% opposite of what they mean when they say "spoiled, pampered athlete."
That Jackie rose above all this to have a great career is one of the whys that explains how he ended up being loved by black and white, young and old, and fan or non-fan. Any time I had a student who was holding a pity party, I'd try to relate how Jackie Robinson must have felt... and how he dealt with it... and how it all turned out for him in the end.
There's probably no player in any sport who is as respected as Jackie Robison, and his rising above the hatred has more to do with it than a hot bat.
- Bill Buckner
You simply KNEW that there was no way I'd write this article without getting to this sorry SOB. For most of his career, Buck was a solid hitting, steady fielding player. Boston wouldn't have made it to the 1986 World Series without him. In fact, most people watching the team hated the surly Jim Rice a lot more than they did the workmanlike first baseman.
Then... a simple ground ball rolled between his legs. Boston lost yet another World Series, in a manner so awful that most (myself included) felt that God hated us. That may or may not be true, but we all hated Bill Buckner.
It's a simple thing, really... just bend over and put your glove on that weak ground ball. Anyone who isn't in a wheelchair could do it... and probably all of the Murderball guys would have fielded that sucker and rolled over to first base to end the World Series drought.
Boston is a good place for an athlete to retire- it's a traditional town with a long memory. We love our athletes. Johnny Pesky- who froze on a relay throw, essentially costing us the 1946 World Series- is revered here. Buckner retired to Montana, and I'm told that he still takes hit about the rounder-gay from bison and sasquatches.
- Wilt Chamberlain
"Nobody loves Goliath," sayeth Wilt. Not too long before Wilt arrived, the NBA was a set-shot, bounce pass league. 80 points was a high-scoring game, and gangly, bumbling George Mikan was an overwhelming force.
Then Wilt came along, and the game changed heroically. A lot of guys who were serious players simply vanished off the map once Wilton came to the game.
Wilt- to my knowledge- never did drugs, never slapped up his coach, never went into the stands to tool on someone... and never got the love that one of the greatest players of all time deserved. The more team-oriented Boston Celtics were the darlings of the league, and the standard by which all other franchises would be measured. Wilt- who won an assists title in 1966 or so, and once averaged MORE than 48 minutes per game- was considered to be selfish and unmotivated.
Jerry West and Elgin Baylor never won d*ck until they teamed up with Wilt. Wilt played against Cousy, a rookie Kareem, frequently dominated Bill Russell, and even spent some time in the ABA. He wrote a highly entertaining biography. He was a walking basketball encyclopedia, yet he never got a GM job, never was asked to do national TV commentary, and most likely went to his grave wondering why a flash in the pan like Bill Walton got TV time that Wilt deserved more.
Wilt was hated AND loved, kids... remember, he slept with over 20,000 women.
- Barry Bonds
We have not yet begun to hate Barry Bonds yet, and he may floor the needle if he can break Henry Aaron's record.
Barry is a surly dolt. He bemoans the lack of respect given to black athletes, even as his home runs land in McCovey Cove. He's a career length loser. He bad-mouths a city (Boston) as racist, ignoring the fact that it was the heart of the Abolitionist movement that eventually got his greatgreatgreat grandfather out of slavery. He even openly cheated on his wife, and he threatened to kill his mistress several times.
That's all small-time stuff, and up until recently, Bucky Friggin' Dent was more hated here in the Bean. But Barry had to take it to that next level.
Jealous of the praise that a white guy and an affable Hispanic were getting as they chased Roger Maris' home run record, Bonds fell into steroid abuse like a drunkard falling off the wagon. He went from a lithe left-fielder to a burly, swollen joke that even children knew was a good example of Better Living Through Chemistry.
Granted, people should probably have shifted some of his hatred onto McGwire and Sosa. They were doing the same damn thing. Time, like tide, favors no man... and Barry just happened to hit his Juice Peak as people were starting to get upset about steroid abuse.
The fact that he continues to deny it makes it even funnier. Now, with Game Of Shadows hitting the bookstores, try to like this joker.
- Ty Cobb
As hard as it might be for a decent person to hate Jackie Robinson, it's easier to hate a dinosaur like Ty Cobb.
While he was way before my time, Ty hated blacks, cheated, intimidated, went after fans, and probably thought that Hitler was a fine politician. While he owns some records, they were garnered against inferior (read: segregated) competition.
( In all fairness... while Babe Ruth never hit against Stachel Paige, Satchmo never pitched to Babe Ruth, either. In the end, you can only root for Hank Aaron with a clean conscience.)
From what I read... if a car backfired (and this was 1910ish, when a lot of cars backfired), Ty would hit the deck. Even when he knew it was a car backfiring, it was simply better odds by eating some turf. That's hatred, and Allen Iverson probably never developed this stimulus/response set.
- Latrell Sprewell
Latrell is a hard-nosed player who came out of nowhere to become an NBA star for a few years. Latrell's main thing is anti-authoritarianism.
Upset with something his coach (P.J. Carliesemo) said, Latrell grabbed him around the neck and choked him out like a wrestler. He was suspended for a season, and cheated out of millions of dollars.
Remember, Spree had gone after a teammate a few weeks before with a 2x4. Nothing came of this. But once he went after a white coach, he was upsetting the balance of things.
Throw in his infamous "I have to feed my family" joke of a line when complaining about making $14 million, and you have a guy who could piss off the Good Humor man.
- Terrell Owens
T.O. is a favorite of mine, but people sho' do hate this guy.
As far as I can tell, TO's offenses include dancing on the star at Texas Stadium, allowing his ego to hyper-inflate the traditional touchdown celebration, speculating on how his team would fare with a different quarterback (I never heard him openly wish for a white field general) and trying to renegotiate his contract a few months after he affixed his signature to it as a symbol of trust.
He was then attacked by his own team's bad-assador, and was suspended for it. While you and I don't know who threw the first punch, we do know that only TO had any legitimate reason to be in that locker room. He is now seen as a cancer, even though his mere presence in Philly lifted a perennial also-ran into the Super Bowl- a game that, ironically, he was the only Eagle to show up for. When they got rid of him, the team went into the toilet like last night's chili.
- Eddie Shore
Eddie was what hockey fans call an "enforcer." This means that he played "dirty." Eddie would go out of his way to injure opponents, and his wicked cheap shot on Ace Bailey nearly ended his life.
While he was loved here (except by the police, who planned to prosecute him the moment Bailey died), many people rightly viewed him as a common thug. There are several cases of the stands emptying onto the ice to attack him.
It has nothing to do with hatred, but Eddie Shore is known for driving from Boston to Montreal for a game (after his Bailey suspension ended) in a car with no windshield. His hands had to be pried off of the steering wheel, and he never lost the frostbite scars.
This is also the guy the Hansen Brother is speaking of when he asks Oglethorpe if he knows Eddie Shore. Whoever wrote the part of the script that featured Eddie Shore as a role model for a hockey team that suddenly wanted to go non-violent... well, that's Hollywood for you, kids.
- Kobe Bryant
"You hate me because of my fadeaway... because I'm a veteran... because I'm a champion..."
Actually, Kobe... it has more to do with the rape you bought your way out of, your infidelity to your wife (who you also paid off with), your chasing the lovable Shaq out of the town he should have retired in, and your shameless gunning that would humble a Gulf War vet.
That said, he's a remarkable talent who can win a playoff series all by his damn self.
- O.J. Simpson
Most people are more intelligent than a random group of Californians (see: Rodney King trial, Governor Ahhhhnold), so it worked out to Mr. Simpson losing the Trial Of Public Opinion. He'll never work in this town again.
Two Ahhnold sidebars to the OJ story.
1) Had OJ lost that trial and been sentenced to death, there would have been an endless appeals process. Eventually, it'd be needle time... and only Arnold Schwarzenegger could have saved his life.
2) O.J. was offered the Terminator role that later made a star of Ahhhnold
That said, he got away with murder, and deserves nothing better than to be murdered in his sleep by his own son.
Here's a few of our friends, weighing in on the Hatred in their own way:
· NCAA football's most-hated figure poll via Fanblogs (Related) NCAA football's most-hated figure poll via Fanblogs ( I wish Mark May was mounting more of a challenge )
· MLB's most-hated player survey via The Juice Blog (Related) MLB's most-hated player survey via The Juice Blog (One guy's campaigning for Jose Offerman)
· NBA's most-hated player poll via Yay Sports (Related) NBA's most-hated player poll via Yay Sports (Carlos Boozer is making a push)
· NFL's most-hated player poll via Dave's Football Blog (Related) NFL's most-hated player poll via Dave's Football Blog (The refs are coming in 4th place)
· NHL's most-hated player poll via Off Wing (Related) NHL's most-hated player poll via Off Wing (11% are hating Sean Avery for dating Elisha Cuthbert)
· NCAA basketball's most-hated figure poll via Sportz Assassin (Related) NCAA basketball's most-hated figure poll via Sportz Assassin (Guess who the most-hated player is)
· NASCAR most-hated person survey via Diecast Dude (Related) NASCAR most-hated person survey via Diecast Dude (Kurt Busch -- and his pinned ears -- are doing well)
"The horrible thing about the Two Minutes Hate was not that one was obliged to act a part, but that it was impossible to avoid joining in. Within thirty seconds any pretense was always unnecessary. A hideous ecstacy of fear and vindictiveness, a desire to kill, to torture, to smash faces in with a sledge hammer, seemed to flow through the whole group of people like an electric current, turning one even against one's will into a grimacing, screaming lunatic. And yet the rage that one felt was an abstract, undirected emotion which could be switched from one object to another like the flame of a blowlamp."
Thru Monday...Most Hated Athlete Broadcast: AOL Sports: Sports Bloggers Live (Related)
Gay Marriage vs. Iraq and Port Security
03/09/06 · 8:25 am
posted by CCToday
in Letters to the Editor (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Dear Editor,
It would appear that with the multitude of issues that the people of Massachusetts and this country are facing, that there are far more laudable goals than stripping hard working Americans of their civil rights. The judiciary has spoken in Massachusetts concerning the fate of same-sex marriage. Let's not tie up valuable resources on discrimination and the reversal of a Judiciary finding.
I would suggest that we move forward and tackle more important issues like an exit plan from Iraq and the merit of having Arabs securing our eastern seaports. When one looks at gay marriage in comparison to these issues, there is not a comparison. I suggest in investing our energies towards national security as opposed to discrimination.
Sincerely,
Butch Sakellarion- Hyannis
The Cape Wind Crybaby
03/09/06 · 7:50 am
posted by Magical Eye
in Against the Wind (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Jim, you can stop your crybaby routine and temper tantrums, the public is finally beginning to see through you and your company's snake oil take over of public property for nothing more than personal gain. In spite of your flooding the media with your oh-so-sad and oh-so-unfair story one fact remains... This is not about YOU Jim. This is about The People and THEIR rights to safety, security and full and honest disclosure.
You can cry about unfair backroom deals, lobbyist and political leg-ups all you want but one thing remains you were the recipient of same. It is just that this time The People may very well benefit. I hope we do.
I hope the Senators and Congress men and women can see through your Cape Wind hype to the truth. And the truth is that this site is simply wrong in terms of public safety and security no matter how you slice it and attempt to belittle it by pointing fingers at the rich, as if you are not one of them. Of course, your spin is that this amendment is just another attempt to thwart you and Cape Wind. How arrogant and myopic can you get!?
And please do not pretend that this is the first time you have heard of the public safety and security issues concerning radar. We all know better than that. The fact that you choose to cite the Army Corps of Engineers DEIS as proof that there is no problem in that regard, simply proves that you thought you had it made on that issue by feeding them the company line and having it spill back out onto their DEIS. But you didn't.
It has taken an amendment to the US Coast Guard Bill to put this in front of the American People... You claim that is an unfair backroom deal but I say the opposite. I say it was the only way to stop this thing in its tracks and get the vital issue out in front of the public. And now, it is.
If you think that the Senate and the Congress is going to think this is all about YOU. I say you are wrong. The issue is safety and security. Radio interference by off shore wind turbines was not made up by the British to thwart you and your project. Of course since everything in your myopic view is about YOU, you would think that. But how about giving thought to the Public and their safety and security for a change?
In a time of great fear and concern in this country over terrorists any interference with radar systems is totally unacceptable. Not only can radar interference adversely affect maritime safety it can also affect aviation and the very security of our country.
I find it interesting and deeply disturbing that at a time when President Bush is attempting to shove our National safety and security aside with port deals, you and your company are attempting to do the same.
In a February 15, 2005 letter to the FAA Rep. William Delahunt writes a follow up to Nancy Kalinowski's (FAA director of System Operations Airspace and Aeronautical Information Management) analysis with regards to the following finding:
"The proposed location of the (Cape Wind) wind turbines is in an area which may affect existing radar facilities supporting the National Airspace System. Two of these radars are used to support terminal surveillance services at Nantucket Memorial Airport and at the Otis Air National Guard Base. The third is a long range radar used to support en route surveillance services from North Truro, located in the northern portion of the Cape Cod National Seashore and is jointly utilized by the FAA and the Department of Defense." "Ms. Kalinowsky also stated the FAA ""has reviewed the British studies, and had begun its own comprehensive research on this matter.""
Rep. Delahunt went on to state the many US government agencies concerned about radar interference problems including the FAA, the US Air Force, our Defense Department and the Pentagon in the aftermath of the British studies. Included in this group who are not only concerned but are outrightly opposed to the off shore wind farm in the Nantucket Sound are the Martha's Vineyard Airport, the Nantucket Airport and the FAA Air Traffic Controllers.
Does Cape Wind really think they can fool all of the people all of the time with their diversionary tactics and crybaby temper tantrums at not getting their way? I think not.
And once again, it isn't ALL about YOU, Jim.
Today's News (Related) re. Cape Wind and Homeland Security
Front page news in Today's Cape Cod Times 3/10/06 Here (Related) :
Kerry's choice: Humorless meets meaningless
03/08/06 · 4:20 pm
posted by CCToday
in Cape Politics (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Record indicates he probably won't help Kerry get the women's vote
Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey has selected a former state legislator and head of state police as her running mate.
A formal announcement naming Reed Hillman as Healey's choice to join her ticket in this fall's gubernatorial race is scheduled for Thursday an adviser to the Healey campaign told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
Hillman, 58, served as colonel, or head, of the State Police from 1996 to 1999, before becoming a Republican state representative from Sturbridge.
Healey had recently narrowed her field of possible running mates to Hillman, U-S Attorney Michael Sullivan and state Senator Scott Brown of Wrentham.
Kerry selects, but the party elects
Announcing a running mate is something of a misnomer in Massachusetts because candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run separately in the September primary, and the two winners are then joined on a party ticket for the general election in November.
Since 1991, Republicans have rallied their relatively small ranks in this Democrat dominated state by pairing a candidate for governor and lieutenant governor, arguing that it offsets their weaknesses and presents voters with an upfront choice about a leadership team.
Be that as it may, picking a couple running mates before the caucuses did nothing but damage to AG Tom Reilly, and this ghard-nosed and seemingly humorless state cop offers nothing different for Kerry Healey who isn't exactly know for her one-liners.
Now if Tom Reilly could pick a latter-day Louise Day Hicks to balance a Deval patrick-Andrea Silbert, this silly season will getr really interesting.
A Democratic Party site examines Hillman's record in office here (Related) . Below are a few of his votes on key issues which the oppositon will focus on this Fall.
Reducing Stress: Part I
03/08/06 · 1:32 pm
posted by Bellissimo
in Bellissimo (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Are you already worried about how you?re going to handle the upcoming season? Are you dreading another season of being overworked, out-of-balance, frustrated with your life or your business, and shortchanging your personal relationships? Here are ten quick and easy ways to reduce the stress we feel during the high season. What would happen if you ended up enjoying the season just as much as all those visitors do?
Over the next few days, I'll share my top five ways to reduce your seasonal stress. Here's the first one:
Remember...It?s Not Forever
One of the great things about a season is that it?s finite?it has a definite end. Your world may seem crazy, but you know that all these cars, people, demands, etc. will go away at the end of the season. Create a picture in your mind of what your life will be like at the end of the season?the relaxation, the pride of a successful season, the ability to truly enjoy this place that you love. Is there a picture of you that captures this feeling? Keep it posted near your workspace and remember to look at it every day. And remember that each day, you are one day closer to this perfect picture!
Yarmouth Democrats to hear from Rep. Turner
03/08/06 · 8:14 am
posted by Jack Coleman
in Politicalendar (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
State Rep. Cleon Turner , D-Dennis, is the guest speaker at the next monthly meeting of the Yarmouth Democratic Committee, tomorrow (March 9) at 7:30 p.m. at the Yarmouthport fire station on Route 6A.
Mihos: Firing Blanks Over The Bridge Or A Threat?
03/07/06 · 7:22 pm
posted by Codfish Press
in Codfish Press (Related)
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By Greg O’Brien, Codfish Press
A political pachyderm of a man, the willowy Christy Mihos (seated with family at the right), Big whistle-blower and millionaire scion of the Christy convenience store chain, stood Republicans on their floppy ears last week with his announcement that he’s lumbering out of the party to run for governor as an independent—taking with him others in the herd, party officials fear.
In a ungainly, elephant-like performance last Wednesday during an appearance with other gubernatorial candidates at a forum sponsored by the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, Mihos demonstrated he may be more adept at making money and calling attention to government waste, than he is on the stump. In a not-ready-for-prime-time moment, Mihos drew uneasy attention to his wife and manly prowess—pledging, as reported in the Globe, to be brief in his forum comments, “My wife says I’m awful fast, so I’ll try to stick to that.”
But as any neophyte knows, this gubernatorial campaign—while it may unpleasant at times, even dreadful—will be anything but fast, as the field maneuvers in serpentine adjustments to the various campaign promises and proclamations. If anything, the populist and long-shot Mihos may cause Republicans and Democrats to circle the wagons in more inclusive loops, given the fact that a majority of Massachusetts voters have no party affiliation and now have an alternative in a political grazing land where no one stands out.
And that’s good for the campaign. Thinking out of the box, Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, contravening her Republican boss, said last Thursday she would oppose an initiative that would permit Catholic bishops to prevent lesbians and gays from adopting children from Catholic agencies. Mihos, a life-long Republican and former board member of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority who dented heads with former acting Gov. Jane Swift over toll hikes and Big Dig cost overruns, has stated that he favors adoptions by same-sex couples, gay marriage and abortion rights, in addition to tax and toll cuts.
It is clear that the private and enigmatic Healey is more vulnerable to a Mihos run, in terms of siphoned votes and fund raising, but the Yarmouth political chameleon could also press Democratic hopefuls, Attorney General Thomas Reilly and former Clinton administration civil rights lawyer Deval Patrick, more to the middle. While this doesn’t threaten the two-party system that Mihos apparently scorns, it may give insiders cause to reassess the fringe elements of both parties, which are clearly out of step with the electorate. The National Journal, for example, ranks the Massachusetts Congressional delegation last year among the most liberal in the country, with eight of ten Bay State congressmen (all males if you haven’t noticed) with a voting record more liberal than 88 percent of the House membership. Massachusetts may be more progressive than most states, but the enlightenment here is far more restrained than many of our public servants.
Perhaps Mihos may have shot himself in the foot with his sophomoric family allusions last week, but his candidacy is a bullet across the bow of Massachusetts politics.
March is Mystery Month
03/07/06 · 4:29 pm
posted by JTS
in Off the Shelf (Related)
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The "Dennis Reads Together" program swings into high gear with a number of events for adults and children scheduled over the next two weeks. Since March is mystery month at the five Dennis libraries, adults are encouraged to read Absolute Certainty by Cape Cod author Rose Connors, while children are invited to check out any of the mysteries by Cape author John Prophet (such as Body in the Salt Marsh and A Jaded Affair ).
Events over the next two weeks include:
"Dennis CSI: Fact or Fiction" - a program featuring crime experts, mystery writer John Prophet, and best-selling author Paul Kemprecos ( Polar Shift and The Mayflower Murder ) at the Dennis Public Library on March 12 at 2pm.
Absolute Certainty book discussions - discuss Rose Connor's book at the West Dennis Library on March 15, 2pm; Dennis Memorial Library on March 15, 7pm; and the Dennis Public Library on March 18, 1pm.
"Fiction's First Detectives: From Poe to Poirot" - this presentation will examine the development of the mystery novel as a genre, at the South Dennis Library on March 16, 2pm and the Jacob Sears Library on March 17, 11am.
Dennis Reads for Children - Ezra Baker School Principal Kevin Depin will read The Mona Mousa Code to elementary school children at the Dennis Public Library on March 7, 6:30pm; Dennis Memorial Library on March 14, 6:30pm; and West Dennis Library on March 15, 6:30pm.
Watch this blog for further events during the weeks of March 19th and 26th, including a town-wide treasure hunt. Those interested in participating in "Dennis Reads Together" are encouraged to visit their local Dennis library to learn more.
Also -- the Dennis Public Library presents Hands on Science , featuring experiments for children. This month's program on March 28 at 4pm is "All About Magnets." Call the library at 508-760-6219 to register.
Jack Sheedy - Reference Services, Dennis Public Library
Hannity and Colmes diss Ted & RFK jr., Don Young rides free
03/07/06 · 11:38 am
posted by WB
in Media Watch (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Cape Wind prexy Jim Gordon blew them away on FOX-TV's Hannity and Colmes last night.
The brash Fox duo called Senator Kennedy and his newphew hypocrites, but couldn't get Jim Gordon to criticise either. Hannity & Colmes were highly critical of both Kennedys. The video and text at available in the link below.
The worst Gordon said was, " my disappointment is that the senator established out a position before the environmental reviews came in, before the massachusetts energy facility board approved our project. sean: isn't it about their view? isn't it about how it affects them? it's ok for them to lecture us but when it comes to their life they don't want to live up to their standard. "
After Hannity failed to get Gordon to diss Ted, he said about the senior senator and Congressman Delahunt " they are politicians they have to look at the fact that six to one in massachusetts, a new poll, six to one in massachusetts, support it. "
See the program and a video of it here (Related) .
In a sidebar:
The Alaska Congressman trying to stymie Cape Wind is listed as the 6th worse offender in the nation for taking $83,000 worth of free corporate jet rides.
Out of 600+ members of congress, Don Young ranks just behind President Bush for taking hand-outs from coropate America. Here's the item in the Buffalo News today;
Leading the list was former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, the Democrats' 2004 candidate for vice president. He reported $313,749 worth of corporate jet travel. Next came President Bush, at $149,667; followed by Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., $125,187; Rep. Michael G. Oxley, R-Ohio, $108,700; Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., $102,000; Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, $83,000; and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., $69,000... Read the rest (it's towards the bottom) of this Buffalo News story here (Related) , and comment below.
Cape Cod Times ombudsman column available online
03/07/06 · 11:38 am
posted by Jack Coleman
in Media Watch (Related)
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In his column on Sunday, Times ombudsman Dick LeGrand describes the paper's policies on letters to the editor.
"It's true - only some of the letters-to-the-editor received by this paper are published," wrote LeGrand, who began working as the first ombudsman for Times in January. "Many are not. Why is that, some of you asked, and what's the reason? Are editors trying to stack the letters column?
"The answer is no. I took a look at how the letters are handled and why decisions are made, and here's what I found (Related) ."
A good call on LeGrand's part - at least from the perspective of this former Times reporter who fielded all too many angry calls about letters that were or were not published, all too often from people with a conspiratorial view of the world.
Picture Memories
03/07/06 · 11:15 am
posted by CC Rockhopper
in Cape Cod Rock Hopper (Related)
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This is just a picture memory week, the weather all over have been ucky and can't make up its mind. I am sure that most of us are getting either Cabin or Cottage fever and getting anything done has been almost impossible. This is more like a day dream for me, waiting for the opportunity to get back and visit some of these places as soon as possible. Have a great time wishing and hoping for warmer weather and good times on Cape Cod.
I know this is not much to some of you, but it is what keeps me going through the winter, remember what the sights are of the Cape. Put yourself in each picture, go back to your own albums and look at your memories and look forward to warmer days on Cape Cod.
Ramping Up
03/07/06 · 10:22 am
posted by Bellissimo
in Bellissimo (Related)
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For those of us living in summer communities, now is the time when we start to see activity ramping up. Our businesses are re-opening if they've been closed for the winter. Visitors come for long weekends, and for school break weeks. Many of us start thinking about ways we can reduce the stress this time of year usually brings, and ways to avoid the stress that high season can cause.
Over the next several days, I'll be sharing my top five ways you can reduce your stress this season. You can also sign up for my f.r.e.e e-course, Ten Ways to Reduce Your Stress This Season, at my website (Related) Ten Ways to Reduce Your Stress This Season .
Mihos a real contender after one week
03/07/06 · 7:02 am
posted by CCToday
in Cape Politics (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
New Poll shows tight race for governor
Our Christy picks up 20% of total in three-way race:
Healey 35%, Patrick 30%, Mihos 20%, undecided 14%
The CBS4 exclusive Fast Track from Survey USA surveyed 700 Massachusetts residents over the weekend, on the heels of Christy Mihos , on left, entering the race as an independent. And for now, a surprisingly-large slice of the electorate is giving Mihos the green light.
In a match up with Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey and attorney Deval Patrick, Mihos, a Yarmouth businessman, pulls a solid 20% right out of the gate. Healey holds a slight lead with 35%. Patrick was second with 30%. 14% are undecided.
CBS4 broke the news to Mihos and this was his reaction: “Stunned, absolutely stunned. Happy, stunned. We've got a long way to go, but what a beginning!”
Poll good news for Patrick too
This poll is also good news for Deval Patrick and his campaign if he ends up being the democratic nominee. Right now, he is also almost tied with Healey.
“And that's why the campaign is coming on so strong,” said Patrick.
When CBS4’s Joe Shortsleeve asked Patrick if that was how he read the numbers, Patrick said, “We are definitely coming on strong. Remember I just got into this for the first time ever last spring.”
Substitute Attorney General Tom Reilly as the Democratic nominee, and he takes the lead with 36%, still within our margin of error. Healey is second with 31% followed by Mihos with 22%. 11% are undecided... Read the rest of this CBS4 report here (Related) , and comment below
Open House at Big Brothers Big Sisters
03/06/06 · 3:43 pm
posted by BigBrotherBigSister
in Big Brother Big Sister (Related)
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WANT TO BE PART OF THE FUN??!!
Think you might like to be a Big Brother or BigSister? Know you'd like to be part of our organization, but just aren't sure how or in what capacity?
Join us for an Informational Open House at our Centerville office, 1934 Falmouth Rd./Rt. 28 , and learn more about how you can become a part of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cape Cod and the Islands.
Some of our current volunteers and board members will give you an overview of the application process and the different programs and activities we offer our children, as well as tell you what being a Big Brother or Sister has meant to them through personal experiences.
After attending, we will ask you for your feedback-we're always looking to improve our programs
Big Brothers Big Sisters makes an amazing difference in the lives of children and their families on Cape Cod and the Islands. Our one-hour informational open houses occur monthly and are free of charge; the atmosphere is informal and relaxed.
Please feel free to bring a friend!
In an effort to accommodate the various schedules of attendees, upcoming open houses are scheduled as follows:
Please R.S.V.P. to Tammy Barboza at (508)-771-5150, ext. 105 -she'll give you the details and answer any questions you might have.
Town Meeting Scares Me
03/05/06 · 3:44 pm
posted by Opinionator
in The Opinionator (Related)
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I have been thinking a lot lately about the coming town meeting season and how the debate will unfold about taxes, services, run away spending, the need to move because we think taxes are so high, how this is the worst possible year to spend money, the misinformation one can distribute about town and school spending with a little creativity, the errors of the mainstream media and the tradition of local control in New England. I always get a little scared at local town meetings.
It is as much about fellowship and entertainment as it is about policy making. I have seen millions of dollars be appropriated or defeated on the basis of who told a good joke at the microphone. I am so cynical that I sometimes think that spur of the moment questions drive the whole process. I used to live in another New England state and town meeting was like a holiday. People would have a bake sale that day, some years they would serve lunch to everybody. They were very proud of this New England tradition. It used to scare me to death.
Most of the questions before a town meeting are so complicated that an ordinary citizen cannot address issues with any significant level of understanding.. Town meeting may be an obsolete institution in our complex society. I do believe deeply in democracy, but perhaps it should be representative democracy around here. Anyway, these are my blogged thoughts on this cold winter day.
Robert Whitcomb in Providence Journal
03/05/06 · 3:14 pm
posted by WB
in Renewable Energy Revolution (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Maybe Massachusetts, land of green rhetoric rarelybacked by action, might become a wind-power center after all. Ruthless back-room efforts by Alaska Congressman Don Young, his pal Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound lobbyist Guy Martin, and Hyannisport compound padrone Sen. Edward Kennedy to kill Cape Wind are drawing much bipartisan fire from other legislators and a public fed up with secretive Capitol Hill deals.
And lies and exaggerations that the project would harm navigation are being proven for what they are. Meanwhile, project supporter Deval Patrick may now be the frontrunner in the gubernatorial race.
Robert Whitcomb is the Vice President and Editorial Page Editor of The Providence Journa l. See his column here (Related) .
Meet The Opinionator
03/05/06 · 2:01 pm
posted by Opinionator
in The Opinionator (Related)
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This will be a blog about the observations and events I see on this sandy peninsula after several decades of working, thinking, feeling and writing about the quality of life here.
My biases will no doubt show, I am neither conservative nor liberal and have a strong interest in public affairs, local politics, schools and religion. I watch a lot of television and appreciate a good movie.
I am a family man with several grown children and many grandchildren, all living on the Cape. They are the future of everything and I want to leave them a world that I have done my best to improve.
Your reaction and comments are welcome, in fact, desired, and, as Cicero put it, "Omni autem in re consensio omnium gentium lex naturae putanda est."
Raising Taxes- A Double Standard ?
03/05/06 · 12:45 pm
posted by The Yarmouth Taxpayer
in The Yarmouth Taxpayer (Related)
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Over the past few weeks this blogger has been informing the Taxpayers in Yarmouth of an impending tax increase.
We face an increase in taxes on the Regular Town Budget, within prop 2 1/2 , about 28 cents. The Board of Selectmen has voted to put on the Annual Warrant at next months Town Meeting, to be held on April 11th, an override which will add another 13 cents. To complicate matters the new Fire Station could add another 6 cents, if the bids come in at 4 million. The big word is if, for example, The Golf request for a new irrigation system at Bayberry Hills Golf Course will cost $2 million, according to recent estimates, they were looking at 1.3 million. The total increase of 47 cents is of course without the DY Regional School District. How much will be added to the 47 cents? Who knows?
Double Standard?
This past week the Yarmouth Board of Selectmen met in a joint meeting with the DY Regional School Committee and Town Officials from Dennis. The Yarmouth’s Board of Selectmen, Chairman Jerry Sullivan, told the DY School committee, “I’m really afraid (a Proposition 2 ½) override vote in either town would fail at the polls, “I cannot in good conscience agree to an increase of this size.” Now, when Yarmouth School Committee member Nancy Anastasia asked if the towns could increase revenue by imposing new taxes? Mr. Sullivan’s response was and I quote as reported in a local weekly. “We cannot impose any new taxes,”
Do we see a double standard here? Is it all right to vote for an override and raising taxes when it comes to the Town’s operating budget? Is it all right to apply a different standard when it comes to the DY Regional School District when it comes to raising taxes? Why would one think the taxpayers would reject an override on the schools and then accept the override for the Town?
Bottom Line .
The Yarmouth Board of Selectmen does an excellent job in listening to the taxpayers and their concerns. Why then, does the board propose an override when they believe an override will not pass for the Schools? The DY Regional School Committee will have to make cuts. To quote Mr. Phil Morris of DY School Committee, “You get what you pay for. If you make enough cuts, the kids will be hurt.” Why should the kids get hurt when more that half the school budget is for personnel? Aka, School Teachers and their benefits. The bottom line should be the School Committee has to go back to the bargaining table with the teachers. The five Unions in the Town have made concessions over the years, why not the teachers?
Barnstable Democrats gear up for St. Pat's fundraiser - with karaoke
03/05/06 · 11:45 am
posted by Jack Coleman
in Politicalendar (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
... which, depending on your perspective, could raise money or have the opposite effect. For its annual St. Patrick's fundraiser, the Barnstable Democratic Town Committee is hosting a light supper with "karaoke entertainment" (bring a camcorder for this one), on Saturday March 11 from 5-7 p.m. at the Hyannis Golf Club on Route 132, just off Route 6 at Exit 6.
Tickets cost $25 and must be reserved in advance by calling Diane Parvin at 508-775-8265 or 508-364-4350, or by sending a check to BDTC, P.O. Box 5, Centerville, 02632.
This Week's Mail: Romney asks MMS to put Cape Wind Review on Hold
03/04/06 · 5:52 pm
posted by Magical Eye
in Against the Wind (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
In a February 28th, 2006 letter from Mitt Romney to Secretary of the U.S. Dept of the Interior, Gale Norton, the Governor asks that strict guidelines and regulations be in place for off-shore wind energy facilities before a project like Cape Wind be allowed to operate and that the Nantucket Sound be given a special designation under the new MMS rules.
"Certainly, treasures such as the Grand Canyon and Chesapeake Bay are not suitable for commercial development, and Nantucket Sound is worthy of similar protection."
While Governor Romney restates his support for the development of renewable energy sources that will lesson our dependence of foreign oil and believes that there is promise for wind projects off the coast of MA he states that MMS should not move forward in assessing Cape Wind until strict guidelines that apply to all off-shore alternative energy facilities are in place.
"It is important to reiterate that existing regulations apply only to oil and gas platforms, whose footprint is minuscule when compared to the unprecedented use of 24 square miles of ocean real estate."
"Reviewing offshore alternative energy projects under existing regulations would undermine the goal of developing a single, comprehensive process for permitting, and therefore, would continue to deny states, such as Massachusetts, the opportunity for meaningful participation in the siting process"
The Governor goes on to state that the State's should be given a part in the process in order to strike an appropriate balance between federal government and state and local governments. And cites the Deep Water Port Act in which a Governor "may approve, disapprove or set conditions for approval of offshore energy projects." In the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 projects outside of state waters are required to be consistent with enforceable policies of the state CZM program. And finally the Outer continental Shelf Lands Act which establishes the law of each adjacent state (when it is not inconsistent with federal law) is the law of the United States for the portion of the Outer continental shelf that would be within the state if the boundaries were extended to the outer margin of the shelf.
In 2003 The Governor appointed an Ocean Management Task force, an effort similar to those undertaken by other coastal states. "Any new MMS regulations in this area must protect the right of coastal states and communities to participate meaningfully in the siting and permitting of alternative energy projects in adjacent waters."
With regards to questions posed in the Federal Register notice as to siting, the Governor believes that MMS should establish a process to identify high value resource areas like the Nantucket Sound that should be set aside and be off limits to development.
"Potential sites for alternative energy projects should be evaluated, in advance of any formal proposal on the following criteria: transportation safety, search and rescues concerns, effects on fisheries and maritime industries, homeland defense, marine life and avian migration, seascape views, and the effects on a state's environment or regional economy - especially in tourism dependent regions."
Letter to be continued..... Please check back later. Magical Eye
Take my wife, or Kerry can't control Christy
03/04/06 · 7:42 am
posted by WB
in Cape Politics (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Throws Greek Hat (below) in the ring while web site was down
The four announced candidates for governor got together Wednesday at a Massachusetts Biotechnology Council forum this week.
Republican Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey offered an icy handshake to Christy Mihos, who announced that day that he’s quitting the Republican Party and challenging Healey as an independent candidate.
‘‘I can’t control Christy,’’ she said later. Not for lack of trying, mind you.
Once it was his turn to speak, Mihos, shown on left with wife Andrea, quickly realized his campaign needs a joke writer, desperately. - ‘‘My wife says I’m awful fast, so I’ll try to stick to that,’’ Mihos said to groans from the audience.
He tried again by joking that since he’s been married for 31 years, his wife must have been 5 when they married. More groans.
Later, he explained how he overcame his wife’s initial reluctance to live through a political campaign.
‘‘She said, ‘You can do whatever you want as long as I can have a new wardrobe.’ It’s going to cost more to fund her wardrobe than it is to fund my campaign, I think,’’ Mihos said.
Not all Greek to him
It’s unclear whether Christy Mihos is going to wear his heritage on his sleeve to the same extent that Michael Dukakis did during his campaigns.
After announcing on Wednesday that he’s running for governor, Mihos was asked facetiously if he’s running on the platform that another Greek should hold the job.
‘‘That’s absolutely false,’’ Mihos said with a laugh. ‘‘I deny it.’’
Read the column in the Patriot Ledgerhere (Related) , and comment below.
Christy's web site is back
We guess whomever he hired to do his IT work didn't know that a professional can update a site without closing it down, as his did the day Christy was throwing his Greek Hat in the ring.
Let's hope his hat isn't the Cap of Hades , the magical hat that would make the wearer invisible as when Perseus wore in his quest to kill and behead the Gorgon, Medusa . Christy needs all the visibility he can get.
But his site is back and it's here (Related) .
A to the K
03/03/06 · 5:59 pm
posted by Monponsett
in East of Boston (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
One of the reasons I love the NBA is that they have a truly one-of-a-kind bunch of people in that league. The NFL is funny, but they lack the requisite European presence to be a truly world-wide goofathon. NASCAR and the NHL are funny if you live in the right areas. Baseball has a South American tinge, but it is also our oldest and most American sport. The NFL lacks the requisite European presence needed for this story:
Salt Lake Tribune - Utah Jazz (Related)
Andrei Kirilenko is a dynamic young Russian playing for the Utah Jazz. He is frequently injured, but he has an all-around game that few can match. Known as "AK-47," he is a threat for the rarely seen quadruple-double ("That's 20 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists.... and 10 steals. That's a Quadruple Double, boy.") on any given night.
He scores at home, too. If you didn't follow that link I dropped up there, here are the bare bones of the story:
Andrei Kirilenko's wife gives him one day a year where he can go do the Shagnasty with anyone he can get to do it with him. I'm not aware if this works for her, as well. Either way, he gets a one day pass to go hit skins like Charlie Watts.
"It's the same way raising children," Masha Lopatova explained Wednesday. "If I tell my child, 'No pizza, no pizza, no pizza,' what does he want? Pizza!" She also added that "if I know about it, it isn't cheating." She's been Mrs. AK-47 for 6 years... before he was rich, btw.
She's not bad-looking herself, either. She's actually a pop-star when she isn't lowering the bar for couples everywhere. He can do better, you say... until you review the One Day Pass policy.
Here she is:
Opinions on her policy vary around both the NBA and the broadcast media.
"Top five wife of all time," said Tony Kornheiser.
Michael Wilbon, "Ain't Mrs. Kirilenko the coolest wife in the world or what?"
"I'd just like one day of guilt-free golf," sighed Mike Greenberg.
"NBA groupies are probably like potato chips: You can't have just one. Once he breaks open that bag of groupies, he'll probably fire right through the entire bag." tried Jim Rome.
Wives of players make it into the news now and then. Antonio Davis' wife fights with fans in the stands. Wayne Gretzky's wife just ruined his good name with her sports betting. Anna Benson got in the news by stating that- should her hubber think about the AK-47 policy in their marriage- she would run through his Mets teammates like a flu virus. "Batboys, announcers, managers..." said Benson, a model frequently seen in Maxim .
The craziest NBA wife title is up for grabs, due to the retirement of Doug Christie. I already wrote this story in my AOL blog (See:Puddy Whipped (Related) ).
The anti-Dolemite, Christie lets his wife run him like pantyhose. Wife-beater Jason Kidd tried to help (see the mature-audiences-only "Doug Christie Gets Some Much-Needed Marriage Advice From Jason Kidd (Related) "), but you can only bail out the Orca so long before you know she's a' sinkin'.
My own marriage vows have a celebrity escape clause. If my hub can get Sarah Michelle Gellar into the sack for a bit of the old in-n-out, why should I deprive him of that? Likewise, if I can make a little money off the E network for my memoirs of how I broke up Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, he'd learn to understand someday. 'Prolly won't happen anyhow... and if it does, I'll end up home eventually.
State Rep. Patrick among panelists for discussion of Peace Corps
03/03/06 · 1:30 pm
posted by Jack Coleman
in Politicalendar (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
State Rep. Matt Patrick (Related) Matt Patrick , D-Falmouth, takes part in a panel discussion with other veterans of the Peace Corps on Monday, March 6, at Cape Cod Community College, the start of Peace Corps Week at the college.
Patrick taught masonry at a vocational school in Ghana (Related) from 1977 to 1979 while in the Peace Corps.
The discussion, open to the public and free of charge, will be held at noon in lecture hall C in the science building. The college is on Route 132 in West Barnstable, just north of Exit 6 off Route 6.
Alliance's new view of Nantucket Sound: this pristine jewel of a highway off our shores
03/03/06 · 11:11 am
posted by CCToday
in Renewable Energy Revolution (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
As posted this morning at wind farmer's almanac (Related) (yes, this is satire)
INTERNAL MEMO: Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound
g>
FROM : top management
TO : board members, lobbyists
SUBJECT : Talking points for Young amendment, aka "our baby"
LEVEL OF SENSITIVITY : extreme; shred after reading
Instead, hammer away with entirely different image, as stated by Ernie Corrigan on NECN (Related) - "why would you put a telephone pole in the middle of a highway?" (epic spin, Ernie, a thing of beauty !)
Given unexpected fierce opposition to our well-funded, backroom machinations in Congress, it is imperative that we harp away on this theme - Nantucket Sound a fragile ecosystem? Hardly - it is a freeway at rush hour - 5.5 million ferry passengers passing through annually - 400,000 air travelers "over this airspace" (we're iffy on the boundaries, but let reporters and bloggers chase such trivia), cigarette boat races, booze cruises, planes colliding, ships crashing, giant acorns falling from sky - 'nuff said, you get the idea.
Also worth mentioning - Otis air base an emergency landing site for space shuttle; Cape Wind spells doom for our brave astronauts.
Last point - when citing maritime accidents in Nantucket Sound, stay on message and don't mention that vast majority caused by human error.
A Great Lady Passes
03/02/06 · 4:26 pm
posted by WB
in Letters to the Editor (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
When I moved to Cape cod in 1981, I didn’t know a soul. But, I had been active in the Worcester County Women’s Republican Club, and my friends there told me, “You just have to look up Jeanette Bowes”.
Back then Jerry and Jeanette Bowes actually lived in the Sheriff’s Mansion at the County Complex, and I felt a little nervous going into the rather grand front rooms. Jeanette came out to meet me and said, “Come with me to where Jerry and I sit”.
Off to one side was a little kitchen, with a red and white Formica table and chairs, exactly what you would see in any working class kitchen in those days. “This is where Jerry and I feel at home”, she said.
Naturally, a new Republican volunteer at loose ends was not allowed to wander for long. I first met Dave Neal in that kitchen, when we both worked for Jack Conway’s Congressional campaign. Through that race, through the Shamie senate race, Jeanette always went out of her way to introduce me to people, and to be sure I made new friends.
It’s not an exaggeration t say that I am a State Committee woman today due to her kindness, generosity, and energy. I’m sure many have their own Jeanette stories, and we’ll hear many of them in the days to come, but I still see her and Jerry in that little kitchen, and remember what good, kind people they both were.
She will be sincerely missed by all of those who love her.
Cynthia E. Stead
Republican State Committee
$5,000 awarded to Big Brothers Big Sisters
03/02/06 · 3:20 pm
posted by BigBrotherBigSister
in Big Brother Big Sister (Related)
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CIBC World Markets Corp. (Related) CIBC World Markets Corp. has generously awarded $5,000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cape Cod & the Islands. The money will help fund our agency's general operating costs.
The gift was made through CIBC's Miracle Day Program (Related) CIBC's Miracle Day Program , which seeks to build awareness of children's issues, encourage volunteerism and foster community involvement among members of the financial and business community.
On the first Wednesday of every December (the 7th in 2005), CIBC World Markets donates an amount equal to 95% of all net trade-generated fees and commissions to support children in special or difficult living situations.
To read more about CIBC World Markets and Miralce Day, click on the links above.
We greatly appreciate the support and financial help given by CIBC. Currently, we have over 300 children living on Cape Cod who are waiting to be matched--this financial gift will allow us to boost recruitment and staffing efforts. We're now a little closer to erasing that waiting list.
Pilgrim Nuclear hearing next Wednesday
03/02/06 · 11:32 am
posted by Wedge
in Pilgrim (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
On March 8 at 7 PM in the Memorial Hall in Plymouth the NRC will hear the concerns of the people that live in the towns surrounding the Pilgrim Nuclear Plant in Plymouth.
All of Cape Cod is DOWNWIND of this nuclear dumpsite.
Entergy, the owner of the nuclear power plant, wants to run the plant for another 20 years, producing another 600 tons of high-level nuclear waste.
Anyone living within a hundred miles of Plymouth should be concerned about this nuclear dumpsite. Pilgrim has one of the most vulnerable high-level waste storage pools in the industry. Not only is the pool poorly designed but this pool would never be allowed to be built today. This pool of water is now stuffed with 900 tons of high-level waste. This waste was supposed to be shipped off to a permanent disposal site but nobody wants it.
Not only do we have to live with the waste but we also have the vent stack that spews nuclear particles into the air 24/7. This airborne nuclear waste travels wherever the wind direction that day takes it. As anyone that lives near the N.E. coast knows, the wind can change a dozen times a day.
This would make any decisions on how to evacuate very difficult. Our government spends tons of money and endless hours on evacuation planning. The latest thinking is that evacuation would never work, especially on the Cape where people would be trapped in traffic for hours.
The new plan is to shelter in place. What exactly should people have stored for such an event? How long would we have to stay hold up in our houses or wherever we get trapped when and if such an event occurred? Where do we shelter? Do we need to be in the basement? What about nursing homes, hospitals, and schools?
Think what would happen if you were at home or work and your kids were at school. Many questions need to be answered before this nuclear plant is allowed to run for another 20 years. The people on the Cape have just as much at stake as do the people in Plymouth and maybe more. Please show up and voice your concerns.
Check out these websites, plymouthmass.org (Related) and pilgrimwatch.or (Related) g (Related) for more information.
...just Christy being Christy
03/02/06 · 11:25 am
posted by Democrant
in Massachusetts Democrant (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
That's the way departing deputy campaign manager Ron Vining describes as he and 4 other campaign staffers quit the Mihos campaign, more info available from today's Herald. (Related) All the departed staffers are urging support for Kerry Healey. The Herald seems to take some delight in poking at Mihos, having published an article from Mihos' sister (Related) disputing her brother's claim that he was never handed anything.
Mihos will be anything but dull in this race. At a joint appearance of all 4 candidates yesterday, Mihos' remarks bore some similarity to the proverbial turd in the punch bowl, based on reactions from the group (Related) .
Senator Brown on Cape tomorrow, his daughter on "American Idol" tonight
03/02/06 · 8:11 am
posted by Jack Coleman
in Politicalendar (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
State Senator Scott Brown of Wrentham, looking more likely as a running mate to Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey , speaks before members of the Lower Cape Cod Women's Republican Club at a luncheon tomorrow (Friday) at 11:30 a.m. at the Yarmouth House restaurant in Yarmouth, Route 28.
Brown, meanwhile, is a bit distracted these days from his possible role in the gubernatorial campaign - his 17-year-old daughter Ayla is among the finalists facing possible elimination in tonight's "American Idol" on Fox TV.
Ayla's mom, Brown's wife, is WCVB TV reporter Gail Huff .
Bush reacts to mining deaths - Reduces safety regs
03/02/06 · 7:41 am
posted by WB
in Renewable Energy Revolution (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
In another example of "the best government money can buy",
the Bush Administraion today annonced the LOWERING of fines for U.S. mining company flaws
See the New Tork Times story below:
U.S. Is Reducing Safety Penalties for Mine Flaws
By IAN URBINA and ANDREW W. LEHREN, New York Times
CRAIGSVILLE, W.Va. — In its drive to foster a more cooperative relationship with mining companies, the Bush administration has decreased major fines for safety violations since 2001, and in nearly half the cases, it has not collected the fines, according to a data analysis by The New York Times.
Federal records also show that in the last two years the federal mine safety agency has failed to hand over any delinquent cases to the Treasury Department for further collection efforts, as is supposed to occur after 180 days.
With the deaths of 24 miners in accidents in 2006, the enforcement record of the Mine Safety and Health Administration has come under sharp scrutiny, and the agency is likely to face tough questions about its performance at a Senate oversight hearing on Thursday.
"The Bush administration ushered in this desire to develop cooperative ties between regulators and the mining industry," said Tony Oppegard, a top official at the agency in the Clinton administration. "Safety has certainly suffered as a result."
A spokesman for the agency, Dirk Fillpot, defended its record, pointing out that last year the coal industry had 22 fatalities, the lowest number in its history.
"Safety is definitely improving," Mr. Fillpot said.
A spokeswoman for the National Mining Association, Carol Raulston, agreed.
"The agency realized in recent years that you can't browbeat operators into improved safety, and this general approach has worked," Ms. Raulston said. "The tragic events of this year have given everyone pause. But I don't think it means we want to abandon what we have found works."
Federal records show that fatalities across all types of mining have stayed relatively stable. In each of the last three years, 55 to 57 miners have died in all areas of mining. Experts say a long-term decline in coal mine fatalities is in part a result of growing mechanization.
Mr. Fillpot also said delinquent cases had not moved to the Treasury Department since 2003 because of computer problems. He could not say when the problems would be corrected. "Referrals from M.S.H.A. to the Treasury Department have been impacted by technical issues on both ends, which we are working to resolve while maintaining an aggressive record on enforcement and collections," he said.
Although the agency has recently trumpeted Congressional plans to raise the maximum penalties, federal records indicate that few major fines are issued at the maximum level. In 2004, the number of major fines issued at maximum level was one in 10, down from one in 5 in 2003.
Since 2001, the median for penalties that exceed $10,000, described as "major fines," has dropped 13 percent, to $21,800 from $25,000.
Also troubling, critics say, is that fines are regularly reduced in negotiations between mine operators and the agency. From 2001 to 2003, more than two-thirds of all major fines were cut from the original amount that the agency proposed. Most of the more recent cases are enmeshed in appeals, so it is impossible to know whether that trend has continued.
"The agency keeps talking about issuing more fines, but it doesn't matter much," said Bruce Dial, a former inspector for the mine safety agency. "The number of citations means nothing when the citations are small, negotiable and most often uncollected."
Before the January disaster at the Sago Mine near here, where 12 miners died, the operator had been cited 273 times since 2004. None of the fines exceeded $460, roughly one-thousandth of 1 percent of the $110 million net profit reported last year by the current owner of the mine, the International Coal Group... Read the rest here (Related) , and comment below.
Deval Patrick Keep$ Rolling, Tom Reilly Keeps ducking
03/01/06 · 7:20 pm
posted by Democrant
in Massachusetts Democrant (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Momentum continues with the Patrick campaign as the fundraising figures for February shows Patrick once again outraising Tom Reilly, $314K to $247K.
Reilly continues to run a campaign that does not acknowledge Patrick, a strategy that has resulted in embarassing losses at the state caucuses in February.
Today, Eileen McNamara of the Globe (Related) (on right) takes Reilly to task for refusing to accept any of the numerous debate offers that Patrick has signed on for.
Tom Reilly is a very decent guy by all accounts. He simply does not show any particular compelling reason why he wants to lead this state.
He has not only failed to respond in the wake of recent campaign faux pas, but not shown any ability to move past the idea that he is running at anything more than an heir apparent at the state level. He's been lapped by Patrick and has caused disappointed almost running mate Chris Gabrieli to dabble in the race. My guess is that Patrick delegates are pretty solid in his corner. If I was a Reilly delegate, how would I be feeling? If I was an ex-officio delegate, who might be inclined towards Reilly, how does that look?
RIP - Don Knotts
03/01/06 · 11:00 am
posted by Jack Coleman
in Media Watch (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
How many other people must have groaned with sadness when they read the obituary pages over the last few days.
The names of the departed probably didn't resonate with many people under 40, but there was a time when Don Knotts , Darren MacGavin and Dennis Weaver were as popular as that raconteur uncle you couldn't wait to see during the holidays.
Of the three, Don Knotts probably cast the longest shadow by creating one of television's most indelible characters -- Barney Fife , the bug-eyed, bungling deputy sheriff from "The Andy Griffith Show."
"Andy Griffith" did something only two other shows in the half-century history of television ever accomplished - it finished its last season at number one in the ratings (can you guess the other two? Answer at the end of the post). Would it have done this without Knotts? Not likely. Barney Fife wasn't just a television character - he became part of the lexicon.
Considering that the show ran from 1960 to 1968, a timeframe when the country was rendered almost unrecognizable by upheaval, the feat is even more remarkable. But for all its virtues, starting with the inimitable whistle of a theme that began each show, "Andy Griffith" suffered a terrible flaw. It was set in the Deep South town of Mayberry, at the height of the civil rights era, yet people of color were rarely seen.
It wasn't until " All in the Family " came along in 1971 that television began reflecting the chaotic, contentious reality of American life beyond the confines of news coverage. Wasn't it just as odd, for example, for Rob and Laurie Petrie of "The Dick Van Dyke Show" to sleep in separate beds, or for " Gomer Pyle , USMC" to go its entire six-year run during the 1960s without the word "Vietnam" making it into a script?
Knotts also appeared in several films, most memorably as a dweebish introvert converted into a fish who battles German U-boats in the semi-animated "The Amazing Mr. Limpett" (is it my imagination or was that movie shown an awful lot during the pre-cable era?). He returned to television a decade after "Andy Griffith" to replace Norman Fell on "Three's Company," but by then I'd lost interest in the show.
What a pleasant surprise it was to see Knotts appear briefly in the movie "Pleasantville" several years ago, the last time most of us would see him.
(The only other shows to finish at #1? "I Love Lucy" and "Seinfeld")
X MARKS THE SPOT!
03/01/06 · 10:51 am
posted by CCMM
in Cape Cod Maritime Museum (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Make a date to hear all about "SUNKEN TREASURES OF CAPE COD" on March 22nd at 7.00 pm here at the Cape Cod Maritime Museum (Related) .
If you caught our last blog, you'll already know that we are hosting a evening with the Cape's - nay, the WORLD'S - leading piratologist, Ken Kinkor . Ken has worked at the Whydah Museum (Related) in Provincetown for many years, and is without a doubt the most knowledgable maritime historian that you'll ever have the pleasure to meet.
If you haven't attended one of Ken's talks before, you really shouldn't miss this opportunity. He spins the most gripping true tales of shipwrecks and rapscallions you'll ever hear! DON'T MISS IT!
Admission (which includes light refreshments) is $5, or a mere $4 for CCMM members. Contact us soon to reserve your seat - we're filling up fast! Phone (508) 775 1723 or email Cathrine directly at lchmacort@yahoo.com (Related) . See you there!
Kennedy enlisted aid from Young to stop Cape Wind
03/01/06 · 7:51 am
posted by WB
in Cape Politics (Related)
[ Permalink (Related) ]
Recruited the help of Rep. Don Young of Alaska, a conservative Republican and foe of environmentalists who received a zero ranking from the Conservation Voters league last year.
By Audrey Hudson, THE WASHINGTON TIMES , March 2, 2006
A fight to block alternative fuel development that could replace oil-burning power plants for communities along the Nantucket Sound has created an unusual alliance on Capitol Hill, with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy backing the fight against the green proposal.
Mr. Kennedy, a staunch environmentalist, opposes the Cape Wind project, which will place windmills in the sound's shallows to create electricity for customers in Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.
Critics say the Massachusetts Democrat doesn't want the Cape Wind project in his own back yard along with 130 windmills that might clutter the water view of the Kennedy clan's vacation home. Sen. John Kerry, Massachusetts' junior senator and another key green ally, called attempts to derail the project an "insult."
Opponents of the project say it should not go forward until federal guidelines are established and it has undergone a competitive bidding process.
"Senator Kennedy has real environmental and economic concerns, and the federal government continues to lack a national policy and process to guide offshore alternative energy development," said Melissa Wagoner, Mr. Kennedy's spokeswoman.
Kennedy 95, Young O - League of Conservation Voters
Mr. Kennedy, who has a 95 percent vote rating from the League of Conservation Voters, has recruited the help of Rep. Don Young of Alaska -- a conservative Republican and foe of environmentalists who received a zero ranking from the league last year.
Mr. Young, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is lobbying members of a House-Senate conference on the Coast Guard supplemental appropriations bill.
He wants them to add his proposal to require windmills to be set back 1.5 nautical miles from any shipping or ferry lanes. Such a buffer requirement would make the Cape Wind project impossible in such a narrow sound.
" Given the potential dangers of siting one of these wind farms in a busy shipping area, [Mr. Kennedy] thinks it is worth the conferees' consideration ," Miss Wagoner, Mr. Kennedy's spokeswoman, said.
However, developers of the Cape Wind project say the legislation is specifically directed at them, would cripple the project economically and is a classic case of the "not in my back yard" (NIMBY) attitude toward developments that serve the common good.
"The NIMBY opponents have spent more than $1 million lobbying in D.C.," says Mark Rodgers, Cape Wind project spokesman. "The Young amendment will kill Cape Wind in one fell swoop, which appears to be the intention.
"It would also impose on the U.S. the most stringent laws in the world on offshore wind energy development," said Mr. Rodgers, who noted that oil drilling rigs are only required to be 500 feet from shipping lanes.
Mr. Young's spokesman declined to comment on the legislation.
However, in a letter to the conferees, Mr. Young specifically refers to the Cape Wind project, which he says encompasses 24 square miles with windmills reaching 417 feet, and is "located in water deep enough that ships can enter into the area and do so regularly."
"I know others oppose the project entirely on a wide variety of economic, environmental, and tourism standards," Mr. Young's letter stated.
"I am not necessarily opposed to the project, but I am convinced we need a set of objective navigational safety standards that will assure that wind energy projects are properly sited with regard to navigational safety and national security," Mr. Young wrote.
Massachusetts declared Nantucket Sound an ocean sanctuary in the 1970s, thus banning disturbance of nearly the entire seabed as well as the view.
Mark Forest , chief of staff for Rep. Bill Delahunt, Massachusetts Democrat who represents the Nantucket area, called it "a very contentious battle."
"We have a need for energy, but there is a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it -- this is the wrong way," Mr. Forest said.
Mr. Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, has issued a statement opposing Mr. Young's legislative move.
"The Young amendment is an insult to Americans who care about good government. I oppose this backdoor amendment to the Coast Guard Authorization bill, which -- if passed -- will derail offshore wind projects across the nation," he said.
Mr. Rodgers said the use of wind power would reduce air pollution from the oil-fired Canal Power plant and ease the demand for electricity throughout New England, which faces the threat of rolling blackouts during cold winter days.
Asked about Mr. Kennedy's opposition to the plan, Mr. Rodgers said, "To say you favor wind power, but not here, where you live in a very windy place, calls into question your real commitment to wind power."
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