Ethan Bowling

Kennedy Legacy

Who would have figured that in only one or two generations, this family of American royalty would father such self-indulgent, mis-guided. and frankly embarrassing offspring?
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Irish Catholic American working  class Democratic families like my own were so proud and hopeful for the Kennedy's.

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Jack Kennedy, a legitimate WWII hero, would have been labeled a conservative today, and his brother Bobby had extraordinary courage and conviction.  They protected the nation from a real Russian threat, and steered the nation away from the cancer of racism.

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We are forever in their debt.

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But, Ted got caught in the downstream backwash and can never be forgiven for what he did in Martha's Vineyard.  At the time, the whole nation was in denial that this unbelievable death occurred at Chappaquidick Island.   I remember just wishing that it didn't happen and hopeing that he was not to blame.   He was though....and, he should have been convicted of manslaughter.... The national sense of denial gave him a stay of that sentence.  Maybe he turned out to be a Senator of consensus as he grew older, but there are a lot of those around.  He was saved only because he was a Kennedy.

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It seems that John Jr. would have been the exception had he survived, but after that.... not so much.  Caroline's run for the Senate was a disaster as she demonstrated an inarticulate lack of passion and purpose. 

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Seems like a legacy of entitlement and self-absorption characterized by drugs, infidelity, and  a liberal epithet thrown out once in awhile to keep things stirred up has defined the rest of the clan.   Literally no one who is a thinking person could rationally be inspired by what has emerged from that gene pool.

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Caroline Kennedy recently has stated that the family is "at it's lowest point ever" as they scrap over the remains of Ted's estate.  Every family has it's phucked up issues.  Maybe it's unfair to have held the Kennedy's to a higher standard.

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But they gave us so much hope in the beginning.

Gun Control

The 2nd Amendment to the United States Constitution states.... "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
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In other words, you can't take away our Black Powder Flintlocks and Swords.... because that was exactly what the FF's were referring to.
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The right to bear arms was conceived by the Founding Fathers when a farmer in his field basically had the same weapons technology as a squadron of Redcoats marching down the road.     The ability of local militia to defend themselves and repel an armed invader was available then, but long gone now. Time to ban guns. Technology has outrun the good intentions of our Founding Fathers.
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There's too many innocent people being gunned down by mental cases who get their high powered killing machines legally.    I've been taking my chances with a baseball bat handy anyway... would rather get the bad guys on the run, rather than come at us with legal weapons.
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If we followed the intent of the Founding fathers, every farmer would be sporting assault rifles and anti-tank grenades.  This is crazy.  If we ban guns, only the bad guys will have guns.   So let's ban them, define the bad guys, and rout them out.
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 I've been wrestling with this one for awhile, because I hate to take away a right that we have, and wouldn't mind packing a Glock myself, but it's the conclusion that I have arrived at.
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For the hunters and shooting enthusiasts among you, I would make this suggestion... Black Powder Flintlocks and Bows and Arrows.   That is the technology embraced in your Constitutional Right, and this should not be banned.  
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I never heard of a mass murder with Flintlocks.
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The patriot below has her actions illustrated by WWII Japanese.  Today's technology would blow her away.

Call Me Maybe

My Grandkids sing this song.

Weddings and Baudy Comments

Tommy O and I mixed and poured 16 eighty lb. bags of concrete mix into 4 twelve inch Sonotubes reinforced with four 1/2" steel 4' rebar each this morning to form the foundation for the O'Shea pool deck.  Then we laid out the joist system and Tommy is ordering the lumber while the concrete cures.
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I was going to do some odds and ends at 32 Beverly Ave. afterward, but there is plenty of time for that, and I have to rest up for the evening festivities.  We will probably end up doing some Saturday night stuff with the Johnsons whose daughter, Amanda, also was a recent recipient of a positive marriage proposal.
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So there will be a lot of deck and wedding talk tonight, in between the baudy Buck behavior with it's concomitant chastising from the females.
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Looking forward to it.

Engaged

Brady Boyle asked for my daughter, Katelyn's, hand in marriage last night.
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She said yes.
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Congratulations and heartfelt best wishes to two tremendous human beings.
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Brady has been in our life for some time now as one of Mike's Best Buds from St. Michael's and we are thrilled, happy, and a bit relieved as well.
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Joanne has had a contented smile on her face all morning.
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Celebration will be held in the usual manner commonly known to you Nanepashemet Peeps.
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Welcome to the Nestor Family Inner Circle of Trust, Brady.  I'm sure you'll find it to be an enigmatic, weird and wonderful place as we do.

First Dark and Stormy

Nathaniel Clarke dropped by with his girlfriend, Katarina, tonight and we introduced the attractive, Croatian-Aussie-Brit to her first Dark and Stormy.  As she proceeds forward in her life, she will undoubtedly find that the first was indeed the best.
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Our boy, Nathaniel, is a very special Peep and it's aways a treat when he drops by from his world travels.  He is going to a rather ackward wedding in DC with Mike and Pam.
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It is the ackward situations that define the person that we are.   Nathaniel will do fine.

Losers, Pretenders, and Perverts

Peeps...
Now that this Blog has gone internationally viral, there are a ton of spam comments sent everyday. 
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Some of the stuff is autodeleted but that still leaves a lot of sicko, perverted comments that I have to wade through..... not a good use of time for a Mountain of a Man.
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Generally, I could care less how disgusting the spam comments are... I just don't want to accidentally publish them and violate the purity and sanctity of this pristine Nanepashemet forum.
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So if you still have the need to comment on the wisdom and solace that I exhume here daily.... you'll have to join this Blog.   Naturally, anyone of you who joins will have your comments published unaltered, and in the pathetic form that you sent them to me.
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For the most part, the Pervs and other Dementos are too cowardly to sign up and expose themselves, so this should take volume of Spam way down.
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That will weed out the Losers, Pretenders and Perverts and save me precious and  valuable hours..... which I will convert to more of the thoughtful, insightful, and critical posts which you have grown to depend upon in guiding your daily lives.
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Screening

Today, when I was riding into Boston for lunch with a couple of SuperPeeps, I saw Adam Sandler playing pickup basketball in Swampscott.  He had some pretty good moves for an older guy.   That's the extent of my involvement with the production of "Grownups 2".
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And speaking of screening.... I learned how to fix window and door screens really well today and replaced the mutilated screens at 32 Beverly Ave.  It's pretty simple, and I will take the mastery of this trade to even greater heights in the days to come.

Win-Win

The Plumbers finished the job at Beverly Ave. today and removed the rest of the debris.   I also gave them a dining room table for their efforts.  Looks like a win win deal all around which is the way I like to do business.

Scan' em and Chuck 'em

Peeps...
I've come to the realization that I hardly ever look at paper records.  It's just too much bother to open file cabinets and search for something that you filed 9 months ago if at all.
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And the Mail comes in every day and piles up on your desk.  If you don't process it, it becomes a project in and of itself.
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But for the past few weeks, I've been opening everything as soon as it comes, scanning the keeper stuff and throwing everything away. No paper files.  it is all electronically stored on my computer and backup memory sticks.
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 Nothing piles up, everything is processed immediately.  No envelopes sit ominously on my desk with me perilously avoiding opening them.
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It is the way to go Peeps.   I am a liberated Mountain of a Man.  If I need anything, I just do a search on my computer and the record is right in front of me without even bending over at the file cabinet.
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Plus, I don't fear any boogie men in the pile of unopened mail, because nothing is unopened.
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Now my goal is to go into the file cabinets and purge all of the paper records that I have accumulated over the years, but never look at.
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Scan' em and Chuck 'em

Nanepashemet Nod to the NCAA

The NCAA hammered Joe Paterno and the Penn State football program today because of the covering up and enabling of the child molester Sandusky.
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I feel bad for all of the innocent people caught up in this, football players who chose to play for Penn State because of a storied program history, but I applaud the NCAA for its aggressive and appropriate action.
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Did you see that.... Cardinal Bernard Law????  I give the NCAA a lot more credit than the Catholic Church, which saw fit to exile the good Cardinal to Rome rather than make him face the justice due for the victims of Law's policy.
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Imagine letting Sandusky use the Penn State facilities for years after knowing what a pervert he was.... and imagine Law transferring molester priests from parish to parish just to keep the lid on the despicable acts.... causing more and more needless victims.  Both Penn State Football and the Catholic Church cared more for their image that the welfare of helpless victims that could have been saved.
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The NCAA saw the criminal for who he was.... not only the molester, but also the enabler.  But the Pope wisked away the Boston Cardinal for the good of Holy Mother Church.
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Penn State Football is not more important than one young kid who is psychologically mauled for life, and neither is the Catholic Church.