DisGushting

Peeps...
A special thanks goes out to the sweet baby Jesus that the inaugural is over.
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If any more of those ABC Liberally-Biased talking heads gush any more..... I think that I may have to hit the Emergency room for some Obamacare after a serious Gush and Fawn Overdose.
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Her Bangs.... "Stunning!!!"    Her Red Dress...."Spectacular"!!!!!!
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As Diane Sawyer said this morning... and I quote..."Fawn, Fawn, Gushy Gush Gush, Fawn".  To which George Democratontopofus responded, "Yes Diane, but I also thought that Gush, big fat Liberally Biased Gushy Gush, Fawn, Gush Gush."
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This is telejournalism at its hard hitting finest, Peeps.
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I always thought that I was as tough as the next guy... but the next Gush I hear could very well be the tipping point.
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At least the Prez pounded out a come together, feel good speech that made you proud to be an American.   Something for everyone... as long as you were a card carrying Liberal and don't mind Bankrupting the country for future generations to deal with... but we have to change the climate.... for the children.
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Too late.... Heading for the closest sink to Hurl.

Patriots Lost - No Superbowl this Year

At Least the Nestor Brothers salvaged some PR out of it.

Back in Control

Peeps -
I have neglected the posts yet again.
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Part of my regime of efficiency at Nanepashemtet Telecom has caused this pathetic compendium of irrationality to suffer as of late.
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I promise that I will re-dedicate.
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There certainly has been enough stuff for commentary...... Lance Armstrong, Imaginary Girlfriends, Pats v. Ravens, Gun Control....
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I guess I could cover these.
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Lance?  Who Gives a Shit.   Ride your two wheeler high as a kite as far as I care.

Imaginary Girlfriends?  The ND Linebacker might be a good football player, but he's still a 22 year old whack job, as we all were at that age.   So... again, my considered ruling on this matter is ... Who Gives a Shit?
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Pats v. Ravens?   Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are a legends in our midst.   They will not let the Super Bowl path end this Sunday.
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Gun Control?   The politicians who have ignored the established and documented fact that where the citizenry have access to guns for personal protection, the crime rate is low.... and have used the murder of children to fan their irresponsible position... are despicable.  And this list is headed by Obama, Patrick, Warren and Menino.
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I have a permit for concealed carry in a number of states.   The process to obtain this is regulated and fairly rigorous in Massachusetts.   First you have to go to a day long gun safety course, when you learn of the extensive regulations in keeping your firearm in a secure locked case when it is not on your person.    Then you have to be interviewed by the Police in your home locality.   Your fingerprints are recorded digitally and logged into the State Police Database.  Then the police do a thorough criminal background check on you.... and question everything in your record.   Only then, after a two month wait,  are you issued your Class A License to Carry a Concealed Firearm Permit.
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Then you go to the gun store.  The first thing that the clerk does is ask if you have a permit and if he can see it.   He takes it and puts it on the back counter while you are in the store.  If you decide to purchase a firearm, the clerk makes you fill out an application, then checks your fingerprint against the imprint that is on your license.   Then he accesses the FBI database to perform a background check.  If this checks out,  the clerk completes the transaction, you get your permit back,  and you walk out of the store with a firearm that is "Massachusetts Compliant".   That means that the magazine that you use in your gun cannot contain more than nine rounds and cannot be fired automatically like a machine gun.  This is not even close to an assault rifle that our military uses.
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By the way.... do you think I'm complaining????  No Freaking Way.
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I believe that the Massachusetts law, fairly exercised, is highly appropriate, and I am glad to comply.  If I can't defend myself or others with nine rounds from my semi-automatic pistol, then I guess my time is up, and I can accept that.
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But a 13 year old kid was shot in the stomach going to choir practice in Roxbury last week.  And the mental case who shot the kids in Newtown, was carrying firearms legally owned by his mother, but illegally secured.
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So criminals and mental cases are going to use guns.   But statistically, the use of these weapons hardly ever occurs where the Perp has knowlege that someone else in the venue may be armed.
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So call me any name you want, but to me, the facts emphatically say that an armed, responsible citizenry, with the ability for effective personal defense, is the best deterrent to crime.
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It wasn't too long ago, on this very Blog right after the Virginia Tech massacre, when your MOAM came out for a total ban of guns, saying that the 2nd Amendment was obsolete.   A multitude of Peeps assailed me on this, which normally wouldn't see me retracting,  Yet I felt a need to check into the regulations, and research the facts on gun control, which really opened my eyes and brought me to my present assertion.
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Gun Control is a complex issue, where knee jerk reactions don't apply.   I just saw the pathetic Warren and her mumbling Buddy, Mayor Menino, saying we have to protect the Children.  
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Yes we do, Liz.  We have to responsibly protect them.

Meterological Explanation

Peeps....
For the last two winters, snow has been negligible here around Boston.   Really no accumulation, unlike the year previous when we were constantly buried.
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I would like to personally take credit for this situation.
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Two years ago, in the midst of heavy snowfall, I shelled out significant dollars to buy a heavy duty snowblower, after years of holding out and waiting for Tommy O to save the day with his.
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Naturally, since I bought that unit, snow has ceased to fall.
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So the Universe is calling me out.   But at least Boston benefits.
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Maybe Global Warming has been caused by all of the Snowblowers that have been sold in the 21st century.  It's a scientific fact that the Eark has gotten warmer with the current proliferation of Snowblowers.
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Al Gore should check it out, but he's probably too busy counting his Al Jheezera Score.

Neat Streak

I've been on a neatness streak lately.
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A place for everything, and everything in its place.
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Those who have known me over time, know that this is never a permanent situation.   I've had sloppy streaks that have lasted for years.
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When I was the Lynn Housing Authority Director, I would never leave unless every file was in place.  And when I had an office in Cambridge, the level of organization was at an all time high.
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But at other times... not so much.
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When I'm in a neat streak, nothing can be out of place.   Neurotically.   A completely clean desk and not a paper in sight.  Historically, when this happens, I have been at the top of my game.   And it's true that I'm feeling that way lately, too.
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We'll see how long this lasts.

A True Hero's Passing

Thanks to former POTY Kerry D'Orio for posting this in Facebook...  As you know, I can never disclose why someone is chosen as a Peep of the Week, but in this case, you have a great clue.

Kerry Russell D'Orio shared Steve Kapner's photo.

• 

  "Shifty" By Chuck Yeager
  
  Shifty volunteered for the airborne in WWII and served with Easy
   Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st
  
   Airborne Infantry. If you've seen Band of Brothers on HBO or the
  
  History Channel, you know Shifty. His character appears in all 10
  
  episodes, and Shifty himself is interviewed in several of them.
  
  I met Shifty in the Philadelphia airport several years ago. I didn't
  
  know who he was at the time. I just saw an elderly gentleman having
  
  trouble reading his ticket. I offered to help, assured him that he was
  
  at the right gate, and noticed the "Screaming Eagle," the symbol of
  
  the 101st Airborne, on his hat.
  
  Making conversation, I asked him if he'd been in the 101st Airborne
  
  or if his son was serving. He said quietly that he had been in the
  
  101st. I thanked him for his service, then asked him when he served,
  
  and how many jumps he made.
  
  Quietly and humbly, he said "Well, I guess I signed up in 1941 or so,
  
  and was in until sometime in 1945 ..." at which point my heart
  
  skipped.
  
  At that point, again, very humbly, he said "I made the 5 training
  
  jumps at Toccoa, and then jumped into Normandy . . . do you know
  
  where Normandy is?" At this point my heart stopped.
  
  I told him "yes, I know exactly where Normandy is, and I know what
  
  D-Day was." At that point he said "I also made a second jump into
  
  Holland , into Arnhem ." I was standing with a genuine war hero ...
  
  and then I realized that it was June, just after the anniversary of
  
  D-Day.
  
  I asked Shifty if he was on his way back from France , and he said
  
  "Yes... And it 's real sad because, these days, so few of the guys are
  
  left, and those that are, lots of them can't make the trip."
  
  My heart was in my throat and I didn't know what to say.
  
  I helped Shifty get onto the plane and then realized he was back in
  
  coach while I was in First Class. I sent the flight attendant back to
  
  get him and said that I wanted to switch seats. When Shifty came
  
  forward, I got up out of the seat and told him I wanted him to have
  
  it, that I'd take his in coach.
  
  He said "No, son, you enjoy that seat. Just knowing that there are
  
  still some who remember what we did and who still care is enough to
  
  make an old man very happy." His eyes were filling up as he said it.
  
  And mine are brimming up now as I write this.
  
  Shifty died on Jan. l7 after fighting cancer.
  
  There was no parade.
  
  No big event in Staples Center .
  
  No wall-to-wall, back-to-back 24x7 news coverage.
  
  No weeping fans on television.
  
  And that's not right!
  
  Let's give Shifty his own memorial service, on line, in our own quiet way.
  
  Please repost to everyone you know. Especially to the veterans.
  
  Rest in peace, Shifty.
  
  Chuck Yeager, Maj. General [ret.]
  
  P.S. I think that it is amazing how the "media" chooses our "heroes" these days...
  
  Elvis, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston & the like.

Flu Shot

There is a lot of hype going around about the flu bug this year.  Joanne is on my back to get a flu shot, but I haven't had the flu for twenty years or so.  Course I was hospitalized with it in my early twenties, so I know how bad it can get.   Back then, I went on intraveinous feeding in Union Hospital for a week, lost a ton of weight and was really weak.
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So Peeps, I really should get a shot and so should you.
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But we are fortunate that we don't have the diseases of our ancestors.   Our great Sachem Nanepashemet had 3000 warriors in his band in 1616.  By 1619, he had 300 due to the smallpox that was introduced to the Indians by European fishermen landing in New England.
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It was this epidemic that opened up the Indian lands allowing for the Great English Puritan Migration of the 1620's and 30's.
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Smallpox was a scourge in Colonial America as well and would arise every few years to the great panic and despair of the townspeople.  In Marblehead, they would seal off the roads, not let anyone come and go, and send the sick off to a hospital on Cat Island, a 1/2 mile off shore.  But the disease still would sweep though taking a percentage of the population.
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Must have been a terrifying period.   And the psyche of this lives on as we take precautions against the flu strains that exist today.

TommyO8:55 AM

I too will never get a flu shot.
Back in 1994 I got the flu. The virus teamed up with the antibodies in my system and ate away at my spinal column rendering me paralyzed from the neck down. The disease is known as Gulliane Barre Syndrom. This thing kicked my but and it took six months for me to get back on my feet. The Flu shot is a direct injection of the virus into your system. When diagnosed the doc asked me if I had a flu shot recently. Although the answer was no and I simply had the flu, the chances are increased to get this dreaded disease if you get a flu shot. It is a one in 2-3 million shot this could happen to you. I will take my chances and purchase hand sanitizer and stay away from anyone with flu like symptoms. Go Pats.

Massachusetts Puffin Sighting

Ryan saw a Puffin yesterday floating in Marblehead Harbor.

I think it's rare to see these cold water ocean birds this south. 
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Doesn't this little guy know about Global Warming?
Must be a Republican.

Boat Lure

IF you can look at this , and not have an overwhelming urge to build a double ended rowing boat, you have far more will power than I do.

 

Henry the Cat

A lot of you have been asking how Henry, our new 1 year old cat that we bought from the Salem Shelter, is doing.
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At first, the feline was acting skittish and hid under the bed whenever you came in... that was two weeks ago.
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Now, I am presently experiencing the rare instance when Henry is not laying across my arms, preventing me from typing on this laptop.
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Joanne and I have had cats most of our married lives, but this one is crazy affectionate.  Really in your face, notice me, purrball affectionate.
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Naturally, Joanne is a little put out that Henry prefers sitting on my lap, but to a cool cat like Henry, a MOAM lap is hard to resist.

Doug said...
Creepy... on Henry the Cat

Matinicus Double Ender

At right is Christine Coombs' painting of her family's  Matinicus Double Ender, Freedom which was refurbished by Duck Trap Woodworking of Lincolnville Beach, Maine.
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These boats were originally designed and used for lobstering off of Matinicus Island.  It's said that they were inspired by the canoes used by the Passamaquoddy Indians in Maine. 
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The Passamaquoddy's were warlike and used to paddle down the coast all the way to Massachusetts to attack the peaceful and agricultural Pawtuckets and Naumkeags.
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There is a nice Matinicus moored near Brown's Island in Marblehead Little Harbor.
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I bought a set of plans to build a 12 footer a few years ago, and just pulled them out again.

Speaker Thomas McGee of Lynn

Tom McGee, former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, passed away this week from Alzheimer's Disease. He was 88 years old.

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McGee from Lynn was a tough, cigar chomping,  ex-Marine and was an old style politician who believed in helping people.   He was completely unpretentious and didn't tolerate fools or phonies.
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During his heyday in Massachusetts, the Governor's Office was held by Michael Dukakis, who was a well spoken academic liberal, adored by the Boston Globe.  McGee wasn't.   He and Senate President Billy Bulger were held in contempt by the Globe which held a great deal of sway in that pre-Internet era. 
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The Globe had no use for straight talking, no bullshit political operatives that they couldn't intellectually control in those days, and that is precisely what McGee was.
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When I had the ambition to become the Executive Director of the Lynn Housing Authority, I had a strange intuition to call the Speaker's Office and ask to talk to McGee.  I was 28 years old at the time, but remember precisely where I was as I miraculously picked up the phone and dialed his number without even checking the telephone book.   The number just appeared in my head, and I dialed it, even though I never had called him before.   That is a true story and even I have always been significantly weirded out by it.
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McGee got right on the line, and I blurted out to him that I was interested in the job and would appreciate if he could give me his support.   He said he'd get back to me, and that was it.   Less than a minute on the phone.    
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Two weeks later, I was the Lynn Housing Authority Executive Director.   I was young, naive and not a little bit stupid, but aggressively worked that job until I ran afoul of the state regulatory bureaucracy when I asked them to restore local control to the Authority.  They were hell bent on having the state community affairs office run the Lynn Housing Authority
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In a showdown meeting in Speaker McGee's office, complete local control was restored after I demonstrated the physical and financial improvements that had been made in my first year there.
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Throughout my three year tenure at the Housing Authority, I was accused of shilling for McGee for units and jobs, but he never put the arm on me to do any of that political stuff..... except once, when I laid off a painter who was his AA sponsor.  I didn't even know of the guy's relationship with McGee when the layoffs went down. McGee got me on the line and ripped me a new one for 30 seconds, then slammed the phone down.   So.... against the union rules and state regulations, I promptly put the painter back on the payroll.   Never a peep from anyone.... not the state bureaucrats, the union stewards..... nobody.
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McGee was really proud of being the Speaker and loved to show you his office at the State House.   Grand ceilings and ornate wood paneling.   He served longer than any person in that highly volatile position and was crucial in helping the State maintain fiscal solvency when the Dukakis Massachusetts Miracle hit the skids.
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I attended a Mayor's meeting once with a Dukakis transportation bureaucrat named Fred Salvucci, who was pining away on state process and policy when McGee finally had enough, slammed his fist on the conference table in the Lynn Mayor's office and yelled, " You tell your fucking boss the Governor, that Lynn gets this funding and I've got the fucking votes."   The Dukakis intellectual was stunned and the meeting was abruptly concluded.
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Peter DeVeau and I sat in the back of the room, glanced at each other and suppressed even a smirk at this awesome shutdown by McGee, who so inelegantly stated what we we both thinking.
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McGee was upended in the House by George Keverian of Everett who put together a coup and got the Speakership votes.   He still had a year or so to go on his State Representative term but he had to move out of the posh Speaker's Office and took a desk in the State House basement amid the exposed pipes with other freshman reps.
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Harvey Rowe and I went to visit him down there, and I felt really bad to see him in those surroundings that were obviously meant to embarrass him, but he was his genuine self and was pleased that we had taken the time to look him up.
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A while ago, I ran into Bob Fennell, State Rep from Lynn who told me that the job isn't like it used to be.  "You really can't do anything for anybody," Bob said, lamenting a time when guys like McGee would cut through the red tape and make the system work.
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I always felt that I made a contribution in Lynn... at the Lynn Housing Authority, when I got grants to rehab all of the units, eliminated the graft and corruption from the budget and spending,  and brought fairness back into the process of getting a public housing unit.    After three years, that agency had been turned around, was being touted as a model for the State,  and I entered entrepreneurial business, which is a whole other story.
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Maybe I wouldn't have had the opportunity to get that job without asking for Speaker McGee's sponsorship.   He didn't know me at the time.  I was the Deputy Director at the Lynn Community Development Department and had never even shaken his hand.   But I asked for his help and he gave it.
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And it makes you wonder how many other people in his wide sphere of influence around Lynn and Massachusetts are thanking him in their prayers for the opportunities that he tilted for them as well.
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Thank you for helping me Mr. Speaker.
They don't make them like you anymore.  
RIP.