Support for a Veteran

I never served in the military.

Came close when I was a Corporal in the Horse Calvary at Army ROTC at UMASS Amherst.

We were taught how to march, and spent a lot of classtime regarding military history, strategy and tactics.  The Army Captains also were talking up Vietnam.... what a beautiful country it was.... and how after the war it would be converted to a huge tropical resort.    It was propaganda pure and simple.

But by the beginning of my Junior year in 1973, the Vietnam War had ended, and I had a draft number that insured that I would not be drafted, so I turned in my uniform.

It just didn't seem necessary to continue, but there is a part of me that has always regretted the decision.

My Grandfather,Jeremiah Nestor, served in WWI in the trenches in France where he  was gassed by the Germans, and never really recovered.

My Father, John Nestor, served in the US Coast Guard during WWII, escorting shipping convoys across the North Atlantic.   He spent a year in the Hospital with Battle Fatique after being blown off of a ship and spending an inordinate time in the ocean.  He could never discuss the experience... would just choke up and I never prodded.

My Cousin, Atty. John N. Nestor served as B-17 Flying Fortress pilot and flew 125 missions over Europe in WWII  - five times the required amount.  It was a miracle that he beat the statistics and didn't die.

My Father in Law, Joe LeBlanc, was blown off of his jeep by a Chinese tank in  the Korean War and spent time as a Prisoner of War.

But, my Father was staunchly against the Vietnam War, and was afraid that I would have to serve.   He once said that he would shoot me in the foot if I was drafted, and I believed that he was not kidding about that.   At his insistence, I joined Army ROTC at UMASS because he felt that as a 2nd Lieutenant, I would have a better chance of survival.

There are a lot of stats regarding the mortality rate of 2nd Lieutenants in Vietnam... suffice it to say that I think that my Father's hypothesis was "dead" wrong.

Regardless... if I had remained in ROTC and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant at graduation, it would have been a couple of years of peacetime service.

Yet, I so admire those that have served.  Maybe it is in my blood from family veterans who served with distinction and made significant sacrifices  by their military experience.

 It is a central reason for my support of Seth Moulton in his bid to be elected Congressman of the Sixth Massachusetts District.   Even though I cringe at the Hard Line Democrats that are buzzing around him like flies on shit, I respect his four tours of duty in Iraq, and will support him based on that alone.

Tuna LipsSaid

I am with you there, boom master. I didn't cotton to them pickle-sniffing sorts.

U-S-A! U-S-A!

Talking Politics

Peeps....

I've been noticing lately that some of my Friends really are uncomfortable talking about politics.

I've never felt that way.   Maybe being a political science major in college, and always being interested in history and geography have given me a sense of security with the subject.

In my own situation, I was brought up in an Irish Catholic working class democratic household.   Everytime I would ask my father who he voted for, he would answer, "The Best Man."   My mother always reminded me that Democrats were for the working man, and Republicans were for the rich.

When I was in the sixth grade, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, which had a devastating effect on my family.   He was our first Irish Catholic President.   But the words that resonate with me to this day... "Ask NOT what your Country can do for you.  Ask what you can do for your country.".... told the Liberals of the day to stand for themselves and contribute.... not look for Government to take care of you.

The Vietnam War raged through my high school years, and ended during my sophomore year in college.... it made no sense to me.... trying to interfere with the affairs of that country under the pretense of stopping communism.   And the Civil Right movement was in full swing,  with the inherent injustice of institutionalized racism being challenged and dismantled.   President Nixon lied about burglarizing Democratic campaign records, and I was happy to see him resign his office.

I was a stanch Liberal in those days.  Liberals were for change, and I believed that change was right.   In fact, I could not understand how anyone could be a conservative.  We grew our hair long, our music was radicalized and we railed against "the Establishment".

I think we were right... and things started to change.

The environment was cleaned up with sweeping legislation and rules on the way business was conducted.

Affirmative Action changed the damages caused by years of racism and created opportunities for the advancement of minorities in education, business, and over quality of life.  It grabbed racism by the nose and forged situations that our culture would have taken decades to overcome.

Ronald Reagan stared down Communism and this oppressive Leftist system of large autocratic government  collapsed under its own ineptitude.

In my personal business, I found the freedom to sink or swim based upon my own competence and business acumen.  I demonstrated to myself that I could survive by my own wits and never looked to others to provide a safety net.

But slowly, Democrats started to piss me off....   Jimmy Carter was incompetent,  Bill Clinton diddled with an intern, while his wife Hilary claimed he was the victim of "a vast right wing conspiracy".  For the first time since Nixon, I started to feel that I was being lied to by the President.  There was a disingenuous slime factor about the Clinton's that I feel to this day.   I was happy when George W. Bush invaded Iraq to rid the world of an Hitler figure in Saddam Hussein... and proud that America led the world in this effort.

I had a profound dislike for Al Gore, Jr. His global warming, Nobel Prize winning hypothesis on Global Warming and his claim to have invented the Internet started to sway me to the opinion that Liberals had gone looney.   And John Kerry... please.... coming from Massachusetts, I had watched his manipulative and conniving career first hand.

But when Barack Obama was first elected, there was a part of me that was elated.  We had elected an African American to the highest office in the land.  I'm not going to rant here against Obama.  The kindest thing that I can say is that the country is guilty of wishful thinking and rushed to elect a completely unprepared and unqualified candidate.   We listened to our hearts and not our heads.

Which brings me to my present situation.

Winston Churchill said, "If you are twenty and not a Liberal, you have no heart... and If you are forty and are not a Conservative, your have no head."

While I still protect my unenrolled "Independent" political party designation, I now find myself frustrated that Democrats have abandoned the exaltation by John Kennedy, and call for an entitlement state with no budgetary controls.   Does that make me a Republican or a Conservative?

I wish it didn't, but that's where I see myself landing these days.

Ryan and Kim Got Married

It was another  wedding spectacular last night as Ryan Nestor tied the knot with Kim Hause at a Crocker Park harborside ceremony conducted by Reverend for a Day, Tyler Gill.  Chad Raleigh played the acoustical background guitar.

After the outdoor ceremony held in perfect weather, the party walked next door to the Boston Yacht Club, and the venue didn't disappoint with great food and a killer band.  Chad sat in for lead guitar a couple times and ripped the place apart with his tremendous musical ability.  I doubt that the staid old BYC has witnessed that type of rock talent much in its stately history.

To this MOAM, the highlights were too numerous to mention, but I would have to say that it was one of the most enjoyable weddings that I have attended.  Ryan performed his Johnny B. Goode routine as well as ever, and the Dark and Stormies flowed like wine.

Johnny B. Goode Performance

It was nice to reconnect with many of  Ryan and Kim's friends who I have known since they were little kids.

The day was the culmination of a weird and totally unpredictable path that calls to the fact that everything happens for a reason, and everything ultimately happens for the best.  It's not up to us to evaluate or question God's plan too closely.... better just to trust and try to enjoy the ride.

Ryan and Kim

Ryan and Kim are getting married tomorrow, and their rehearsal party was at Maddies Sail Loft in Marblehead tonight.
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Tomorrow the nuptials occur at Crocker Park, with a reception at the Boston Yacht Club.
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I love them both, wish them the best, and hope to observe their happiness long into the future.

Let them Eat Cake

This faux water tank is located in Creston, CA and stands roughly 53' tall and contains a conventionally framed roof. 

Not for nothing, but I vastly prefer the look of a modern communications facility rather than an old fashioned water tank.

I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Sometimes I wish that all of the carriers would just shut down the service for a day.  Then with all of the whining and gnashing of teeth,  we would reverse those naysayers who want Broadband but not Broadband antennas.   Classic case of the entitlement generation wanting to  have your cake and eat it too.

Nanepashemet Blog Ranking

There are over 150 million Blogs worldwide on the Internet.
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Teads of the United Kingdom rates this pathetic Blog as 11,447 in the World, and 5,757 in the United States.
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What the Hell do they know?
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As far as I'm concerned, we are Number 1... or at least in the Top Ten.

Whacky Martha

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Peeps...
Those of you who know me best know that the MOAM sometimes makes mistakes.... sometimes forms the wrong judgement... misses the mark once in awhile.
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Course... not nearly as much as the rest of you.... but it happens nonetheless.
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So I appeal to you to set me straight in the unlikely event that I am wrong.  But I don't think I am.
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We have the democratic gubernatorial candidate, Martha Coakley, running ads stating that her brother had a breakdown, and after her parents died, took his own life because "he had no place to go."   And then she grimaces.
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I'm sorry, but my only conclusion is that there was no way he could ask his sister for help after their parents passed, ergo he committed suicide.    So where the hell was Martha?.... and what is her point?  That Government should have nurtured and guided her brother???  What was Martha's role?
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And how, in God's Green Earth, does Coakley think this will get our vote to make her Governor of Massachusetts????
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So Peeps.... What the hell am I missing?   There must be something because this one just seems to be the wackiest Liberal political ad that I've seen in a long time.

Get It Done

Working on the Secret Project this Sunday morning, and then I promised Mike that I would help him pick up his hardwood flooring stock at Lumber Liquidators this afternoon.

By the Patriots kickoff at 8:00 PM tonight, this MOAM will be a twisted mass of fatique but I'm looking forward to getting stuff done today.

Worx Shredder

 I've decided to mulch the crap out of any leaf that has the audacity to fall on my property this autumn.   Bought this WORX WG430 13 amp Electric Leaf Mulcher/Shredder to back me up.

Baker gets the Nanepashemet Nod

 Peeps... this is a personal plea.  
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In the name of all that is holy and decent in our lives, please don't cast your Massachusetts Governor vote for Martha Coakley.    Her judgement as Attorney General has been arbitrary and vindictive in my opinion and she has been in pathetic lockstep with Liberal positions.  No wonder the First Lady is cheering like a Pep Squad Sophomore.
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If you think that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will benefit from her stewartship as our Governor, then don't take my word for it... ask Betty Anne Waters, Dorothy Rabinowitz, or Tim Cahill.    She trashes lives with impunity.  There is a meanness and viciousness here that should never be part of the leadership of a democratic administration.
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My greatest fear is the bureaucrat who decides that checking a box or making a resume entry warrants destroying another person's life.   If I'm wrong about Martha, then I'm happy to be corrected... but there is a pattern here that I find hard to deny.
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It would be different if we didn't have an alternative... but we do...a very good one.

Charlie Baker is a businessman with a proven managerial record of success in both the public and private sectors.  I recommend that you vote for Charlie.

OK... I'm  asking you to vote for Charlie.

After all... He just received the Nanepashemet Nod.

Boothbay Harbor

Typical Political Posturing

I hope that Seth Moulton runs on the issues, and not the usual drivel to the Democrat Sheep that spews  that Republicans are bad people.   I've already heard him blame the shut down of the Federal Government on Republicans, which is pure Bullshit.  Obama was the one shutting down national parks selectively.... not his military golf course, and shutting down the White House tours while the Capital tours stayed open.    Obama's failure to compromise due to his stubbornness and inexperience contributed at least 50%, Seth.
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I know you have to get elected, but I sure as Hell hope that you can raise the bar, and not be the typical pol catering to an unthinking and base emotional electorate.