Thursday, November 23, 2006
Bring on the Barleywines
This has to be my favorite(favourite for all you Canucks) time of the year in the local craft brewing scene. It's the time of the year in which Barleywine, that holy grail of beer, abounds. For thanksgiving weekend I purchased 2 growlers of the Harpoon 100 bbl series Barleywine. What a great choice, I just finished by first glass and can't wait to see how it goes with the Turkey in about a half hour.
I can't wait to try Cambridge Brewing Company's and Boston Beer Works barleywine offerings as the winter progresses.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
It's not about Gay Marriage, It's about the Constitution
The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts states that if a certain number of signatures are gathered for an initiative to change the Constituion then the legislature, MUST go into Constitutional Convention and SHALL vote, not may vote, not can vote, but SHALL vote
on said amendment. Only a plurality of the constitutional convention votes is required in two consecutive constitutional conventions to put the vote to the people. The proponents of the gay marriage amendment have the necessary plurality. However the Speaker of the House has
used procedural tactics to delay a vote and now basically kill the vote. The legislature is done at 12 am on January 3, 2006. The constiutional convention voted by a slim majority to "recess" not adjourn, but "recess" until the January 2. By recessing and not adjourning the Governor, and the Supreme Judicial Court(who has ruled they must vote on the pending amendment), have no legal recourse to call the convention back into session. This is a clear violation of
the Constitution of the Commonwealth and how the government of the Commonwealth is supposed to run.
Why is Sal Dimasi so hell bent on destroying the Constitution of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts?
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
BC Outhustled, Outplayed
Watching Vermont play was a thing of beauty on the other hand. Solid defense, the Catamounts actually kept their hands out and up on D in the 2-1-2 zone defense and low and behold, it created significant turnover opportunities. I guess there is a place in Basketball for fundamentals. Vermont seemed to run well designed plays based on player movement throughout the night. It didn't seem as BC ran even one designed play, there was no conistency to their attack.
The worst part of the evening for a BC fan however was that there was no hustle by the BC team after say the 10th minute of play in the second half. Down by 12-16 points for much of the time in the final 10 minutes, there was no sense of urgency on the part of the BC point guard. He lacksidasically brought the ball up to half court and took an eternity looking for an open man.
The other part of BC's game that is unexcusable is their lack of success at the free throw line, gentlemen it's called a free throw for a reason, they are free points. At a Division 1 college level you should really be a little better at shooting free throws. There is no excuse for having a 50% free throw percentage, that's just awful.
My guess is there will be lots of suicide drills today at practice. Lots.
Friday, November 10, 2006
Where to from here?
I am of the wholehearted belief that voters in Massachusetts are libertarian and have been since 1775 when we told the Crown to go packing. We are a Commonwealth of "Leave me Alone", Deval' soundbite "Together We Can" wasn't why he won this election. MassDem chair Phil Johnston said it very succintly in an interview on Jim Braude's television show on Wednesday, "Democrats believe that government has a role in people's lives, Republican's do not." Amen Mr. Johnston, you could not have summed it up better, although you think people want government to have a role in their lives, I don't. Further evidence of this comes from Marty Meehan in 1992 right after he won his first of supposedly four terms (snicker snicker) in Congress, "Congress is the place where you can really make a difference. I think the federal government plays far and away the most important role in American life(11/8/02 Lowell Sun).
I happen to think that no level of Government should play the most important role in any person's life.
We as a party need to make up our mind where we want to go. My vote goes to our philosopy being:
LEAVE ME ALONE
Friday, November 03, 2006
Here's One, New Deval Tax, Expanded Meals Tax
Hubris
Deval Patrick would be wise to study that definition. Because he is acting arrogant by not not.making appearances publicly for a whole day the last week of the election. What is the problem, are his handlers afraid that we'll see the real Patrick at a public event, and maybe a YouTube video will start ciruclating that has his true feelings in it? Nah, I just think its the same reason he won't debate Kerry Healey one on one, because he's a chicken. Bwaaak Bwaaak
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Kerry in 1972 sounds a lot like Kerry in 2006
"I am convinced a volunteer army would be an army of the poor and the black and the brown," Kerry wrote. "We must not repeat the travesty of the inequities present during Vietnam. I also fear having a professional army that views the perpetuation of war crimes as simply 'doing its job.'
Where's me job?
Lowell Sun Endorses Kerry Healey
We have no doubt that Kerry Healey is the best candidate in the Massachusetts gubernatorial race. She is intelligent, articulate, thoughtful and exceptionally qualified to lead the Bay State toward a bright future.
Unfortunately, Healey's qualities have been blurred by a campaign that did well to expose Patrick's weaknesses on key issues but did not work hard enough to highlight Healey's many strengths. Healey the governor will be far superior to Healey the candidate.
Her 50-point plan is a detailed blueprint for how she will govern, while her Democratic opponent, Deval Patrick, has been evasive about what he will actually do and how he means to do it. He speaks generally of bringing "hope," but we can't help but wonder how expensive that hope will be to the taxpayers of Massachusetts.
On education, Healey supports merit pay for the best teachers, particularly for those working in underperforming schools and those teaching math and science. She wants to lift the cap on charter schools to give parents and students more options, raise the mandatory age of school attendance to 18 to keep kids from dropping out, and retain the MCAS as a graduation requirement.
Unlike other candidates, Healey won't water down public education in Massachusetts. She understands that a solid academic foundation will allow students to attend college, excel in their careers and boost the state's economic growth.
Healey supports rolling back the income tax to 5 percent, as approved by voters in 2000. She took a no-new-taxes pledge, will work to reform the state's pension system to eliminate fraud and abuse, will penalize businesses that hire illegal immigrants and will push to allow municipalities to purchase health-care insurance through the state, a move that would save struggling communities millions.
It is clear Healey understands the concerns and needs of Massachusetts taxpayers and municipalities. She knows residents need good schools, lower taxes and safe neighborhoods, and she will strive to provide those necessities.
Healey would fight for lifetime parole for Level 2 sex offenders, to reinstate the death penalty for felons convicted of killing law-enforcement personnel, provide loan forgiveness for students pursuing in-demand careers like engineering and forensic sciences, and to make housing more affordable for first-time home buyers. Unlike Patrick, Healey has concrete plans that, with the support of the Legislature, will allow such changes to occur without piling more taxes on overburdened residents.
There's a lot to be said for checks and balances in government. It's the reason the GOP has held a lock on the corner office for 16 years. The people of Massachusetts know that the Democrat-dominated Legislature is less inclined to bust open the piggy bank and reach for the taxpayers' wallets with a Republican governor standing guard.
Taking office amid a recession in 2002, Gov. Mitt Romney and Lt. Gov. Healey refused to tax their way out of a fiscal crisis, and for the past two years the state budget has included a $1 billion surplus.
Although Patrick claims that the state has lost 148,000 jobs under Romney-Healey, his numbers are just plain wrong. The state has 148,000 fewer jobs now than when the state reached its peak, but that peak was reached in February 2001 -- nearly two years before Romney and Healey took office. According to the Department of Workforce Development, the state's job market has rebounded by 61,000 jobs since it bottomed out in December 2003.
A moderate Republican, Healey will continue to halt some of the Legislature's financial extravagance while reaching out across party lines to get things done and unify our polarized political arena.
The Sun is pleased to endorse Kerry Healey to be Massachusetts' next governor.
Classless
