I hear the special today is a nice Rack of Lamb:
Next time you’re out at a restaurant, take a look at the menu and consider how many of those items will disappear during the next few years due to government encroachment into how much carbohydrates, fat, sodium, sugar, artificial preservatives, and quantity we’ll be allowed to consume.
As for the Chestnut Tree Cafe – you’ll find it conveniently located here.
Thanks for reading!
| “Headwind” | “Boat Anchor” |
Source: The MUSEman |
Source: Obsidian Wings |
| “Ship of State” | “Ship of Fools” |
Source: Wikipedia |
Source: Whitehouse.gov |
During the course of the 2012 Presidential Election, Willard Mitt Romney’s record as Massachusetts Governor (from 2003-2007) will undoubtedly be dissected, examined, analyzed, cleverly packaged for maximum negative effect and then constantly broadcast to the public by the mainstream press and countless “experts”: They’ll talk about how he lost manufacturing jobs, saddled state residents with the highest per capita debt in the nation, didn’t help victims of the 2006 floods, cut education funding, raised government fees, trashed Affirmative Action, ruled by Executive Order, and as-yet-unknown various and sundry minutae.
But, they’ll almost certainly ignore the fundamental reason why Mitt was a bad governor - which I believe can be summed up in ONE CHART published recently as part of an excellent article by Real Clear Politics:
Bottom line? The Democrats have had a majority seats in the Massachusetts legislature for over 40 years – FOUR DECADES! They’ve been a dominant force in Massachusetts politics since the 1920′s, and it’s no surprise: It was a Democrat that was responsible for the word “Gerrymandering“.
While Governor of Massachusetts, over 700 of Romney’s 800 line-item vetoes to the state budgets were overriden by the Democrat legislature. In fact, in 2006, all of his nearly 250 budget vetoes were overturned. And that’s just his budgetary vetoes: As for his non-budgetary vetoes (some of which are listed here), I’ve not found a comprehensive list nor how many of them were overridden – I’ll leave that as an exercise for an enterprising reader, and would be curious to see the result.
FYI: For 2012, the Democrats hold 35 of the 39 seats currently filled in the 40-seat Senate (or, 90%), and 127 of the 160 seats in the House (or, 79%): A majority in both chambers that easily exceeds the 2/3rds requirement to override any veto by the Governor (An unlikely event, as the present Governor, Deval “Cadillac” Patrick, is also a Democrat).
Governor Mitt Romney was only one man in a state government dominated at the working levels by Democrats for decades: For Democrats to associate him with the shortcomings of Massachusetts, past or present, is disingenuous at best and an insult to voters at worst.
Thanks for reading!
If you ever find yourself lost, listening to a Boston sports team, and/or talking politics with someone from the People’s Republic of Cambridge, better make sure you’re not anywhere near Middleboro Massachusetts:
By a vote of 183-50, the townsfolk of Middleboro, Mass approved a law that imposes a $20 fine for public swearing.
The good news? Public swearing used to be a crime, now it’s merely a ticketable offense.
The bad news? The townsfolk also approved the actual enforcement of a $300 fine for smoking marijuana (a law they approved in 2009). Talk about “harshing your mellow“!
Oh, and they’re also considering a $50 fine for shoveling snow into a public street. (Actually, I like this suggestion – as long as the plow driver doesn’t wait till I’m done shoveling my driveway to plow the snow on the road back into it – #@$!&^$!)
So, if you live in or are visiting Middleboro, Massachusetts make sure you’re somewhere private before venting your displeasure: Because while we all know that Freedom of Speech isn’t “free”, in at least one sleepy little New England town it’s actually a revenue-generating device.
Thanks for reading!
Pathetic. I mean, seriously: The Red Sox are putting the “Pa” in “pathetic” 
But, that won’t stop me from taking some nice photos from the 2012 season so far, which I’ll put into my photo gallery as soon as my SAD (that’s “Sox Affective Disorder”) subsides: After all, people took some fantastic photos of this, this, and of course, this.
oh yeah, almost forgot… Thanks for reading!
In this dismally stagnant economy, you just can’t beat the local dollar store for handy items like dish washing liquid, a quart of soy milk, tasty cinnamon churros, or those rubberized grippy work gloves perfect for coaxing out reluctant instrument panels - especially if the store’s right next to one of those big box supermarkets or megastores, so you’re not wasting gasoline to get those extra savings.
So, imaging my surprise when I saw this cinematic tour-de-force for only one dollar:
Frankly, not only do I think it’s still overpriced at $1, but it diminishes the dollar store’s fine reputation for good products at an honest value 
BTW: The local Dollar Store is an easy way to see how inflation affects food prices: Just keep an eye on how the packages become smaller and smaller and smaller for that same dollar: That package of fig bars may still be a dollar, but it’s gone from 16 oz to 13 oz to 10 oz over the last three years – or, a 60% price increase to purchase 16 oz of fig bars! No wonder food (and energy) isn’t included in the “official” inflation rate.
BTW 2: If you’re upset about those fig bars, you’ll be steamed like a basket of clams when you find out your wealth has plummeted 40% from 2007 to 2010.
Thanks for reading!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Author-created content Copyright © 2007-2025 by the
Author, All Rights Reserved (Legal Notice)
Site layout based on a template downloaded
from free website templates.
Original Design by Free CSS Templates, ©2008
All Rights Reserved.
