Comments (0) Check out the look on Romney’s face when he challenges Perry to a $10,000 bet. His face has raging ***hole written all over it. This is one of those “Duke in tank” moments. It’s all over Mitt.
A while back I explained why I thought that the legalization of casinos in Massachusetts would not lead to a casino in Middleboro – tribal or commercial. There is 50 foot brick wall between the Mashpee Wampanoag and a tribal casino and that wall has Carcieri v. Salazar spray painted on it — just to left of “for a good time call Bumpkin”.
Nearly every news article on casinos in Massachusetts have been woefully uninformed on the mechanics of tribal gaming. Finally in today’s Globe, Paul McMorrow has an article with a more sober view on the likelihood of a tribal casino.
LXDE - Light X11 Desktop Environment
For years that was blackbox and its descendant fluxbox. Just recently I switched to LXDE – the Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment and I’m liking it. This is not a dig at *box. Fluxbox, blackbox, openbox really pop. They only use a few megabytes of memory – probably less than 10 and literally POP into existence when you login. LXDE is a bit more fancy, a bit slower to start, but still very easy on older hardware. It uses a LOT more memory then fluxbox but a lot less than Gnome. I’m enjoying the change for now and love the fact that I’m free to try new desktop environments. I’ve used fwm, fvwm, olwm, olvwm, mwm, twm, Window Maker, Enlightenment, Afterstep, blackbox, fluxbox, openbox, CDE, KDE, XFCE, Gnome, Unity and probably a bunch of others I’ve forgotten.
‘Tis well.
Angry bumpkin will be back in full force this week in my Gazette column this coming Thursday. It will discuss the gutting of the grammar school music program and general failure of the schools to change their utterly unacceptable MCAS scores.
Starting next year, the instrument music program will be done after school – a move that is sure to kill participation and thus destroy all music in Middleboro since the grammar school is the feeder for our middle and high school musicians.
Nothing amuses me more than watching the hordes come out of the wood work for an issue that has zero effect on their daily lives like the kerfuffle over calling a Christmas Tree a Holiday Tree.
You want to call it a Christmas tree – go ahead. You want to call it a Holiday tree that’s fine with me. Heck call it “Billy” if you want to.
Whatever you call it – everybody should spend less time worrying about things that don’t matter and focus on things that do – like local, state, and federal budget deficits, education, the environment, and about a billion other things. It’s nice that people have the limited mental capacity to get worked up over the difference between “Holiday tree” and “Christmas tree”. With a little more intellectual effort we might be able to start addressing the real issues facing the country and the world.
Now that the casino law has passed, I have a feeling of Deja Vu watching various towns react to the prospect of having a giant development dropped on them.
And I pity them.
When faced with the prospect of a something that has the potential to radically alter the character of the town, people get testy. As large developments go, casinos seem to spark more emotions than other projects. Middleboro was torn apart by the proposed Mashpee Wampanoag casino and four years later things are still not totally back to normal. Getting there but not there yet. Myself and my wife were subject to harsh treatment at the hands of pro-casino residents – something I still struggle with.
For towns that are potential casino sites: Strap yourselves in. You’re in for a wild and unpleasant ride as the spectre of money pits neighbor against neighbor and sends common sense packing.
Anti-casino web sites are popping up – including nofoxborocasino.com. They have a good looking web site and a Facebook page with 600 friends. Good luck guys.
And this is why I call it "Scrotus Bloats"
You have got to be kidding me. It is just this sort of obtuseness that makes Lotus Notes richly deserve its place in the Interface Hall Of Shame.
Reminder that Sixteen Shillings is playing in Braintree on Saturday 12/3
My column in this week’s Gazette discusses the surprisingly positive experience I’ve had in the Universalist Unitarian church since I started attending earlier this year.
Sixteen Shillings will be this weekend in Braintree.
Loyal Order of Moose Lodges
175 Howard St, Braintree, MA 02184-1151
8:30 until whenever
Sixteen Shillings is myself(guitar/vocals) and Rob Dragunas(mandolin/vocals) playing a wide range of stuff
Sixteen Shillings
Got this email today. I think the new store is in the former Holly Berries across from Cafe Milano:
Greetings to all you ladies who love jewelry (and spouses who love to buy for your special one) ~Look no further than Gregory Scot Jewelers on Center St. in downtown Middleboro. This fabulous store is newly opened by Middleboro residents Scot & Allison Dean (who you may know as parents of Ryan, Tyler and Mya).
The store is filled with a beautiful selection, but if you don’t see what you like, Scot will be delighted to help you find that special gift!
Spend your Christmas shopping dollars in Middleboro, it’s convenient and supports the local economy!
Cheers!
Artists(me) rendition of Middleboro casino
The short answer is – the chances are still slim.
I’m sure there are a few diehards out there cheering the decision to legalize gambling and see the inclusion of a preference for a tribal casino in Southeastern Mass as a good sign – a breath of new life into the idea of a Mashpee Wampanoag casino in Middleboro. On the surface, it would appear to bode well — but I don’t think it does. I believe as strongly as ever that the Mashpee will never get a tribal casino. Their prospects for a commercial casino are a bit better but still not great. And neither event is likely to result in a casino in Middleboro.
First off – let’s look at what the bill actually says about tribal casinos.
The first mention provides $5M for legal and other costs related to a tribal casino in Region C(SE Mass):
Note this just sets aside money – nothing more.
The next mention is in the duties of the hackerama gambiling commission(send applications to Sen. Marc Pacheco). The 40th listed duty is to assist the governor in negotiating a compact with an indian tribe – if necessary.
The next mention – 100 pages later basically says: Keep an eye on the tribes and let us know if impossible happens – land into trust:
A few dozen pages later – we have Section 89 – where all the tribal meat is. Items a-d specify the way compacts with indian tribes work. The bill gives the governor permission to enter into a compact with a tribe that would be subject to approval by the legislature. I believe that the governor already has this power – I guess it’s restating is to remove doubt about the role of the legislature. So far, we have no solid promise of an indian casino.
The whole tribal pot boils down to section e. The way I read it is this: If a tribe looks likely to get land into trust by Aug 1, 2012 – the Governor has to power to negotiate a compact. If they don’t – any old person can bid on the SE Mass casino.
At the risk of restating the obvious for the 12 billionth time: There is no legal way for the Secretary of the Interior to take land into trust(See Carcieri v. Salazar). It would – literally – take an act of Congress for the Mashpee or anyone else to get land into trust and that is JUST NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Read Sec. 89 for yourself:
It is still possible for the Governor Patrick to do something really dumb and give the Mashpee Wampanoag a commercial casino if they cede their rights for a possible future tribal casino. I think that would be of very suspect legality with regards to federal indian law – but he could do it. But I don’t think that is likely. Why would the Governor give this hapless bunch a commercial casino? To be fair – I don’t think of the tribal rank and file to be “hapless” – it’s their leadership – and that is the only thing that is relevent to this discussion. They’ve proven to be untrustworthy partners(See Middleboro, Fall River, Freetown, Raynham). They seem to have significant difficulty with self-governance(See Marshall, Hendricks, Cromwell). They have absolutely zero experience with casinos – or any large commercial venture. The most likely reason for all this alleged tribal preference is to give an appearance of negotiating in good faith so there is no legal ground for the tribe to argue to the BIA/SOI that Patrick was negotiating in bad faith.
If everyone decides to do something stupid, like give them a commercial casino, it will most certainly NOT be in Middleboro. There are several hundred pages of documentation explaining in great detail why that land is environmentally untenable for large commercial development – along with the painfully obvious fact that the state DOES NOT want a a casino in Middleboro.
A refreshingly simple, concise, clear statement on Occupy Wall Street from musical genius Roger Waters. I do not understand how this movement is being stratified by the right as a liberal movement.
His production of Pink Floyd’s The Wall is swinging through the states for a second pass.
GO
A few months ago there was a lot of uproar about the Middleboro G&E. The din has died down and the populace gone back to sleep.
This Tuesday at 7:30 at the G&E office building – 32 South Main Street.
This is an open meeting that will discuss the dollars and sense behind the bills we are all paying every month. Public scrutiny requires the public.
Don't tread on me. Unless I disagree with your right to protest.
Then the right wing started attacking the movement – and I knew that I had missed something.
Why was the right trying to paint this as a left-wing liberal movement? The same people who are wrapping themselves in THE CONSTITUTION and FREEDOM and the FOUNDING FATHERS were ridiculing the movement and demanding an end to the demonstrations. The right to free speech and peaceful assembly are KEY FREEDOMS protected by the blessed, holy almighty, socialist-hating, CONSTITUTION.
If there is a criticism of the OWS movement, it is that the message is not cohesive and too varied. All true. But the basic message is that the majority of people are being screwed because too few people have too much influence in government. The fiscal crisis of recent years was caused by a systematic dismantling of the financial protections that came into place as a result of the Great Depression. The Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980′s resulted in hundreds? of convictions. The financial meltdown of 2008/9 was many orders of magnitude worse, and yet we have had virtually no accountability for those responsible.
As I said, I paid little attention when OWS started off. Then I saw peaceful protesters being tear gassed, pepper sprayed, and seriously injured by police. I saw the fundamental right of assembly being threatened and ridiculed. And I saw the propaganda wing of the RepubliCorp party working as hard as it could to invalidate the movement. I can accept that you are not receptive to the message. I cannot accept, and I cannot understand how someone can sit on the sidelines rooting for freedom of speech and freedom of assembly to be violently quashed and curtailed.
I’m paying attention now – and I’m on board.
And before you comment on the trumped up charges of poor sanitation, trespassing, and so on: Those are artificial barriers put in place to curtail YOUR right to public assembly.
Class act
My column in this week’s Gazette discusses a very positive experience I had recently buying a custom built computer from South Shore Computer Repair in downtown Middleboro. That dove tails into a case for shopping locally particularly at fine vendors like Mary Barry Massage Therapy who offers gift certificates that make a thoughtful and unique holiday gift.
I’ve been very busy lately with my recent appointment to the Middleboro Community Preservation Committee. Last night we had a 2 1/2 hour training/Q&A session with Stuart Saginor from the Community Preservation Coalition – a statewide CPA advocacy group.
Our local CPC has had a bit of a controversy already with a former town moderator challenging the legality of the statutory member(Jo) representing the Housing Authority. The CPC statue calls for “a member” of the Housing Authority. Jo is an ex-officio member – she is appointed to the HA not elected. According to Wikipedia, “ex-officio” only describes how a person becomes a member – it does NOT limit their status as a member. This seems to have mostly been resolved with the DOR ruling that the her participation in the committee is proper. We are also awaiting advice from town counsel.
Bottom line to me:
CPA is controversial – I was expecting the controversy to be of a less hair-splitting nature.
I’ve been working on the web site for the Middleboro Community Preservation Committee. We are charged with recommending projects to town meeting for CPA funds. The site was approved by the committee as the official CPC site. Check it out, share, like, follow, and so on.
I’m looking to put together a list of great places in Middleboro for the CPA web site. I’ve always thought the Middleboro town web site should have such a list, but they don’t. The town CPA web site seems like a reasonable place for it.
Specifically I’m looking for public parks, public open space areas. public recreational facilities, museums, etc. If you know of one that I missed, please post as a comment with the
So far I have
Lesser known was Dennis Ritchie who died about a week after Jobs. I would argue that Ritchie’s impact on computing was far greater than Jobs and deserves recognition. Ritchie created the C programming language which is still widely used and heavily influenced all modern languages – C++, Java, C# – you name it. He was co-inventor of Unix the most influential operating system of our time. Yes Windows is way more common, but the concepts underlying Unix are ubiquitous in the computing world.
Greats like Ritchie should get the same credit given to the rock stars. And more.
Jobs was great yes - but he stood on the shoulders of giants like Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie
I’ll be playing with Sixteen Shillings at the Flat Iron Cafe this Friday Oct 21 starting at 8:00 PM.
444 Center Street
Middleboro, MA 02346
(508) 947-3358
The facebook event page is here.
Sixteen Shillings is a two piece with Rob Dragunas on mandolin/vocals and me on guitar/vocals. We’re having a lot of fun – and I’m enjoying the change from the solo gigs I’ve been doing for thelast couple of years.
Here’s a fun one – Long Black Veil. Rob and I are very free-form with the breaks, dynamics, and who is playing what lick at what time – which makes for unpredictable results but lots of fun.
Hello everyone. This Saturday, Oct 15th is the last trash pick up for the Middleborough Mess Movers. We will meet in the Town Hall Parking lot at 9:00 as usual and drive over to the VFW on Station ST. to pick up trash. After we pick up trash, we will have a small celebration with cake and awards. Hope to see you there.
Thanks,
Melissa Guimont,
mbmessmovers@gmail.com.
I’ve recently been appointed to Middleboro’s Community Preservation Committee(CPC) – the group responsible for recommending projects to town meeting that will receive CPA funds.
I am putting together a web site for the CPC. It will have meeting minutes, agendas, related docs, information about the projects that are being dicussed – and generally serve as an information portal so that Middleboro knows what is being discussed.
I am looking for nice photos for use on the CPC web site – photos that highlight Middleboro’s natural beauty, historic character, parks, housing, town buildings, or just about anything that says “Middleboro”. If you have pictures I can use – please send them to me. I only want pictures that you took yourself. I will try to credit the owner of the picture via captions but can’t promise that every use of the photo will include a credit.
The CPA has the potential to preserve open space, historic assets, create housing and parks – things that will benefit Middleboro and improve our quality of life for generations to come. It is (in my mind) the single most important and positive thing the town has done in decades. Your pictures will contribute to that.
A couple of years ago I was asked by Ed Beaulieu to serve on the board of trustees for the Future Of Middleboro Trust. This is Ed’s baby and he and his wife Sue do all the heavy lifting. We’ve raised money to replace the handicap swing at the Pierce Playground but the big project is Project Lifesaver – a system for locating people who are prone to wandering such as Alzheimer’s patients.
The system was used Friday to locate a missing woman.
Kudos to the Beaulieu’s for spearheading this initiative.
The E-Cat was tested in Bologna and attended by a number of physicists and scientists.
It appears to me that the device produced power way in excess of the energy it consumed and operated as expected. It reportedly ran in self-sustain mode(no external energy) for three hours before it was shut off to proceed to the “look inside the box” portion of the demonstration.
Here are some links discussing the test.
Marese aka Mary Barry has been home since Saturday. She is in much pain and moving slowly but progressing. Pelvis fractures are stable and improving – meaning that no surgery will by necessary. Her shoulder and collar bone needs further investigation. She sends this message:
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