(Grandpa Walton would have to be pulling Grandma Walton off the children whilst beating them with a wooden spoon if this is what theirs  looked like.  Come to think of it, has anyone ever seen Irritated Mother and Granma Walton in the same room together?  Can anyone prove they… Read full post »

 Zeek Braverman,  If He Didn't Have Bad Luck, He'd Have No Luck At All

Zeek Braverman, played by Craig T. Nelson on the Dramedy Parenthood seems to get it from all sides.  He’s a 20th century male taking it in the shorts in the 21st century.  Zeek's trying/… Read full post »

Three term Republican Senator Judd Gregg (for whom I worked in 1980 and 1981, full disclosure) is retiring, leading to a wide open field of Republican Candidates.  The principals in the race include:

• Kelly Ayotte, a former Attorney General.
• Ovide
… Read full post »

Levi Johnston, the sperm donor in the romantic misalliance with Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin’s daughter Bristol that spawned the love child known as Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston, has decided to follow in his unwed Mother-in-law’s footsteps.

Levi Johnston For Mayor?  … Read full post »

The nitwit headlines on the Compuserve Banner got me again like a shiny object to an ADHD-Addled Adolescent.  This one simply said:

Online daters are not known for telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth in their profiles.

Well no shit, Sherlock.  This is new news?  Equally… Read full post »

Many believe the US system of governance grew out of antipathy and fear of the British System.  The British court cannot overrule a law enacted by Parliament, for example.  The fear of a “tyranny of the majority” can arguably be attributed to this unique feature of a governing s… Read full post »

Time and time again we see examples of how well intentioned government legislation and tax policy flat out backfires and results in the exact opposite consequence.  

Detailed analysis has been done showing how SUVs emerged as a popular driving option when Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) st… Read full post »

It was 11:45 PM on March 16th as we got into the car.  All throughout the pregnancy, the joke was about having a WASP baby on St. Patrick's Day.  I have the English spelling of the name, Geoffrey, as a result of my father 1) not liking the name and 2)… Read full post »

 Boomers, Before .... 

(Courtesy of Photobucket.com)

... And After 

(Photo from Radiotown.com) 

Tom Brokaw, not satisfied with making big bucks with his "Greatest Generation" traveling road show, has come up with a new one now that his target market is eith… Read full post »

Another one of the seeming good guys in congress has thrown in the towel.  Two term Democratic Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana has decided not to run for re-election.   The general gist of his reasoning for not running for re-election simply revolved around being sick and tired with the way… Read full post »

 Time to tweet stuff as it comes across on the TV stations once the polls close.  Link is on the mid right side....

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Politics happens to be the biggest spectator sport in the country.  We have one of those rare special elections that has garnered national attention.

We… Read full post »

GE has announced it will sell NBC and its affiliate entities to Comcast for $30B.  What does that mean?

Jack Welch reportedly lived by the credo that he would not enter a business segment unless he could insure the deal would make him one of the top three providers in that… Read full post »

A year long effort at losing weight through exercise, food moderation, and, well, smoking again, has yielded great results.  The results have been so good, a few people who have not seen me in a while have looked at me with rather alarmed looks and asked me if I am sick.… Read full post »

The bike seat has to be one of the more painful devices known to MAN.  A skinny little thing on which you place all your weight and the point at which you place all your weight happens to be a part of the male anatomy on which many men place all… Read full post »

An annual Harris Poll of 2,681 US adults listed the following top 15 favorite TV dads:

1. Cliff Huxtable of "The Cosby Show"

2. Ward Cleaver of "Leave It to Beaver"

3. Jim Anderson of "Father Knows Best"

4. Andy Taylor of "The Andy Griffith Show"

5. Ozzie Nelson of "The… Read full post »

The on-line news features did it to me again.  An article titled “You Won’t Believe What Lady Gaga Wore” got me to click on the link.  Who needs to worry about health care matters when some C list wannabee comes up with some odd costume to garner the attention her singing… Read full post »

I sat in my office over the garage listening to Don Imus with my employee.  My oldest son, then 13, was home sick from school.

Imus made mention of a plane flying into a World Trade Center Tower.  He thought it was a small airplane at first.  

After a few… Read full post »

I moved in 2001 from a community of 12,000 that had a volunteer group that raised money to put on a spectacular Fourth of July parade replete with fez-adorned Shriners in their little cars nearly gunning down children chasing after the candy tossed to them from fire engines and the like.… Read full post »

Ed McMahon dead at 86.  He had a good run.

 Ed was the butt of many, many jokes over the years, and yet he played a valuable and often under appreciated role in life of the unflappable and unconditionally supportive partner.  He took whatever Johnny Carson threw his way with geniality.… Read full post »

One of the biggest fears one has as a lowly small town official is getting oneself quoted for something that gets picked up state wide, or, perish the thought, nation wide.  Nothing good ever comes of such notoriety from elected officials in sleepy little New England villages.  It ty… Read full post »

There's scant reason for a socially liberal, fiscally conservative hawk from the northeast to stick around the Republican Party these days as it continues down its path to becoming a regional party of angry, southern white males.

 There's no future in that particular specialization, and nic… Read full post »

Relaxing can get old at times ... or so I am told. 

The vacation mentioned in this previous submission played out a little like being at summer camp.  We all waited around on the dock before heading out on what was a 2 ½ boat ride to our/… Read full post »

In an earlier post I chronicled being with my son in the building next door to where the Virginia Tech shootings were taking place back in April 2007.   The event did not really upset us.  We both felt safe and sound during the whole thing.  It was somewhat surreal, actu… Read full post »

The college tour in April 2007 with number two son started out by driving through a Nor’Easter south from Massachusetts before touching down somewhere on Route 81 in Virginia 12 hours later.  After a night in some $60 a night motel, we got up, had a quick breakfast and made the colleg/… Read full post »