The New First Warden

Well, after reading all the comments on the BIRA "do" at the School last week and taking a long and reflective look at all the candidates for this position, I have finally made my decision as to who will get my vote this time around.
Most all the positions taken by all the candidates, are just re-hashes of the previous stances put forth by their erstwhile forebearers.
This "endorsement" coming from me, may well be the death knell for this guys political aspirations. We have not seen eye to eye on many of the happenings here on the Island, but I believe he will be forceful enough, fair enough, and able to see past all the stone-walling and foot dragging that has gone on for years, and get some of these projects that need doing, DONE!!
I also think that no matter what he personally thinks of another council persons opinions, he will let them, nay MAKE them, be discussed at the table in full view of the townspeople and not subverted behind closed doors as has gone on with some of the previous councils.
I have not heard him say this next anywhere, but I hope it will be one of his priorities, to get a Public Works director hired, a planner, and most of all, a PROFESSIONAL Town Manager, not someone doing it as a hobby.
So when you go to vote, put aside personal feelings and vote for the guy who just may be a welcome surprise. We all know he is not bashful about stating his opinions. Give Steve McQueeney a shot at getting this town in step with the people's desires. BTW, I am STILL a dyed-in-the-wool conservative, to the right of center, Elephant hugging,constitution loving as it was written, Republican!! Half of a Pox on some of you liberals! I don't want you to die, just be a little scarred or at least sick for a day or two.TIFN.

WIN NUMBER #1!!!

Some good news for a change! The Block Island School fifth and sixth graders soccer team just had their first win today on the final home game of the season!! They have only played five games in their very short careers, but this was one to behold. They couldn't stop smiling and laughing and jumping around like a bunch of kids! Duh! How about that, doing what kids are supposed to do. So I say to them, "Congratulations from everybody on the Island"!
Now it is time to start developing those basketball skills also. See you on the courts guys! From all your fans!!!

Something to think about as we get ready to vote

Foreword: I did not write this, just stole it from friend. It would behoove us all to remember just what kind of people we are dealing with when it comes to Hillary C. She is JUST as bad as her philandering Billy. Wonder just who he is "doing" these days?


I know we hear or see all the stories about President Bush and how bad he is, so here is the story the newspapers don't tell you about the president who gave you prosperity that you wanted and bankrupted the country of its morals.

Subject: REMEMBER THIS WHEN HILLARY RUNS FOR PRESIDENT
Bill &Hillary: Worse than you thought & worth remembering and this came from a Democrat

Dear Mr. Ex President Clinton:

I recently saw a bumper sticker that said, "Thank me, I voted for
Clinton-Gore." So, I sat down and reflected on that, and I am sending my
"Thank you" for what you have done, specifically:

1. Thank you for introducing us to Jennifer Flowers, Paula Jones, Monica
Lewinsky, Dolly Kyle Browning, Kathleen Willey, and Juanita Broderick. Did
I leave anyone out?

2. Thank you for teaching my 8 year old about oral sex. I had really
planned to wait until he was a little older to discuss it with him, but
now he knows more about it than I did as a senior in college.

3. Thank you for showing us that sexual harassment in the work place
(especially the White House) and on the job is OK, and all you have to
know is what the meaning of "it" is. It really is great to know that
certain sexual acts are not sex, and one person may have sex while the
other one does NOT have sex.

4. Thank you for reintroducing the concept of impeachment to a new
generation and demonstrating that the ridiculous plot of the movie "Wag
the Dog" could be plausible after all.

5. Thanks for making Jimmy Carter look competent, Gerald Ford look
graceful, Richard Nixon look honest, Lyndon Johnson look truthful, and
John Kennedy look moral.

6. Thank you for the 73 House and Senate witnesses who have pled the 5th
Amendment and 17 witnesses who have fled the country to avoid testifying
about Democratic campaign fund raising.

7. Thank you, for the 19 charges, 8 convictions, and 4 imprisonment's from
the Whitewater "mess" and the 55 criminal charges and 32 criminal
convictions (so far) in the other "Clinton" scandals.

8. Thanks also for reducing our military by half, "gutting" much of our
foreign policy, and flying all over the world on "vacations" carefully
disguised as necessary trips.

9 Thank you, also, for "finding" millions of dollars (I really didn't need
it in the first place, and I can't think of a more deserving group of
recipients for my hard-earned tax dollars) for all of your globe-trotting.
I understand you, the family and your cronies have logged in more time
aboard Air Force One than any other administration.

10. Now that you've left the White House, thanks for the 140 pardons of
convicted felons and indicted felons-in-exile. We will love to have them
rejoin society. (Not to mention the scores you pardoned while Governor of
Arkansas)

11. Thanks also for removing the White House silverware. I'm sure that
Laura Bush didn't like the pattern anyway. Also, enjoy the housewarming
gifts you've received from your "friends."

12. Thanks to you and your staff in the West Wing of the White House for
vandalizing and destroying government property on the way out. I also
appreciate removing all of that excess weight (China, silverware, linen,
towels, ash trays, soap, pens, magnetic compass, flight manuals, etc.) out
of Air Force 1. The weight savings means burning less fuel, thus less tax
dollars spent on jet fuel. Thank you!

13. And finally, please ensure that Hillary enjoys the $8 million dollar
advance for her "tell-all" book and you, Bill, the $10 million advance for
your memoirs. Who says crime doesn't pay!

14. The last and most important point - thank you for forcing Israel to
let Mohammed Atta go free. Terrorist pilot Mohammed Atta blew up a bus in
Israel in 1986. The Israelis captured, tried and imprisoned him. As part
of the Oslo agreement with the Palestinians in 1993, Israel had to agree
to release so-called "political prisoners". However, the Israelis would
not release any with blood on their hands. The American President at the
time, Bill Clinton, and his Secretary of State, Warren Christopher,
"insisted" that all prisoners be released. Thus Mohammed Atta was freed
and eventually thanked the US by flying an airplane into Tower One of the
World Trade Center. This was reported by many of the American TV networks
at the time that the terrorists were first identified. It was censored in
the US from all later reports. Why shouldn't Americans know the real
truth?

What a guy!!

If you agree that the American public must be made aware of these facts,
pass this on. God bless America and THANK YOU (once again) for spending my
taxes so wisely and frugally.

SINCERELY,
A US Citizen

PS. Please pass along a special thank you to Al Gore for "inventing" the
Internet, without which I would not be able to send this wonderful,
factual e-mail.

AND THE REST OF THE STORY Hillary Rodham Clinton, as a New York State
Senator, now comes under the "Congressional Retirement and Staffing Plan,"
which means that even if she never gets reelected, she STILL receives her
Congressional salary until she dies. (Would it not be nice if all
Americans were pension eligible after only 4 years?)

If Bill outlives her, he then inherits HER salary until HE dies. He is
already getting his presidential salary until he dies. If Hillary outlives
Bill, she also gets HIS salary until she dies. Guess who pays for that?

WE DO!

It's common knowledge that in order for her to establish NY residency,
they purchased a million dollar-plus house in upscale Chappaqua, New York.
Makes sense. They are entitled to Secret Service protection for life.
Still makes sense.

Here is where it becomes interesting. Their mortgage payments hover at
around $10,000 per month. BUT, an extra residence HAD to be built within
the acreage to house the Secret Service agents. The Clintons charge the
Federal government $10,000 monthly rent for the use of that extra
residence, which is just about equal to their mortgage payment. This means
that we, the taxpayers, are paying the Clinton's salary, mortgage,
transportation, safety and security, as well as the salaries for their 12
man staff -- and, this is all perfectly legal!

When she runs for President, will you vote for her?

Candidates Night

Well, I do believe there is going to be a chance for all of us to go and grill, or at least lightly "toast" the hopefuls for town offices tomorrow night at the school.

Here is a chance to ask directly, I hope, each one of them just exactly what it is that they WOULD accomplish if elected. I realize after having sat in one of those seats that it takes three to make anything happen. But some of the things I would like to hear addressed directly are:

What WILL you do about the Neck Road? Go look at it after just twenty four hours of NE wind and tide.

What exactly WILL you do about the Old Harbor Dock without disrupting the lively-hood of all the business people down there?

What WILL you do about the Inner basin down there being filled with sand? The last three or four spots on the east dock, have been lost to rental because of sand infiltration.

What WILL you do to stop the ever increasing deterioration of all the towns buildings? That, mainly because of the towns inability to hire some one to keep ahead of the curve. You can't pay them slave wages to do somewhat semi-skilled work and expect to keep them long term.

What WILL you do to stop the forthcoming disaster down at Bridgegate square? They, the State in collusion with our Town Council has agreed to let them take a perfectly well operating four way stop, and re-engineer it to someones idea of,"we can do it better". It works just absolutely fine right now as long as you are not from, NJ, NY, MA, CT, and can't wait for your turn because you HAVE TO BE somewhere else right now!

What WILL you do the next time it becomes necessary to do some paving on the roads of the Island, and an asphalt plant needs to be set up TEMPORARILY? Will you cave in to the rants of three or four people, or let it go forward in the interests of the huge amount of money to be saved for the rest of us in the form of less tax money collected?

What WILL you do about getting Port Authority enabling legislation pushed thru, so that we can have some sort of autonomy over how many more ferries can come here?

And finally, What WILL you do about the possibility of taking on the power company as a co-operatively owned entity, run by a PROFESSIONAL manager?

These are things that people WANT to hear your views on, and ferverently hope you will abide by if elected.

Vulnerability on the Neck Road

After taking a walk on the beach across from the Beachead resturant yesterday, I suspect we are going to be in trouble by the end of this winter. If we get two or three real good 'Noth-easter's" that is. It you take the same stroll, you will notice that most of the fill, old cement, rocks etc. that had been put in there years ago and covered with a varied mix of junk, has been being slowly exposed by the wave action and is rolling out on to what little beach is left there. In a few places, the water has already undercut the edge of the road, and after the next storm, it should begin to fall onto the beach below. I expect that after the next few storms we are going to have a much nastier surprise waiting for us the morning after than the one up by at Scotch beach.
As one of the very first actions that I think the new Council should undertake is to start the proceedings to get the State to honor their "commitment" to keep the roads here in good repair. It is going to be a huge job along the lines of what was done on Spring Street below the Spring House in order to slow down the erosion. You can never stop it, because mother nature is a lot stronger and much more persistent than we mere humans.
I hope that this council can work a lot faster than the ones of the last 17 years, as that is how long, at least, that they have all collectively talked the repair of the Old Harbor dock to death with absolutely no action! Yep! Another study for $20-30 K! Just what we need! Come om ALL you wanna be councils folks, lets hear some dialogue on this one.

Blubber for Dinner anyone?

Here is a little surprise sent to us by those lovely east winds. It is supposedly a Blue Whale of about40-50 feet in length. The Herring and the Black Back gulls have found it and will be well supplied with victuals for the foreseeable future. Hopefully it will be all gone by spring except the bones. But don't you dare touch them! This is a protected species, although it comes a little late for this guy. One of those feds didn't do his job well enough I guess. Anyway, there goes my idea of grabbing a few bones and spending the winter making scrimshaw items of the Town Council in action!! I guess it would have to be of bodies in repose and snoring huh? TIFN  

Path to 9/11

Well I see that ABC is finally going to regain some of its credibility as a viable news entity. It is going to, as of THIS date, air a two part mini-series starting on Sunday night. It is called, The Path to 9/11, a movie made by the Disney people wherein it lays out the WHOLE incredible path of events leading up to the actual occurrence of the two towers being destroyed. Apparently it is an absolutely factual account of what happened. How am I so sure of this? Because the four top Democratic Senators sent a letter to Micheal Eiger, president of Disney, threatening him and ABC with the loss of their licenses to broadcast over the US airways if they regain power in the House and Senate this fall! Don't believe that statement? Google up, Democratic Senators letter to Disney, and read it yourself. This is a blatant attempt to squash a movie that portrays Bill Clinton in his true light. When the CIA guys in Afganistan had the house where Osama was hiding, surrounded and they put in a call to the White House to see if it was still okay to go in and get him, Our Uncle Billy sid no, right along with Sandy Berger, one of his top aides(NSA?). I guess Bill had other things on his mind, or other parts of his anatomy, another aide under the desk I suspect.
So lets all watch Sunday night and see if ABC retains its newfound supply of intestinal fortitude and goes ahead with its intended showing of Disneys $40 million dollar movie. I am sure it will portray events in a more factual light than that piece of crap by M. Moore, farenheit9/11. BTW, Mr. Bill has been on the phone with the Disney folks trying to get them to rewrite history more favorable to him. I ferverently hope they didn't cave in. Tell it like it WAS, and let the chips fall where they may. TIFN

Reutersgate on Block Island!

Photoshopped! It even happens in the smallest of newspapers. Apparently Adnan Hajii, a photo stringer of Lebanese lineage, has taken up residence on BI under the alias of "Nameless"! I refer to the photo in this weeks newspaper, emblazoned across the front of the paper. In an amazing display of camera wielding, the local bathing pavilion has disappeared into the nether world, and a very nice looking sand dune has appeared in it's place. Is nothing sacred anymore? Why is it necessary to TRY and dupe we who live here with a false representation of actuality? I can't be the only one who has noticed this. I realize that this is a much better view than that of the boxy building, but come on folks, reality would have sufficed. BTW, don't know who Adnan Hajii is? Go to a web site called "Little Green Footballs" and scroll through a few previous posts of the last week or so. You'll find, in the Blogosphere, the only coverage of the fake,(photoshopped) photos by this man sent to Reuters, and then on too the rest of the world giving totally false apprasials of what is going on in the Isreali/Hezbollah war. NOT ONE WORD has been seen in the MSM about these dupliticious actions by AP/Reuters. Their credibility has been shot to hell in my estimation, and I will find it hard to believe anything they put forth in the future, as nothing more than their reconstructed views of what actually happened. Truth be damned! Another BTW, sorry about my prediliction for the use of comma's. I never learned the rules for the correct usage. TIFN

Lets get Political!!

Now here is a subject that about which I think we can all have a little to say. The "Question" I pose is, "What do you think of the candidates that are running for office this time around?" Feel free to speak your mind and say what you really think about how the performance of each of these individuals, if elected, will Effect/Affect ( both uses of the words) the running of the Island. Now let us NOT have any Nasty or Personally derogatory remarks about them. Just how you think they will do, and wether you are going to vote for or against each and why. Let's make the questions/answers well reasoned and hold the vitriol to a minimum. Okay folks let's go! Here is your chance to vent, good or bad!! TIFN

Still Alive and Kickin'

Well, I'm still here on top of the dirt, but have been too busy with my "other job" to do much here. Will get back at it soon enough. Thanks for hanging around.

Taking back the Old Harbor

In the paper yesterday there was a call by some for the town to "take back control of the Old Harbor". Well it is a sentiment that I am in full accord with, but I think it is too late to happen now. It could be done using the eminent domain ploy but the court fight will go on for years 'til either Interstate et al, runs out of money or resolve, or the town does. I think the town will be the one that falters first. That is unless there are some really strong personalities that are in the wings who will come forward and shepard this thing to it's conclusion. To do that though, is going to take a long time commitment by those folks to get themselves elected on a recurring basis, and have the mental and physical wherewithal to finish it. That and the ability to convince the public at large that this is a good thing for the well being of the Island! And at the same time they should still persue the Port Authority concept with relentless vigor. Nevermind what the nay-sayers will counter with, ad nauseum. Maybe THAT, first! Then the town would have some teeth with which to grasp the eminent domain problem with some hope of resolving it fairly quickly. In case you haven't noticed there are now 22 boats a day coming into Old harbor hauling people and freight, and another about to descend on us from New Bedford.

I've been told by some of the people researching the property ownership of the land in front of the National that my family is one of those 19 part owners of said piece. If that is true, I'll state here and now, that in the interests of preserving some semblence of sanity in the down town area, I'll give up my right of ownership to the town provided it can demonstrate that it will in fact, use that right for the furtherance of a viable and well thought out plan for it's usage. It is NOT a piece of land that can be used for much of any kind of commercial venture what with 19 other "partners" to consider. That being the case, maybe an approach of the others by the town with a good "sales pitch", might elicit the same reaction from them.
Now if this is going to happen, it needs to get going soon, as after I'm out of the equation, family commitments and desires may change! TIFN

And Lets not forget This TWO Faced Bastard

That Was Then, This Is Now

John Kerry on the campaign trail, in December 2003, before the Council on Foreign Relations:

I fear that in the run-up to the 2004 election, the administration is considering what is tantamount to a cut-and-run strategy. Their sudden embrace of accelerated Iraqification and American troop withdrawal dates, without adequate stability, is an invitation to failure. The hard work of rebuilding Iraq must not be dictated by the schedule of the next American election.

I have called for the administration to transfer sovereignty, and they must transfer it to the Iraqi people as quickly as circumstances permit. But it would be a disaster and a disgraceful betrayal of principle to speed up the process simply to lay the groundwork for a politically expedient withdrawal of American troops. That could risk the hijacking of Iraq by terrorist groups and former Ba'athists.

Kerry was against cutting and running before he was for it!

Mr Lincoln Chaffee- NOT in his fathers image!

I have been following all the votes of our junior senator and am very dissapointed in what I've seen. He seems to have fallen right into the clutches of the good old Libs. He was the ONLY Republican to vote today, for the "re-deployment" of troops in Iraq. The only one of 39 others all dems. Sounds like he wants to be one.

He has also been sitting on a bill, in his committee, that would end forever that wonderful "death" tax wherein your family has to pay a tax to the government because you had the bad luck or audacity to up and croke out! Bad enough you're gone from them forever, but they rub salt in the wounds by making you sell the house you live in to pay the damned tax! I tell my kids that when it happens to me and they can't pay the money, burn the friggin' house down and ship them some ashes! House ashes that is, not me!

Then there is the issue of him voting for bills with all those wonderful things called "earmarks" whereby any senator can just add on ANY AMOUNT of money they wish for some project in their district and there is NEVER any debate on the subject! Even if voting against such a bill would deprive your own State from gaining some money for a project,I personally think that it would be the right thing to do! Also the MORAL thing to do! Maybe if enough of the people in the Congress had the intestinal fortitude to do this and to hell with the consequences, maybe the people of this country might begin to gain a little more respect for the politicians who they sent down there to look out for their intrests! But NOT at the expense of other folks in the country. Because of people like Congressman Jefferson, Patrick Kennedy and his dumbshit father and quite a few others of questionable integrity, the faith of millions of people in the ability of these bent people to govern us equitably, has been irrepairably damaged. I have absolutely NO regard for nine tenths of the people down there. Chaffee has to go and that is why I WILL vote for Laffey in the primaries. If he doesn't live up to his promises, out he goes on his ass in six years. That should be long enough for anybody anyway. After that, to many "good ole boy" alliances get formed to the detriment of us all. Any bill that comes before them should be debated and voted on strictly on it's merits and not because you 'owe' someone a vote from a previous bill of your choices passage.

So come on all you sinners! Out with the old and corrupt! In with the new and not-quite-so-corrupt!! Another rant to follow some day. TIFN

New Houses and Old politicians

I took a tour, unauthorized, around the lot where the West Side Road Housing Project is being built. The foundations are going in steadily and I think some of the modular units will be arriving this fall sometime. These houses will represent a dream come true for 21 families, or is it 20? Anyway there are a lot of happy folks going to be living there. Yeah we all know that, so you're asking why am I spouting off about it again, right?

Remember when the project was still in it's infancy and our most illustrious,(in his own eyes)councilor tried his best to short circiut the whole process? Well guess what? That self same person wants to become our firt warden so I'm told! This person who didn't care one whit that he was trying to disrupt 20-40 peoples dreams, now wants to have control (imagined) over all of us with his jaundiced decision making processes! If his past performance is a manifestation of what is to come if he gets elected, hold tight to your hat, your wallet and your ass 'cause they are all going to be in jeopardy!

I think it is going to behoove all of us, to take a very close look at all the players who want to be elected to office this fall, and specifically WHY they want to. I don't know who all the people are just yet, but it seems a few from the past want to re-join the fray with their same old tired non-fixes, to the same old problems and to continue the same old croni-ism(sp) that went on for years. You cover and protect my ass and I'll do the same for you no matter how bad you screw the pooch!!! They need to be asked some pointed questions about specific problems and what exactly would they do to fix them! What is THE most glaring and obvious problem staring us in the face? I say it has been the mis-managment or should I say the "non" management of the town. It has been run by seat-of-the pants, off-the-cuff, act-alone, egregious decisions by the Town Manager with little to no input OR repercussions from the GOVERNING council! Where has their oversight disappeared too? Everything is being decided by two or three, and mostly behind closed doors. Why is it allowed to continue? This is not just my feelings about this stuff. I hear it everywhere I go in some form or another.

The towns infra-structure is beginning to fray badly and will soon start to unravel at a faster rate. This council and a few before it have neglected to do anything meanful, about the care and well being of most all of it's buildings. They have got to take the bull by the horns and hire a competent person to spend 40 hours a week performing the required maintenance and upkeep to keep them from falling apart. And you have to pay the person who does it an equitable wage! Minimum wage doesn't cut it. NO ONE can support a family out here on that income!

There are a lot of problems ongoing with the management and running of this berg. Change, and I mean significant change is needed to head off anymore disasters in the making. For starters, a PROFESSIONAL Town Manager! TIFN

Graduation Day at B.I. High

Well here it is another Graduation day on Old BI. Another batch of kids off on their journey through the rest of their lives. I haven't been to a graduation since the last of my four kids began their journey. I was the Chairman of the School Committee at the time, or maybe had just quit after twelve years of doing that job. Can't remember that far back. Anyway it was twenty years ago. So it occured to someone in the school to check and see who the people were who graduated fifty years ago. This is something they have done for quite some time,e.g. mention their names at the present graduation. Every once in a while I would see the names in the paper or have it mentioned in passing. Imagine my chagrin when my name turned up on the list for this year! For the first time in quite a while it really got hammered home just exactly how damned ancient I have become in the intervening period! Damn! 50 years ago! Plus the 17 I spent before that event! Evn i wid mi nw lemitid metal cipassidy caan mak that coom oud two 92! err, 62? 67! thas id!!

So anyway I have been invited to attend this year and will be going. If for no other reason other than to re-inforce to myself that I'm still here on top of the dirt, looking down! I expect that one other of my classmates will be in attendance and that would be Marcelene Conley Mazzur. Of the other three, I know not where two of them are, but the third one, Bob Cyr is somewhere in RI. Hope he makes it. I kind of hope this post will give you reason, as it did me, to think back to a time when things were a lot less hectic than this frenetic time that we now live in. I find myself rushing about doing all the things I want to do before the man with the black hooded suit and the scythe catches up with me! Go too your local school graduation, even if you don't know any of the graduates, and just look at the faces of all those young faces, filled with exuberance and joy, as they head out on their trip through life. It will re-energize you mentally, at least until it's time to take your afternoon nap!! TIFN

Letters! We get Letters!! We get lots and lots of letters!!

I just love fridays! It's when the newspaper comes out and I get all kinds of inspiration to run my mouth. Again this week, there are all the concerned citizens of the west side up in arms about a non-existant TOXIC cloud hanging over their heads. All the time that High Street was all plowed up and torn to hell, everybody pissed and moaned about it and whined about when was it ever going to be finished! Well it is finished, almost! And of all the absolute most treacherous things that could have befallen the the Island, SOMEONE allowed a toxic spewing, lung choking, eye-watering yellow monstrosity, dripping and oozing a contaminating sheet of stinking, sticky, groundwater polluting, concoction of fermented, millions of years old animal guts, bones, and skin, into our sacrosanct water table!! Now I think we should all start packing up our belongings and moving to Nebraska where we can join the masses of deluded and uncouth middle Americans. But back to BI. Mr DuPont, if I were you and I was running an illegal BUSINESS in a residential A zone, I don't think I would be quite so vocal in my criticizisms of a very temporary edifice erection. After all they WILL be gone in due time. I doubt very much that Mr. Miozzi is going to let a many hundred thousand dollar plant sit here for longer than necessary. I believe it is called economic un-viability to let it sit and rot. And so what if was brought here to do the Town Road? Nobody at that time had the foresight to think that others might see these asphalt trucks driving up and down the road and say to themselves,"Jeez, maybe I can get my mudhole driveway paved while it is here"?
And too all the other letter writers who lecture us on what comes out of that plant, why didn't you take the time to go over there, and look at what was going on before you so sanctimoniously pontificated on what YOU KNOW to be the absolute end-all explanation of the emissions coming from the plant? You folks are just going to have to get a grip on reality one of these days. Or maybe not. Lots of people drift thru life with their head up their ass and wonder why they have such a shitty outlook on life. TIFN

Memorial Day

I'm going up to "silent city" this morning as I have for almost all of the years since I retired from the Navy 31 years ago. I go by myself because I don't like to get caught weeping in public. I wind up doing that every time when I get to thinking of all the millions of guys who died defending the US from all who would like to see this one of a kind Democracy eradicated from the face of the earth. Most all of them faced the wars they were going to fight with misgivings as to whether they would ever see their loved ones again. And millions of them didn't. But still they went, and because of them we are able to enjoy to the fullest, the best standard of living and the most freedoms of all kinds,speech, demonstrations without fear of death, religions of all types that go unpersecuted because you dare to practice them. You can rise to the limits of your ability in this country because of those "Defenders of Liberty" and their ultimate sacrifice.

So on this Day, take a minute to bow your head and reflect on just how lucky you were to be born in this country and why it is that so many also want to be a part of this "Grand Experiment"!

I came across this piece on the net and thought it described accurately the feelings of those left behind after a husband, son, or father had given their all to the "CAUSE" of freedom. I say, "Thank you all from the bottom of my heart and soul"!

THIS IS NOT SATIRE

She places the stems in the green plastic vase, and lightly pushes the blooms around until six colors work together. She approaches the stone, careful to avoid treading on the area directly before it. She pushes the spiked end of the vase into the rain-softened soil next to the stone. Her fingers flit across the petals, making slight adjustments, until she brings unity from diversity again. It pleases her to do so. She groans faintly as she stands straight. She steps back to take in the picture. A stone. Brightly dying flowers. Green grass.

Around her, perfect rows of identical stones radiate out, so it seems, from this one. As if they all come together at this point.

“It’s a shame the children can’t be here. Busy lives. They have grown children of their own, lives of their own.”

“I wonder what it would have been like to raise those children with you? To sit next to you at graduation, holding your hand? To see your face when your son said they had named the baby after you? To grow old with you? To trade places, leaving you to stand talking to a stone in a field of stones?”

“It’s a national holiday, you know. We’re remembering the sacrifice of all of them.”

“But I didn’t know the others. I knew you.”

“And I can’t remember the sacrifice. It’s not in the past yet. Because you’re gone, the sacrifice lives on. For me, it’s not a national holiday. It’s your day. It’s my day.”

“Sixty two years I’ve come on this day to say these hard words. It takes me all year to recover the strength to say them again.”

“Thank you.”

“And just in case I don’t make it back next year…”

“Thank you.”

TIFN.

The "Roof" !!

What is that thing rising next to the old Town Hall? Oh yeah, it must be the New Town Hall! I don't think I've ever seen so much roof for a one story building. Is there going to be useable space up in that aerie, you know a room or office or two? Or is that all dead space good only for hiding all those skeletons? I'll bet there is more lumber in it, than in the rest of the building. Now if we had put a nice little saltbox roof on there, we wouldn't have had to appropriate all that extra money. And what is the big assed bird house doing up there? I thought that the final plan agreed on by all concerned eliminated that "little" extra? Was that another of those "executive decisions" implemented by the TM on her own hook? Hmmmm? Well at any rate it is humming right along and in the near future, Mr Hutchins favorite trailer park will disappear only to be replaced by an enlarged version of the old Howard Johnson motel/restaurants along the nations high and by-ways TIFN  

Bait and Switch, and Screw You!!

Well here is another instance of our wonderful Town Council showing their true colors! When the guy who is doing the paving of High Street came before them to get permission to set up his asphalt making plant,TEMPORARILY, in the sandpit on the west side, they told him, " sure bring it right over, you don't need a permit for it." After it had sat there for a few weeks in it's component parts, a few,three or four, of the neighbors decided they didn't like the look of it and for some reason that they pulled out of their asses, made a big stink about how awful it looked and how smelly it was going to be when it went into operation! Well the thing gives off less odor than some of the big deisel trucks that ply the roads around here on a daily basis. So anyway, because the paving contractor, Miozzi Paving, knew he wasn't going to make much money by doing just High Street, he thought he could make it worth his while if he could pick up a few driveway jobs while he was here. Now all of a sudden, either this pussy town council, or the incompetent Town manager or both in COLLUSION, notified Miozzi that he would have to have a permit from the Town in order to do any PRIVATE paving jobs here on the Island!! Can you believe that they are so damned two-faced and spineless,and hypocritical, that they would let those two or three people with the loud mouths, stampede them into such an odiferious,( that means it stinks to high hell!) decision? This reeks of Bob Smith and Mrs.Dodge! It must be a lawyer thing. I would bet all the money that I have that this behind closed doors, and last minute screwing of a private contractor was perpatrated by the two of them on their own. Haven't seen anything about this in the minutes of any of the previous council meetings which is what leads me to believe it is strictly their doing, or that maybe we are again having illegal meetings and decisions emanating from the council chambers. And by the way, having the plant set up on the Island has saved the Town somewhere in the neighborhood of $21K on just the High Street project! This is just the worst case and form of ingratitude I've seen in a long time. Geez, I wonder if it had anything to do with the Depot parking lot being paved? Seems like that instance got some peoples noses bent out of shape 'cause THEY didn't get to vote on it. This town and most all of it's boards have become havens for those people with Bonaparte complexes and their over-riding desire to control and have a say in EVERY stupid little action that takes place. I am fed up to the gills with all the Assholes who have arrived here on the Island over the years and think that we hick's living here are unable to survive with out their visionary and enlightened leadership!! Jesus H Christ, go back where you came from and leave us the hell alone! We did alright for 300-400 years. TIFN

Up next: What's this "secret", letter of agreement that has been bandied back and forth between the town manager and some un-named conservation group. How bad is it that it has to be discussed behind closed doors and in executive session? Would it not be in the best intrests of the people of the town to have it discussed openly? I'll be back when I know something of what's happening! Toodle!

Sweepin' and such

Some of you might know that for the last three of four months, I have been volunteering some time at the school to sweep the new gym floor on a daily basis. It has amazed me just how much crap gets tracked onto it! One day while the new addition was nearing completion, I was engaged in conversation with one of the members of the School Committee and he was lamenting the lack of someone who could keep the the building in good repair and looking good. He said that, that someone needed to go through the building to discover just exactly what was wrong with it and how to get it fixed. So I told him I'd think about it for awhile and see if I could suggest someone. No names came to mind in over three weeks but one. Mine!

So I undertook to do as he requested and with the, tenous agreement of the S/C, have rooted around in all the little "holes" in the basement and every nook and cranny I could get myself into. What it all amounts to is that we have a brand new $7 M addition to an $8-10 M older building put together in two building episodes,that is in dire need of lots of tender loving care. Over the years the lack of someone dedicated to the upkeep and repair of the physical plant, has lead to it's being on the verge of becoming unusable. There is a huge list of things that need to be fixed/repaired. Some of them need to be done yesterday!

So this coming monday evening I'll be bringing my pile of problems and reccomendations to the S/C for some sort of resolution.It will take some soul searching on each of their parts to come to a decision that will hopefully put the old place back on a track that will see it still useful to the future generations of Island kids. I went to that school for all of my twelve years of public education, and I hope it will be there for my grandchildrens grandchildren. A lot of really fine people started on their road to elucidation in that beautiful old building.TIFN