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« March 2011 | Main | May 2011 »

Governor LePage thinks he’s Obi-Wan Kenobi

Yesterday, Economic Development Commissioner Phil Congdon resigned for making disparaging comments about affirmative action, the parenting skills of people in Northern Maine and saying that those same people need to “get off the reservation.”

Also yesterday, Darryl Brown, the Department of Enviromental Protection Commission, resigned rather that disclose his business records, after the A.G.’s office issued an opinion that he was “unqualified” to serve in his position under Maine law. Brown’s eligibility has been questioned since his appointment due to his ownership of an environmental consulting firm that is currently working on the Oxford casino project.

As reported in today’s Portland Press Herald, a day after losing two of his commissioners, LePage said there was a personnel issue and it’s been dealt with. Now he says, it’s time to “move along.”

Didn’t I see this same advice given in a Star Wars movie? 

Could it be that that former commissioners Darryl Brown and Phil Congdon weren’t the droids the governor was looking for?

Posted by on April 28, 2020 at 02:07 PM in Business, Current Affairs, Entertainment, Film, Legal, Politics | | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

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Celtics Sweep the Knicks and get needed rest for the Heat

Sure, it was great that the Celtics swept away the injury-depleted Knicks in just 4 games. But what was even more important than the sweep was that the Maimi Heat squandered away their opportunity for a quick series with Philadelphia and have to play another game. This is key for the Celtics who can use all the rest time possible for the rest of the series.

The Celtics can certainly win the series against Miami as their season record of 3–1 against them shows. Now that they’re going to get at least a week’s rest before the start of the series is a big-time bonus for the aging guys in Green.

Expect the Celtic/Heat series to go at least six games.

CelticsLogo

Posted by on April 25, 2020 at 09:55 AM in Business, Entertainment, Games, Sports | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Governor LePage Complains About Everyone

The Press Herald reports that at a recent news conference at the Blaine House, Gov. LePage whined again about how the Legislature isn’t doing enough, and how the press just cares about sound bites instead of focusing on the facts.

LePage has said in the past that buying a daily paper in Maine is “like paying someone to lie to you.”

At least he acknowledges that by telling President Obama to “go to hell”, by calling protesters “idiots”, and by saying that the only side effect he knows about to a harmful chemical in plastic bottles might be for women to get “little beards”, he sure sells newspapers. Add the taking down of the labor mural to the first 100 days of the administration and it’s not hard to understand why Gov. LePage hasn’t yet done anything beneficial for the state of Maine. 

Gov. LePage also complained last week that state Democrats — whom he called the “loyal opposition” — are slowing down his attempts to pass legislation. Tisk, tisk.

All this hand-wringing by the governor is because after his first 100 days in office, no one in Augusta could really come up with anything much that he has accomplished so far.

So instead of crying in his news conference that everyone was against him, why doesn’t the governor get down to work and start doing the hard job necessary to get a consensus on both sides so that things can get accomplished? That might work a whole lot better that bawling in a news conference that everyone is against him.

 

Hasn’t Gov. LePage ever seen the Godfather? Come on, Governor, act like a man.

Posted by on April 18, 2020 at 04:05 PM in Business, Current Affairs, Legal, Politics | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Celtics Pull Out a Win in First Round

It took a clutch 3–pointer by Ray Allen for the Celtics to pull out a win against New York in their first playoff game of the season. Boston had trailed most of the game and really only dug their way back from behind at the end of the last quarter.

The C’s looked old, tired and rusty.

Not a good sign for the first game of the playoffs.

The Green Team is going to need to play very good basketball to get through the first round; great ball to get through the second. If they make it to the title series, they’ll need to play their best ball of the year.

CelticsLogo

Posted by on April 18, 2020 at 01:53 PM in Business, Entertainment, Games, Sports | | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

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Rich paying less in taxes – Republicans want them to pay even less

In the Portland Press Herald today and in various outlets on-line, I’ve read the AP article stating that the wealthy are paying far less in taxes than they did in years past. There are so many tax breaks that the rich often pay little or no taxes at all. In fact, nearly half of all households in the US pay nothing.

So why is it that the Republican Party is proposing to cut Medicare, Medicaid, and other services for the poor while it continues to support tax cuts for the wealthy?

The Republican argument is that if the wealthy aren’t taxed as heavily, they’ll stimulate the economy by purchasing goods and services. Their wealth will “trickle-down” the economic chain so that everyone will benefit.

I have a word for that argument: Bulls**t.

Just look at the greed on Wall Street to see the fallacy in this argument. Very, very few people think they’re rich enough — regardless of what they earn. The wealthy individuals and businesses don’t spread the wealth by spending more, donating more, or hiring more — they keep their money for themselves.

How many major companies laid off employees while their CEO’s and other top managers pocketed hundreds of thousands, often millions, in compensation?

The vast majority of rich people want one thing: to be even richer.

If you really think that trickle-down economics works, then why is it that companies like Exxon/Mobil whose 2009 profits were $19 billion, didn’t pay any federal taxes? Want to see more giant companies paying no taxes — like Bank of America, Chevron, Boeing and others? Take a look.

Posted by on April 18, 2020 at 09:55 AM in Business, Current Affairs, Politics | | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

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The Hapless Red Sox Start Out 2-9

During spring training, the local tv announcers thought it was cute to report on the Red Sox losing 10 in a row by saying that during the preseason, only wins count. Losses were just written off as no big deal.

Despite a horrible spring training series, New England papers still routinely predicted that the Red Sox were going to have a great year and would probably be World Series contenders.

Those tv announcers aren’t smiling now when they discuss the Red Sox. Boston has baseball’s worst record so far this year and it matches the team’s worst start in the history of the franchise.

Ouch.

Oh sure, the season is still young. Boston will win more games. No one is hitting the panic button.

But you know what? This early in the season, the word “panic” shouldn’t even be part of the conversation.

Red-sox-baseball

Posted by on April 13, 2020 at 10:54 AM in Business, Entertainment, Games, Sports | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Night Vision by Randy Wayne White

Night vision

 

Night Vision

By Randy Wayne White

G. P. Putnam’s Sons

$25.95, hardcover, 351 pages; ISBN 978-0-399-15705-9 (2011)

 

I’ve read several books by Randy Wayne White and this one pretty similar to the others. I don’t mean that as a criticism – White has found his groove with his Doc Ford stories and this novel doesn’t stray from the typical formula:

 

  1. Doc Ford is a marine biologist who discovers someone is in trouble
  2. His hippy friend Tomlinson is often involved and makes the story entertaining with his drug habits and talk of unusual spiritual phenomena
  3. Doc has a lab in a marina and the story has some connection to water – usually the ocean
  4. Doc either beds a new woman or breaks up with one he is seeing
  5. To rescue the person in need, Doc reverts back to his training with the CIA and turns into a geeky Jason Bourne to save the day

 

This case deals with a Guatemalan girl, Tula, who Tomlinson discovers has unusual abilities – the power to speak to God through her patron saint, Joan of Arc. She comes to Florida searching for her mother and wants to lead her people back to freedom. She’s kidnapped by the steroid-crazed manager of a trailer park.

 

After fighting a huge alligator in a small lake with nothing but a small pistol, Doc meets the obligatory woman and then goes in search of Tula to rescue her. The police, the park manager’s very nasty girlfriend, and several members of a Mexican gang are also searching for the girl.

 

When Doc catches up with them, the resulting action is swift, brutal, exciting and satisfying. Hey, when you have something that works – why change it?

 

Buy it on Amazon here.

Posted by on April 05, 2020 at 09:28 AM in Book Reviews, Books, Business, Entertainment, Writing | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Texas Rangers Sweep Out the Red Sox

Ouch. What a way to start the year!

Before the opening of the season, in New England at least, the Red Sox were predicted to be the front runners — I mean several commentators were fawning all over them predicting another World Series victory.

I wasn’t sure why they got such rave reviews — especially when they kept losing over and over and over during the pre-season.

Now they’ve lost their first three games of the year against the Rangers.

So have I written them off (like I have the Celtics)?

Hardly.

Three games in baseball means very little. But I will say the the Red Sox need to stop believing all the good things that folks in New England say about them. They’re a good team that can go far.

But they need to prove it every single game and they have a lot of work to do.

RedSox

Posted by on April 04, 2020 at 10:47 AM in Business, Entertainment, Games, Sports | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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The Celtics Are Done

So Shaq is out of the lineup for another undisclosed time after pulling up lame in the second quarter in a Celtics victory over the Piston’s yesterday. O’Neal hasn’t played for over two months because of an Achilles’ tendon injury. This injury, we’re told, is an unrelated strained right calf.

I”m not surprised.

And I’d like to say it matters to the Green team — but it really doesn’t.

They’re toast this year.

I told anyone that would listen at the end of last year’s playoffs that the Celtics were just too old. Face it, they had the final game of the series in the bag at half-time but were too tired and winded to maintain the intensity to go on to victory.

The big three can’t do it any longer. It was clear that Boston needed a massive dose of YOUNG players to give Allen, Garnett, and Pierce some much needed rest throughout the season so they would be fresh for the playoffs.

Did that happen? No.

Instead we got players like 39–year old Shaq O’Neal. How is that a good move? Shaq was a great player when he was young — but a 39–year old NBA player can only contribute so much.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the Celtics and would like nothing better than for them to go all the way in the playoffs. But they won’t, they can’t. They’re alreadly losing left and right to close out the year because the big guys are just too old and too tired and don’t have the quality young players to back them up.

I want to be wrong. But I think that the C’s will be lucky to get through the first round. My prediction is that they won’t get past the second round.

It’s too bad. As the Celtics gasped their way though the playoffs with the Lakers last year, it was crystal clear what needed to be done. Yet here they are again — in the exact same position as last year.

Too old. Too tired.

Celtics3

Posted by on April 04, 2020 at 10:12 AM in Business, Entertainment, Games, Health, Sports | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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