CapeCodToday Blog Chowder

WARNING to COMMENTER - Please stay on topic. There is nothing from "dorsal" in this post. plus this is an ancient history item written over a half century ago by a long-deceased local Editor.
SECOND: Please do not make a second comment unless or until someone else has commented on YOUR last comment.
Read our simple rules for commenting.

Remember, who is writing this praise.
I as much as any other have often criticized The Voice content or focus in the past, and for me to be this impressed with its change of direction should be doubly noteworthy.
My old friend, Pat Polillo, once admonished me for dissing The Voice, saying if they only manage to throw one spear into the heart of the barbarians they have earned their surs.
The new Voice has skewered several barbarians in this one issue alone.

Since Upper Cape Rep Jeff Perry wants to rescind the 18-cents a gallon gasoline tax for this summer to boost tourism (a great idea), he should jump on Peter's plan to tax flatulence here as well, but why limit it to cows of which we have few.
Jeff, tax the State House. Imagine the methane collected in a giant scoop above Beacon Hill.
Gore with be "green" with envy.

You may think you are "ordinary people", but the ordinary journalists never thought of getting this treasure trove of information about the Windle swindle.

Merde!

Plate #50,000 for ERIC TURKINGTON and his Pork Barrel while the state is out of money - “Provided further, that not less than $50,000 shall be expended by the Massachusetts Sports and Entertainment Commission for support of film festivals on the Cape and Islands.”— Text of a budget amendment proposed by Rep. Eric Turkington (D-Falmouth).
http://www.wickedlocal.com/westwood/news/x1658008949

Aaron Agonistes is simply Phyllis Schlafly in Drag.
If he could ever control his bile, he could become an effective scriber, but as a wise man once said, "whom the Gods would destroy, they first make mad."

“Anyone who has been to an private school will always feel comparatively at home in prison. It is the people brought up in the gay intimacy of the slums who find prison so soul-destroying.” - Evelyn Waugh

Happy New Year, Buzz.
'Nuff sed.

Not a chance, Buzz, you sound like you might enjoy it ;>)

My concern was I thought you were terribly insensitive to speak ill of a woman not cold yet in her grave.

BUZZ, all civilized people believe that "you should not speak ill of the dead."
You comment at this time is as unacceptable and vile as any by commenters here of late.
You really should think twice before revealing your inner self in such a shameful and anti-human manner. It is also sad that you see no difference between corruption charges by despots directed as reformers and those charged by democratic governments.

Save your disdain for the living who may benefit from your council.

Q. How many people from South America have moved to cape cod & the South Shore?

A. A Brazilian

And they're great, work their butts off, charge around $20-25 a hour.and don't require a contract

Bill, they're obviously imploding. As the first media to decry "shooting the messenger", this would indicate that they are literally falling apart.

Clueless Kerry.
I was hoping someone would write about clueless Kerry - what a huge disappointment to Democrats and democrats.
Were we all fooled for decades by that craggy, long face and that Lincolnesque stature?
Perhaps we held to the old photos of him marching against the Vietnam War, but we were all gulled by this insipid and banal empty suit.

This story would NEVER have come to light without Kenney's reporting.
The "old media" is too tired or co:opted to pursue this and the Cape Cod Commission chicanery.

Two decades ago conservative writer Kevin Phillips opined that there were no longer two parties, only lobbyists who controlled both due to the enormous costs for running a re-elction campaign.

More recently in 2000 he wrote "Now what I get a sense of from all of this — and then topped obviously by spending all the money in 2000 to basically buy the election — is that this is not a family that has a particularly strong commitment to American democracy. Its sense of how to win elections comes out of a CIA manual, not out of the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution." — Kevin Phillips writing about the Bush family in American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush

Jake, you're at the top of your game.
This tale is a rare combination of literary skill combined with political knowledge and cinema history.
It's witty, wicked, worldly and wonderful.

As usual, our good friend Peter is half right.

Peter, you corpulent curmudgeon, I am not tiny - you are simply super-sized, and thanks for not revealing that my staff bought me the helmet years ago since they claimed only my head was worth protecting ;>)

Capemom, it sounds like you're describing Deval Patrick ;>)

Excalibur, I blush.
But I got much of the juicier bits from my buddy Spyro who is of the Hellenic persuasion.

Peter, you'll never be able to have lunch in Providence again
;>)

... and stay out of my refrigerator too !

Gimme back my PEN !

Sit her down and make her read this story -
1- No airports
2- No security lines
3- Fours days in Bermuda
4- Good food
5- Good entertainment
6- Promise her that you will stay at home and watch the Gerbels.

Solon, do you mean an "old geezer" like yourself?

From today's news stories;
The West Australian, Australia - June 27, A 75-year-old woman from New South Wales has drowned at a remote tourist spot...
International.news, Bulgaria, June 27 - In 2025 every fifth Bulgarian will be over 65...
Scripps Howard News Service, June 27, 2007 - 71-year-old woman whose body was found...
DentalPlans.com, FL, June 27 - The animals in each group were aged to the human equivalent of young adult, young middle-age (45 – 55 in humans), young-older (65 – 70 and elderly (85+)...
And with the AARP accepting 50-year olds as members, who knows what "elderly" means.

How old is "elderly"?

Absolutely, Peter, and they make it soooooo easy to lampoon them.

Before any of you "nabobs" get het up, here's the definition of nabob;
big star, captain of industry, celebrity, headliner, heavyweight, idol, megastar, mogul, panjandrum, person to be reckoned with, superstar, topliner, very important person (VIP)...

For the unlettered "swells" reading this, the dictionary defines a swell as a;
blueblood, bluestockings, gentleperson, , nobleman, patrician, peer, ritzy, silk stocking, or upper-cruster.

No, but it fits in the headline space allowed.

On the other hand, you 132 Chatham "swells" who make up the members of S.O.S. would each pony up $15,000 ($2M ÷ 132 members), you could pay for your own beach protection and save the town the time and money of a Special Town meeting, a year of legal suits and a Prop 2-1/2 override.

How about really fat, misbehaiving adults walking a pooch with doggy diarrhea?

Peter, what Barbara Hill writes above are the cold facts, provable by your taking the time to check the MTC etc. before commenting.
Worse, THIS POST is NOT about CAPE WIND - it's about boycotting and banning discussion of a BOOK.
You know that as well.
Please keep your remaining credibility intact by not pulling this do-do, you are far too intelligent to need to stoop to the big lie and endorsing book banning.
In future "off topic" comments will be deleted.

Falwell's death is the first to remind me of the 1952 TIME magazine obit for Harold L. Ickes, FDR's Secretary of the Interior and a New Dealer whom Time's conservative publisher Henry Luce hated.

The obit read;
"In keeping with TIME's policy of only speaking good of the dead - Harold Ickes died thuis week - Good."

Yeah, no one knows nipples like Ned
;>)

balognasamich? bull squat !
You're Dan "I never saw an excuse for not working" Younce who had to move to Slovakia to get a Green Card.

Use your real name, Dan, we all love you and the animal rescue officers have dropped all charges ;>)

Aaron, is it true that Rick Barros may be Bob Dwyer's replacement as GOP State Committeeman?
Why aren't you running, or Andy Buckley or Don Howell or Doug Bennett?

Aaron, calm down. You will make no converts by ranting and raving like this.
Why not try to set an example rather than react like those you are bothered by?

In your very first blog post you've managed to evoke my all-time favorite artist.
Thank you for bringing his early art to our attention, and keep on blogging.

FYI-
Dec. 15, 1976, Buzzards Bay, Mass.: Argo Merchant ran aground and broke apart southeast of Nantucket Island, spilling its entire cargo of 7.7 million gallons of fuel oil.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001451.html

FYI-
Dec. 15, 1976, Buzzards Bay, Mass.: Argo Merchant ran aground and broke apart southeast of Nantucket Island, spilling its entire cargo of 7.7 million gallons of fuel oil.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001451.html

In The Nation in 1940 Eleanor Roosevelt said,
"We do not move forward by curtailing people's liberty because we are afraid of what they may do or say."

I'm embarrassed - I was so busy stuffing my face I didn't notice this birthday wish list.

Let me add a few;
1. a Deval Patrick landslide on Tuesday.
2. a plan to get out of Iraq before any more US service men and women are killed or injured.
3. some new bloggers half as good as the ones we already have.
4. that my children outlive their father as long as I have outlived mine.
5. o.k., ise cream is good too.

The median price of a home on Nantucket passed a million several years ago.

Macabre, but magnificent.

"Poor Tom, that eats the swimming frog, the toad, the todpole, the wall-newt and the water; that in the fury of his heart, when the foul fiend rages, eats cow-dung for sallets, swallows the old rat and the ditch-dog, drinks the green mantle of the standing pool; who is whipped from tithing to tithing, and stock-punished and imprisoned; who hath had three suits to his back, six shirts to his body, Horse to ride, and weapon to wear, But mice and rats, and such small deer, Have been Tom's food for seven long year."
King Lear (Edgar in Act III, Scene iv)

"Conversation should be pleasant without scurrility, witty without affectation, free without indecency, learned without conceitedness, novel without falsehood."

The Times' newest "spokeman"?

Our daily used to trot out Doug Yearley or Charlie Vinick as their oracles. At least those two had notable successes in their own fields, although Doug's was as CEO of Phelps-Dodge named Arizona's worse polluter on his watch.

How deperate must The Times be today to be running overstated and erroneous stories (requiring a correction on page two today) using a little known Hyannis mortgage broker as their source. Cliff Carroll is a lot of things, but a reputable, newsworthy and notable spokesman is not one of them.

Jake - where did you ever get that picture?
The lead blind man looks like your old boss Shecky.

BTW, the MMS, like the USACE, requires the "reports" from applicatant and releases them all at the same time. In fact, applicants are instructed NOT to release the reports since the permitting agency must first re-check the reorts with athird party angency themselve.

So the only people "hiding" that or any other report was the Minerals & Management Service.

Nearly 4,000 antiwar protesters demonstrated downtown as Bush spoke before a friendly American Legion convention in one of the nation's most conservative states... just 33% of Americans approve of his handling of the war, according to an AP-Ipsos poll.

Fellas, check the photo I just added at the bottom of Audra Parker holding THE photo which the ALLIANCE paid to have created by an expert in PhotoShop.

I'm sure Cliff has a copy too, but he KNOWS (as we all do) where it came from and who paid it.

Cut the crap, fellas. Maybe your candidate is stupid, but "The People" are not, and you're only digging the hole you'll have to crawl out of deeper.

Give it up. Hit your refresh button, and look at Audra's Alliance faked-photograph which has appeared in several newspapers. The web has made hiding this stuff impossible.

Hi guys, this is a "blog", listed in the opinion area, not the headline area.

And YOU obviously have as much right to write here as I do - you just did it!

Stop "shooting the messenger" and realize you finally have a medium which is completely open to YOUR opinions whether it agrees with the editors or not. Use your space to debate intelligently and politely.

My friend Cliff Carroll of WindStop.org brought the signs.
The 8 Healey supporters were or have been Alliance members.

I hope Cape Codders recognize the great selflessness of Eric Hart's offer to "give every nickel" of the $10 admission for this film to the Dennis Chamber's Scholarship fund which goes to local students to forward their education.

He is literally taking money out of his own pocket and deserves thanks from us all (in addition to running the best moviehouse in a hundred miles).

You can thank him by sending Eric an email; harte@capecinema.com

Ironically I commissioned a survey for The Cape Codder back in 1976.

Even then, thirty years ago, The Cape Codder cared enough about its professional reputation and conduct that it spent $15,000 it could ill-afford at the time to have the same company which performed surveys for The Boston Globe conduct the research.

The firm called over 1,500 local residents at random drawn from telephone numbers in just six towns in their circulation area which had a yearround population back then perhaps half of what it is today. (The whole cape had 80,000 residents in 1960.)

The firm then used responses which reflected at least these criteria;

1. each of the six town's population as compared to the whole.
2. 51% female, 49% male (the breahdown in '76).
3. all respondents selected were over 21.
4. all were yearround residents taxpayers.

Why didn't the mega-media owners of CNC do at least that well today for its readers?

Sorry Aaron, but you could NEVER look repulsive. As a lifelong Democrat I am alarmed that you GOPers are much better looking than my tribe.
Hell, both you and Doug Bennett could become fashion models if either of you lose the election ;>)

According to Andy Rooney, "Phyllis Schlafly speaks for all American women who oppose equal rights for themselves."

I was suggesting that Aaron, who is a charming and most gracious young gentleman, is doing the same for men when he opposed same-sex marriage.

The real explanation is simpler: They are feeling the heat and panicking.

It was one thing for an unknown upstart like Deval Patrick almost a year ago to endorse something The CCTimes has struggled relentlessly to block, but now another candidate joins him leaving only a mealy-mouthed, Beacon Hill pol like Tom O'Reilly against the project.

I assume this means we'll see The Times endorse "Trumpery Tom" for the Demo nomination and simply salivate over "Muffy" Healey for the GOP choice.

A fleeing Al Qaeda guerilla, desperate for water, was plodding through the raqi desert when he saw something far off in the distance. Hoping to find water, he walked toward the object, only to find a little old Jewish man at a small stand selling neckties.

The Arab asked, "Do you have water?"

The old Jewish man replied, "I have no water. Would you like to buy a tie? They are only $5.00."

The Arab shouted, "Idiot Jew! Israel should not exist! I do not need an overpriced tie. I need water! I should kill you, but I must find water first."

"O.K.," said the old Jew, "It does not matter that you do not want to buy a tie and that you hate me. I will show you that I am bigger than that. If you continue over that hill to the east for about two miles, you will find a lovely restaurant. It has all the water you need. Shalom."

Muttering, the Arab staggered away over the hill.

Several hours later he staggered back. Nearing collapse, he said,
"Your brother won't let me in without a tie."

This Editorial was welcome support from our northern neighbor in our fight to save Cape Cod's renewable energy future from the selfishness of our nabob neighbor Ted Kennedy who apparently cares far more about his uncluttered ocean view than he does about America's dire need for renewable energy.

It is more than a little ironic that you conservative, Republicans are trying to protect us liberal Democrats from a befuddled, old hypocrite who hasn't the grace to retire before he destroys what little reputation he has left.

Hey Thump, put on your reading glasses. Those are clouds. The water line is down a bit, and it's A PHOTOGRAPH, NOT A DRAWING.

Are you sure you're really in Maine?
You sound like Monpo's old man.

As someone who can remember The Beats, I especially appreciate Jack's homage to the Kerouac style in this very evocative diary.

Thumper, where were you when I needed you???

Hey Solon, anything's better than MORE GREEKS !!!!

Neil, don't be anti-semantic ;>)

Peckham, you dissolute, superannuated reprobate, stay away from this innocent child or I shall sic the redoubtable Babs after your worthless bones -
;>)
P.S. Ain't it a pleasure to hear a young, fresh and oh-so wise voice among all these Cape Cod curmudgeons !

A commenter asked;
"What do they all have in common?"

The answer is;
"They are three pols (two local) lampooned in the Boston press."

Rich's column;
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/opinion/11rich.html

"Who the Gods would destroy, they first make allergic" - Lott Tsu

Even if shellfish is fatal to you Monponsett, go to Marathan in West Dennis on Route 28.

I's worth the reaction ;>)

Greg, I hope you know how wonderful your photography is for the rest of us sloths who aren't out in the garden today doing "the right stuff."

Please keep the beauty coming.

Welcome, Greg, and forgive Monpo.
She's mentally challemged most days, but right now she also has a backache requiring hospitalization.

When she's better she'll use irony again, and as Kierkegaard reminds us that “Irony is a disciplinarian feared only by those who do not know it, but cherished by those who do.”

Is lunch at "Grumpy's" o.k. instead?
We're a low-budget operation.
Congrats to you, sweet Monpo, for without YOUR help Katelyn would be swinging a hammer rather than a bat.
I almost regret my crack about you starting King Philip's War ;>)

The ethical gyrations of Congressman Delahunt should be amusing to watch.
At least we know Ted K will not mind - his view isn't marred by what the proles in Fairhaven or New Bedford may see.

Mr. Farley, try to ignore Monpo.
She was personally responsible for the start of King Philip's War around here a few years back, and she's risen irony to a near-art form. She also writes a kewl sports blog.
;>)

It is at times like this (launching a new blog for an unsuspecting guest) that I take solace in the immortal words of Friedrich Schiller, "Against stupidity even the Gods struggle in vain."

No. We're equal-opportunity affronters and abusers.
If you ever see a similar story on the GOP anywhere, please send it to us, wb@eCape.com, or maggie@eCape.com, or (508)385-0003,ext. 108.

Nobody deleted anything. You didn't type in your name in your last comment and thus appeared as anonymous.

This is what Jim Gordon says, in fact, it's on their website!

Frequently asked questions (by the way, the info about it being used on the Cape is confirmed by NSTAR):

How much electricity will Cape Wind provide?

Cape Wind will be rated to produce up to 468 megawatts of wind power as each wind turbine will produce up to 3.6 megawatts. Maximum expected productionwill be 454 megawatts. Average expected production will be 170 megawatts which is almost 75% of the 230 megawatt average electricity demand for Cape Cod and the Islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.

Where will the electricity go?

In order to get the electricity generated by the winds on Horseshoe Shoal into homes, schools and businesses on Cape Cod, Cape Wind will connect into the electric grid at the Barnstable substation through underground cables. From there, the electricity will follow the path of least resistance and be consumed by electric consumers closest to the source, typically on the Cape and Islands.

· How would Cape Wind impact electricity prices?

Cape Wind will help to stabilize and even reduce the price of electricity.
Cape Wind will do this in 3 ways:
1) Cape Wind will reduce the clearing price for electricity in the New England spot market by reducing operations of the regions most expensive power plants, this will reduce electricity prices in New England by 25 million dollars per year

2) Cape Wind will reduce the implementation costs of the Renewable Portfolio Standard to Massachusetts electricity consumers by increasing the supply of renewable energy certificates.

3) Cape Wind will pursue long-term power contract(s) that will lock-in a fixed price for electricity for a term of ten or more years. This would provide electricity consumers purchasing Cape Wind energy with far greater electric aprice stability and price certainty than is typically available.

The bad guys wouldn't need to highjack an airplane - a rowboat or the plant's own pile of nuclear waste will do the job even easier. Read Pilgrim's blog on left for proof.

Otis, perhaps you miss the point of cctoday and its blogs which is to aggregate for Cape Codders all the news stories and opinion pieces which our daily does not have the time, staff of newsprint to publish.
You are quite correct about CCTimes. It's an excellent regional daily, but it, like the entire newspaper industry, is going through a brutal down-sizing forced by investors who now own most of America's newsrooms and want their 35% profit. We're satisfied by breaking even.
Hopefully between The Times' print edition and our little little enterprise, you and our neighbors will be served fuller - and at least you can argue with what we say, and do it RIGHT NOW. Walter

Thanks, Pat. But I really liked it the other way
;>)

O.K. children, let's be nice-nice.

Jack's credentials are at least as good as Dona's or anyone else, and he is after all a trained journalist.

Cape Cod TODAY sent Jack to Denmark because our daily newspaper would not send him or the other jouralist covering Cape Wind at the time despite writing 40 editorials about against the project.

When we hire a journalist to cover a story here or abroad, we do not change a single word and open every story for comments by readers.

The "old media" should do the same.

CapeMom is correct, as is her custom.
I added a photo of Larry Thomas, A.K.A. the Soup Nazi, and thanks.

Hey, the guy attended Valey Forge Military Academy, a preparatory school also attended by Norman Schwarzkopf and J.D. Salinger, where, according to school officials, he was the top academic student and the second highest-ranking student officer.

Now that's scary !

Both the CC Times and Boston Herald stories are now linked in the story above.

Barbara, neither Jack or anyone else needs to "demonize" NIMBYs. You all do very well without any outside help.

Dear Porky, we knew he had remarried, but it is clearly his first marriage to fellow Holbrook resident Andy Card's sister which started his climb to party prominence. Remember Andy's own unsuccessful run for Massachusetts governor around the same time?

The point I was making is that Cape Codders who have worked for a half century to keep our National Seashore safe from Washington's bureaucrats were insulted and appalled to have this White House impose upon them a big-time lobbyist who had never spent time here except to rally your fellow Republicans at closed, party meetings.

Mostly we wonder why a man who makes many millions a year working for casinos and cell phone interests would want to be the chair of our local national park's advisory committee.

Maybe you can tell us that and assuage all our concerns, and BTW, the "corpoate brochures" you mention were current ones from his own corporation, and the Globe article in in today's edition.

Porky Pine, that's a Daniel Schorr reply when he was once asked by a budding newsman how to succeed in tv replied, "Sincerity: if you can fake it, you've got it made."

Perhaps it would be even more apt to quote Oscar Wilde who once stopped in the middle of a speech, looked at the young imitators, and said, "Imitation is the tribute which mediocrity pays to genius"

Obviously FactChecker didn't check the datelines since the Bloomber's is Nov. 14, Boston Globe's and Metro's is Nov. 17, and TheGlobe & Mail's is Nov. 19, all 2005.

And BYW, it's RIM, not RIMM.

You are more than welcome to your opinion, however, this report is drawn from four separtate newspaper stories within the past few days. The papers referenced are all among Canada and America's best and most trustworthy.

If you click on the hyper-links offered in the first paragraph above you can read each story in its entirety, and then write to any of them pointing out their flaws. A couple of the stories made the same points you have, albeit more politely.

That's the wonder of the web if writers give you the courtesy of offering their sources.

Thanks.

According to a study the Newspaper Assocaiation of America performed it takes a decade for a completely neutered newspaper to finally die. That's the power of inertia. Some older readers will read whatever newspaper you've always read until the day they die. The facts & figures are here;
http://www.capecodtoday.com/blogs/index.php?p=355
But in a nutshell, in the past 25 years the percentage of people aged 30 to 39 who read a paper every day plunged from 73% to 30%. That's down over 60% , and these consumersare the most sought by advertisers. On an average weekday, about 55 million newspapers are sold nationally, down from 63 million in 1985.Daily newspaper circulation has also failed to keep up with population growth. Total daily newspaper circulation as a percentage of all U.S. households ("penetration") has been falling sharply since its all-time high of 123% in 1950 to its current 51%.

Jake, you've hit a raw nerve here (40 comments).

Keep up the great coverage.

Sorry Otis, but "none are so blind as they who will not see."

Read the links and look for a job in another medium.

Gee, Porky, which of Tony Ridder's baubles do you want. If I buy you the San Jose Mercury News will you move west?

Yes, a huge difference.

Bush spent your tax dollars and mine in a covert, ILLEGAL way.
Cape Wind spent its own money.

If you think America's education system is in good shape, you aren't reading the news reports about our education'S standing vs. other industrilaized natuions has falling significantly in the past few years, AND SECRETLY PAYING OFF JOURNALISTS TO PRAISE IT WILL NOT MAKE IT BETTER.

For all you Bushies with your heads in the sand, I added a few links to the post above for those of you who missed the 10,000 news stories in the past year about The White House paying off columnists and news channels to be flacks for his failed education program and the resulting G.A.O. condemnation.

Note to Peter Kenny, a.k.a. The Great Gadfly -

Why don't you let me set up a "Cape Blog" for you here, and then you can rant on about any of your countless pet peeves instead of waiting to comment on someone else's?

You already know my phone number, or email me at wb@eCape.com and I'll hand you another medium in a New York Minute.

If you can access the ABC reports for CCTimes, you'll know how many newspapers they sell in Barnstable, but an educated quess would be at least 30% of their 50,000 total circulation on the assumption that the fringe areas have less high a penetration.

That would mean 30% of $25,000,000, or $7,500,000 an 15,000 of their circulation. If these figures are off by double, that's still a hell of a good market to be in.

All valid points except your last -

"Post-script: Or maybe it's just self-interest. The Times advertisers are commercial businesses. Maybe the new editor took a look at the rest of the paper and noticed that neither homeowners nor the Cape Cod Commission take out full page ads."

Having read & worked with CCTimes for over forty years, I know from long personal experience that there is no quid pro quo or other links twix the Editorial Department and the Advertising Department. Maybe "the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing", but they are truly insulated from each other as should always be the case.

I received three angry emails from one of Bob's boosters which I'll share with you including my replies:

From: jen smith [industrynews2@hotmail.com]
Walter, You will never receive the recognition you so desperately crave.
Your petty snipes, gross distortions, outright lies and general disregard for truth and journalistic standards make you a hack. Nothing more. Nothing ess. The real players see it right away.
As a well-respected journalist said when asked about your little website - "Let him stew in his own bile."

My reply;
Why don't you write a blog for us and tell everyone instead of only myself. cctoday welcomes your views as eagerly as those with which we agree. I'd be happy to set one up for your use.

You may also write your comments to any of our blogs either with your name or anonymously. We only filter for profanity.

You'd be amazed at how many "well-respected journalists" read our site daily, bile and all, and as Voltaire said, "I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it. "

MS Smith's response;
Your response proves my point in a roundabout way.
You care little about the substance of what I (or you or anyone else) says.
You just want more blogs. Who cares if they're true or not.
You've said some very bad, untruthful things about some very good people...
But you care little about the words you type or allow others to type. The real truth is not important to you.
You just want more blogs.

My repsonse;
MS Smith, I guess I don't understand what you want. I do not exercise ANY control, editorial or otherwise, on our blogs or columns. Writers with whom I agree and those with whom I don't agree have equal access. That's the way our nation's founders set it up in the First Amendment to the Constitution.
I don't know how you know what I believe, I certainly don't know what you or anyone else believes, and I don't understand your reference to the "real truth".
What other kind is there?
You say "You've said some very bad, untruthful things about some very good people..."
I've been in media for over a half century and written millions of words, so if you could be a little specific about what I wrote, I will take the time to answer you, and if you prove I'm wrong I will admit it and write a retraction.
Are you assuming that "I wrote" or am responsible for everything written on capecodtoday.com?
You sound quite angry, and I would like to find a way for you to refute those things you feel are untrue, or correction the record yourself.
"If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all." - Noam Chomsky
Please continue to respond, Walter

MS Smith final response;
Amazing. You think what you said about Robert Kempf is fair? Is true? You couldn't care less. You think it's just good fun. No one harm done. And you play dumb about it. You can't be the moron he pretend to be. I don't buy it.
Bob is extremely talented, dedicated and ethical. You're right about one thing..., some very good journalsts glance at your site ocassionaly...but mainly for entertainment value. "Walter fell off his rocker again." That kind of stuff.
I'm done. I don't think I can get throuigh to you. But I'm confident some others will...in good time.

My last response;
O.K., you finally let me know what upsets you. That is an item I wrote and stand by.
Contrary to your belief, however, I spoke with over a half dozen men and women, mostly from CCTimes staff, about Bob and what their experiences have been.
"Less there than meets the eye" for example is a mild dig by one such. You may be impressed with Bob's work at The Times, and you may even be correct.
It's also O.K. for me and others to have differing opinions. If Bob is as great as you believe, now that he's VP of a giant Mass. media corp., he'll prove me and other wrong. That's the great thing about free enterprise.
It tolerates both of us. You apparently won't be happy until I agree with you about this item, which I can't given the fact you have revealed no facts or experiences to change my opinion. It was, after all, and "Opinion" piece, not a news story.
Sorry I've failed you, Walter

Peter Porcupine has been correct for most of the past 227 years, and none more than with this comment below. Filene's departure means the loss of that huge amount of display advertisng from every daily newspaper in its market area. That is precisely what killed the NY Herald Tribune 35 years ago when the department stores decided that by only running ads in NY Times they would force the Trib's failure saving them the need to advertise in both, which it did. Now it's The New York Times' turn (and The Globe, and our own daily).

Because people are frightened, and older people are more frightened, and retired people on fixed incomes are most frightened.

And bullies take advantage of that fear, but the only why to stop the fear is to stop the abuse.

Vote NO August 2 in the RE-override.