CapeCodToday Blog Chowder

No, no! The bugs are out on the water!

What kind of blog is that?

But did the shark survive?

Blame lies with part media hype, part government CYA.

Doing the same for normal days? Yeah, but you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Believe your television and fear -- FEAR, ALREADY!

What IS capecodtoday.com?

It's a floor wax! No, it's a dessert topping!

(Anyone not getting this is either too old, too young, or just not culturally-literate.)

And mine just ran out...

I had seen these two walking along Route 28, as most of the East Europeans do, this spring. Looked younger than most guys here. But hadn't seen them lately. Must've bought a car... somehow.

"In America on visas" -- what kind of visas? Tourist visas? Student visas? Work visas?

More thank likely, they were her on J1 student visas -- but had jobs here. Any idea where they worked?

Not wanting to be a pain here, but those are the shanties (not shacks) just off the landing at the end of Barn Hill Road (a/k/a "Barn Hill" or simply "the River"). There is, technically, a landing at the end of Hardings Beach Road, incorporated into Hardings Beach. But if you asked anyone in town, especially commercial fishermen, to meet you at "Hardings Landing" you'd get a confused silence followed by a "Where's that?"

For the record, I'm not going to rule it out either.

But it will go to a woman. Really.

Dear Clueless in LA,

There's more money on the North Shore than on Cape Cod. Cape Ann is the monied suburbs of Boston. Even Gloucester.

There's better sailing up that way, but consider the basics: Cape Ann -- rocky shores and cold, cold water. Cape Cod -- sandy beaches and warm water.

"Beautiful people" go to Cape Cod? I've been waiting nearly 43 years and haven't seen 'em. But I have seen quite a few commercial fishermen from here. I've never heard a comparison of the two Capes, with my home coming out the richer of the two.

Love your superficiality. Did you make it yourself?

The problem, I suspect, is that the idea of Schluter's in Chatham was to convert it into a park. A second park at this rotary -- and more than likely, a second park that no one would use. That this was an idea got real traction is worrisome enough... until there was some soil contamination found, and that killed it right before Town Meeting.

So this is simply a business calculation: which would you rather have across from your B&B? A convenience store or a park? If they win in court, the park idea will come back from the dead.

I'm not saying I agree with it, but suing could make rational economic sense.

I would love to know the original context for the Nast cartoon.

Papalligators and an upside-down Old Glory over a ruined "U.S. Public Schools"? There's an interesting story behind it, to be sure.

Forget the nuclear sub -- I know a few gillnetters who'd be tempted to harvest that copper!

Really, would someone find out who is responsible for the graphic? The comparison to Yao Ming was truly an inspired piece of propaganda. Although I would have preferred something more menacing, like a Kodiak Bear.

And couldn't they have waited until next week to claim it as an April Fool's prank?

Yes, I noticed that change, too. ecs' original comment ended with the Japanese banking crisis when first posted... and then I checked later it included the two paragraphs from bis.org.

Since, once posted, a comment cannot be changed by the commenter, either CCToday's editors or Bill himself added the new paragraphs.

Editing for spelling, grammar, brevity or profanity -- okay. But this is scary -- you are attributing comments to someone who didn't make them.

That's unethical, and the changes need to be deleted immediately... Bill.

"spend on something they wanted because they believed they could pay for it"

No, that is the cause of the problem. Too much spending when people believed they could pay for it, rather than actually having the money, and -- what's more -- able to afford it.

An emphasis on spending will not get us out of the hole -- it will only bring us back to where we are now. Teach those kids the value of saving instead.

An economy that cannot survive without the wanton credit-based spending of the past 25 years is not worth saving.

"Myles Standish, captain of the Mayflower"

No. Wrong. Completely. The deed may be right, but the reporter is not.

Although I would take issue with your assertion that most natives made their livelihood from fishing. I'd say construction/real estate employed more and brought in more cash. Of course, many fisherman swing a hammer when they can't fish, so it cuts both ways.

Mav,

Oh, I agree -- as a native myself, I remember there was a window of time -- between extreme poverty that lasted up until WWII and about 1980. The Cape was mostly middle class. I have my own theories as to what went bad, and drugs certainly played a part. My mom was on a drug awareness committee set up in Chatham around 1970. As a commercial shellfisherman, I saw that a cash-based economy is rife with pitfalls.

But it is time to move on. We went from poor to middle class to completely out of balance in the historic blink of an eye. I would prefer the Cape in which I grew up -- but the rest of the world moves on, and won't leave us alone.

As for regionalization, I see it as a temporary fix, which long-term negatives.

We have the population to support a year-round economy. And we have more wealth and talent than New Bedford, Plymouth or Taunton. They should be coming here, not the other way around.

Simply, what you suggest may sound reasonable, but it is just not that attractive. These are not the lazy and unimaginative. They tend to the better and the brightest. They want a life, not a commute.

Maybe I am being lame here, but don't ask me for the solution. I am simply trying to tear down the connection the Cape Cod Times and other media have made between regionalization and retaining young people.

That said, we should START with earnestly finding out what it is that makes a place attractive to young people -- and then do it.... 'cause we're really failing on that.

However, I do not believe that the establishment here (which, like many professionals here, is a really keystone cops operation) truly wants to tackle the issue of how to attract more young people, in and of itself.

Rather, it is being driven by 1) existing businesses looking to perpetuate their business plans, which involve public subsidy for the low-paying seasonal jobs they offer, and 2) a desire of some failing local governments to look outside their borders for a greater tax base.

The greatest thinking of the 20th century. Unfortunately, we're living in the 21st.

If there were lots of good jobs here, then why is the cream of our youth leaving?

And I take issue with a few of your examples. Hospitality -- these jobs pay piddly. Real Estate -- speculative, and the market is flooded with people with their license. Journalism -- the place is lousy with writers -- too many of us and not enough to cover. Charter Captains -- again, too many licenses, and too few places to charter out of. And like hospitality -- too seasonal.

Of course, I am still here, partly out of pure cussedness, partly because my daughter deserves a childhood like my own, close to the sea, surrounded by a large extended family.

Don't ask me what I want -- ask those who are about to leave, and those who have already left.

As long as people see Cape Cod as a sleepy, limited vacation area ONLY then we are doomed.

The problem is, even if regionalization led to perfect schools, with 100% graduation and college acceptance rates... what then? Lower or higher price tag, you've now got a bunch of kids heading off Cape to school for four years.

What do we do to make sure that a decent portion of them actually return? Otherwise, what's the point of flushing this money down the toilet?

Again, they need jobs, jobs, jobs. Not waiting tables. Not cutting grass. Not cleaning someone's bedpan.

Less cost does not mean better quality. Or even similar.

I would argue regionalization actually works against the interest of keeping young people on the Cape. Small schools, like Chatham's, are attractive because of their size. Regionalization therefore simply looks like a money-grab.

The point is missed entirely that people are willing to pay for good schools... unless the people have no vested interest in the schools. It is a downward spiral. Cater to retirees and soon that's all you will have. We need to find ways to get back to balance, not accelerate it through making the place less attractive to young families.

As for comparing numbers between India and the U.S., well, they do have 3 times our population. But I would be interested in a percentage comparison, as well as a definition of what "honors" means. Are we talking the same terms?

For example, Europe counts people who have stopped looking for work as unemployed, while we do not. Hence, unemployment in Europe always looks greater than here.

Don't get me wrong -- I love snow. I just think that when you cancel school because of snow, then there ought to be... well... some snow.

This morning, the price at Cumby's in Chatham was $2.05. Now it is $2.08. Up? Did I miss something?

"'Architecture of the Cape Cod Summer' should serve as a lesson about what not to build."

That pretty much says it all.

Cru, he died running a marathon, as I recall, a few years back. But thanks for the thought. I'm in a different direction these days, anyway.

Buzz, I think you meant "silicon" not "silicone". Perhaps you may unconsciously be bemoaning the lack of the latter here.

There are parts of the country that have tourism, retirement and other parts of their economy to balance things out, or even feed off of them.

My mom opened up her physical therapy offices in the in East Harwich because she saw the need. That's pretty small-scale. The Cape is a perfect place to study gerontology. Health care and senior citizens go together like... a coastal environment and marine science. No reason Woods Hole has to have it all. So there's two more legs on the stool.

Me, it is about a declining quality of life. I'd like to go to the movies in Hyannis without wondering if there will be another stabbing in a crowded theater but not one witness. I'm kinda funny about my family's personal safety that way.

Which one?

Cru, my life would have turned out much differently if I had been accepted to the grad program in planning at the only school in the Boston area with only an intramural sports program. Between the two schools at either end of Mass. Ave, I prefer the one with its own nuclear reactor.
(Aside: My first job out of college was working for Chatham's first Executive Secretary, Jim Lindstrom. Years later living in Cambridge, I found him serving as Finance Director for the city.)
Can we get the brains up there working for us?

This is a real tough nut -- retired people moved here for a lifestyle sold to them by a realtor. That picture did not include a vibrant community attractive to young people. Far from it. Low taxes and growing real estate values, quiet neighborhoods and ease of driving from home to the post office, supermarket and golf course are the priorities. This demographic tends to turn out at higher proportions in elections, and like any rational group, when given the choice they tend to vote to preserve their self-interest.
I would like to see a forum that gathers the younger people we profess to want to retain and hear from them what they want. The powers-that-be might like the answers, though.

Cru, having lived in Central Square in the 90's, there are a few pointers to take from the place -- as well as a few examples not to follow. It would be hard to replicate a world class educational institution that's been around for 300 years (founded by those Boston Puritans -- sorry, none were on the Mayflower) equipped with the choicest urban real estate in New England and an endowment larger than the budgets of many small countries.
Bouncing between Chatham and Cambridge, it was easy to see that both could be insufferably parochial in their own ways. One lesson to take away is that a lack of affordable housing is not a make or break issue on retaining or attracting young people. And I speak as a lifelong of advocate of housing for the less-than-affluent.
Attracting one or more colleges or universities (or part thereof) would be helpful. But can one imagine the regulatory hurtles thrown up to one on the Cape?

Spunky, for the record I don't respond to ad hominem. Especially if it doesn't make any sense.

Bipr, whether a better education is provided by a large school or a small school is a separate issue (but one which I would willingly take on). Whether young families are attracted to an area with a regional school system or more local control is also debatable (this coming from the father of a kindergartner).

But regardless of which avenue you take to get an excellent school system or even how much it costs, you will end up with a group of 18 year-olds who have even greater opportunities for mobility. In other words, the smarter you make them, the faster they will leave.

Young people leaving or not wanting to move here are doing so for reasons that make sense for their immediate future. If you ask them why, "the Cape needs better schools" is probably far down the list.

Perhaps it would be instructive to go to areas that DO attract young people, figure out what those things might be, then try out a few of them here.

These studies have already been done, but it would seem no one at these gatherings has the simplest understanding of what is going on. Maybe they need to SEE it with their own eyes.

Would someone please explain to me how regionalizing school systems will retain and attract young people? I fail to see the connection.

Possee, yes, maybe these out-of-work GOP pols should go work at car dealerships to hone their skills. These days, that's a pretty tough environment. There they can learn things like bargaining:

"What's it gonna take for me to get you leave here today with support for my party?"

Lower the payments? Rebate? Free air? Improve the trade-in?

Very simply -- this is not a holy war. This is a sale. No sale, no commission.

Jimmy Scannell is in Hyannis? Chatham was his haunt. They must've busted up his camp in the woods.

So many stories...

I should add that some of the most conservative -- even reactionary -- people I've found in Chatham are Democrats. Wealthy, well-educated.

Well, Ned pegged it -- starting in GOP politics in 1989, I remember in conversations with Bill Weld and Steve Pierce that despite the national party's shift to the right, the average Republican in Massachusetts was an older female who attended a small white church and was quietly pro-choice.

That was still the case at least ten years later, despite natural attrition as those members passed away. But others really chafed at the shrill language of newer members. As if any of these carpetbaggers had the right to tell these lifelong GOP grandmothers who was and was not a "real" Republican.

So some registered Independent. As did their kids. The point is, their values didn't change. They were simply put to a party loyalty test, and tacitly (or loudly) invited to leave. But maybe send a card everyone couple years, in the form of a ballot.

If you got together all those former Republicans and their like-minded kids, you would probably outnumber the present GOP in the state.

Can you explain how a state with more Independents than Democrats has such a whopping Democratic control?

Just shows that party labels mean very little, whether you have one or not.

Just about 5,000 votes in Chatham by 7:15 PM. No lines.

Over 1400 votes cast in Precinct 2 alone by 11:30 AM.

Yes, not-voting is as much an expression at voting is.

Although may appear contradictory, I would prefer that if one chooses not to vote, one STILL go vote and than cast a blank ballot. With a number of offices up for grabs, and a few ballot questions, there has to be something out there one would have a preference for.

And when someone is running unopposed, a high number of blanks sends a message -- ANYBODY BUT YOU.

I also agree about a lack of attractive choices sapping potential voters' motivation. It should not take financial armageddon to get people to participate in their government.

One of the best indicators of whether one will vote is if they have done so before. Let us hope that with high turnout this time, Americans make this a habit.

Dem, as this is a most egregiously a Lower Cape phenomena, I submit that there are one or two people in particular who might have a louder say than a collection of unherded cats a/k/a the members of the boards of the Selectmen thereof.

Both are running for re-election. Both are of the party that claims to stand up for the economically disadvantaged. Neither have shown any interest in taking a leadership position on what is clearly a quality of life -- nay, an affordability of life -- issue in their state rep. districts.

Emailing corporations really is not going to do anything. Emailing election officials, on the other hand...

I particularly liked the response I got when I went into Cumby's to redeem some bottles. Sofie had been collecting them in order to buy one piece of her Halloween costume.
I was told, "We don't take them. Go to a liquor store."
Informing them that these bottles were Cumby's brand, and wouldn't be taken anywhere else, they eventually relented. But what a windfall to Cumby's if their policy is refusing return deposits.
Sure it is a hassle to process the bottles -- but it is MY MONEY.

"Newshole" sounds like an expletive.

In that vein, one can imagine more than a few alternative-yet-seemingly-appropriate definitions.

Like, "For the most part, I've enjoyed talking with reporters, but there have been a few newsholes..."

Opinionator: Well, we could really give you the benefit of the doubt and say that your IP address is the cause. The site's ads can tell where you are, and maybe that's enough of a demographic tip-off (no pun intended). Then there's the 50-50 chance you're male, so viagra is a safe bet as a targeted ad.

Of course, my hometown is even worse, competing with Orleans as the oldest in the state. When Sofie was still a baby, I observed that the CVS in Chatham had had a much larger section for diapers for people over 65 than those under 12 months.

And, for some reason, they never stocked them next to each other...

Unfortunately, it got to a point where at a public hearing, a member of the public was trying to repeatedly correct Planning Board member Earle Kendrick on where each member was from.

Most were from North Chatham. Kendrick said Chathamport. The questioner said, "North Chatham." Kendrick corrected, "No, Chathamport." The questioner said, "You mean North Chatham."

Kendrick's family has been here since there was a Chathamport. The questioner probably just retired here. He probably got his definition from his realtor.

Typically the ads you see online have less to do with the site you are reading them on than the algorithms used to predict what ads the visitor might find relevant.

The site itself generally does not pick the specific ads -- Google and Yahoo or whatever ad company that they embed with chooses for them.

It can be based on the content of the page itself and/or the browsing histories of the site visitors.

The fault, then, lies as much in ourselves as in our stars.

Chathamport, not North Chatham. Realtors of late have tried to stretch the boundaries by a few miles. This is the original location the Nickersons settled.

Not anything that will actually work. Just life-support proposals for one particular outdated industry at the cost of the rest of the community.

I can't believe that an intelligent conversation has continued so long on CCToday (this comment notwithstanding).

Okay, how's this:

As previously covered in my blog, the Mass. state office that collects economic and labor statistics confirmed in a conversation to me that the wages of low and middle range workers had been stagnating, especially on the Cape, and that the importation of labor, especially of H2B, played no small part in this.

They also did not agree that the wages required to be paid under the H2B programs were not, despite the federal definition within the program, the "prevailing wage."

These were economists talking.

Further, tightening of the housing market is inevitable if an employer is switches from locally-available labor to transient seasonal labor. The former requires pay commensurate with the cost of living locally. The former will put up with dorm/flophouse conditions if that means going back to a country with a lower standard of living with enough to support his family.

Just like those guys who worked on the Alaska pipeline. They only did it because they were making "Crazy Money."

As for illegal labor, well, that's just moving down the scale a step or two.

Eldredge Public Library in Chatham is private, as is the much smaller South Chatham library. They do get contributions from the town via line items in the budget, and both are very well-used.

In this case, these private libraries are non-profit entities. The town does not run them, and it seems to work out to everyone's benefit.

I'd settle for a consistent application, from bottom to top, of the very American concept of fair play and law and order. However, the top of both parties have zero credibility -- or motivation -- to bring this to pass.

A century ago, the most popular president since George Washington said, "The Government ought not to conduct the business of the country; but it ought to regulate it so that it shall be conducted in the interest of the public."

Absent that, we are now looking at international finance by conservatorship.

I really wish the media would stop letting commentators off the hook when they say, "These guys were really smart." No, they were really dumb. We have proof. Monumentally dumb.

One measure of intelligence -- and a pretty good one -- is the willingness to admit "I don't know."

On a regular basis, the cheapest gas on the Cape is at Harwich Gas, next to the 400 on Route 28 in Harwichport.

Because of this, the Cumby's down the street tries to match them. And the price effect radiates out from there. Chatham's Cumby's is higher than Orleans, and Brewster is higher still.

In turn, every other station feels the downward price pressure.

Going back and forth to Boston once a week, I buy my gas in Cumby's in Plymouth, just west of Route 3 on Route 44. It is typically 20-30 cents per gallon less than the Cumby's in Chatham.

As for grocery prices, the same lack of competition also means higher prices. Go to the Shaws at the Prudential Center and you'll find the people living in the high-end condos are paying less for everything than the we do at the Shaws in Harwich.

Same owner. Same food. Same associated costs (perhaps higher in the Back Bay). But we pay more.

Why do retailers do this? Because they can.

Maybe I'm wrong, but isn't the fine typically $300 per day?

If they guy didn't want to see the trees, he should have bought somewhere else.

Those trees serve a purpose in holding the shore together. By cutting them down, he not only risks his property, but affects the public property (below the low water mark) and his neighbors.

You want to terraform, go to Florida.

If Suffolk, Norfolk or Middlesex are any example of how the state would run the registries of probate or deeds... no thanks.

Believe me -- that WOULD be the standard that would set. Very low.

I prefer public employees to not roll their eyes when they actually have to get up from reading the paper at their desk and help a customer.

Survey after survey show the American worker is the most productive in the world, even as the wages stagnate. But we can't on the one hand tell our people that if they work hard they can achieve the American dream, then on the other undercut them by importing workers who labor under contracts no American would accept (no moonlighting, and fear of being sent back to Third World poverty if they ask for overtime).

H2B rewards lazy, inefficient businesses. Time to move out of Uncle Sam's basement and get make it in the real worker, local employers.

H2B is a government subsidy to business. It defies the law of supply and demand because it allows businesses to go outside the system to increase the pool of labor.

Ten years ago, cleaning houses on the Cape paid $20-25 per hour. Now it is half that. Of course you're going to get the bottom of the barrel of the worker pool if you pay that. Cape Codders are not lazy and drunk. You do get what you pay for...

... unless you pay a fee to the feds and bring in a worker from an impoverished country where $12.50 per hour for 6 months can keep your whole family in style. The joke is that the government says, you cannot import your workers for this time unless that state proves you cannot find any workers for a wage we -- the federal government -- determines is fair and will not adversely affect the local wage scale.

This, of course, if patently absurd. You cannot maintain the value of anything if you anything if you increase its supply. Try holding your breath. Not a big deal to you. Now go 75 underwater and hold your breath. Suddenly, oxygen is very valuable.

Capemom, you're excepting those 20-somethings in uniform who volunteer to get more than their hands dirty, right? They have to come home and compete with workers who have luxury of taking First World Wages back to Second and Third World countries.

Cameras should be pointed up, not down. From up that high, everyone looks the same.

Peter, the devalued American dollar had more to do with perhaps fewer J1 (typically from Eastern Europe) or with those who overstayed their tourist visas deciding to return home (like Brazil).

The fewer H2B's on the Cape was a direct result of the annual cap being reached within 48 hours back at the first of the year. There's great demand for workers coming in under a program (H2B) Congressman Charlie Rangel described as "Close to Slavery."

Even so, there were some H2B's here this summer, having extended their visas from northern ski resorts. The farcical state office that certifies employers visa requests stooped to a new low by advertising for jobs on the Cape by omitting the basic information one might expect -- like the name of the business where the job is.

Okay, I understand if this is a professional job, but chambermaids? Used to be the ads would state who the employer was that turned its back on the community and was paying the lowest amount allowable.

And leave it up to a salaried state bureaucrat to find new ways to justify her existence when no visas are available.

Even the word "film" is a misnomer. Many major films and most television shows are shot on dv tape or straight to a hard drive. No need to courier the product across the bridge when it is easier just to upload it to the studios server.

You may be right. Although the major studio (Plymouth Rock) will already be off Route 3, within a few miles of the bridge. Relatively speaking, the traffic over the Canal and on Route 6 hardly compares to L.A.

I don't necessarily mean to suggest that an entire movie would come to a single location on the Cape and set up camp for the duration. Rather, that a number of smaller studios might spring up, in locations closer to the scenes. The light on the Cape is like nowhere else in North America (hence all those painters coming in the first half of the 20th Century).

Then it would simply be a matter of dialing up a local crew for a specific scene. Not a month's worth of work -- more like a week or even a day. But if a major studio is making films and television series on a regular basis just across the Canal, the demand will fairly regular. It is not a secret that the entertainment is hungry for content and looking to farm out as much as they can to keep costs down.

How is this any different than being a pedestrian? If the roadside of a non-limited access highway like Route 28 is unsafe to walk along, then it should be fixed.

In a time of increased use of bikes and shoe leather, there will be more than inmates walking along the side of the road. How about more sidewalks?

Yeah, possee, but the cars in Germany get twice the mileage -- even at twice the speed. And they're not paying in dollars -- they're paying in Euros which are worth much more than dollars these days. So the rise has not been as steep as it has been for us.

They also have the option of taking a decent train just about anywhere.

Of course, when I was there, we paid near-stateside prices using ration coupons. But even the smallest microcompact just blew by my U.S.-specs car.

"'Boston Globe' columnist Alex Beam writes that his regular visits to Dunkin Donuts are the only times he gets to interact with people who actually work for a living."

Which speaks volumes about the Globe workplace.

No, the REAL working people go to Cumby's. There's no time to stand in line this time of year.

Oh, for chrissakes, Matt -- talk about making a mountain out of a molehill. I read what was said on his blog. This guy didn't "attack" you any more than you attacked him prior to this.

There are far too many people in public life who live in fear of any sort of criticism, deserved or not.

Matt, please don't set this up by citing an attack upon yourself simply to refute it without citing the source. Who attacked you and what did they say?

There are a number of non-close minded consumers of news who would like to hear both sides before making our decisions.

Posting a link may just be what that blogger wants you to do, but that doesn't mean it still is not the right thing to do.

Don't underestimate the intelligence and wisdom of the public (and your constituents). They are grown-ups -- they can handle it.

I guess I missed it -- who was the blogger who was so vitriolic?

"Some residents" -- yes, some.

Whether it does or does not stink, it seems to be as effective as any in killing the eelgrass adjacent to their waterfront homes.

At least the vapors in South/West Chatham keep the price of homes in that one part of town within reach of regular people.

Well done, Francesco.

Are there a lot of Americans looking to take seasonal jobs in Jamaica?

I inherited an ice cream machine a few years back, and love it. But it is dangerous (in that it goes quickly). Saves on cranking.

But I don't mind kneading the dough -- at least there's some exercise involved. We just tried cinnamon raisin bread this morning. Good thing we made two loaves, since one is already half gone.

The thing about good bread and other basics is that , lacking them, people will tend to eat junk food. If I have good bread or cheese, I won't be looking for chips and fake nacho cheese. I recall commercials when I was in Paris for cheese, and they were marketing it like Coke. Same thing in Germany -- purity is a big hook.

I just could not believe the disparity between produce costs here and there. There is something tragically wrong with a system that results in candy bars being cheaper than apples.

As for my garden, it may be more of an issue of a neighbor who has raised the grade of his driveway to result in it draining into the garden. Probably better not to be eating stuff grown there anyway. I may be moving onto easier food to grow like berries.

There's OXYGEN in Carbon MonOxide... so is breathing all air unsafe?

HYDROGEN is explosive... but is drinking pure diHYDROGENated oxygen risky?

Just because something nasty has one element in it does mean every compound containing it is all bad, and vise versa.

To be on the safe side, we should all throw out anything with FLOUR in it.

Maverick,

I don't have time to sit here and monitor this blog 24-7 (although it feels like it today). Some things get through. Some don't. Some things go so far that if I were to start deleting offending parts, the conversation would be so full of holes it wouldn't make any sense (yeah, no need to take issue with me on that statement if you think we've already hit that point).

Sometimes I just think someone has gone too far. Other times, it seems that leaving something out there for all to see serves a better purpose than to delete it -- better for there to be a record of ridiculous comments than to try to delete or even refute them. It is not a science. That is why the word "may" is used in my rules.

If you want to discuss rules further, then email me and I may respond. But we're done talking about the rules.

Gotcha, Buzz. Wasn't singling anyone out. No one need be tased.

Christa Worthington and her murder(ers?) is a subject with its own blogs. Many, many. If one wants to talk about it, then go there. Please.

Actually some blogs out there are legitimate news sources. Some blogs are not. Some blogs are rumor. Some blogs are opinion. Some are diaries. Some are portfolios. Some are some of these, and some, all of these.
But I do hear the term "blogger" cast about a little loosely here. Ned does have a blog, but when he writes a comment here, he is a commenter, not a blogger.
Kind of like if I went on Maverick's boat. Now, I have a boat, too, and a master mariner's license as well. But on his boat, I'm the guest and he's the Captain.
(This comment is very off topic, but I'm going to ask the person who writes and edits this blog to allow it for purely clarification purposes.)

Buzz -- thanks for having an open mind on this. I've encountered idiots here, from time to time, but nothing this embarrassing. I hadn't realized it myself.

bittersweet -- you gotta give Buzz credit on this one. I give Maverick the same for his earlier admission of having stooped to a a racist crack.

maverick -- I mean that. But you lost credibility with me on your "pablum" observation. And getting into a completely off-topic banter with Ned. And asking about Rev. Wright, which really had nothing to do with anything I was writing about. And Farrakhan. And something about making beds, which I still don't understand, but perhaps has something to do with questioning my masculinity, I suppose, but completely flew over my head 'cause, well, I guess you're just of a different generation. And, finally, that thing about Ice Cube. As the great-grandson of an Irish immigrant who died digging a ditch in Chathamport, I I think I can say, one to another, "You really put yer foot it, Paddy."

Veritas all,

AGB

dilligaf,

I was the youngest of five -- not huge, but relatively large. So with two adults in the house, that's seven.
Still, we're talking 17 adults, sleeping on bunkbeds, using one bathroom, one kitchen, and one septic system. Overloaded. We have zoning and health regs for good reasons.
Jane Nichols Bishop (H2B visa broker), when challenged on this, said Americans wouldn't put up with this, and she's right. You have to go to second and third world countries to find people so desperate that they will work for minimum wage and paying practically half their weekly page back to their employer for overcrowded living space.
Of course, there are hundreds of million Bangladeshis who are even more desperate than our current Jamaican, Brazilian and Bulgarian workers. Wonder what they will put up with?

Is this just a race to the bottom, or are we actually going to actually value people for more than what we can get away with paying them?

Mav,

Apologies, Cap. You're much more enlightened than I thought. Perhaps when you have a charter that includes some black people, you go out of your way to stock the fridge with malt liquor, fried chicken and watermelon.

I defer to your vast knowledge of the American black experience. Happy sailing on the Good Ship Sambo.

I remember the Epicure upstairs as a dorm. Wish they hadn't turned them into condos. It wasn't squalor. It was designed that way. 17 people in a three bedroom bungalow with one bathroom... that's different.

Were you there the night when I and a roomful of resdients were held at knifepoint by a townie?

But let's take that a little further.
I remember a conversation I had with a member of Adult Children of Alcoholics. He told me that an issue he and others have to contend with and overcome is the feeling that everything is the fault of the alcoholic parent.
I didn't get into the right school because mom was too busy drinking to help me with my homework. I never met the right person because I was too embarrassed to bring anyone home. And so forth.
There's always an excuse not to try, not to succeed. My successes are my own, my failures are the fault of the ones who raised me.
Sound familiar?
How do you deal with a unproductive and often negative mindset like that? My guess is that you offer to listen to what they have to say, but you also keep them responsible for their own behavior.
But first, you don't dismiss them.

hamalcar,

I take issue with your use of the word "isolated." Recall my analogy to the dysunctional family. Maverick, for example, may represent the kid who came out of the family just fine. "Dad was great. Sure, he was tough but made me stronger for it."
Wright represents the other kid who say, "Screw that. Dad was an alcoholic, and Mom enabled him. He just liked you better."
Maverick thinks this analogy is pablum, but that's probably because it doesn't fit his experience. It is uncomfortable to think about.
Still, it doesn't take a huge event to traumatize a person. It can be many smaller things over time. Sustained. A series of smaller incidents can just as easily leave a person with a disordered outlook. From the outside, they may look "isolated". From inside, they appear differently. There's a cumulative effect.

Then, when I became Selectman, I requested a hearing on how to best address the very poor working and living conditions of seasonal foreign workers.
Like myself, my kids are not too good to clean their own house. But unless you see them walking around town with a scrub brush and a bucket in their hands, don't assume they'll want to clean yours.

And yes, she is awesome.

But she's not confined to the park. (I feel as if Ed O'Toole, my high school English teacher, is looking over my shoulder now.)

I have suggested, however, that if anyone gives her a poor reception in Chatham, it isn't because of her skin color, but rather because people know she is dating me.

capemom,

Wrong about the Irish. That was a very rare phenomenon. CBI and a few other inns. I never, never, never met anyone who came here from Ireland (although I did meet some from France). With a family landscaping business, I got a pretty good insight on available labor.
Instead, locals and college and high school kids were hired. They were paid enough to actually live here, and that usually involved overtime.
Then dorms used by the inns were converted to guest rooms, which meant that all available housing was at a premium, and then a subservient, cheap work force was found overseas that never asked for overtime and thought seventeen tenants to a three bedroom house at $90/week each was not so bad.
And if you bitch about it, then it is back to your second and third-world squalor with you.
That's an indentured servant.
I don't want any member of my family to be assumed to be automatically considered for toilet duty, for any reason. Least of all because of the misinformed assumptions of Lovey and Thurston Howell who just bought a house here because they couldn't afford the Hamptons.

Buzz,

I really have to wonder about that relationship with BO and Wright. I stopped being a member of a congregation when I realized that I differed quite distinctly on matters of conscience. And they didn't rise to what little (and I freely admit I have taken in little on Wright) I have heard about Wright. I'm sorry, no, I don't believe AIDS was manufactured, or that drugs were imported into the inner city by the feds.
But I also don't believe that 9/11 was God's punishment for America tolerating gays. And that stuff is broadcast nationwide every day.
These two (BO & Wright), from what I can discern, have a personal relationship and attachment beyond that of minister and parishioner. So much so, perhaps it crosses into nigh-family member status. Can I say that there are members of my family who have said things that are just, well, kooky? Who doesn't? Are they bereft of other finer qualities? Sure. Can I disavow them for political expediency? I suppose I could... but what would that say about my character?
I don't claim an easy answer on this one.

Mav,

Now it is Farrakhan? Who's next? Maclom X? Shirley Chisolm? Isaac from Love Boat?

They have just about equal relevance to this discussion. Except maybe Isaac. You see, I don't like what is happening to my home town. It used to be that that if you saw a person of color in Chatham, you assumed they were from Boston and/or lost. Now they are identified as a potential servant. Oh, how enlightened we have become in a dozen years.

How do we get to that point where black is seen as just another ethnicity? It won't be by assuming my hypothetical son exists to serve you a drink (you may have had enough already).

cont'd...

He's man of his times. We're trying to move past that. I want whatever child I have or will have not to have to put up with the same level of crap that can go from regular old friction and become abuse. You come across as too cavalier. That may work on your boat. But it doesn't get us anywhere.

maverick:

You've pretty well demonstrated how little you know about Chatham, and how much you've forgotten (or are willing to set aside) the rules of a particular environment. You seem to be running short on respect for others. Unlike two other bloggers (not commenters) who have written on race, I'm actually wiling to engage my readers. But not on everything under the sun.

Still, you asked about a particular minister, and I'll respond within the context of my above-column. I find his views extreme, in regards to America as a whole. They are probably formed by (and I may actually be paraphrasing BO here) by a lifetime experience different from you or I, of a gifted man who has his aspirations frustrated by the times her grew up in. I don't agree with him on the few issues I've heard him speak on, but I also know he is not unique in his point of view, nor in his extremity. For every preacher on one end, I can find you one just as angry and misguided (and just plain wrong and unhelpful) on the other.
But so what? So what?

cont'd...

smahkcep:

See, if I let you guys start running away with this, it just because a private chat (or argument) and everyone else gets turned off. There are people who come to this site from well-outside the community. You think they're going to join in now, with such a vivid display of incoherency? Not likely.

No, we're gonna dress it up here a little and follow the rules and actually talk, and maybe listen. We're going to steer things back to the original discussion, even if I have to delete 75% of these comments.

From 10/2006

Rule #1
No personal attacks. Posts that do not follow the decorum found at a public meeting or would not be appropriate when said in front of my daughter or your grandmother may be deleted (for an example of basic posting rules, see www.mises.org/contact.aspx?form=blog).

Rule #2 of this blog
No comments by active candidates (a/k/a the "Get your own blog" Rule") and any may be deleted.

Rule #3
Any comments not related directly to the post or related topics may be deleted.

Rule #4
Anonymous posts may be deleted.

Rule #5
No stupid comments (a/k/a the "Shut up, Frank" Rule -- as in, Major Frank Burns from M*A*S*H) and any may be deleted.

Rule #6
Comments on the rules may be deleted.

Rule #7
Some posts may not allow comments.

Rule #8
Comments on each post will be closed post after two to three days (more if constructive, intelligent discussion is ongoing).

Okay, I guess it is time to remind people that my rules of this blog are stricter than Cape Cod Today's.

And there's been so much off-topic stuff, I'm going to need a chain saw to get through it all.

I suppose I should also make another rule which is no commercial posting. Meaning, especially no links to your business.

Actually, I was at the Peabody Essex Library in Salem and then had two classes on the South Shore. Maybe I should plan to stay home all day next time I post. Or I could just respond, as my old Clamming mentor, Scotty Eldridge, would say when we needed to catch the tide, "JESUS, keep your shorts on!"

I'm not exactly sure what Reverend Wright has to do at my point, really. I'm not considering making him part of my family,and I don't think he'll be coming to Chatham anytime soon. That's a little parochial, perhaps, I'll admit. But I suppose I could entertain a discussion of him later on.

There's a point at which this discussion starts to resemble a family squablle. Cultural psychology, if I can loosely use the term. We have some members of this American family who say, hey, I turned out just fine, and other who really ended up traumatized by abuse. Same household -- different perceptions and experiences.

How do they treat each other and communicate? Very much like what we've seen and heard.

"westwind [Member] writes:
"poor all-white town of Chatham", really? Was this meant to be sarcastic?"

No. It wasn't too long ago it moved from poor to middle class, and then to high property-value, low income. If you're poor but you own a house in Chatham, the result is that you move out of town and the person who buys is rents it out or lives in for the summer. Doesn't mean the residents are getting any wealthier.

Hey, don't knock the facial hair. I couldn't wait to stop shaving as soon as I was no longer a candidate. What a friggin' pain.

lmc035@gmail.com wrote: "It is against the law to spill fuel and not report it. Did someone report this to the harbormaster or USCG?"

Remembering my master mariner classes at New England Maritime... a little hazy, though.

There are times one can legitimately discharge fuel into the the water. Like, as was claimed, the bilge was filling with fuel. You wouldn't want it to become a floating bomb (any reflection on the owner notwithstanding).

But since this was so close to shore, this should only be done with the permission of the USCG, or at least notification (like their were an accidental discharge). As this was Nantucket Sound or Hyannis Harbor, it is a federal waterway.

Likewise, any discharge of oil or fuel should be reported to the Coast Guard that close to shore -- by anyone who observes it. But that is truly secondary to the responsibility of the person doing the discharging.

So, we're alleging a federal (and additionally maybe state) crime here, and there's an eyewitness... unless there's some record with the Coast Guard or Harbormaster (or both).

Is there?

At least when I go into a restaurant, I won't have to wait for the place to fill up before I'm served.

Having inspections on Nantucket every other week or so, I've had a chance to try each of the three airlines. When they came along, I went with the Nantucket Shuttle because of their price. I never felt any more unsafe than the others... but ignorance is bliss.
The thing that turned me off was arriving there one morning -- weather as clear as a bell and no wind -- ready for an appointment an hour later on island, but being told they weren't flying at the scheduled time because not enough people showed up.
So?
I had a reservation and I had a ticket for a specific time. But they weren't going until more passengers showed up at some indeterminate time. That was the end of that.
As for ten people getting off the plane... those things are cramped enough. Must have looked like a clown car.

Hey, bacon's bacon.

Thanks, Peter. A little far from Chatham, but we're goin'.

Ned, I was just plain born this way. My mother was a solid Mass. Republican until 1988 when GWH Bush went pro-life. Me, I'm just plain subborn. Old line Yankees were traditionally Republican - but the keep your hands out of my wallet and your eyes out of my bedroom stripe.

Political history of Cape Cod and Chatham especially turns prevailing assumptions on their head. The poor and middle class locals were Republicans. The wealthy newcomers were Democrats. But there are, to be sure, notable exceptions. And I've always found the greatest hypocrisy that these very affluent liberals seemed to be the biggest snobs.

Ned, she may have set the privacy settings very, very high after so much exposure during my recent blogging about the cruise.

Unless you're trying to find a plumber or buy gas in town. Then Muggers works just fine.

While my initial reaction to Hyannis Cosmopolitans was that it was too much of an oxymoron, I do think there is something very catchy for the nickname "Hyannis Cosmos".

As for Chatham Chuggers, why not lose the pretense and just call them the Chatham Alcoholics?

A better homage to our fishing fleet might be: The Chatham Chummers.

Or we could lose "Chatham", and use the name of our ancient name?

Like, the Monomoy Muggers?

Maybe Monomoy Mooncussers would be more accurate.

Ned, I'll be sure to share your observations re: Barack with Chandra. I'm sure I can riff on that theme for a while.

I remember that. Well, kinda. I was 8. My sister said she felt it. I think I may have been asleep. She told me about it in the morning, and a few pictures fell off our bookshelves. Nothing like the earth opening up that an eight year-old boy hopes for.

Ned,

Not so sure when I've ever talked macho. That's not a real Cape Cod or New England trait. But I do like to laugh. Too many at either extreme never seem to have a sense of humor.

And I'm not so cynical as to root for Hillary Clinton just to have a weaker candidate against John McCain. Maybe I'm a too much of a hopeless romantic on this, but I'm recalling what the William Jennings Bryan character in "Inherit the Wind" said about St. George. Would his victory be so remembered if he had slain a dragongfly, and not a dragon?

Apologies to all dragonflies for the comparison to Hillary Clinton.

(continued from last comment)

Now they are trying to convince people John McCain, who was tortured and has always been against torture, now believes in it. Nope, I'm not going to buy it. That's a little too over the top for me. Instead, it sounds like a cynical ploy to undermine his credibility on an issue they Democrats want.

I don't care which side does things like that -- it turns me off. Give me a reason to for FOR you, not against the other guy. I think we've all earned it.

Bittersweet, I wasn't saying you personally drove a Prius. Not that this is a bad thing. Of all things, I wish I had a Prius. But if I did, it would reflect my values. But there are plenty of people who are not buying American who seem to be more than happy to take McCain to task for doing as they do -- insisting upon better.

Likewise, with the whole "flipflopping on torture" thing. I keep hearing a great call from the across the country that people are tired of this sort of thing. There was no vote in the Senate, up or down, on "Should the United States torture?" I have gotten the impression that the Senate leadership is trying to set up McCain on votes where he is forced to vote on whether he should stop beating his wife.

(continued on next comment)

Wavemaker, of course, all things being equal it does make sense to invest in American products. But the Air Force didn't want Boeing because they were offering an inferior product, and buying it would also mean an ongoing hefty repair bill.

I believe it is unAmerican to reward incompetence. We have the highest worker productivity in the world -- so if what Boeing was offering was crap, they must have really been cutting corners.

bittersweet, but that deal with Northrop doesn't win McCain ANY support, does it? Do ALL those jobs go overseas? To France? With the Euro now at $1.57? I don't think so. Should the Pentagon reward Boeing for producing a substantially inferior product just because they are American?

I find it more than a little disingenuous that same people who drive Priuses (Prii?) might now be criticizing McCain and the Defense Department for not buying a completely American product. And when the Pentagon really doesn't want to buy something from Boeing, you know it is a stinker.

My take on this is that this is another case of McCain of taking the position against pork in the Defense budget, making sure those who wear the uniform get the RIGHT equipment, and sticking his neck out. If he weren't running for president, a lot of high placed Democrats would be applauding his independence and integrity.

hamalcar, thanks but eventually I'll write something to bother you, too. Maybe I just haven't gotten to it yet.

bceagle, the idea of having a late convention is to retain as much bounce going into the fall as possible. But that only works with a united party. Democrats in 1968 experienced the same thing... and I've been trying to figure out which election this most resembles.

1960, with Obama as JFK and Hillary as Johnson (or Humphrey)? 1968 with Obama as RFK and Hillary as Humphrey? 1932 with Obama as FDR and Hillary as Al Smith?

Whatever the accurate analogy, scheduling the RNC a week after the DNC may prove a master stroke. I hope.

I took Sofie to a wedding when she was two. No problem. Of course, there were many other kids in the groom's family, so someone in authority had the foresight to hire two people just to do childcare (complete with a kiddy pool).
She had a blast... but now believes weddings involve water sports.
And why shouldn't they?

What happened to the horse?

Jeff -- you're right. It was presented to me as "St. John's" by a brochure and it stuck. I'll correct it right now. Apologies to the people of a beautiful island.

"any returned piece of art can be returned by a set date"

Pardon, make that "any missing piece of art can be returned by a set date".

Peter,

You're right. This is getting beyond silly. If a public official knows where a piece of art might be, there ought to be a dicreet means by which it can be communicated, "We need that back now."

At the same time, for the hard of hearing, a public call should go out that any returned piece of art can be returned by a set date, no questions asked.

After that, if all is not accounted for, an honest-to-God criminal investigation should be conducted. This public property has value, and it belongs to all of us.

mjsmom writes: "Andy's blog is always a reminder of the love of travel."

Thanks. In this case, we had gone from one great place (Grand Turk) that we had to leave early in the day, and were heading to another great place (which is my next installment) from San Juan. So the contrast between these two bookends and San Juan was striking.

We were there too long, and I could have done without it altogether, except for the socks. Like a good traveler, I should admit I am glad I saw San Juan. I'm also glad I've seen Manila and a few other places that, having seen them, I do not need to go back to.

There was an alternate route that Zuiderdam did, hitting Tortola and St. Martin instead of San Juan and St. Thomas. If not for our tight schedule, we would have taken that option.

One positive note: After a year, the socks are holding up pretty well.

mjsmom,

As an insurance inspector, I've listened to Mr. Golembeski with mixed sense of amusement, pity and frustration. What one company calls risk, another does not. Not everyone within half a mile of the shore is at the same risk, and even the term "shore" is hard to pin down. Cape Cod Bay, Lewis Bay, Pleasant Bay, Atlantic Ocean -- all are not equal risks. The wind does not blow equally hard from all points equally on the Cape.

But point taken on taken on the negative comments. I will endeavor to refrain from responding to an article only when it bothers me.

Oh, this should be a laugh.

"And getting shot by the radar gun wasn't all that bad"

-- Yeah, but you're done having kids... aren't you?

If only...

Three minutes? Where does it say that?

But... the tanker isn't in Nantucket Sound, is it? If it had been, and tried to pass through the area where the wind farm is proposed, it would have grounded out anyway.

They conveniently overlooked Romney's hand in creating mandated health insurance and the accompanying bureaucracy. Or turnaround on other issues. Their hatred of McCain seems to be partly based on the mere fact that he is not beholden to them. They all seem more interested in saving my soul than saving my life.
For them, Romney might as well have been Ronald McDonald -- any sycophant would do.

Aside from any patriotic aspect to Romney's decision to withdraw, the numbers could not have added up for this businessman. On Wednesday morning, who would've bought this stock?

YAY!

No, seriously, maybe the politically-correct hyperventilating ninnies who think they own MY PARTY will take a tip from Romney. We're in a war, and the best leaders may not share all our values.

I've had put up with THEIR candidates for too long. If any of them had actually gotten their hands dirty and done an honest day's work once in their lives, they'd know when it time to sit down, shut up and row.

We have reached the tipping point...

Ifawsupporter:

1) What?

2) Rules of this blog say no personal attacks. The only reason I am leaving this up is as an example of that. Next one goes in the can.

3) "Three minutes to report" -- what??? It's an informal travelogue. No claim to anything late-breaking here.

4) Possible lapse on that new year's resolution: no more drinking and commenting after 11 PM.

5) Pooh is right: "Oh bother..."

Our dive sites were well away from the pier, but the beach right next to the pier was gorgeous. So the Zuiderdam must have been crossing its legs.

Once the ship is underway and beyond the shore 3 miles... well, open the floodgates! Same thing goes for all ships passing through Nantucket Sound -- how pristine.

Self checkout works well if there is no line. Then it goes slower than regular checkout. I prefer to use it because I usually find something wrong, like not getting 2 boxes of cereal for the advertised price. When the cashier does it, I don't pay as much attention.

But the hand scanners? We tried it. Didn't like it. Not quicker. Prices weren't lower, so no advantage.

Contrast this all with my supermarket experiences in Germany. The cashiers are given a chair to sit down. You bag your own groceries, and you bring your own bag. Or you can pay extra for theirs. You have to insert a Euro into your cart to unlock it -- and to get it back, you better return it yourself.

Result: No loose bags or carts flying around the parking lot.

Also, six excellent rolls in their bakery section are about a buck. Well, maybe a little more with the exchange rate these days. Why is the combination of water, salt, flour and yeast so expensive here?

This is no different from Fidelity in Boston, Yahoo in Silicon Valley or SAIC in DC. Even the feds pay a cost of living adjustment for employee in high-cost areas.

If our cost of living on the Cape is the same as Boston, but pay scales are 40% less, this is unsustainable. Pay people enough to afford a home and w means to get around, and they will stay. There's enuogh housing on the Cape right now -- it is just underutilized by the dominant sector of the economy -- tourism.

Inefficient businesses that use artificial means to maintain the status quo impede economic progress. Whaling used to be big on the Cape. And salt making. Not any more. Time to change again.

Twenty five years ago, this discussion would have had all the actors reversed.

If a consumer goes to the gas station and the price is $3.00 per gallon, then the market has determined that. The consumer can accept that and fill up the tank, refuse to pay it and not drive at all, or modify their driing habits.

As stated previously, the going rate for landscapers on the open market in one town on the Cape is at least $16.00. How did they arrive at that number? No bureaucrat told them. They realized through experience that they needed to pay this in order to deliver their service and still run their business at a profit.

And, really, there are plenty of places in the country with double-digit employment. We have 300 million people, and you can't find 5,000 to come here for to work? Or are you just paying too little?

If a business can't make it without cheap, imported labor, then maybe they're in the wrong business. You have the right to try to succeed in this country, but you don't have the right to make a profit.

The labor supply would not decrease as much as it would not be inflated seasonally -- as if nine months is "seasonal." What season runs nine months? I know people who work 9 months of the year and get a full-time salary with benefits. They're called teachers.

Just like anywhere else in the country -- even just across the bridge -- we'd have to look at our schools and ask "What sort of economy is going to keep those kids here?"

A tourist economy is fine for the first half of the nineteenth century, or fine if you are transitioning from an agrarian economy. But, is this the economy that we're going to live on forever? Sure, the place is pretty, but there are more and more pretty places in the world becoming accessible to tourists. In other parts of the country, the economy isn't dependent upon the number of sunny days in July and August.

The real economic harm in importing labor into an economy like the Cape's is that it is a race to the bottom. For example, two different landscape companies, both in North Chatham, recently posted a listing in the state job bank for crew for the coming year.

The state alien labor unit adverstised the first, in preparation for certification that the employer apply for H2B workers, advertised $10-$11 per hour (this was prior to the cap).
The other company, advertising directly, offer $16 and over.

Increasing the supply of anything typically lowers its value. The Cape economy has been warped by an artificial influx of labor. No wonder the most competent and hardworking young people leave the Cape.

>Love the pic of Thurston and Lovey. >Do they live in Chatham?

The first photo was taken in Chatham. The second was taken on an uncharted desert island -- where the local workforce was limited and seemingly incompetent and lazy...

... which was, to be sure, a lighthearted and laughable piece of fiction.

"You get a sense from them and some of the other Clintonites that someone they know better and people who don't support Clinton are naïve and lack sound judgement."

Which is exactly how Republicans felt from January 1993 to January 2001.

"A male brandishing a black gun made off with an undetermined amount of cash."

What is the relevance of the color of the gun?

Funny you should mention being planted... stay tuned.

If Chatham is ultra-rich, where's Ned's and mine Rolls?

Bursting the second bubble:

2004 Presidential Election

Bush: 2,340
Kerry: 2,421

I don't dislike Romney because he's a Mormon. I don't like him because he's a carpetbagging phony.

That, and because he completed screwed up the drive from Sandwich to Buzzards Bay. Maybe more because of that.

Why do I see this quickly devolving into something whereby, on her way into the weekly meeting, Debbie Connors has to field shouted questions like,"Who are you wearing?"

As an aside, the Selectmen only started wearing ties when meetings were broadcast. My time on the board preceded that. Before one November meeting, Bill Hinchey remarked to me in shocked disappointment, "What are you doing wearing pants? You never wear pants."

"Long pants," Dougie Bohman hastened to add.

Not that we know what any of them are wearing from the waist down. You never do see them get up from their chairs...

Having spent enough time writing for and reading CCToday over the past year and I half, I suppose I've learned at the knees of the master (a/k/a WB).

Of course, the claim was pure facetiousness. These are hazards of swearing off emoticons.

So glad my highlights are raising the level of public discourse on Cape Cod Today.

Let's all try to give Doug the benefit of the doubt. After all, it could be his new bride posting under his name...

umassjsp: Not too, too long ago, a friend of mine who started college said he was commuting to "UNH".
From Chatham? Every day to New Hampshire?
"No, not that UNH, he replied. "The one off the mid-Cape, near Burger King. You know -- the University of Northern Hyannis."

... a/k/a 4 C's

"Local business owners are worried they will not have enough employees this summer, forcing them to reduce the number of hours they are open or force the employees they do have to work extra hours."

Isn't this what used to happen? You closed in the slow months, and locals lived off the overtime they made in the summer?

So much for the much-mourned work-ethic of the local worker. We actually work harder if you pay us more!

"Curbside pickup of trash and recyclables is free in Falmouth, certainly a good deal."

Yes. Yes, it is.

So... why is it free?

I'll admit I could be wrong. But from the angle I saw it -- with the naked eye from less than 15 feet away, it looked like nothing more than that car went straight into the woods.

As for accident reconstruction, I'm am insurance inspector and investigator.

But, sure, I could be wrong.

The Times is reporting this as a "rollover". I drove by this last night (forgot my camera, of course).
Look at the photo above -- the car obviously went off the road, but did not roll over. Leaning, yes. Rolled over... not quite.
There is a slight curve on the road here. That's it. Road bears to left -- car continued straight.

‘‘There just isn’t going to be a work force,’’ said Mary-Jo Avellar, chairwoman of the Provincetown Board of Selectmen, if Congress doesn’t provide an exception for returning workers. ‘‘I can’t even imagine what people would do, to tell you the truth.’’

Pay people what it takes to actually live on the Outer Cape? No, indentured servitude really ennobles us, doesn't it?

"Most hold more than one job..."

Okay, that's a violation of their visa right there.

"SelectBoard"?

And regarding those ridiculous evacuation signs:

1) Please reassign the individual responsible for siting these signs to raodside trash pickup. Indefinitely Two on the upper cape block the exit signs until you are right on top of them. You can still see that the exit sign is there, of course. But the evac signs make big blue dot that sits in the center of the words. Clutter.

Of course, I know where I am going already, so I suppose they could keep the evacuation signs and remove the exit signs. Less clutter.

2) Wouldn't everyone kind of already know how to evacuate Cape Cod? I mean, save for the few people that fly in or take the boat from Boston to P-Town... there are only two ways in and out, and they are pretty close to each other.

Not that evacuation of Cape Cod is possible or likley in time for any disaster, natural or manmade. Signs don't move people. How about disaster planning that would actually work?

That's asking too much, isn't it?

A week ago, the price in Dorchester was 2.59 for regular unleaded. The next day in Hyannis, it was $2.99.

On Monday, the price at Cumberland Farms in Plymouth was $2.65. In Cumberland Farms in Brewster today it is still $2.99.

Not too long ago, when something this extreme happened on Charles Street on Beacon Hill, the Globe ran a front page story and the owner was susbsequently charged with price gouging.

The AG's hands are tied because they don't gas up 'round the corner from stations in Brewster or Hyannis. Except maybe on Sunday afternoon.

Perhaps it is time, to check out campaign finance reports of those charged with enforcing our consumer protection laws.

Or buy a horse.

In a conversation On WCAI this morning, an editor of the CCTimes (pardon, but I cannot recall his name) stated that it was "our reporter, George Brennan, who broke the story" (my best recollection of the quote).

I suppose, to follow the fashion of the time, which is to parse, what was meant was that Brennan broke the story for the Cape Cod Times. Meaning, he was the first reporter at that particular paper to write about it...

... after having gotten a really big heads-up from Kenney writing on Cape Cod Today, presumably.

John Dickson is not an idiot. Rather, he is well-educated, well spoken, and probably one of the most gracious and respectful men I have known.

His focus is the youth of Cape Cod. John spent his summers in North Chatham (one of those threatened properties a previous writer was so concerned about). His father also dedicated his life to public service, as the town clerk and State Representative from the Town of Lincoln.

John's effort have been instrumental in the Harwich High School sailing team, as well as an instructor at Pleasant Bay Yacht Club, and a director of the Chatham Marconi Maritime Center.

So let's not be so flippant with our characterizations of anyone based on any single act.

Unlike some of us, John is one of those who will be warmly remembered for his constributions to his community long after he is gone, by those who agreed as well as disagreed with him, on issues of substance.

The vote at Town Meeting this evening was not even close. In fact, voters turned down the chance indefinitely postpone the article (on a motion made by the article's sponsor, Richard Miller). Instead, on a voice vote, Chatham overwhelmingly chose not to spend the money to fill the breach. Further, they voted nearly 2-1 not to fund a $150,000 study of the breach's effects on the Town. And, lastly and most pointedly, not even to accept any gift of money to fill the breach.

Now, don't get me wrong -- I am as much a fan of the profit motive as anyone. I'm a capitalist. My personal capital has always been myself. Whether pushing a mower in Chatham cemeteries, digging clams or doing or freelance investigations, the onus was always upon my personal effort. No salary: no work, no pay. Dig more clams, get more cash.

And just like plumbers or doctors, when supply is short, rates will go up in any profession. That seemed to be the idea with municipal government: we'd pay whatever seemed to be the prevailing rate for our Fire Chief, Town Accountant or snow plow driver.

But Chatham started pulling at the pipe of private enterprise, and saying, if it is good enough for them, why can't we get people to come from overseas to work for us for cheap?

Where does that end? As far as I can tell, the whole of the town's workforce could be replaced with temporary workers on visas. All of them -- at probably a humongous savings. All could be replaced, except the elected Selectmen.

A while back, I was watching "Jaws". Although filmed on the Vineyard, it still gave a pretty good picture (both visually and figuratively) of the the Cape and Islands in the mid-seventies. Even without the shark, it is a little haunting to those who recall that time.

Well, right after Quint breaks up the public meeting with his nails-on-the-chalkboard bit, he asks if the chamber of commerce is going to pony up the money for him to kill the shark, or spend the winter, living off welfare.

And that's how close the margins use to be. You ran your business, day-to-day. If you didn't make the money for the season, you were in line for food stamps just like your employees.

How far the gap between the person who owns the hotel and the person who changes the sheets has grown in 30 years. Or the restaurant owner and their busboy.

There is no labor shortage in the country. Nor a shortage of smug self-interest that wears the white hood of altruism.

To be fair, he was later forced to pay for his on-the-job meals.

If I could make 8 dollars an hour in Slovakia, I'd be rich, too. But I have to live here year-round. Which means, like the rest of us, I have to pay rent on a year-round place, etc. Cost of living here is the same as Boston. Pay scale is 40% less.

Instead of raising pay, maybe a smarter thing would be for the Chamber of Commerce to pay for all us us to go to some second or third world country for the winter. Then there'd be no hold up from a cap in visa for incoming workers. Food and rent would be close to nothing. We could sit on the beach or in a cafe all day and if we got sick, we could go to the local free healthcare system.

Or, maybe, we could instead work to reinforce a sense of community here on Cape Cod.

As a freshman at American Univerity in DC, I was twice pegged as coming from New England.

The first was when I said "golden." The response was, "Are you from Massachusetts?"

The second was when I said I was taking the metro into town. New Yorkers say they are going into the city. In New England, regardless of how large the urban core, you are still going into town (presumably "riding on a pony").

Free market should be free market. It is not free market to go outside for more docile, desperate workers.

If it okay for businesses to do this, then let's see their reaction to bringing in a few 500-cabin cruise ships to drop anchor in Nantucket Sound for 10 weeks in the summer and put their rooms and restaurants on the market?

Or would that be unfair competition?

As for racism, he may be a neighbor, but Mr. Oppenheim obviously hasn't been paying attention to the makeup of Camp Buckley. It's one thing to have diversity in your servants. It's another to have diversity in your family.

Well, there's one business I can't boycott. That's the Town of Chatham. Last night, at Town Meeting defeated a resolution that the town should not hire anyone who is not a legal resident of the United States. Meaning, that the town should not employ anyone who is here either illegally or on a temporary visa.

The resolution was presented by my brother, Stephen Buckley. He requested that this begin a discussion that could continue on this issue, and pointed out that such a resolution was in keeping with the economic development section of the Town's Long Range Plan, which he co-wrote.

One speaker, business owner David Oppenheim, rose in opposition, and called my brother racist and that the resolution implied that business owners were doing something wrong. Before anyone could respond, the question was moved. Debate was closed off. The resolution was defeated on a voice vote.

Capemom, when in China, it became very clear to what large pools of cheap labor mean.

A devaluation of human beings. Lack of innovation. Large transient populations, with all the attentive problems.

We already fought a war over whether businesses can bring workers here for their exclusive use.

As House Ways and Means Committee chair Charles Rangel said, “This guest-worker program’s the closest thing I’ve seen to slavery.”

Spyro, greed is killing the spirit of community on the Cape. The working poor here -- and all over the U.S. -- are being told by employers and the Mass. Alien Labor Unit, that they are overpaid.

They are saying, for example, that the prevailing wage for a fisherman in Chatham is $8 per hour. And if they won't take that job at that wage, they'll find someone from a country so mired in poverty that they'll happily come here to work for such a low wage and live 17 people to a house.

For anyone trying to live here year-round and raise a family, that scenario is deadly (to their way of life).

My metaphor doesn't call local businesses the crack dealers. The businesses are the addicts. The state's Alien Labor Unit is the dealer.

My problem is not with the workers. I know how bad the system is because I saw how bad it is first-hand. Sofie's mother came here as an H2B worker.

The system stinks.

It's about addiction. Once you build your business plan around H2B or J1, you are beholden to a system. What happens when the cap is reached and the feds say "Sorry folks, we're fresh out"?

You can either change your business plan to hire from the 300 million people of many races and backgrounds... or go illegal. Bottom line dictates. You're addicted, so you spiral downwards.

Meanwhile, no one of any talent stays here or moves here because a real job that pays enough to afford the cost of living here is non-existent.

But all we hear about is that local workers are drunk or never show up.

That's because all the good ones have made a rational economic decision and left.

It is amazing that so many local businessmen have failed to grasp the simple rule: You get what you pay for.

I have Cape Cod Morning, Corn Hill, The Last Leg and God know what else on our walls. I have tried to stick to the limit of only one Hopper per room. Tried.

I gotta get that profile changed. I've never made it a secret that I'm a fair-weather clammer. And as I told Town Meeting back in 2002, the price of clams does not rise and fall on whatever I bring to market.

Can't clam when the temps fall below freezing anyway. My boat's frozen up in the Oyster Pond, too. At least the ice is keep it from sinking.

You might recall from my piece this summer, I'm paying the bills as an inspector for homeowners insurance companies. Not that they listened to me when they cancelled our policy...

Besides, a good Caper learns to wears many hats.

Yes, but these police are detailed to him. The helicopter is not. Or was not previously. Maybe it is now. Is this why we bought a helicopter?

Sorry, I do not know this is a false argument. The statie would there to protect him. Meaning from threats on the ground.

Of course, maybe it is more cost efficient, then, to fly him everywhere, and only pay for a a pilot than to pay for the governor's car, a driver, a state police car and a state policeman.

But that surely would put him out of touch with the people of the Commonwealth.

We have to guess that the helicopter is for police business. Meaning, law enforcement. That's what they are meant to do, first and foremost. Bodyguard work is well down the list somewhere.

If this practice continues, at some point the helicopter will be at one point in the state and there will be far away at the other end where it will be sorely needed.

Getting out and meeting people is great. But the Governor is not the first among equals.

"... The governor of the Commonwealth should use what resources are available to maximize his time."

Even at the cost of public safety?

More to the point, who decides what he can an cannot pick from the public stable? Is he the decider, then?

I thought it was "Together, WE can"?

"We can" what? Enable your sense of elitist entitlement?

Maybe that $72,000 for his wife's scheduler would be better spent on a staff nun with a knuckle-cracking yardstick.

As for the office of First Lady of the Commonwealth, we do not require the governor to have a spouse. What would happen if he had none? How would the job get done -- assuming there is a "job" there at all?

However, an argument could be made that a definite cachet goes to an attorney married to the Governor.

You do have to consider the difference in scale between the governor of 6 million and a President of 300 million.

For example, the President has Air Force One. We budget for that.

We do not have a state equivalent. Nor, do I believe, it is proper to commandeer a police vehicle just because scheduling for quasi-official duties makes things tight.

The state police have a helicopter for a reason. That reason is not to ferry the governor from place to place, outside of emergency situations. It is for law enforcement. If they can spare the time to go back and forth... well... then is the chopper really necessary?

So why wasn't this cop actually working? And is there other state property the Governor can use outside its intended and budgeted use?

No, the President's spouse should not have taxpayer-paid staff either.

She/he can't be hired by the Pres. for any paying position. She/he wasn't elected. Is there a staff for children of the President? The parents?

A simple solution for those who insist we possess the trappings of monarchy: nominate the spouse of the governor as Lt. Governor. Same goes for VP.

I imagine you'd take Laura Bush over Dick Cheney as #2 any day.

And I'll vote for Romney when he tears up that complete waste of money and space that replaced the Sagamore Rotary.

Under no circumstances should the spouse of the Governor have paid staff.

No.

She/he isn't elected to anything by anyone. Nor is she/he obligated to do any work at all.

I fail to understand why taxpayers should underwrite the costs of any this ceremonial claptrap. It reminds me of when my freshman PoliSci class visited the Soviet Embassy in 1984. In response to the question as to why the Communist party elite were treated better and received such extravagant perks, the PR person explained that they made such important contributions and were so busy, they deserved it.

To which we all nodded our heads and said, "Yeah... right."

While certainly no fan of Romney (I am glad I was out of the country in 2002 and spared the embarassment of maybe voting for this phony carpetbagger), these are indeed some cheap shots.

Henry Ford is to Michigan what the Kennedys are to Massachusetts. Maybe more so. I may have misheard a report, but isn't this museum where Romney's father announced his presidential campaign? So it is not honoring Henry Ford as much as George Romney.

And I don't see any Democrat staying away from the Jefferson-Jackson dinner because both owned slaves.

As for the helicopter flights, well, stop justifying, please. Patrick has taken two flights -- so far. He's been in office less than two months. His spokespeople indicate this will be the way things are done. Way to keep costs down.

Like many of us, he can work in his car enroute.

Unlike many hardcore partisans, I am willing to give anyone a chance to succeed in office. But I am not impressed with this attitude, this sense of entitlement.

"Scratch a liberal and find a closet aristocrat." (Frank Herbert)

SM, have you ever been to the State House snack bar at lunch time? There's definitely a line. Unless there's a function going on downstairs in the atrium -- then all the underpaid staffers and interns hang around for the speeches to get at the buffet table. (Or used to when I was there).

And Don, didn't mean to throw your household into a tizzy when I mentioned the bedbugs. But you're in luck -- Pilgrim is still online and they might have some spent fuel rods -- nothing short of plutonium will kill the buggers, I hear.

In Dorchester, it was $1.87. In Harwich Port on Saturday, it was $1.99. Same place in Harwich Port today was 2.15!?!

So, in this scenario, is Hillary playing Hubert Horatio Humphrey?

Or Lyndon Johnson...?

Are Lowell and West Yarmouth are foreign countries? Where are these guys from if they are illegal?

I paid $2.15 at Cumby's in Harwich Port this morning. Prices radiate out from there. Orleans Cumby's was something like $2.32.

After I submitted column, I revised it with those exact words (about enemies, not hunting rifles), along with the observation that Sofie would fit in well at the State Department. Just missed the deadline, though.

Mon, then you wouldn't have liked the two other altar-ish looking collections of beach-stuff at the beginning of the walk.

That Blair-witch thing was down at the end, possibly marking where the channel once was.

And I was thinking more "Planet of the Apes", myself. The original. When they first get off the spacecraft and look up and see those scare crows up on a ridge.

How does it look on a Mac?

Anyone...? Anyone...?

Marietta,

I spent an hour trying to get those NOT to cover the text... but everyone's monitor and browser are different. I'll see what I can clean up and perhaps pray to the cybergods of CCToday that they might work out some universally-acceptable layout... please?

The text can also be found at www.capecodchronicle.com -- just go to "Columns" and look for my name.

FYI, these photos were taken with a simple Kodak EasyShare CX7430 on mostly-normal settings. The video on YouTube was shot with the same camera.

This week wouldn't be a bad one to do it, either. Temps are mild. Check the tides, though, and the forecasted wind speed and direction. You don't want to find a headwind coming back.

The photo at the top of this article claims that this family is "Clamming a mile south of Chatham Light on South Beach."

My guess would be this is the dike area near Outermost Harbor. Th lighthouse is to the north. South Beach would be east across the channel several hundred yards.

I don't know anywhere on South Beach that clams (although he looks like he is scratching for quahogs, not clamming) can be dug on the east-facing outer beach, nor rosa rugosa (in the background) found so close to the surf zone.

Today the price paid by wholesalers to clam diggers in Chatham was $1.40 a pound. That's not a great price, folks. Usually, you should double it and get the retail price. Instead, Stop & Shop is getting over $4 a pound.

Who's pocketing the difference? The middle men, more than likely. That's set by the gargantuan Ipswich Shellfish Company. And if you think most of those clams are actually coming from the flats of Ipswich... well, you can't actually ask a clam where it comes from, can you?

More than likely, whole prices are ramping up right before the big eating holiday. But it is not getting translated into higher prices for those who actually harvet the product.

Relatively speaking, yes, getting 7 out of 10 fine. But we can do better. We should do better. I address this in my column in today's Chronicle.

But taking a page from Jimmy Dishner, there was that OTHER choice people could make.

They didn't go vote at all. Too bad, but there it is.

I saw two that arrived the same day, but they actually came from the Mass. Teachers Association.

If I go into a campaign HQ and give them a bunch of pre-paid addressed postcards featuring candidate X, that's an in-kind contribution. There's a cap on those, of course.

But if I take those postcards outside again and and go to the post office to mail them myself... that's unregulated free speech. No limit on that.

MTA did a better job on those postcards than she did on her previous stuff. One wonders what she got from that West Coast political consultant she paid thousands to. Media buys?

Funny thing is... I noticed in the weeks preceding the election, a distinct lack of energy. Hardly any additional signs by either candidate after the primary. No more Peake or Maloy signs really. In Chatham, we don't have a theft problem, so I didn't notice them appearing one day and disappearing the next.
Maybe they both decided this wasn't important. Maybe Peake was coasting. The broomstick should be flight-worthy -- she certainly didn't wear it out on Aaron.

IO, first we have to acknowledge that turnout this year was just plain lower than in 2004 -- a presidential year with one of the nominees coming from Massachusetts.

That said, one would expect that the Democrats would have turned out in fewer numbers this year (Deval Patrick nothwithstanding). So 2008 can be expected to be even harder, then. This year was the best setting Maloy could have expected.

Personally, I know very independent-minded Republicans (and former Republicans) who went for Peake because they just couldn't go for Maloy. Quite simply, on issues important to them, these Republicans found more to like in Peake than in Maloy. Or less to dislike.

So these were Republicans voting against their own candidate. There were 5,761 of them from 2004 that voted for Gomes but did not vote for Maloy. Of those, he only needed to convince 2,500 of them to show up for him.

Maybe they did show up at the polls -- but that was all. As results are coming in, the number of blanks is approaching 650.

To paraphrase Harry Truman, if it's a choice between a genuine Democrat, and a Democrat in Republican clothing, the people will choose the genuine article, every time; that is, they will take a Democrat.

DuneQuake,

I'm sure he waited until after the polls were closed. The death knell was Orleans, his (latest) home town, where he lost by 45 votes.

IO -- c'mon. P-Town has an aiport. She's gonna fly. Or take the catamaran. Also, didn't I hear she was going to rent a place up in Boston?

As for staying on in P-Town, some reps do this. Some reps go to law school or B-school, too. While I was an intern for the House Republican Leader, Steve Pierce, I often wondered how this was possible -- law school can be a full-time commitment for a lot of people.

Then I realized, "Oh, wait -- they don't actually work as reps." They would wait until the Speaker called and then vote the way he said. Makes for a pretty easy job, then. In P-Town, Peake was more than willing to take credit for the work of her colleagues on the Board of Selectmen. Keeping down both jobs shouldn't be too much of a strain from that light schedule.

Captain Quahog -- and I was called a RINO (Republican in Name Only) for not supporting Maloy. It sounds like he would qualify for that title much better than me (with 24 years involved in the party here).

For Tim Wood's story from the Chronicle, go here --> http://www.capecodchronicle.com/chatnews/elect_110906.htm

SSSCape -- this morning I was as surprised by that headline as anyone else. Perhaps it is perception. The result seemed close because it was expected to be a blowout.

10 points is decisive.

20 points is a blowout.

And, with all due respect to SM, getting merely over 50% (a/k/a a simple majority) is NOT a mandate. In most cases, 60% should be the threshhold for use of that word.

So what you're saying, Len, is that having a viable, year-round community is more cost-effective than a seasonal one, dependent upon absentee homeowners, retirees and transient workers.

Again, the circle: housing for working families means kids in school, which keeps the schools open which keeps the parents from leaving which would deprive the community of volunteer firefighters which would really only work in a tightly-knit community anyway.

Sounds to me like Provincetown is on course for destroying itself, leaving only the Monument, Town Hall and Shop Therapy behind.

PP, the urge to offer that comment must have been irresistable...

Well, at least he's honest. The Globe described his as "a former Back Bay real-estate developer who now works as a full-time volunteer for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts."

Ah, to be wealthy enough to be a full-time volunteer. Wait -- couldn't that also be read to mean"unemployed"?

Whichever the case, apparently he keeps busy. You can read more about him at http://www.zoominfo.com/Search/PersonDetail.aspx?PersonID=28877638

I believe contributions over $200 must show employer and profession.

As for the two $300 contributions from one person, Peake's expenditures show that the overage was returned.

But there is no pharmacy in that CVS. Hasn't been for years.

Rather than just posting the names of poeple who contributed, it would be helpful to include the identities of contributors.

Joe Schmoe from Idaho may have given 250 bucks to candidate X -- but knowing that he is also the state coordinator for NAMBLA would say a lot more to voters.

So can I read this in a local paper, or do I have to do it myself? (Again.)

It wouldn't be the AG -- it would be the Office of Campaign & Political Finance. Up to $10/day for violations. A lot of people get tripped up on technicalities.

I don't know what the standard practice is for unitemized donations. Maybe this is fairly common.

Still, it would be hard to believe that one could claim unlimited amounts and say they all came from $25 contributions. But these laws are written in Boston, after all.

Eliminating P-Town from Peake's numbers makes as much sense as eliminating Orleans from Aaron's. Or Wellfleet. Or Eastham. Or wherever Aaron is from today.

Provincetown is part of the district. We count their votes, so we count their money.

As for Gomes-Peake '04, we know Peake raised more money and a lot of it came from outside the district. So, I am wondering, could those in-district receipts break down similarly to the vote tally?

And if so... I claim a patent, trademark and copyright on all of the above plus all subsidiary rights.

Let's be generous and say that all of those unitemized contributions came from within the district.

The absolute dollar amounts for money raised within the district would be:

Peake $35,370.00

Maloy $20,211.16

So if dollars (within the district) are equal to support (within the district), and these number hold true to election day, then we should expect to see this result:

Peake 64%

Maloy 36%

It would be interesting (and laborious) to compare the numbers from the Gomes-Peake race in 2004 to see if this hypothesis is reliable.

Corrected -- thanks.

Well, campaign finance reports are due Monday. (Even mine.)

Not that this will be terribly enlightening, since the last week before the election could hold all sorts of things (included intentionally-delayed contributions).

But it should be fun to sit down and do a thorough analysis of where each of the candidates is getting their money and where they are putting it.

Not being an expert on campaign finance (I repeat NOT), at the moment I can ony tell you what I think is correct. How's that for fully qualifying a remark?

Anyway, I think it can remain indefinitely. It makes more sense than liquidating the account only to start up 12-18 months later. It can be used for basically anything related to the campaign. And that is loosely interpreted.

But let's see what the Office of Campaign & Political Finance says:

"Expenditures by a legislative candidate or candidate committee may be made for the enhancement of the political future of the candidate so long as such expenditure is not primarily for the candidate’s or any person’s personal use."

and

"Committees that have no cash balance, assets or outstanding liabilities and wish to dissolve may do so, as long as the candidate represented by the committee does not still hold elected office. Candidates and committees that do not dissolve must continue to report on a regular basis."

"All residual funds from committee or candidate accounts must be donated to any of the following: (1) the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Local Aid Fund; (2) the general fund of a city or town; (3) a scholarship fund; or (4) a charitable or religious organization. Donations to scholarship funds and charities are subject to certain restrictions."

(from http://www.mass.gov/ocpf/guides/gcguide1203.pdf)

It would appear to be at the option of the committee -- meaning the candidate. Would they want to run again?

I certainly don't see it, either.

For Peake, expect those big glossy postcards like prior to the primary and radio ads. Wall-to-wall.

I want to vote FOR someone. And I want that person to be someone I believe in. I'm going to sticker-in Shirley Gomes.

... And here I was just looking at contract for writing a short book on the Cape and another on Boston.

How about instead we print up 20,000 stickers with Shirley Gomes' name on them? (Or just write in her name.) So when she wins, she'll refuse to take office. That way we can hold a special election to fill the seat. And that means another primary and another general election.

Sure, we'd be without a rep for a few extra months. But it could be worth it -- and we could get it right this time.


(I'm pretty sure I just got the attention of the vice-chairman of Selectmen in Provincetown.)

CCJ,

No problem -- we're cool.

IO, if you're trying to tie me to Peake, forget it. Remember, she used Maloy to get at me. If Aaron was her mule, she was the mule-driver. Same team, as far as I'm concerned.

I cannot recall how I came across this interview. This blog covers the 4th Barnstable race, so I must have searched for a few different terms like 4th Barnstable, Aaron Maloy and Sarah Peake. Try it on google or google.news -- and you'll come up with my blog as either the #1 hit or several of the top 10 hits.

Anyway, I found the interview about 2 weeks ago, but had a really hard time accessing it. Must be something buggy in my computer, because it wouldn't play automatically. So when I finally took the time to configure a player and listen today (a whole friggin' hour), I thought it best to post it right away. But without editorial comment.

Would you have preferred I did not post a link to an hour-long interview with Maloy by a non-combative host? Is it the policy of the Maloy campaign to minimize exposure of their candidate?

As I informed Aaron a while ago, I am a single father and I work full time -- so I have no spare time. I listened while I was filing insurance inspection reports online.

Come to think of it, doesn't Aaron have a blog on Lip's web site, (http://www.liptv.us)? That's where I found the Cape Cod Times debate.

Now, I will offer again: if anyone can find similar interviews with candidate Sarah Peake, please send them to me directly.

Len,

I don't know if it would have made much of a difference, really. Turnout was the key in the Republican primary. The higher the turnout, the better it would have been for center candidates.

Unlike others, I believe having independent voters in our primary is generally a good thing. We certainly would not have nominated Bill Weld in 1990 without them. How can any Bay State Republican argue with the legacy of 16 years in the corner office that began with the September 1990 primary?

The alternative being...?

For the record, I am adding to Rule #2 "No comments by active candidates (a/k/a the "Get your own blog" Rule") and any may be deleted."

The following subsection "2(a) And campaign staff ought to proceed cautiously, too."

An observer at the Orleans Republican primary debate (a Democrat, but not a Peake supporter) said all he heard from Maloy was, "Want me, want me, need me, need me."

I see a black hole of attention coupled with blind ambition. A hypocrite with a complete lack of values.

Not being Sarah Peake is not good enough. If that's the standard, there are 299,999,998 options, then.

First off, Aaron Maloy has for the second time violated the rules of this blog. I will say this AGAIN: GET YOUR OWN BLOG. It is rather pathetic that you have to go on other people's blogs to get attention.

People who work for a living (meaning me, not you, Six-Weeks-Leave-of-Absence-Boy) don't have the time to keep checking throughout the day to make sure that people are not violating the rules -- especially candidates for public office.

If you cannot obey simple rules of someone else's blog, how can we expect you to obey the rules up at the State House and the laws of the Commonwealth?

Second, Aaron Maloy is also a "LIAR who smears other candidates." I hear no denial of the meeting between him and Peake as to her sharing her investigation on me. No denial from EITHER camp. No denial that as he went door to door, he questioned whether I had a job. Because he told me this himself. He's a mule, folks. A mule and a dupe.

Final note: THE JOB IS ALL ABOUT TALKING. Persuasion. That's how you get the job done.

IO, I'm going to hold off until after Thursday morning's radio debate. Then I can do them both at once.

It also is problematic since my column for the Chronicle came out today, and I wanted to link to that. Better to post that on Wednesday and leave debate analysis for Thursday.

(And I am keenly aware they are both reading this, so I'm not about to give either of them pointers in the interim.)

SSSCape,

Okay, if we're going to get all wordy, then, I decided to re-check the definition of "thug" for my own sake (see http://www.answers.com/topic/thug-1). It appears I went for the original meaning while you meant the more common usage. Pardon my misunderstanding and indulge this explanation.

In India, they were a cult who befriended travellers, then strangled and robbed them. They were both Muslim and Hindu, drawing from different influences. The bad guys in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom appeared to be loosely based on them.

As for this sounding "like the current crop of Republicans in power," I believe your suggestion was that this described Don Howell. But he's not in power, right? So that doesn't work.

Maybe a "Republithug" is only be a member of the party who currently in power, then? But since we were talking only about people going for Shirley Gomes slot... nope, I really don't see her as you put it a "cruel or vicious ruffian, robber or murderer."

Or strangling people for money. Or for Kali. Or at all.

In fact, I meet Republicans all the time who have never attempt to strangle me and take my money. Or me them (while in power or out).

On the other hand, there was that tax rollback we voted for a few years ago...

... now who was it who was/is strangled that...?

... and strangled campaign finance reform...?

See how hyperbolic, perjorative jargon just doesn't help?

Thanks for the stats, IO. The real challenge for the Maloy campaign is to keep Peake to the same numbers as she got 2 years ago.

But Peake still can win with these numbers because, as pointed out previously, when faced with two candidates, voters have three choices.

Some Republicans will vote for Peake over Maloy because they are turned off by his stance on social issues. Others will refuse to vote for anyone. Or write in (favorite write-in will be Shirley Gomes).

Peake doesn't need to get a majority of the voters -- just a plurality of those votes cast.

But the larger the number of blanks or write-ins, the less of a mandate any victor can claim. (It is why Clinton's use of that word always drove me nuts, since he never even won a majority of the popular vote.)

PP, first, please pardon the typo and thank you for pointing that out.

Second, "Commanding majority?" Now, I may be wrong on the exact numbers, but wasn't it Howell 457, Buckley 280, Maloy 200, 18 blanks and 2 write-ins (ask me for whom, some time)?

That is not commanding. It is not even a majority. He did NOT carry his home town. The man was contantly reminding us all of how years he was in office and he could not even take half the voters in the primary? And there were plenty of Harwich Democrats who were just waiting to vote against Howell in the general election -- Democrats who had voted regularly for Shirley Gomes in the past.

Bill Galvin sold me on nothing. In fact, I never even spoke with him about this until August in the summer. I went on the impression gathered from people in Harwich who knew him and those who had worked with him. One such person close to Don said he support him, but "he doesn't have a chance in hell." Another said they love Don but _he just doesn't listen_. So you can imagine what I was hearing from others not so invested.

If I had seen real campaigning this spring, I would have backed off. I didn't. Howell could not have won. He would not have taken Chatham. I may not know about the rest of the district, but I know my home town.

SSSCAPE -- Ahh, good point except that he got in second, not first. See the November 22, 2004 posting at http://capecodworks.typepad.com/home/state_and_local_politics/index.html

In 2005, social conservatives dissatisfied with Howell's perceived softness on their issues were casting about for a challenger. Hence, Maloy. They couldn't find anyone of stature who agreed with them. That says enough as to the breadth of that appeal on the Outer/Lower Cape.

I got in because I saw neither of the two as strong. The Chronicle covers Harwich and Chatham, so in my town we've been reading all along about Harwich's financial problems. We run a very tight ship right across the border, so aside from any social issues, Howell was perceived as weak on fiscal issues. A tax and spend Republican as one Harwich voter told me. So Chatham would have gone for Peake over Howell. Without question. And you need Chatham to win it.

That all said, I responded to your comment without name calling. So lose the perjorative labels. A thug is a specific kind of assassin, and not a real delicate one, either. While there may be people who claim to be Republicans whom I, myself, would consider to be thuggish, the vast majority of people in my party are decent and honorable.

We were the majority on the Cape up until very recently, and if Paul Tsongas is to be believed, Tip O'Neill credited Republicans for the way that we had worked to keep the Cape the beautiful, undeveloped place that attracted so many Democrats. I'll gather they did not move here in large numbers because they thought the neighbors would sneak in through bedroom windows and strangle them while they slept.

Having been on the inside enough, I've come to realize that with some people, it is not about issues or helping people or idealogy -- it is about power.

Some are very successful at it, in spite of all their drawbacks. Some has to do with timing (state of the economoy, the opponent they were facing, the mood of the voters). They may change their tune to fit the times, or they may sing the same tune and at some point will be in harmony with everyone else.

But there is never a feeling of backing away and doing something different with their lives. Having a one-track mind means that eventually, the track will be open.

IO -- so you agree then -- two peas in a pod.

I'm not a candidate searching for an office to run for.

Let us hope strong candidates, such as did not step forward this time, choose to do so the next. Then I never will feel the need to.

Of course, if Question 2 passes, things are going to look a little different...

woodsman, I have so many responses available to me regarding your last comment. I had think I've pretty much covered the WHY, but that acronym you used... well... it is probably a god thing I was out working all day. My responses run the gamut:

a) Last I checked, we live in America and I don't need no stinkin' Party Commisar's permission to register as what I like. What's next -- I'm not one if I don't wear an armband with "R" printed on it?

b) The nominee is a social conservative and fiscal liberal (wants to increase social spending dramatically and hike payrolls paid by small business owners). Hey, that's not a Republican -- that's a Dixiecrat! Aaron Maloy is Huey Long! Wrong time and wrong party.

c) Better than being a Creepy Conservative Republican of Cape Cod -- a/k/a a "Cockroach." Hides from sunlight, lives in garbage and spreads filth.

d) I've ALWAYS been a Republican. Can you believe there are former Democrats who actually have the chutzpah to question the creds of lifelong Republicans? Just goes to show you, they may stop being Democrats -- doesn't mean they're not still jackasses.

e) It's not my party, too. IT'S MY PARTY -- PERIOD.

1) But you're welcome to join. Just mind your manners.

f) "As Republicans, we know who we are and what we believe. As the Party of the open door, while steadfast in our commitment to our ideals, we respect and accept that members of our Party can have deeply held and sometimes differing views. This diversity is a source of strength, not a sign of weakness, and so we welcome into our ranks all who may hold differing positions. We commit to resolve our differences with civility, trust, and mutual respect, and to affirm the common goals and beliefs that unite us."
-- Republican Party Platform, 2004

g) There are Republicans supporting Peake OPENLY. I'm not one of them. But if you take your torch and pitchfork that way, take care -- they typically carry their own. Literally. You'll probably suffer grave physical injury. You know better than to piss off hard-core Cape Codders by telling them they HAVE to do anything.

h) Right, so now that I am no longer a candidate, I give up my reputation as a straight shooter and back a candidate who ran a campaign of disgusting personal attacks on other Republicans. Yes, Yankees and Republicans are known for having no backbone whatsoever. No wait -- they do. And I'm both.

i) How about holding him accountable, instead? Or are we not the party of law and order and family values? Or is it really about power?

j) Isn't that really it?

k) I never voted for anyone I didn't believe in. Not to block someone else. Can't you respect that in others?

l) The nominee confided to others prior to the election that he was only running to the right for the primary, then would run to the center for the general. He switched his position on same sex marriage -- how do you know he won't again? He did it on the wind farm already. How do you know he's not some large, near-sighted African herbivore in need of a nose job?

m) NO ONE IS GOING TO BELIEVE ME -- even if I say, he's greater than sliced bread. No one who knows me, at least. And those are the people you'd want me to influence, right? They're going to look at me and say, "... Yeah... right... sure... whatever..."

n) If you have the pleasure of receiving a piece of correspondence from his campaign regarding me, you wouldn't be asking me this. And you'd be holding more than your nose.

0) The emporer has no clothes. And name-calling won't convince your own team to see it when it is clear to the over 50% of voters who are independents here (many, many of whom are former Republicans who left because someone from outside redefined their party without asking).

But as I said, I was a little busy today, so this is just what popped into my head at the moment. Thanks for letting me vent. But probably not a good idea to use that acronym. Ever.

Yes, Peake is sleazy and will never get out of this office until she moves up or dies or commits some heinous political act. But it is a little late to play the party discipline card. Not just a little late -- very, very late.

(I'll get to her soon enough.)

Truthseeker, I'm sensing a theme, but it still eludes me... something about consumption...

Seriously, that is a good idea and I would definitely want to post a link here. Sadly, I am no techno-wiz, so all interested parties should request that WQRC not just stream the debate, but keep it available on their site for those who do not think that Sunday mornings are for politics (egads!).

I'll also take this opportunity to ask that if anyone has any bits of info or news they'd like to share about the campaign for the State Rep. for the 4th Barnstable, please send it my way -- if not in a posting, then by email.

I don't promise to post everything that comes across my plate. I don't promise to even respond to it. Some might be downright wierd. But let's save all those reporters who are reading this some time and let all the detritus collect here. Then I can see what to make of it (if anything).

CC Jedi, you've succeeded in making me laugh. Thanks.

Although flattering, I think we need to give Jeff Beatty his shot, fair and clear. And if he knocks off Delahunt, and Ric Barros does the same with O'Leary, and Bill Doherty keeps his seat, and Aaron beats Peake... what's left to run for?

This assumes, however, I am a crass enough politically to play it this way. No, sorry, you're barking up the wrong tree there.

Let's change themes again:

“Power attracts the corruptible,” wrote Frank Herbert, author of the Dune series. “Suspect all who seek it. We should grant power over our affairs only to those who are reluctant to wield it, and only then under conditions that increase the reluctance.”

And there are definitely enough strong, savvy women in those six books to satisfy Peter Porcupine. For analogy's sake, I mean.

Jedi,

I'm not going to disagree with you on either of your last two posts. I'll stick with my Palatine-Anakin analogy, though.

And State Rep. is simply a stepping stone for her. Delahunt can't live forever...

woodsman, I was on the Chatham Republican Town Committee and a delgate to the State Convention, but that doesn't disqualify me from every writing again. I gather I was offered my op-ed column specifically because I was a Selectman, can write fairly well and my outspoken, independent nature. But also because they wanted some balance on the editorial page. I'm from the right hand side of the street.

That doesn't mean blind allegiance, however. How many of us open the paper, look at a column, see the photo of whomever above it and think, "Oh, I know what they are going to say," and turn the page without reading? I do. What a waste of tree pulp. There's a difference between political independence and journalistic independence.

I ran as a Republican because that is what I am. Always have been. I've been one about as long as Aaron Maloy has been alive. Two thirds of the hardcore of the party did not vote for the eventual nominee. You don't win them over by chastising them.

Moreoever, when employing a smear campaign, Maloy supporters justified it as "every man for himself" or "that's just politics -- get used to it." Well, that may win you 880 votes out of 2,600 in a primary, but where does it leave you the day after the primary? Its a completely amatuer (and, frankly, off-Cape) move to play dirty, then claim after the win that everyone owes you loyalty. This is Cape Cod. It is a small place and people remember. So get used to it.

Please let us recall that there is someone else in the race, too. What's she up to?

The Chronicle endorsed Gomes over Peake last time in the general election.
I have no role regarding the editorial decisions of the paper. I am an op-ed columnist with a fairly open charge.

For a Maloy supporter to say I work for anyone is a new one -- considering that he was going door-to-door in August suggesting I did not have a job. To at point, I had treated Aaron with the respect due another candidate in our party, and expected the same.

I repeat, this is not an either-or proposition -- Peake or Maloy.

IO and woodsman:

Perhaps you missed my September 21 posting. To save you and other interested parties the trouble, here is to which I refer:

"As a writer and op-ed columnist again, I'm free to look into issues that may have been too delicate to address previously. So if I wish to continue to make my living at least partly through my writing, I must maintain a high level of integrity and independence."

So why is an Independent who always votes for Democrats taking me to task for lack of Republican party loyalty? Am I only supposed to go after Sarah Peake? I have not been soft on her either.

I don't believe I am being any less kind than I would normally be if I had not been a candidate. Maybe read my old columns from the Chronicle, or review my record as a candidate for and as a Selectman. You'd see that if I suddenly fell down as a shill or a hack for anyone, my readers and voters would never believe me.

My profession is not that of ex-candidate. The hours may be great but the pay is lousy.

#5 is just far too accurate. Was described as "Rumpole" another member of the bar. Or maybe more like Sergeant Schultz.

(Apologies in advance to civilians.)

CCJedi, you obviously never sat on the Council, for if you had you would have recognized that Aaron's passionate yet erratic behavior (especially his pursuit of power) casts him definitely as Anakin Skywalker to Peake's Chancellor Palpatine. Or should we say, Darth Vader, servant to Darth Sidious (who became the Emporor Palpatine).

And so, for fun, we now throw open the gates to a full-blown casting of the 4th Barnstable District race along Star Wars lines...

... except that any post equating me with Jar Jar Binks will definitely be deleted or severely edited for content. Let there be NO DOUBT.

That Maloy was endorsed by Shirley Gomes AFTER the primary is almost meaningless. If Howell had won, he would have been endorsed. If I had won, the same.

So if endorsements do mean something in this bastion of Yankee rugged individualism, then who else came out for Maloy? Especially before the primary? Or newspaper?

It is true that Maloy did win a competive primary -- with a whopping 1/3rd of the vote. Almost didn't.

I don't know anyone with credibility who believes the general election is competitive. That includes Sarah Peake who, in the Cape Codder, called Maloy a strong opponent. And her lying begins already...

I appreciate it, but don't thank me -- thank Tim at liptv.

Something I encountered while campaigning this summer appeared to be reinforced by a report on CNN this morning:

"Asked if they were enthusiastic about voting this year, 51 percent of Democrats said yes, compared with 44 percent of Republicans." (see http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/09/hastert.poll/index.html)

I tried to explain to a few Republican leaders the low turnout after the primary. It is environmental, not caused by just one issue (or one candidate). There is a genuine lack of enthusiasm engendered by events far beyond our little corner of the world.

Sure, all politics is local, but faced with drag on our core constituency, we'd have to have a dynamite candidate. I'm not going to flatter myself there, but I got in because I was disappointed who was NOT stepping up to the plate. Can't complain about my choices then, right?

Regarding the general election, we know a voter always has three choices when faced with two candidates...

Peter,

That's far too effective to be politically feasible. We'd have to retain the corner office AND get veto-sustaining minorities in both house and senate first.

Either that or key legislative chairmen would have to get their homeowners cancelled. And their mothers'.

Don, then perhaps I was misinformed. LCR made it clear to me that they had reached out to you, but you had failed to respond. As a gentleman, I will take your word for it and most sincerely apologize for the misstatement.

As for the "cribbing" I ask that you review what I wrote above. I did not say Aaron was borrowing my words. I suggest Peake had, probably in an attempt to appear to be more mainstream. Republicans quote Harry Truman and JFK, while Democrats quote Teddy Roosevelt and Reagan. And it was not the substance, but rather the style that was borrowed. I think we and some who know her quite well would agree that Peake will use whatever language she can muster to tell people what they want to hear -- and then vote predictably on the left.

As for where I was up until this spring, like many of us, I was waiting for a viable candidate to emerge and begin actively campaigning.

I believe you are fully aware of my service as Selectman, my role as a military spouse overseas, my return as a single father, and the my struggle to protect my daughter from being sent back overseas... and I am fully aware and appreciate your efforts to inform others in this regard.

GD, in 1990, at age 24 I was executive director of a campaign for Lieutenant Governor here, then ran the Spokane County Republican Central Committee and a campaign for State Rep. out there. I had already run for both the Assembly of Delegates and Selectman (and lost). I was on the Historical Commission, the Board of Directors of the VNA, the Chatham Republican Town Committee and was a delegate to the Republican State Convention. Aaron said he doesn't have time to be on local volunteer boards -- that's a load of hooey, and an insult to everyone that can manage it. Peake nailed him on it, and rightfully so.
Now, I guess you're not familiar with my manner of discourse while I was a Selectman in Chatham or as an op-ed columnist for the Cape Cod Chronicle. Outside Chatham and Harwich, that is common. So if people are asking for my perspective -- as someone who has been on the inside -- I'm going to tell them, and do the best job I can at it. They have come to expect it from me. So that is helping people.
I don't know any old Cape Codder who wouldn't call someone a "dahned fool" if they thought it. It is often applied to people in public office, and I'm no exception.
So I am not going to "give them a break". They are asking for our trust, and in my opinion they need to live up to a standard of service and integrity set by Shirley Gomes. To comment on their ability to do so and their campaigns, I believe, is my job now.
As for Sofie, if she's proud of me somewhere down the road because I always tried to do what I thought was right, that's great. Now being three, she's just proud if I can run faster than the dog.

PP, when Peake said that about cameras I thought... hmmm... I thought I remembered those when I was intern there in 1987... did they take them out? I was expecting her to clarify and say that she wanted committee hearings televised, too. But she didn't. If she does next time -- you heard it here first.

Len, yes, not exactly a strong or original approach -- to say it is the feds' job.

However, I will endeavor to listen for either candidate borrowing Don Howell's words, Ray Gottwald's words or Ron Bergstrom's words.

Any occurence of any, if at all, being well worth noting.

All three Republican candidates were asked to speak before the Log Cabin Republicans at their annual meeting in Boston. Of the three, I was the only one in attendance (but there were candidates from other districts also there). They consider marriage equality to be core issue.

"Sore" would not be an accurate description. I commented on this at the September 19th debate, saying although imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, what it really meant was Sarah Peake was paying a great deal attention to what I was saying.

It is not that she was stealing ideas -- she was lifting words, which is not uncommon to me as either a writer or in the political realm. Especially the latter. You hear something, and you say, "I like the way that sounds." But as Joe Biden learned painfully from Mike Dukakis in 1988, you really have to be careful how close you come, or else you sound like parroting.

My point was that Maloy, having heard these themes and phrases time after time from me at the same events, should have at least called her on it. Even a simple, "Don't you have any of your own ideas, Sarah?" would have sufficed.

Does seem a little odd that he did not, doesn't it?

After reading Don's blog, I have to concur that all the Town Clerks did a fine job during the recount. Having worked in the Chatham Town Clerk's office after graduating from college, I hold great respect for what they do. From Harwich to Provincetown, they all conducted themselves as consummate professionals.

That should be self-evident.

For examples of some different blog rules, see:

http://btcweb.biz/blogrules.htm

or

www.mises.org/contact.aspx?form=blog

or

http://bubblemeter.blogspot.com/2006/06/blog-rules.html

We've seen pretty clearly what happens when anything goes. The general feedback I received was that the stupid meter broke. Readers deserve better and we get that by setting the standard higher. So let's see what happens...


... and if anyone wants to talk to me directly about an issue that has nothing to do with a post, then they should email me directly at AGB@stageharbor.com. That is a funny way to discuss things these days -- I know -- directly, that is.

It would appear 1, 3 and 5 pretty well cover that topic.

Rule #2 of this blog
No comments by active candidates (a/k/a the "Get your own blog" Rule") and any may be deleted.

Rule #5
No stupid comments (a/k/a the "Shut up, Frank" Rule -- as in, Major Frank Burns from M*A*S*H) and any may be deleted.

I leave it to the readers to decide whether a preceding comment by a candidate has violated either rule. Whichever the case, it will be deleted but left on only so long so as to illustrate how the rules work.

Other important rules:

Rule #1
No personal attacks. Posts that do not follow the decorum found at a public meeting or would not be appropriate when said in front of my daughter or your grandmother may be deleted (for an example of basic posting rules, see www.mises.org/contact.aspx?form=blog).

Rule #3
Any comments not related directly to the post or related topics may be deleted.

Rule #4
Anonymous posts may be deleted.

Rule #6
Comments on the rules may be deleted.

Rule #7
Some posts may not allow comments.

Rule #8
Comments on each post will be closed post after two to three days (more if constructive, intelligent discussion is going on -- fewer if not).

In five weeks.

It says that 880 (according to the latest CC Times numbers) out of almost 2,600 of the most involved and informed voters who chose to vote in the Republican primary, chose Aaron Maloy.

My best estimate for votes needed to win the general election: 14,000.

Having just spoken to the S of S's elections division, I learned there is nothing their office can do. Attorney Michelle Tassinari said that their office has no jurisdiction in this matter, and that the best they can do is advise the P-Town Town Clerk to make sure people are checked in properly next time.
Ms. Tassinari also commented that a legal challenge could be difficult. This is because the recount petition filed by the Howell campaign does not allege that this failure to mark down which voters took which ballots was a factor. Instead, it simply said the counting was wrong. The lack of voter check-in info was instead found after the fact.

Sorry I wasn't clear on that. Results from P-Town were:
Buckley 9
Howell 7
Maloy 21
Blanks 4

Of these, 2 absentee ballots went to Howell, one to Maloy, and 2 went to me. Only the absentee voters were checked for party registration. No other voters were.

Therefore, if the P-Town results are thrown out because of a lack of checking of registration, then district-wide our results would diminish by the above numbers.

Or ONLY the absentee ballots would be counted because they were check for party registration.

Either way, Maloy is deprived of enough votes to lose to Howell.

For me, this could be for the honor of a slightly larger asterisk next to my name in the almanacs.

But my status as an invoved party gives me a terrific birds-eye view into the whole scene. How the votes are counted and tallied, the behavior of the other campaign's observers and counsels -- as well as how each town really can be defined by their town clerks.

Nevermind that I can see how voters marked their ballots. I noticed more than a few people in Harwich voted for me for state rep. and then for governor wrote in Shirley Gomes -- and a couple others for Deval Patrick!

Vet, it's not my seat, but thanks. Regarding this and the previous issue you raised, let's see how these two processes play out. I remain an idealist, and still believe in our systems.

Same price in Harwich Port at Cumberland's. But $2.49 at their store on Route 134 in Dennis.

Peter,

There are times some would question this, but I am not one of those people. Pardon the omission, due, I believe to a sometimes-buggy text editor. Or perhaps a sometimes-buggy writer. I have made the appropriate correction.

Vet, I've been so focused on the 4th Barnstable District race that all the other races were just a blur. So, your comments are, honestly, a real mystery to me.
Your point on candidates no longer in the race fighting for something else is well taken, however. In my case, I have this blog to comment on the 4th Barnstable race, and my op-ed column in the Chronicle, too. With my insight, I feel that is where I am most effective.
Is there any blog that covers the race for Congress?

To give some perspective, each of the three Republicans had different approaches and constituencies.

Aaron bet on the people who will go through a blizzard to vote on their issues and bought some ads. Don spent more than both of us on different media and worked his network. And I bought no ads, put signs everywhere, gave out balloons with our logo at events, got some good free media, and hit more doors than anyone.

Still, we came within half a busload of voters of each other. Maybe one more day of door-to-doors for me, and we'd be having a different conversation right now.

But with 40 grand in the bank? Fuggetaboutit.

Len, I have a hazy recollection of primaries here or somewhere else being in May at some point. But that they were changed to September, earning that legislation the name "The Incumbent Protection Act." (Although, this was not the first or last time this term was or could have been accurately applied to the legislature.)

Although, I really have to say there is something perverse about letting two parties, who combined represent less than 50% of the population, determine through a state-sponsored primary process the two major candidates for every office in the general election.

No wonder voters in Massachusetts are so perennially alienated -- and unpredictable to those two parties.

Any primary system that results in victories by the extremes of both parties -- in the most moderate and balanced district in the state -- is seriously flawed, if not broken.

We're forced to go to war with each other before a six week sprint to the November election.

In theory, this is a trial by fire. In reality, more often than not, everyone gets burned.

... and please pardon all typos above.

PP, my 9/11 post was simply a draft which was inadvertently posted. As you are well aware as a blogger here yourself, when you press "SAVE" on your posting, the default setting is to publish it, not to save it as a draft.

If you read the posted draft, then you saw it was incomplete. I was alerted to its existence online an hour later, and immediately deleted it. I did not post the completed version because, to be honest, I felt uncomfortable with the personal nature of the article (even though I was happy with what I wrote). As with many of us, this day is hits a raw nerve.

Be assured, the article exists. But the author should always be the first judge as to the nature and depth exposure of whatever he/she produces.

Thanks, Mon. Sofie loves Shirley Temple movies, and will sing the songs over again and again... and then insist that I do, too.

Step aside, Mon, because I must get a piece of this action.

In high school, I convinced our World Lit teacher to add it to our reading selection. I credit Beston's Outermost House and Winter Farm with inspiring my own ability to create a sense of place. He is a powerful writer because you feel as if you are actually there.

How many would-be and did-become writers did this draw to the Cape over the past 80 years? How many amateur ornitholigists and naturalists did it draw into those fields?

God knows, along with how many motels and ranch-house subdivisions to accomodate all those who must love something to death?

Honestly, I have a nice yard with and a sore need to replace our old shed. Sofie's only 3, but let us consider this a social experiment -- if she grows up with a writer father and her playhouse is a replica of the Outermost House then she will naturally tend towards...

... investment banking, probably. Who am I kidding?

I'm in for 5 bucks, that's for sure.

Ummm... Don, nice piece on your housing background, but you misheard my joke. What I said was, "I guess I'm walking the wrong way!" (See my blog at http://www.capecodtoday.com/blogs/index.php/Buckley). And I had been thinking what field day a Democrat could have with what I actually said...

Actually, somewhere Harry Hood is driving around wearing my waders. If I could have just scored his hat, too...