CapeCodToday Blog Chowder

And its getting thinner and thinner by the week! Pretty soon it won't even cover the bottom of your proverbial birdcage.


One of the things I've always noticed is the amazing amount of available space given to high school sports. Not that it shouldn't be covered but what about the other school activities? Does everybody go to school to study football and baseball? Even the recent student insert was done all by the kids with no commentary whatsoever by the staff writers!

I will give them credit for having some excellent photographers - here's hoping that they don't shut them down as well!

In addition to Jim Leidell's comments, Peter Sutherland wrote an excellent critique in today's "My View" of the paper. The opposition to this project is clearly shown for the bunch of self-serving and short sighted folks that they are. Go Jim, Pete and all the rest of those in favor!

WXTK says this is another good example of the dangers of the wind farm. They say if the ship hit one or more of the columns it might blow up the entire area on shore!

This is from Wikipedia - previously codenamed Blackcomb and Vienna) is scheduled to be the next major version of Microsoft Windows as the successor of Windows Vista.[1] Microsoft has announced that it is "scoping Windows 7 development to a three-year timeframe", and that "the specific release date will ultimately be determined by meeting the quality bar."[2] The client versions of Windows 7 will ship in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.[2]

Microsoft is maintaining a policy of silence concerning discussion of plans and aspirations for Windows 7 as they focus on the release and marketing of Windows Vista,[3] stating that Microsoft doesn't want to promise features and then fail to deliver, though some early details of various core operating system features have emerged. As a result, little is known about the feature set, though public presentations from company officials have disseminated information about some features. Leaked information from people to whom M1 of Windows 7 was shipped also provide some insight into the feature set.

I'm glad you put it into words and reasons You did a much better job than I could do but the has always been something about him that seems so transparent and insincere. My hope is that he finds his appeal very thin and leaves the field to those who are more worthy than he is!

Nothing like providing the details of how to print counterfit $20 bills. I can just imagine how many teens will try it "just to see if it works that well".

Will somebody please explain specifically how "taxpayer dollars" would fund the Wind Farm? we keep reading this assertion but I have never seen details on how we, as taxpayers, would pay the price!

I've had Macs since the C3 which is still in my basement. One of my kids had it for a while after I upgraded and he finally sent it back to me. Now I have an Intel iMac with OS X and Windows on the same machine. I tried Parallels which didn't work so well for me so I'm back to Bootcamp. Nice to hear about your report on Leopard. I plan to buy it soon and see where its being offered for $100 in many places. There are many applications which I have and don't use but its great to try them all out. Incidentally, AOL is a system to use the internet and works with either Mac or PC.

Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? Looking for your stuff among the chaff strewn so liberally lately. How about a commentary or two?

I just saved it as a jpeg. Wonderful shot, makes me determined to visit the site myself.

Here's a little bit about Ben Stein taken from his website -

Ben Stein is a lawyer, economist, and commentator on finance (and a well-known actor and Hollywood personality).

Stein served as an economist at the U.S. Department of Commerce. He has been a longtime contributor to Barron's and a columnist and editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal. He has also written extensively about finance for New York magazine and the Washington Post.

In addition to writing for Yahoo! Finance, he currently writes a biweekly column on economics and finance for the New York Times and appears weekly on the Fox News network commenting on finance and economics.

That video by David Pogue is really great. If that doesn't grab your interest I'll be surprised plus it gives a wonderful, concise description of how to use iPhone.

I recall that during one of the first masses I attended the priest said "Those of you who are so inclined may wish to acknowledge your neighbor". Very pleasant way to suggest a greeting, don't you think? On the other hand when I attend church in Tucson where one of my daughters lives, the Franciscans have fostered such a friendly atmosphere that your "neighbor" doesn't wait for an invitation but introduces him or herself immediately.

Howie Carr always seems to me as the personification of a "sleazeball". For all of his frequently mentioned "preppie" background he grovels in the dirt with relish.

With all the hullabaloo about the Rotweilers making the headlines, I would say that Opinionator is just providing us with a glimpse of what a real pet dog is like.

We have a border collie mix named Cindy. She is part of our life in the same way as Meg seems to be in Opinionators. Cindy is certified as a therapy dog and goes up to several retirement homes regularly with other dogs in the group to visit with the residents. It is a high point for many of these people when they have these friendly dogs to pet!

Thanks. Read your commentary and ordered the book by "one click" from Amazon.

Notice the activity your commentary has gathered since you posted it. Somehow or other AmerIdol has people watching and taking sides! What I thought was interesting is that folks are buying more of their CDs than any of the so-called popular singers and its lasting for years not just a one shot burst. Simon certainly has started something unique even if all the imitative shows have crowded out all the comedies we used to watch!

Boola, boola - Frank Gibson

I'm glad you included the part about the help the staff gives you, especially with the graphics. I have been impressed and perhaps intimidated by the excellent selections and clarity of the pictures I have seen included here on Cape Cod Today. In any event, well done - I for one always look for your commentary.

Just want to say that there was a fascinating biography of Oprah's life shown on TV not so long ago. When you see what she endured and where she came from originally its enough to give her the leeway to put anything on she chooses to do. I think it gets a bit treacly myself when I happen to tune it, usually when I'm on the treadmill at the gym! Bill O'Reilly is just Mr. Nasty no matter what he's jabbering about.

Having watched the video, I'm convinced that she has gotten a raw deal. Pini is getting protection from every quarter and seems to deserve at least a heavy financial penalty to her benefit.

Its a pleasant surprise to a comparatively new reader to know that this site keeps on top of breaking news. My wife came home with the news of cop cars all over downtown Barnstable with a helicopter flying overhead. TV didn't give us any immediate info, but your site did! Great to know we can get such immediate updates!

To me there is still some difference between "Natural Law" and the "Official Position" of the church. For example after my late wife and I had six children with the last two arriving in spite of our attempts to use the rhythm method, we turned to "the pill". I could never accept the idea that the pill which supposedly prevented a fertilized egg from attaching to the womb and thus resulted in the expulsion of it was the equivalent of killing an unborn child. It seems to me that there are too many gray areas and that with or without an eraser on the Pope's pencil these will be decided by a higher power, namely God.

Yesterday at a meeting of our book group which is pretty well split between liberals and conservatives I asked who the conservatives were hoping would be the Republican nominee. To my surprise the only serious name they said they were backing was Mitt. They credited him with an excellent job of management considering the depth of his opposition in the legislature. I've never thought of Mitt as a definite probability but now I'm wondering? ? ?

That's a wonderful memory and I thank you for reminding us. The other thing I am constantly amazed by when I think of our trips to the moon is the LEM module. Its possible to conceive of its landing on the surface of the moon successfully but try to imagine that little capsule leaving the surface to rendezvous with the orbiting space ship! What were the chances of that success? What heroes those men were and those living still are!

First of all I want to compliment you on the illustration which I assume you provided for this commentary. Very well done! Secondly my questions are what book were they all waiting to purchase and where is this bookstore? Is it possible that there is one like you describe so popular on Cape Cod? As a former book store owner and operator for some 13 years I had the advantage of six children who could have come to man the cash registers if needed but I don't recall ANY book that ever created such a stir! Meanwhile with the advance of technology I know that most potential customers would opt for www.amazon.com in a trice. I know that i would in today's world.

It seems to me that Mcfly has got it right. Certainly the SAT is a useful test and everyone isn't going to have an opportunity to be personally interviewed by distant colleges they may be interested in attending.

Incidentally, reading the NYTimes online today, I see that they have an "Opinionator" columnist as well.

Opinionator - something has totally fouled up the comments to your blog. I believe I'll wait until they get it straightened out. Interesting to see how something like that can happen here!

Great post, Opinionator. I just sent it in its entirety to my Elders group. These are about fifty folks from the US, Canada, England, Australia and a few from additional non English speaking countries. I liked both the neocon information and Father Neuhaus's commentary.

I have six children, three boys and three girls. I can't remember the details of what we were charged for the annual school pictures but I know that we had a large collection by the time they all had graduated on to college. I thought it was fascinating to see the changes year by year and not too long ago gathered them all up for each child and sent them on as I knew they hadn't kept theirs in any particular place or order. Those collections I'm sure will provide them lots of pleasure as the years go by and they occasionally remember to look them over.

When I was a kid my Dad had a job in NYC and the company had tickets or seats for the Yankees and at the Garden for Hockey games. So my brother and I had opportunities to see baseball at the Yankee Stadium and hockey at Madison Square Garden. I remember taking my boys perhaps once to see the Red Sox but other than that it was all about the leagues that they and their friends played in. I can recall taking them down to Boston when our team had 3:00 AM ice time! Its a different world and I say thank God for TV!

When I'm driving around the Cape the two stations I listen to are WXTK and the WGBH outlets. Is WXTK owned by the Fox network? Do they have any moderate commentators at all? In general I get the impression that our population must be among the most conservative in the nation but that doesn't necessarily jibe with the folks I meet. Its going to be immensely interesting to see just how many voters "stay the course" in the upcoming election.

I don't know how many times I was a sucker for the free offers - I just couldn't believe that they would continue to put this lure out! Now I simply delete any offer that comes along. I just admit, like you, at first I was determined to see just how long it would take to complete the questions. Needless to say I never did!

Yes, and since they both have nuclear weapons that should certainly clear the air!

Have you any more trenchant observations?

HCIT! - How cool is that! Supposedly the hippest way to admire something.

My goodness, Opinionator, you certainly rattled a few cages with what I thought was a genuinely reflective commentary! In any event I wanted to suggest Nathaniel Philbrick's "Mayflower" book to you in case you haven't read it. Made me realize how limited my American history education was. Was particularly interesting to see that the colonists aboard that ship from England spent 12 years in Leiden, Holland before they came here. Also that half of the passengers were Dutch themselves.

After such a long period of time it definitely seems excessive to me that the surviving family members are so anxious for more extreme punishment fot the club owners. However this is not the first time we have seen this behavior exhibited. It almost seems that the possibility of press coverage encourages it.

Capemom certainly scorched WXTK! But my comment would be that at least there are live phone calls by the listeners even though most of them fall into the category she so distinctly described. But what else is there? We listen mostly to PRI 94.3 which has general news and programming. It would be nice if someone decided to do a little more with Cape Cod news and commentary however.

Bill Koch is my idea of a first class, worthless, jerk! Of all the things he might be involved with and add a contribution to this world this is what he picks!

Do any of you sages really think Healy has a chance? If so I'd appreciate an explanation of how you come to that conclusion. I'm sure she's a nice decent person, but to run the State of Massachusetts - I don't see it happening.

I like to watch the specials too - my problem is that just when you think you've heard enoough of the "message" and they claim the special program is about to return, they are off on a new extended round of hectoring for contributions! Oh well, that at least gives me a chance to check out channels 16 and 20, the other PBS alternatives.

I thought that was very interesting. I knew no-one personally who was an altar boy as I went to public school and none in my neighborhood were attending the Catholic schools. With your traditional background I wonder what your ideas are in reference to the possibility of married priests and/or women becoming priests. Its obvious to me that lots needs to be updated as Catholicism is losing its grip not only in the US but in the balance of the world as well.

Capri - how do you feel about telephone poles?

Interesting question - I have wondered if I could even find what the Gillette recommendations are. I know that they put that blue marking on their triple bladed deluxe packets. Supposedly they hope you will discard it when the blue wears off - haaah! I continue to use mine until the plastic itself has pretty well disappeared. Since I shave in the shower each morning my beard is pretty well softened and generally one triple blade lasts for a month. For sure they won't want my public endorsement!

Kennedy's opposition to the wind farm was the nail in his coffin for me. He has a wonderful speaking voice - too bad its wasted on his useless efforts and self puffery.

This is something I've been meaning to write for a long time. In regard to burning the American Flag it seems to me the simple solution is to have the perp arrested on the spot. I could no more take the front page of a newspaper and set it afire in a public place than I could snatch a purse! We have laws against it. Why do we need additional protection when all that should be necessary is for an arrest to be made with subsequent fines or punishment? I can't understand why existing law is not being enforced, can you?