CapeCodToday Blog Chowder

liblvr (I assume this means "liberal lover"). Great comment. Just what I expected from your "side", so I assume you agree that the stimulus worked, that Pelosi and Reid aren't trashing the Constitution, that you enjoy 10.2 unemployment and that the gov't should step in and employ everyone. Good luck in the country you move to.

Thanks for all the comments. I didn't say I was against Medicare. I have complete freedom to choose my own doctor and I'm covered fully through veteran benefits. What I see is a wrong conversion to socialized medical care which will inflict terrible damage on my kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids. I'm looking forward to an angioplasty and probable heart valve replacement in the next week. I need to get it done before the rationing.

Would the gentleman mind telling us how much he made on the case, win or lose?

Right on!! You sound more like a conservative, far from a centrist. Are we on track for Socialism based on what you've said? So, who do we send to Congress next time around?

Sorry I missed the meeting. You should change your blog name to RepublicanPolitico. Would like to see an explicit plan similar to Newt Gingrich's a while back. I don't understand Possee's remark. How helpful is that?

Maybe better to have 75 czars.

Have you forgotten Barney Frank's and Chris Dodd's contribution to the collapse with their support of Fannie Mae's lending policies? What happened to the $1.3 million in pork barrel spending that Bill Delahunt got for Falmouth bike trails? How many teachers or police or fireman could that handle? As a lawyer, you must have a good understanding of tort reform which has been conveniently left out of the Obamacare bill and how wonderful it is going to be to have all the fraud and abuse eliminated from Medicare. Of course, we can't do that first to prove that it can be done. We have to trust the Obama admin. and Congress. Yeah, right!

Repeat after me for the next elections (for 20 years); "NO MORE TAX AND SPEND DEMOCRATS!!!

I'm not only interested in what happened to Bill Delahunt on the health care issue, I want to know if he is still buying oil from Hugo Chavez. As for an ambassadorship, it probably will be in Venezuela.

To Richard: Hmmm. Time to make changes? Then why has Congress rammed thru bills hardly anyone read? Have you read the healthcare bill? I have. I assume by your writing that you are not a Medicare recipient. Try reading the bill before you endorse it. You will be appalled at what it proposes. 2/3 of its funding to come from Medicare and Medicaid? If so much money is there in fraud and abuse why not correct that. Also, show me the composition of the 47 million people who will be covered. Very clever of Obama to give obstructionists "enough rope". Very clever, indeed. Maybe you don't believe in poll numbers and that the responders are all cretins. I'm anxious to hear how the president's silver tongue oratory reaches the cretins among us.

We have the electorate to blame for this. They enjoy the Kennedy monarchy and the single-minded, left-wingers.

I have read the House bill, all 1018 pages. I resent the fact that our esteemed legislators don't read the bills they pass and are jamming this insanity of a health bill down our throats. The Democrats' exercise of leadership is to call protesters "un-American". It's not all about health care. It's about government control and mounting debt. As for the health bill, it is packed with penalties, punishments and rationed care. I can't imagine anyone in their right mind could pass a plan like this. Are you willing to give up your doctor-patient relationship and have it replaced by a panel of doctors? Outrageous. Stick to the facts as they are spelled out in the bill. Small businesses will be buried in paperwork, primary care doctors will get unreasonable cuts in payments. Hospitals, according Pres. Obama, will be rewarded or penalized if they don't cure the patients. Since when is Cape Cod Hospital responsible for curing my ills. I have a fine doctor to do that. Get real!!!

My apologies Ginnie and many thanks for the comment. I've made the changes. I hope that I can attract more e-mail addresses to add to what I have. The focus from now on will be on the Historic District and the businessess there.

Congratulations on your 50th. In August, 1959, I was at the opposite end of the spectrum getting ready to be discharged from the Navy at Treasure Island, CA. Closest I ever came to pot was breathing heavy as I walked past the coffee shops in Sauselito.

Just a suggestion. See my blog "Historic Harwich" and compare Sandwich's efforts on behalf of historic preservation through the Historical Commission.

I wish Delahunt, Kerry, and Kennedy would join the Blue Dogs so they can put pressure on to get what we need. Small businesses on the Cape will go under with what is proposed. I hate seeing them go along with the crowd.

I'm really worried now. Are we a nation of sheep? It's about time someone brought Pres. Obama and the Democratic party to their senses. Wake up, Dems. Can't you see that your rights are being violated every day. You had your day with Bush, but you're allowing Obama and cronies to do worse.

Give a politician an open checkbook and he becomes a Messiah. Soon it will be Dr. Obama of Notre Dame. Wonderful!

I feel your pain. Take a look at my blog. Historic Harwich.

Regretable, but close to the truth. Instead of carved stone, it may be asphalt, as in parking lot. My next blog is going to deal with the decline of culture and historic preservation in Harwich, worse than the Exchange Building demise. Lots of bluster, no action.

To whatsup: You are right. My comments are cynically driven mainly because of the disconnect I feel with both fed and state governments. I'm not sold on the stimulus because there is no effective way to gauge its impact on jobs, based on the way the projects are laid out. I seem to sense some doubt in your mind, too. What jobs will be saved and where will the money come for the "new" ones. For the Obama administration to say "it will create or save 3.5 million jobs", I wish they could spell out what kinds of jobs they are. Are we going to have to spend $.50 more per gallon of gas to shore up what should have been done for years? Since no one read the bill before it was passed, I consider the whole matter voodoo economics. My son and two daughters will be paying the freight. From what you are saying, Harwich will just have to bite the bullet.

To whatsup: Thanks for your reply. I don't know what the formulas are for the various town allotments. Using voodoo math, i.e. dividing the amounts in the stimulus by 351 (No. of towns in MA), I come up with interesting figures. Try it, then consider: How much will Harwich share in the $$? Are you absolutely sure that the "shovel" ready projects in Harwich will be approved after the state level gets a hold of the infrastructure funds? The amounts given for education are grant funds raising the level of federal participation to 40%. Where is the other money coming from and aren't the towns already using grant money to funds the Special Ed programs? I'm not quibbling over the need for a stimulus. I am doubtful about the way the money is being spent to "stimulate" the economy. I happened to have been a member of the band of brothers who were laid off during the Carter years. I don't have the space to chronicle my journey through those times.I feel for the people who are in that boat today. Can you compare the job losses categorized by careers with the job creations? Show me specifics.

Huge leaps from snowman to linguistics to NFL. In the Super Bowl, Arizona will have a meltdown. Pittsburg will ice Arizona in an avalanche. That's the cold, hard reality.

I enjoy your history blog. Hope you have a chance to revisit the tearing down of the Exchange Building in Harwich in 1950. Also, my blog, Historic Harwich, is dealing with the two dilapidated historic buildings. It changed Harwich forever. Best wishes for the holidays.

I thought we were supposed to get "change." So why did we return everyone to office? What are you going to say about our Democrat Gov. when he opts to change a law to appoint a replacement for John Kerry if he becomes Secretary of State. We should all give our new president the same respect that Dems give George Bush.

As for Obama, follow his money. Where did he get the money for his colleges? Where did he get the money to get into Harvard Law School? Who voted him into the job at the Harvard Business Review? Why did Obama head to Chicago of all places to take a $12,000 (yuk,yuk) per year job? Why didn't he take a job on an Indian Reservation to help them community organize. Community Organizer -- Bull. Twenty years with Reverend Stewart and unknown years with Bill Ayres and Rezko have to stick. It is outrageous to think that this man isn't loaded up with Socialistic, non-authoritarian, and weak character issues that have not been touched on. He is learning the regular left Dem. line and is afraid to veer from that for fear of losing votes. I would like to see him in the cockpit of a jet, taking off from a carrier in the middle of the night, and being shot down and held prisoner for five years. By comparison, Obama is an empty suit with a silver tongue. I bereaves me that so many followers of Obama are so tied to the party line that their vision is clouded. I pity the Dem. They have no backbone.

LOL My daughter told me that the Ranch House was a roudy bar. Maybe we should turn the rec. building........never mind!

Have all the fun you want. But I say, poor Obama. The poor guy got stuck between a Barack and a hard place. He had Hillary locked onto his tail (and still does). He wanted to put a female on his ticket, but didn't want Hillary. So, what does he do? Puts up Joe Biden, someone he locked horns with in the primary. Unbelievable. This shows his character, his inability to stand up to the Democrat elite, be the change agent he professes to be and he blows it big time. Sarah Palin got more votes in her run for Alaska governor than Biden got in the primary. Poor Obama. He now has a tiger by the tale in Sarah Palin. How he must wish he had someone like her by his side. The Democratic "unity" is a laugh. Hillary and Bill still control the party and are praying that Obama will lose so she can run in 2012. It's so obvious it's sickening. I'm totally in favor of the two party system. I pray that the Democratic party will learn something, but apparently they are incapable judging by their poll numbers in Congress. What a pity. Poor Obama; nice guy, but he has to be the sacrificial lamb.

See my last entry in my Historic Harwich blog.

I agree with everything you say, but a big part of the Cape's charm is its history. If we paid attention to the preservation of historic landmarks we'd be in better shape and maybe we'd look better. Harwich has done a good job with land conservation, beaches, and bike trails, but a woeful job of preserving historic architecture.

I'm tryin'. I'm tryin'.

Offshoots of memoir writing are "lessons learned" which emerge as you write. There is no age limit, min or max on this. You have a lot to write about.

I would like to meet Roy Simmons. I might even go "over the mountain" from Harwich to attend. Hope you and yours had a great Thanksgiving.

Great article. You brought back some memories. I lived in Scituate for 30 years. One goal I accomplished was to sail around Minot Light in my 14 foot Tanzer.

I hear a lot about the buzz word at the state house: Creative economy, i.e. the role of the arts, humanities, and interpretive sciences in local economies. Does your organization deal with that? My blog is Historic Harwich. Do you have a connection in Harwich? Hope to hear from you. E-mail jprophet@earthlink.net

I have wanted to change the spelling to "Profit" for a long time. Now I'm connected with "non-profit" and I've had lots of experience being non-profit.

I don't know about a sammich, but I'm sure it's not baloney.

Good question and one frequently asked. The Community Center offers invaluable services for the community. It houses the COA and the Youth and Recreation program; it has the fitness center, rooms for use by the public, and much more. The proposed cultural center will offer programs dedicated to the arts, humanities, and interpretive sciences in an atmosphere of "meet the artist" programs with workshops, exhibits, lectures, classes, performances on a regular basis. The mission of the community center makes it difficult for scheduled cultural activities on a regular basis. The Council supports all cultural programs, and encourages more, no matter where they are held, in the schools, at Brooks Free Library, or at the Comm. Center. We feel that our mission of dedicated programs will be good for all.

Hey, I just got back from the streets of NY. Saw Mary Poppins. I'm ready.

At what age? Is that a compliment?

Great to see your book, Rick. Best of luck. John Prophet

Your comments are well made. My blog is Historic Harwich. Our efforts to create cultural centers in Harwich are to do just what you have said. Best wishes, John Prophet