Bellicose Bumpkin

One of my readers sent me a Boston Globe article that I found to be fascinating. Harvard Professor Roland Fryer applied statistical analysis on successful schools to see why they worked, then applied the resulting 5 principals to failing schools in Texas with dramatic results in just one year.
The magic recipe

• Frequent feedback to teachers
• Use data on individual students to guide their instruction
• Heavy tutoring
• Increase instructional time
• Maintain very high expectations

Read more…

Angry bumpkin will be back in full force this week in my Gazette column this coming Thursday. It will discuss the gutting of the grammar school music program and general failure of the schools to change their utterly unacceptable MCAS scores.

Starting next year, the instrument music program will be done after school – a move that is sure to kill participation and thus destroy all music in Middleboro since the grammar school is the feeder for our middle and high school musicians.

If you’re a person who follows the shenanigans in Middleboro you might have seen my Blog Roundup page. It essentially gives a link to the most recent posts on a number of web sites and blogs of local interest. This is done automagically by querying the RSS feed (basically a list of posts, titles, and dates).

I’ve just added Trout Grave – a blog by a Mashpee Wampanoag elder(s?). It bills itself as “Quibbles and scribbles from the east end of town”. It seems to be critical of the tribal leadership – which makes me feel a certain kinship in that I am often critical of my tribal leadership here in Middleboro.

Trout Grave is a nice WordPress site – with RSS feeds and a clean easy design. I wish the author(s) well with their new site and look forward to reading more about the Mashpee Wampanaog. The Tribe’s fate has become intertwined with my town of Middleboro as we both go through gyrations, pain, and expense for a casino that has little chance of seeing the light of day – in Middleboro especially – but also in Fall River or anywhere else.

My last three columns in the Middleboro Gazette were a series on Middleboro public schools. The short version is that the schools are under-performing – at least as measured by MCAS scores – and are lacking any structured way of engaging advanced students in the younger grades. The columns also explored alternatives to completely replace or supplement Middleboro public schools.

Homeshooler letter
I got a fair amount of feedback on the columns. This current edition of the Gazette has a letter from a homeschooled student that took issue with me saying that I had concerns about the social aspect of homeschooling. The data on the topic clearly shows that homeschooled students have no social issues and generally outperform their public, private, and charter school counterparts. Still – with kids that have been in the public school system for many years – moving them to another system, homeschooled, private, or otherwise – is of concern to me.

Feedback from teaches and administrators
I had a great discussion with a teacher that started like this: “I have a bone to pick with you Mr. Bumpkin. I was a school teacher in Middleboro for 32 years and I think I did a pretty good job”.

Mrs. Bumpkin ran into the new headmaster of the Nichols School – Mrs. Feeney – who said she really liked the columns and might want to have me come in to discuss our experience with Study Island – an on-line MCAS preparation site that we signed up for. As an aside – I’m very impressed with it so far.

I’m sure many local educators were less than thrilled with the columns. I think they were fair and expressed my honest and justified concerns with my kid’s education.

A man like you
I was talking to some people I met recently and the topic of my column came up. I was trying to describe the gist of it and one of them described it as a “contrarian” column. That’s a good description – I am often critical of the ways of town government. That is the nature of a column or blog for that matter – you tend to write about things that are bothering you. Sure, I could write that the sun came up today – and isn’t that wonderful …. or that the fire department rescued a kitten from an extremely high tree. Writing is a creative process and topics come from whatever is on your mind. The fact that the sun came up isn’t often on my mind.

I had an interesting run-in with a selectman recently who was questioning the value of having a relationship with a “man like you”. I’m not so sure I ever got a good description of what a “man like you” was – so I’ll go with contrarian … at least until a better term comes along. Or one that can be printed and used in polite company. Your mileage may vary.

I’ll be starting around 7:30.

I don’t think I’ve played a public gig since late August. Sometime in October I did a fundraiser at the Flat Iron and had to postpone a December gig. At the October gig I set up in the center of the room instead of way down the end. By all reports this set up was a lot better. It allowed the people in the front to hear the music and allowed me to keep the volume more uniform. When I setup down the far end(near the Everett Sq. entrance) I have to turn the PA up as loud as I can to get the music to the far end of the room. This created feedback problems for me because I use an actual microphone to amplify my guitar – it’s built-in and sits right behind the soundhole. Almost every acoustic guy I’ve seen uses the built-in pickup with works OK but doesn’t give a true acoustic sound.

Anyway, I’m hoping to repeat the mid-room setup. As and added benefit – even the tomato throwers in the front of the room should be able to get me.

According to my pals at REELWamps:

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Old news….cause we told ya so
January 12, 2011
About 10 days, ago the Department of interior rejected Cedric Cromwell’s attempt to include Fall River in the land in trust application. Wow. Bet the Malaysians are smarting over that one . Middleboro shouldn’t get too excited though. More on that later.

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I can’t link to the exact post because of the way REELWamps.com is formatted these days(my kingdom for an RSS feed).

What does this all mean for Middleboro? Who the hell knows? The attempt by the Mashpee leadership – Cromwell etal – to ditch Middleboro in favor of Fall River is looking like an unmitigated disaster. Turns out the Fall River land can’t be sold and now Mayor Flannagan has been added to the Ten Taxpayer Lawsuit that put an end to the land sale. Does that mean that the tribe will come back to Middleboro with a sheepish grin, hand out a few blankets and Wampanoag coffee mugs, and make an offer to kiss and make up?

As I’ve said before, the longer this drags on, the more damage is done to Middleboro as we continue to get bogged down in this quagmire.

The bus driver kerfuffle was featured on Fox News 25 tonight. It features a bunch of interviews with driver Colleen M. Anderson and a brief bit with her attorney Adam Bond – who appears to be having a bad hair day. Unfortunate, because normally his hair looks so gorgeous.
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Armed only with cursory information – news reports – I’m predicting that the bus company is going to settle and settle quick. The story has already jumped from a Middleboro school bus to Fox News 25 and has elicited universal support for the bus driver. There is no upside to fighting this case – even if the bus company wins (but they won’t) they will lose the PR battle and probably a bunch of contracts in the process. The proper play is to admit that it was poorly handled, initiate a company wide training program on their mandatory reporting responsibilities, and come to a quick financial settlement with the driver – who appears to be totally in the right from a moral and ethical perspective and most likely from a legal one as well.
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I love it when my column elicits feedback to the Gazette. The last one talked about Jon Stewart’s Rally For Sanity – drawing parallels with the way local issues can drive comments over the top. In response, former town moderator Jim Thomas took me to the editorial woodshed in his letter to the editor:

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Here’s a memo to the “Bumpkin,” who believes a homeowner has gone beyond the pale by posting a billboard on his own property declaring “Obama is a Marxist traitor.” Although redundant in that to be a Marxist is to be a traitor, this characterization by the property owner is otherwise spot on. Now if the “Bumpkin’ believes Obama to be a freedom-loving American, he needs to review the president’s entire public record and follow that with a read of the “Communist Manifesto.” Should the ‘Bumpkin’ not be persuaded by the logical conclusion or should he, nonetheless, invoke intellectual dishonesty, it won’t be the billboarder who has taken leave of his senses.

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I was so looking forward to being blasted by Jim but disappointed that the lambasting was nothing more than regurgitated Fox News talking points and Glenn Beckisms. What’s next? A demand to see Obama’s birth certificate? Sheesh!
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It’s all good local poltical fun and Thomas’ letter helps validate the point of the original column.
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Thomas also blasts liberal congressman and School Comittee member Mike Pila. Pila wrote a letter last week bemoaning the passage of CPA – trying to draw parallels with the failure of the last school override. Thomas then floats the speculation the Ben Quelle is preparing to run for selectman:

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Can one read anything into Ben Quelle’s letter of last week in support of Sysco coming to Middleboro? Was that a prelude to a run for the board of selectmen? Quelle is the young man, remember, who lost a primary bid to be a state representative. Thus, he does have a demonstrated interest in public service. The local elections are not very far away, and the queen and her flunky need to be replaced.

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I’ve heard the same speculation about Quelle running for selectman and will have more to say about that should he announce his candidacy.

With our middling school ranking and below average MCAS scores, Middleboro can now add another thing to the list of things that need improvement. Middleboro came in fourth in a new study of obesity in school children. Uhh.. BTW – that’s fourth worst not fourth best:

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Several local communities scored above the state average for rates of overweight and obese students, topped by Brockton at 40.3 percent, in a new public health study.
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In the “essential school health services” study released Thursday by the state health department, Stoughton, at 38.5 percent; Taunton at 38.7; and Middleboro, at 37.7 percent, followed closely, with only Bridgewater-Raynham, at 32.1 percent, below the state average of 34 percent.

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Personally I don’t mind being fat, dumb, and happy myself but it might not be the best formula for our kid’s future success.
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At our house we’ve worked really hard to get the kids to eat right and teach them the importance of proper nutrition and certainly that’s where the bulk of a child’s weight issues, or lack of, come from. That said, I’ve always been unhappy with the school lunch menu. I’m sure it meets state and/or federal guidelines but the majority of the meals are not something I would feed my kids regularly. Sure we patronize Burger King and Papa Gino’s occasionally but the majority of the meals at home consist of lean meats and vegetables. Some of the school lunches are quite good but there are way too many “treat” lunches such as chicken nuggets, hotdogs, nachos, french toast sticks, pizza, and so on. It brings back memories of the Reagan Administrations’s attempt to classify ketchup as a vegetable to save money and feed kids food they would actually eat. Isn’t that a bit like letting the inmates run the asylum?
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The day before school started, we took the kids out to lunch at Red Robins. Zach got a hamburger and chose a side salad instead of french fries. Jake had a pizza and fries and both had milk shakes. This was a “treat” lunch for back-to-school. During it, I asked the kids: “If a child was a stool, what would the four legs of the stool be?”. They suggested things like wisdom, courage, and stuff like that. My wife gave her suggestions and I gave mine: Nutrition, exercise, sleep, and hygiene. IMO those things will give a child the best chance of being healthy, happy, socially well-adjusted and successful in school. Personally I think that school lunch offerings have a lot of room for improvement both in Middleboro and nationally.

Here are a few pics from a recent camping trip to DAR State Forest. This is one of the best places I’ve ever camped at – keeping in mind that I don’t go camping all that often. The sites were big and well separated. The whole place had (I think) only 50 sites. The firewood was cheap (3 bundles for $10). Good trails. Nice clean lake. Clean bathroom/shower facilities.
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We did a lot of hanging out by the pond and had a ball throwing a stick into the lake for the dog. Slaney was running right up to the edge of the water and leaping out into the water as far as she could. She’s turned into quite a water dog.
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On the last day we hiked up to a fire tower – which offered stunning views of the area.
Here’s some video of the dog fetching a stick and swimming. It’s kind of long – about 7 minutes and the best jump is about 5:40 in. Slaney is still kind of new to water but every time we come to a lake she expects .. no demands .. that a stick be thrown into the water. She has a really funny quirk with sticks. It drives her nuts when a stick gets sandy and she’ll bark at the offending branch and often use her paws to roll it back into the water to rinse it off. Slaney is very good with her paws – a trait that comes from her boxer heritage I believe.

I played at the Soule Homestead in Middleboro last night as part of their Summer Concert Series. Due to the EEE threat, the gig was moved indoors. I was really looking forward to playing outside and was disappointed. The room was small but held a decent amount of people – it was completely packed and overflowing into the next room where the concessions were being sold. The sound was excellent in my opinion. The onstage mix was perfect, not too loud but plenty loud enough to hear myself. The audience was very attentive and quiet while the music going on. It was very different from the bar-type gigs where people are socializing, eating, and drinking. It was a nice atmosphere to perform in and a little scary – no mistake could go unnoticed. As always when I play there plenty of small gaffs but nothing really horrible.
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Kudos to the Soule Homestead staff. They took good care of me and made it all very easy. I just had to show up with my guitar, plug in, and play. The main act was the Nashville Clippers. I really enjoyed this band which consisted of two couples. They had a very engaging “real” sound. Good harmonies, understated instrumentation and excellent sound – the mix was perfect.
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For various reasons, I only got the final five songs recorded. Normally I record from a direct feed off the soundboard. This recording was done with the built-in condenser mikes on my Tascam DR07. Nothing fancy – it was just sitting on a chair next to me that was jumbled with my stuff – harmonicas, pics, drinks, etc. For all that I think the recording is pretty decent:

1. Catfish John
2. Christmas Time
3. Goin’ Cross The Mountain
4. Papa Gene’s Blues
5. Foggy Dew
6. Walkin’ Boss
7. Ring Of Fire
8. Pretty Fair Maid In The Garden
9. Colleen Malone
10. Little Bird Of Heaven
11. What A Wonderful World

Reminder of this good cause:

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The Middleborough Historical Association will celebrate July, National Ice Cream Month, under the tents at the group’s annual Ice Cream Social on Sunday, July 25 from 2-4 pm. on the grounds of the Middleborough Historical Museum, 18 Jackson St.

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This is fairly close to the Nemasket River so watch out for alligators.

I’ll be opening for the Nashville Clippers at the Soule Homestead Summer Concert Series on July 31, 2010 at 6:00 PM until the main act comes on at 7:00 PM. This is a really idyllic setting with beautiful views of fields, trees, old New England stone walls and gorgeous sunsets.
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Admission is $7 and $5.00 for seniors and students with children under 12 free. The Soule Homestead is located at 46 Soule Street Middleborough MA 02346.
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The series runs every Saturday until 8/21. Please support the series as much as possible but especially on the night I’m playing to feed my already considerable ego. Here are some mp3′s from my last gig and here is the Facebook event page.

Reposted from OakPointCommunity.org:
Community Cleanup June 19

COMMUNITY SPIRIT CLEAN UP

INVITATION

Massasoit is coming to town.

As a welcoming to our community, Middleborough on the Move, is inviting all those interested, in turning out for a cleanup of the outside grounds and building exterior.

Where: Dr Lincoln Lynch School

School is located across the street from the town hall parking lot.

Why: outside cleanup

When: Saturday, June 19, 2010

Time: 9-2

Please, bring gloves and shovels or rakes and gardening tools.

Any participation would be greatly appreciated.

Questions can be answered through calling

Judy Bigelow-Costa at 508-946-0499 or Email judy.bigelow@comcast.net

Before the recent Middleboro town meeting, I took part in a sign holding for Rep. Tom Calter. I brought the kids along since they had karate class right next door at the YMCA. The kids had a great time and got a little too enthusiastic – running on the grass next to cars waving their Calter signs and shouting “vote for Tom Calter”.
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I had attended Calter’s campaign kick off and signed up for sign holdings and other low key stuff. I’m supporting Calter because I’ve found him to be accessible and honest with his positions – most of which I share. I really like that he doesn’t shirk from his position or try to tell you what you want to hear. He has also responded to me every time I’ve contacted his office – and I just can’t ask for much more than that from a representative. Plus he bought me a diet coke and a bowl of soup once. Actually it was not the free lunch that impressed me but that he set up a one-on-one meeting to discuss an idea I floated to him via email. I only wish I had that sort of responsiveness from my selectmen. While Rullo and McKinnon have been accessible, Spataro, Brunelle, and Duphily have never responded to any communication I’ve sent either directly to them or as correspondence to the BOS. But I digress. Calter is upfront, responsive, and is getting my vote.

Town meeting went smoothly finishing up at 10:45 PM. All charter change articles passed. The question to increase the local meals tax was defeated. The big article for me was the one to put CPA on the fall ballot. It passed with a very solid margin of victory. There was the usual cast of characters saying that the $23 surcharge with low/moderate income exemptions would put people out of their homes. Conservation Commissioner Trish Cassidy gave a good presentation though I think overall some proponents focused too much on the housing portion of it. I could see someone who was not familiar with CPA thinking that it was some sort of a way to grease the skids for affordable housing. Sure – if you wanted to use it for that you could – pending approval by the CPA committee AND town meeting. Most communities like Middleboro use the money for open space, recreation, historic preservation, and occasionally elderly housing.

I was listening/watching the Mass. House of Representatives debate the casino bill. BTW – the Mass Senate has a live feed as well.
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After the casino business was over with, they moved on to discuss the Municipal Relief Bill. This bill has the potential so save Middleboro some money if passed. One of the first things that popped out at me was that it allows towns to switch retirees over to Medicare when they become eligible. There are a pile of things in this bill. Presumably our town leadership has been watching this bill, lobbying our state reps and senators for passage of it, and looking at ways it can be leveraged to save money.
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Here is a summary of the bill and the full text of it.

Summary

Transferring Eligible Municipal Retirees into Medicare: The bill will reduce benefit costs for municipalities by requiring that all eligible retired local employees enroll in Medicare as their primary source of health insurance coverage, as is already done on the state level.

Optional Early Retirement Program: The bill includes an Early Retirement Incentive program for cities and towns. This program would allow a limited number of long term municipal employees to receive early retirement benefits, while restricting the town’s ability to refill those same positions to no more than 30%, 45%, and 60% of the former total salaries over the next three years, respectively. This program would be at the option of municipalities, giving cities and towns the flexibility to determine for themselves whether this tool is appropriate for their community.

Retirement system funding relief: The legislation proposes a pension funding relief plan to help local pension systems address unprecedented asset losses in a fiscally responsible and manageable way, without the significant increases in payments that would otherwise be required. Specifically, the legislation allows local systems to extend their funding schedule subject to certain conditionsand requires that future asset gains be used to shorten schedules, not reduce payments.

Support for School District Regionalization: The bill includes provisions to facilitate regionalization of school districts by allowing regional school districts to join with municipal districts in a superintendency union, and streamlining the process to allow regional school districtsto access their stabilization funds.

Collective Purchasing: Another idea to help participating communities to save money, this would allow education collaboratives to leverage economies of scale by entering into bulk purchasing agreements with public entities outside our state borders. It would also give cities, towns and school departments the ability to participate in cooperative purchasing agreements with public agencies outside of Massachusetts.

Mutual Aid Agreements: The bill would allow cities and towns to join statewide mutual aid agreements to provide police, fire, emergency medical, public works, and other public safety assistance to other municipalities. This would allow cities and towns to save money on staffing and equipment while still being prepared for emergency situations.

Sound Business Practices: This would incorporate a number of changes to procurement law, including a provision to allow cities and towns to use reverse auctions when buying products and services in large amounts, reducing costs by having sellers bid against each other to provide thebest price.

Municipal Electronic Billing: The bill would allow cities and towns the option to establish a voluntary e‐billing program – an added convenience for residents, and a money‐saver for cities and town.

Renewable energy revolving fund and betterment program: The bill would allow municipalities to offer a loan program to property owners for renewable energy improvements. This would give towns interested in promoting energy conservation and green energy the legal mechanism to set upa revolving fund for this purpose.

Flexibility in Municipal and Regional School District Borrowing: The bill would increase flexibility in municipal and regional school district borrowing by extending the allowable borrowing terms. It would also increase flexibility for emergency borrowing, expedite the process for achieving savings through refinancing, and remove overly restrictive requirements foramortization of debt.

Abandoned and Unclaimed Checks: Currently, a check issued by a municipality is not deemed abandoned until 3 years after issuance. This new provision would allow towns to print a one year expiration period, to be printed on the checks. Current requirements to attempt to contact therecipient by mail and provide public notices prior to reclamation remain unchanged.

Local Option Tax Amnesty Program: The bill allows towns to adopt a temporary tax amnesty program. Through this program, municipalities could waive portions of the penalties and interest due on unpaid taxes, so long as the taxpayer paid the principal amount owed and was not the subject of a criminal investigation for failure to pay taxes.

Off of River St. next to the old brick kiln – not far from the junction of Rt. 105 is Auburn Street. It runs down to the Taunton River and the remnants of an old bridge that burned down(I think) some years ago. The street has been gated off by the town of Middleboro.
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If you take a walk down Auburn Street as I did recently, you will see what I saw – an unregulated, unofficial, full blown, WTF-is-this, dump. Old trucks, fuel tanks, truck trailers, gas grills – you name it, it’s down there. The refuse runs all along the road and stops just steps away from the Taunton River – recently designated as a wild and scenic river. Wild is right … scenic?… not so much.
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Here are some photos. The first couple show the latest illegal dumping at the entrance to the Taunton River Wildlife Management Area on River St. After those are pics of Auburn St., then a bit of the flooding on Summer and Murdoch Street, followed by some unrelated pictures of my cool doggie.

Here are all the recordings I have from the 3/27/2010 gig at the Flat Iron Cafe. A number of songs didn’t get recorded due to operator error. The turnout was good but not as good as my first gig – which I was sort of expecting but still a little disappointed about.
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I’d say my performance was a little better, or at least sounded a little better. At the first gig I had a lot of trouble with feedback – which made the volume a little low. I also didn’t have any on-stage monitoring which adversely affected my singing a little bit. This time I set the main speakers well in front of me and plugged ear bud headphones into the line out from my recording deck. I used just one of the ear pieces – it gave me perfect monitoring of the mix.
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I played every song except one without a pick and was generally pleased with the results. One thing about my hybrid clawhammer technique is that it causes me to vary speed quite a bit – just something I have to work on. When you really get the percussive groove going right the tempo tends to run away a bit.
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I think my favorite songs of the night were I’ve Been All Around This World, Buckets Of Rain, Tomorrow Is A Long Time, The Foggy Dew, Every day I Write The Book, Walkin’ Boss, Shady Grove, Pretty Fair Maid In The Garden, and Dress of Satin. Most of the stuff came out OK but as usual there are a few duds here and there. Yet somehow life will go on.
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We also had an encore that featured Marese(Mary) Barry. She’s been under the weather lately and we haven’t sung together since the last gig on Nov. 21 – but the fans would not be denied. Marese did an exceptional rendition of Closer To Fine – much better than her first fear conquering attempt at the last gig. Unfortunately, I messed up and didn’t record it.
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Well .. enough of my yapping – here are the recordings which are served up with a new in-line mp3 player plugin.

• 01-Christmas Time.mp3
• 02-Comes A Time.mp3
• 03-Blackbird.mp3
• 04-I’ll Fly Away.mp3
• 06-I’ve Been All Around This World.mp3
• 07-Buckets Of Rain.mp3
• 08-Tomorrow Is A Long Time.mp3
• 09-The Foggy Dew.mp3
• 10-Every Day I Write The Book.mp3
• 11-Walking Boss.mp3
• 12-Red Rocking Chair.mp3
• 13-Little Bird Of Heaven.mp3
• 14-Shady Grove.mp3
• 15-Julia.mp3
• 16-Carmalita.mp3
• 17-Papa Gene’s Blues.mp3
• 18-Pretty Fair Maid In The Garden.mp3
• 19-Willin’.mp3
• 20-White Banks.mp3
• 21-Viva Las Vegas.mp3
• 22-Two Soldiers.mp3
• 23-I Hope That I Don’t Fall In Love With You.mp3
• 24-Dress Of Satin.mp3

Mark and I have had countless conversations about blog writing over the past few years we have formed our friendship. He has always wanted me to start my own website and get a blog going. I have been hesitant and not really sure I wanted to commit to something along those lines. His latest and greatest offer to me was that I could be a contributing writer to his Nemasket blog. This interested me and I thought I would give it a try.

We agreed that the focus did not have to be about the casino/lack of a casino or anything of that sort. It probably will be scattered for awhile, so I look forward to feedback from the many millions of readers that regularly read the Nemasket space. I hope you enjoy!

ARGUING 101

Several weeks ago, Mark and I were at a party with many of our friends. During the course of conversation, we became involved in a “discussion” about the upcoming override vote. As usual (except for Casino Issues), Mark was on the wrong side of the argument and I was “gently” pointing out that he was wrong. Perhaps the best way to describe the “talk” was to remind the readers of the Dan Aykroyd/Jane Curtin, Point Counter Point on Saturday Night Live. Our “conversation” went on for about half an hour. Needless to say, we both agreed Mark was wrong and moved on to some other topic. As it ended, I was amazed that the entire party was now in the dining room watching the “chat”.

Even more amazing was the reaction people had to our “argument”. Mark and I had driven to the party together and people were asking if one of us needed a ride home. We had to explain that Mark and I were fine. We weren’t personally offended about the conversation and yes we were going to disagree from time to time. On the ride home, both of us were laughing about how people were concerned that our arguing could hurt our friendship. IF THEY ONLY KNEW! Mark and I have had some great “talks” since we have come to know each other. Again, I cannot emphasize enough, that he is most often WRONG!

I do not think I can/could maintain a friendship with anyone that was not willing to argue. I don’t expect to agree with anyone all of the time. I love bouncing ideas and challenging each other’s points. I believe as long as you are willing to listen, be respectful and open, your opinions will develop and become stronger. Also, you may just learn a thing or two!

I think we need more Arguing Time in Middleboro. Everyone needs to take the time to listen to other people’s opinions and then react. There are far too many important issues that will be coming on the horizon. There needs to be an exchange of ideas and thoughts. We need to find a way to have people come forward and share. Every side has at least two sides, so before we make a decision let’s allow for some time to “talk” it over. At times, it may seem angry and yes maybe a little confrontational. As long as we are willing to respect each other, Middleboro will be a better community!

On January 29, 2010, I sent this email to MA State Representative Tom Calter

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As a Middleboro resident, one of the best alternative energy sources – windmills – is not feasible for me due to the low average wind speeds.
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Before Rep. Bosely was removed as chairman of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, I floated this idea by him – http://nemasket.net/the-bumpkin-plan/
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Basically, the idea is to open up state land in windy areas and allow private citizens to erect windmills and get the money generated by feeding electricity into the grid. Bosley said:
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“That is a very good idea. It would combine private investment with a government program to promote renewable power. Let’s see if we can make that work.”
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Do you think this idea has any merit?

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Three days later I got this response from Mr. Calter:

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Mark, I love the idea!!! I will speak to Rep Bosley in the Chamber on Thursday. Let’s get together for coffee to talk further. Let Betty know when is good for you…Her number is redacted. I look forward to getting together soon.. Tom

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I met with Mr. Calter at the Flat Iron Cafe on Tuesday Feb. 16, 2010. He immediately asked me what was going on in Middleboro and what did I think of it all. I told him about my CFO connection, that I was totally opposed to casinos, but that I respected that he was upfront with his opinion. Remember that Calter spoke at a CFO meeting and clearly outlined his support for the governor’s resort casino plan and his opposition to the Middleboro casino. He later was “summoned” to a Middleboro BOS meeting and clearly explained his opposition to the project and problem with the IGA – calling it a deal that provided “fixed revenue for variable costs”. Whether you agree with Calter’s position or not, you have to respect that he is honest and upfront about it. From the general conversation, I’m even more sure of what I’ve been saying all along: The state has no interest in a casino in Middleboro and even less interest in a sovereign indian one.
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Mr. Calter gave me the short version of his philosophy on life and a bit of his background as business man. He also showed genuine interest in who I was, my family, my work and generally tried to get a feel for where I was coming from.
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I gave him the high level details of the idea to put windmills on state land. I showed him some data about the potential energy that could be generated – nearly 1,000 MW. In context, Cape Wind will average around 170MW. Tom asked if I knew of any hurdles – saying that his place was to remove any legislative barriers to the idea. I told him that I didn’t expect him to implement this plan single-handedly – that would be the job of the governor or other state agency. I told him that according to a 2009 study there were no regulatory problems I was aware of – just a lot of engineering and environmental work to identify exactly where and how many wind mills could be erected. In other words turning potential numbers and general locations into actual numbers and specific locations.
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Tom said he would talk to Secretary Greg Bialecki – head of Housing and Economic Development and asked me if I would like to attend the meeting. I told him that I gladly would but didn’t think that I necessarily bring anything to the table for that meeting. In other words, I’d attend if he thought it would be helpful.
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Regardless of whether or not anything comes of this, I give huge credit to Tom Calter for responsiveness. He answered my email, arranged a one-on-one meeting, discussed the idea and plans to take it up with the Secretary of Housing and Economic Development. You can’t ask for any more than that. I find it very interesting that I can send email to a state rep and get prompt and personal attention. He even paid for my drink and bowl of soup. That’s far more than I’ve ever gotten from the Middleboro Board of Selectman. I didn’t even get a “no thank you” when I offered the town a free web site, training, and year of support. That said, I’ve found Rullo and McKinnon to be responsive. Even so, I can’t go to the town web site and get any email address or even phone number to contact my selectmen – and there is something very wrong with that.
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Very wrong.

This week’s Gazette column is about exercising in winter – something that is tough to get motivated to do, but really helps your winter mindset. These photos are from a recent run at Pratt Farm and a bike ride in the woods at the Morgan property.
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If you don’t like the embedded slideshow below, you can see a larger version here
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In another IM chat with my buddy Mike we discuss the role that racism plays in national politics since the election of President Obama.

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Mike: Obama getting back on track article
Mark: Hmm,,, I’m not so sure that article is saying very much. Rather vague.
Mike: I suppose… I think the crux of it is that Obama needs to stop playing Mr. Nice Guy (which I totally agree with). His comment about the Reps landing on shore and burning the boats leaving no option but moving forward seems about right. I whole-heartedly want Obama to do that too… I may not like everything he decides to to, but trying to please everyone will never work. I think he should scale back is objectives for health care too… do it in a series of changes that people can stomach one at a time.
Mike: I think it’s a fair question to ask: Why was Bush able to get through so much with only 50 senators, and the Dems are complaining about having only 59 now and treating it like the apocalypse.
Mark: I think the answer is that the Democrats are more willing to play ball with the Republicans than vice-versa. This started in earnest with the Gingrich/Contract with America crowd
Mike: Right. I don’t disagree with that. It might be time for the Dems to stop playing two-hand-touch and start playing full contact NFL style football.
Mark: This says it all and is right on:
http://www.liberalvoices.com/2009/09/rightwing-effort-to-bring-down-obama.html
Mike: I suppose… but consider the source… with a name like "Liberal Voices", of course they’re going to see that. However, the story I sent you a link too is by Roland S. Martin. a liberal, and supporter of Obama’s, acknowledging the deficiencies and pointing the way forward rather than just pointing the finger at the other side. If someone from a conservative site had written what you sent, it’d have more teeth.
Mark: I get these pseudo racist things all the time – they are flying all over the ‘net
Mike: what pseudo racist things?
Mark: Like this
Mike: OK… there’s nothing pseudo about that… it’s downright offensive. Even if I don’t agree with Obamacare, I respect my President, his intelligence, and his motives. That shit just pisses me off.
Mark: This stuff is EVERYWHERE which is why I say that there was a racist component in the Brown victory. Did you see the video of him questioning whether Barack was born out of wedlock? Pure pandering to white fears of the single black mother.
Mike: No, I never saw that, and if had, it’d have bothered me.
Mark: homophobe – check
teaparty donations – check
racist innuendo – check
teabagging homophobe racist – check
Mark: who was that numbnuts that said in some phone meeting with constituents that if the Republican could kill healthcare, Obama would be finished.?
Mark: The Republicans want to BRING HIM DOWN – JUST LIKE CLINTON. That’s why I have NO USE for them.
Mike: I’d have to see the whole video IN CONTEXT before I’d agree. He’s not a homophobe (we’ve had that discussion). He doesn’t believe in gay marriage. Honestly, I don’t believe in marriage at all, as far as civil law is concerned. We need to wipe it completely out of the law books. Give everyone a Civil Union, and leave marriage as a religious ceremony that ends up with a Civil Union, which you can get with a judge also.
Mark: look at the video in comment number 4: http://nemasket.net/coakley-brown-and-fox-fud/
Mike: Interesting that the video cut out right when he was going to clarify his statement. I don’t know what he said after that, but I’d have to take that video with a grain of salt.
Mark: Regardless. Pointing out the Obama’s mother was young(18) and implying that she was unmarried is an INTENTIONAL effort to play in the fears of white people about the black welfare mother., No doubt in my mind.
Mark: And then there’s this numbskull shouting out "shove a curling iron up her butt" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28u3vPExxp4
You see these sorts of antics all over the place being staged by the tea baggers.
Mark: Check out the beginning of this where the young girl apes and calls obama the monkey from tarzan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vagD-4AH4Vc – it’s everywhere
Mike: Right… just to be clear… I have absolutely NO USE for the tea baggers (which, I think is an absolutely hilarious moniker. )
Mark: toward the end of this – calling obama an arab http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf6YKOkfFsE
Mike: Well… that’s beyond stupid. It’s like the people that demand to see his birth certificate…. it’s a non-issue… if you do a little research.
Mike: First, he was born in the US to a US mother.
Mark: and the n-word at palin rally http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9T0FI2axbU I could go on and on but you get the idea
Mike: BUT, if you say he was born in Nigeria, it doesn’t matter. His MOTHER is a US Citizen at birth, and therefore, according to law, it doesn’t matter where he was born, since she is, so is he.
Mike: PERIOD.
Mark: Don’t you have to be born on US soil to be president?
Mike: NO.
Mike: That is a complete falacy.
Mike: fallacy
Mike: Read through this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_born_citizen
Mike: Here’s the important piece that everyone points to: No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President;
Mike: However, NOWHERE is Natural Born Citizen defined in the constitution. It wasn’t defined until later with some legislation.
Mike: "Congress first recognized the citizenship of children born to U.S. parents overseas on March 26, 1790, stating that "the children of citizens of the United States, that may be born beyond sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural born citizens"
Mike: So, the whole issue is a red herring. It is COMPLETE IRRELEVANT.
Mark: Provided, That the right of citizenship shall not descend to persons whose fathers have never been resident in the United States
Mark: Current U.S. statutes define various categories of individuals born overseas as "citizens at birth," including (for example) all persons "born outside of the United States and its outlying possessions of parents both of whom are citizens of the United States and one of whom has had a residence in the United States or one of its outlying possessions, prior to the birth of such person[s]."[14]
Mark: So there seems to be a requirement that both parents are US citizens. Agreed?
Mike: According to an April 2000 report by the Congressional Research Service (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_Research_Service), most constitutional scholars interpret Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution as including citizens born outside the United States to parents who are U.S. citizens under the “natural born” requirement. This same CRS report (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_Research_Service_Report) also asserts that citizens born in the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands are legally defined as "natural born" citizens and are, therefore, also eligible to be elected President.
Mike: So, I suppose, but it’s never been tested.
Mike: Besides, you can see his birth certificate on his page.
Mike: So again, it just doesn’t matter.
Mike: It’s some of that pseudo racism you’re talking about. And it’s disgusting.
Mark: They’re just being racist assholes trying to make trouble. Right.
Mike: BUT, of course we knew this was going to be the case as soon as he got elected (and even during the campaign). There are definitely racist people in the United States (as there are EVERYWHERE), but that does not make this a racist country, or even make the Republicans a racist party… it just makes the racists… to quote you, complete maroons.
Mark: So – while Olberman was way out there – there is quite a lot of truth there …. and it was funny as hell.
Mark: I don’t think for a minute that everyone who opposes obama or votes republican are racists. But there is a component of racism in SOME of the anti-Obama sentiment
Mike: agreed.
Mark: This is pretty funny – why white people shouldn’t be allowed to vote: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtIYpBGlv1U
Mark: You just got a "go mike" comment on my blog.
Mike: hehe

Here are some pics of the new dog Slaney – a half pointer, half boxer.

The first couple are from 12/29 in CT and the rest are from 12/31 when she arrived. This is a great dog. Loves the outdoors and the snow. She’ll walk all day and play outside chasing balls and sticks. Very playful. In the house, she’s insanely well-behaved. Totally housebroken – she plays when it’s time to play and cuddles when it’s time to cuddle.

Last night I was showering with Zach and Slaney jumped in and got an unplanned washing. Apologies to those who now need to poke out their mind’s eye. As I write this, every other word is interrupted by Slaney dropping a tennis ball in my lap so I can throw it five feet.

She’s been out playing in the snow all morning and being walked numerous times per day. She’s really taken to going for walks on the leash.

I spoke too soon. Apparently the news article cited in my last post is incorrect. The email from FinCom chairman Rich Pavadore explains. I’m sure his request for comments from IT professionals would extend to anyone with something to add:

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This article is NOT TRUE. Eileen got the story wrong. The BOS decided and voted unanimously to move ahead with the assessment based on Selectman Al Rullo’s letter which I attached for your reference. There will be a new RFQ process from the Town Manager, to the 4 companies listed in Al’s report, HUB Technical being one of them. I just spoke with the Town Manager and he confirmed that and HE does not plan on sending out any RFQ until January, (i.e. after the holidays).
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To be clear, I told the Town Manager that the Finance Committee should be involved with the bid process, because my fear is that there may be some confusion or difference of opinion between the Board of Selectmen’s RFQ and what the Finance Committee originally recommended as an IT assessment. The Finance Committee has requested this type of assessment in the past and the resultant report ended up being a watered down version that did not provide the information that we needed. From the last pages of Al’s report in his recommendations and RFQ section, I am not exactly clear on what is being asked of the vendors and how it compares to our original request. It is a bit confusing to me. The feedback from the vendors may also have questions since the RFQ that the BOS approved was not written or put together by an IT professional and Al (to my knowledge) does not have an IT background. This is the reason the Finance Committee first went to a public certified IT firm and had them provide the statement of work that describes what they can do for us, based on our IT concerns.
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I am also not sure we want an outside company to write a 3 year plan for our town nor do I believe they would take that on as a task in the assessment. This request is in the present RFQ and sounds to me more like an internal document that we would provide to the consultant to work with. I want input from the companies as we move forward in the bid process to hear what THEY think we need to accomplish, so that we get the information that WE need from the assessment. From this information, we will be better informed to agree on a statement of work and contract. The key to a good assessment is to work with the vendors to develop the Statement of work so we are all on the same page. If we don’t work together to get the best and most useful information, the town will end up with an intangible and useless report that says everything is fine and tells us nothing. This process is how we ended up with Hub Technical as a potential vendor in the first place.
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I would welcome your comments as an IT/engineer on Al’s RFQ and if it makes sense as compared to what the FINCOM has requested. Any feedback to me is always welcome so that I can make the most informed decisions as we discuss the RFQ. There is not so much of a rush to get this assessment done as there is to get it right. I think a proper assessment will give the town a wealth of information on how our IT structure is run, possibly provide us some information on where we can improve, and if some of the recommendations are implemented, will provide us with a potential annual savings that will cover its cost in the first year.
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Thank You,
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Rich Pavadore

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My first instinct is just what I said in my Gazette column – that the BOS and TM are wasting time trying to alter what a perfectly good proposal by FinCom. That said I will read Al’s proposal more carefully and provide the FinCom chairman with anything useful. I will gladly pass on any feedback anyone else has if you do not have Mr. Pavadore’s email web site address.