I'm the not biggest fan of Franicis Cavaco. Nothing personal, I just don't think he presents himself all that well. He has picked up on a few key issues, he works hard, but I'm not all that thrilled.
I have thought of running for selectman, but I recognize my intent would be more along the lines of making life as difficult for Mike Brady as possible. At this point in the game I am far to inexperienced in the intricacies of municipal politics to be an effective leader. It's not enough to be good at making waves, or writing angry letters to newspapers in hopes of getting the masses to come around to your point of view. At some point you are going to have to take it further. You are going to have to educate, and present your facts to the public. Furthermore, at some point you will have to compromise, you have to accept the fact that you may lose yourself, or you may be redefined.
To some that can be liberating. To others it can be the equivalent of a panic attack, or a case of identity crisis. Leadership is not easy. We all feel we are qualified to lead, because to say otherwise might suggest a weakness within ourselves. But for some of us, we can be comfortable to sit buy and offer our suggestion, our point of view, and leave it to the bureaucrats to pick it apart and form it into a useful piece of legislation; comfortable in the fact that it may not be exactly what we wanted, but you can still see the vision...the dream is still alive.
Maybe that was Carol Braggs problem. She was a visionary. A philosopher. But maybe she became uncomfortable with the compromises she had to make. Carol was a saint, not a politician. It was not her in her nature to hone the art of double-speak. But inevitably, if you are to be a leader, you have to make a compromise, or fold.
We will see how Mr Cavaco does as our newest selectman. Hopefully he learns the art of compromise, because as much as I look forward to him going head to head with Mike Brady. I'm smart enough to know that eventually the Town will need a competent and creative board to lead Seekonk into the trying times we face.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Ain't no Messiah
Obama had me, way back in the day. I think it was Time Magazine that did an article on him to coincide with the release of his second book "The Audacity of Hope". I read about him; read part of his book (excerpted in Time) and thought "Man, that could actually be a Democrat I could vote for."
I may didn't agree with all of his views, but I was struck by the sincerity of the man. He seemed be guided by an internal sense of integrity, strength, and Independence that so many strive for and few achieve.
That is the package that many an American has been sold, and Obama presented it well for quite some time. The genies though of the Clinton campaign, was forcing Obama to come out of that box, they forced him to play politician, and ever since then his facade has been crumbling more and more.
With today's announcement that he would not be enrolling in the public campaign finance system, after promising that he would, he has cracked his shell and his public persona will forever be flawed. He proved today that he is just another politician, he just had a better box, shinier wrapping paper, but everything fades in the sun eventually.
Obama has relied heavily on the young voters to turn out. And they did turn out because he represented something radically different, something that generation had not been exposed to. He was a rebel, but he had a cause. He was not beholden to anyone but himself, special interests groups could take a hike...he didn't want them. Not so anymore, little by little his true nature is coming out. His financial dealing with a slum lord, his choice of churches and the embrace of the black liberation theology which vision is, and I quote:
"Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. The task of black theology is to kill Gods who do not belong to the black community. . . . Black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy. What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love."
He does take money from Special Interest groups , and for whatever reason he refuses to release a copy of his birth certificate.
McCain isn't perfect either, but then again he never presented himself as such. Obama's perfection though, was the only thing he had going for him. Not to mention he has fallen back off the horse and his smoking again...weakness...not good.
One thing is for sure....he ain't no Messiah...
I may didn't agree with all of his views, but I was struck by the sincerity of the man. He seemed be guided by an internal sense of integrity, strength, and Independence that so many strive for and few achieve.
That is the package that many an American has been sold, and Obama presented it well for quite some time. The genies though of the Clinton campaign, was forcing Obama to come out of that box, they forced him to play politician, and ever since then his facade has been crumbling more and more.
With today's announcement that he would not be enrolling in the public campaign finance system, after promising that he would, he has cracked his shell and his public persona will forever be flawed. He proved today that he is just another politician, he just had a better box, shinier wrapping paper, but everything fades in the sun eventually.
Obama has relied heavily on the young voters to turn out. And they did turn out because he represented something radically different, something that generation had not been exposed to. He was a rebel, but he had a cause. He was not beholden to anyone but himself, special interests groups could take a hike...he didn't want them. Not so anymore, little by little his true nature is coming out. His financial dealing with a slum lord, his choice of churches and the embrace of the black liberation theology which vision is, and I quote:
"Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. The task of black theology is to kill Gods who do not belong to the black community. . . . Black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy. What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love."
He does take money from Special Interest groups , and for whatever reason he refuses to release a copy of his birth certificate.
McCain isn't perfect either, but then again he never presented himself as such. Obama's perfection though, was the only thing he had going for him. Not to mention he has fallen back off the horse and his smoking again...weakness...not good.
One thing is for sure....he ain't no Messiah...
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Mccain the Maverick Drills for Oil
The thing I love most about human nature is also what I hate most about human nature. It’s predictability. Once you realize that we are all inherently the same, you realize that the person across from you has a pretty good chance of reacting to a situation the same way that you will.
There are other factors involved of course. Is the person across from you the type that cried or laughed when Bambi’s mom died? Their reaction to that will dictate (most likely) what side of the animal rights movement they will be on.
Simpler: Does the person across from you get better in a stressful situation, or fold? With that knowledge you can predict if they flinch or stand firm if you suddenly decide to charge at them with your fists cocked.
So after a while, it only takes getting to know a little bit about a person, and you can predict behavior with astonishing accuracy. You predict what type of personality group they fit into.
With the knowledge that every human being is essentially the same it also gets easier to predict the actions of a group as a whole; meaning society in America. Human beings are pretty good at pointing fingers. They are very good about telling the people around them what is best for them, what they should be doing, but very rarely do any of us follow our own advice. Dieting, child rearing, early to bed, early to rise; drilling for oil in Alaska.
Alaska.
It is because of the basic human practice of “Do what I say, not as I do” that I predict the Democrats latest strategy of calling out McCain on his demand to start drilling for oil on American soil will fail. Because we as a nation, as individuals are fine with going green as long as we do not have to sacrifice too much. We are also becoming acutely aware that these initiatives the government is presenting to fix our dependence on foreign oil, are not going to come into play anytime soon. 2032 is a long time away. My pocket is empty now. My children are hungry now, or for some, my Hummer is about to become my full time home because I cannot afford to put gas in it AND pay my mortgage, and I prefer not to sacrifice my wants for me needs.
Human nature.
To be sure there are still the hard-core environmentalists, who will never give ground, but I think the popularity and the support they enjoyed from the relative masses is going to fade away quickly. They have only themselves to blame. I’m sure over time regardless of where we drilled, the world would have found alternate sources of energy. But in the meantime the economy would not be broken. Think about this coming winter. People in the northeast who heat with oil can expect to pay up to and possibly beyond $4,500 to heat their home this coming winter. (4.24 per gallon of oil x 275 gallons per tank x 4 tanks a year). Those who qualify for heating assistance (very few) can expect to get about $700 from the government.
People understand that bold action needs to be taken now. They are willing to “think green” but within reason. That is why McCain’s proposal to open up American oil fields will be popular. The Pundits will argue that it could take 10 years before any of those fields start producing viable oil supplies. Even if that were true, imagine how much the price of oil would drop world-wide on just the news that America is going to start drilling.
Shale oil is only about 4 years away. Build more refineries. Ban all SUVs that are not hybrids. Mandate VVT technology in all vehicles. This will give a sedan with a 3.4 liter V6 30 miles per gallon on the highway; a 4 cylinder civic gets 35. Bring back coal. Anthracite coal burns with very little smoke, hence very little green house gases. The United States has about 73 billion tons of this coal in reserves. Use it! Nuclear Power; no green house gases, and completely safe. ( Chernobyl: the Russians used a different kind of reactor that increases the nuclear reaction the hotter is gets. Western reactors do not do that. Furthermore it did not have a containment field to keep the radiation from spreading. All in all the worst nuclear accident in our history killed 56 people). Canada has perfected the art of building nuclear reactors. It takes them fours years from start to finish. Not the 10 to 15 years that the greens want you to believe. It only takes that long because of all the red tape that gets in their way.
There are viable real-world solutions that can be done while we are waiting for alternate forms of zero emissions energy. Honda just released its new hydrogen powered car, but at 1 million dollars production cost per car, I don’t think it will hit the mass market anytime soon.
So it will be interesting to see how it plays out. Americans are getting restless, and they are educating themselves on world matters like never before. The drive-by media is going to have a much harder time with its usual spin.
The times….they are changing….
There are other factors involved of course. Is the person across from you the type that cried or laughed when Bambi’s mom died? Their reaction to that will dictate (most likely) what side of the animal rights movement they will be on.
Simpler: Does the person across from you get better in a stressful situation, or fold? With that knowledge you can predict if they flinch or stand firm if you suddenly decide to charge at them with your fists cocked.
So after a while, it only takes getting to know a little bit about a person, and you can predict behavior with astonishing accuracy. You predict what type of personality group they fit into.
With the knowledge that every human being is essentially the same it also gets easier to predict the actions of a group as a whole; meaning society in America. Human beings are pretty good at pointing fingers. They are very good about telling the people around them what is best for them, what they should be doing, but very rarely do any of us follow our own advice. Dieting, child rearing, early to bed, early to rise; drilling for oil in Alaska.
Alaska.
It is because of the basic human practice of “Do what I say, not as I do” that I predict the Democrats latest strategy of calling out McCain on his demand to start drilling for oil on American soil will fail. Because we as a nation, as individuals are fine with going green as long as we do not have to sacrifice too much. We are also becoming acutely aware that these initiatives the government is presenting to fix our dependence on foreign oil, are not going to come into play anytime soon. 2032 is a long time away. My pocket is empty now. My children are hungry now, or for some, my Hummer is about to become my full time home because I cannot afford to put gas in it AND pay my mortgage, and I prefer not to sacrifice my wants for me needs.
Human nature.
To be sure there are still the hard-core environmentalists, who will never give ground, but I think the popularity and the support they enjoyed from the relative masses is going to fade away quickly. They have only themselves to blame. I’m sure over time regardless of where we drilled, the world would have found alternate sources of energy. But in the meantime the economy would not be broken. Think about this coming winter. People in the northeast who heat with oil can expect to pay up to and possibly beyond $4,500 to heat their home this coming winter. (4.24 per gallon of oil x 275 gallons per tank x 4 tanks a year). Those who qualify for heating assistance (very few) can expect to get about $700 from the government.
People understand that bold action needs to be taken now. They are willing to “think green” but within reason. That is why McCain’s proposal to open up American oil fields will be popular. The Pundits will argue that it could take 10 years before any of those fields start producing viable oil supplies. Even if that were true, imagine how much the price of oil would drop world-wide on just the news that America is going to start drilling.
Shale oil is only about 4 years away. Build more refineries. Ban all SUVs that are not hybrids. Mandate VVT technology in all vehicles. This will give a sedan with a 3.4 liter V6 30 miles per gallon on the highway; a 4 cylinder civic gets 35. Bring back coal. Anthracite coal burns with very little smoke, hence very little green house gases. The United States has about 73 billion tons of this coal in reserves. Use it! Nuclear Power; no green house gases, and completely safe. ( Chernobyl: the Russians used a different kind of reactor that increases the nuclear reaction the hotter is gets. Western reactors do not do that. Furthermore it did not have a containment field to keep the radiation from spreading. All in all the worst nuclear accident in our history killed 56 people). Canada has perfected the art of building nuclear reactors. It takes them fours years from start to finish. Not the 10 to 15 years that the greens want you to believe. It only takes that long because of all the red tape that gets in their way.
There are viable real-world solutions that can be done while we are waiting for alternate forms of zero emissions energy. Honda just released its new hydrogen powered car, but at 1 million dollars production cost per car, I don’t think it will hit the mass market anytime soon.
So it will be interesting to see how it plays out. Americans are getting restless, and they are educating themselves on world matters like never before. The drive-by media is going to have a much harder time with its usual spin.
The times….they are changing….
Where is Carol Bragg?
She seems to have disappeared off of the map ever since she submitted her resignation. While she has every right to do so, I think she does owe it to the voters of Seekonk to at least offer up some explanation.
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