MassHoles in the news-Part 2

A couple of weeks ago I wrote an article for my blog called “The problem of Massholes”. It dealt with four people who have gotten away with serious motor vehicle violations because of who they are, who they know, or incompetence from Judges and other state officials. Welcome to part two, where we will talk about a Senator, a Governor, and an Animal Control Officer, all of whom are raising the eyebrows of those who pay attention.



Let us start with the Animal Control Officer. While visiting her son in Stoughton, Mass., Janet Torren of Rochester, Mass. lost her Silky Yorkshire Terrier, named “Shai”. She searched the woods and immediate area, and posted signs looking for her pet. When she called animal control, she left a message with a description of the dog. A call back stated that the pound had no dogs meeting that description at that time.
The thing is this: that breed of dog is worth up to $2000, so Shai has a locator chip in his ear. Janet called the chip manufacturer and found that the Stoughton Animal Control Officer had in fact scanned the chip into the system. When confronted on the phone with this knowledge Officer Kristen Bosquet said she would have the dog at the Stoughton Police Department in a half-hour.
You see, Kristen had given the dog to a girlfriend of a Stoughton Police Officer the day she found Shai. For this disregard of her duties, and using her post for personal gains, Bosquet is a Masshole.




I could write volumes about everything Deval Patrick has done wrong since he became Governor. I am just going to focus on the very latest thing.
Last week, the Governor said that Massachusetts was broke, and he needed to lay off two-thousand state employees, which, by the way, is how many employees he added to the payroll since he started. Oh yeah, this is his first term. Therefore, he announced the first round of lay-offs. He laid off the 91 people with the least seniority. Ooops. No, that would make sense, but those would all be friends or campaign workers for the Governor, so the Union employees received their layoff notices instead. The workers came from the Department of Conservation and Recreation, which oversees the firetowers in all the state forests. Almost a third of those laid off were firefighters. Massachusetts could end up with wildfires like California, but that is okay, because three friends of the Governor all have their high salaried jobs protected, while firefighters get kicked to the street. For this alone, Deval Patrick is a Masshole.

Lastly is Senator John Kerry the former candidate for President. He used his Vietnam career as a ploy to get public sentiment with him. Well, he just got $25 million in donations for the Edward Kennedy School. Guess where he got the money. $5 million came from a labor bill, and the other $20 million came from a defense budget bill. That is right. Senator Kerry, while our soldiers are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, took $20 million that is supposed to be for weapons and equipment and ammunition for the troops, and is going to spend it on a school named after the late Senator Kennedy. For this, Senator Kerry is a Masshole.

It is not easy living in Massachusetts, unless you are living on the public dole. If you have any level of sane consciousness however, Massachusetts, and the people running it, will drive you crazy. Of course, if you are judged crazy, then you too can qualify to live on the public dole. Something to think about.

Terrorism strikes home in Massachusetts

Take a look at this list:

a) The Musical "West Side Story"

b) The play "Peter Pan"

c) The American Flag

d)Guantanimo detainees

Here is the question: Which of these items do the people of Amherst, Ma. approve of?
The answer is D) The Guantanimo detainees. You are probably thinking, that cannot be possibly right. Sadly, it's true.

The Amherst Board of Selectpersons voted 2-1 to request Congress to rescind a ban on Gitmo detainees being allowed to live in the states, and actually requested two specific detainees off of the list. Here is some backgound on Amherst.

The school committee banned both the musical West side story and the play Peter Pan. That's right, banned them. Then, on September 10, 2001, well, just watch this video.


They all but banned public display of the American flag because it is terrifying? So, there is no West side story, no Peter Pan, barely any flags, but they want Gitmo detainees? Two days after the vote, look what happened just 75 miles from Amherst.




That is who the town of Amherst would rather have in the center of town instead of the American flag. I am very worried. My kids live 10 miles from the suspects. They shop at the nearby malls. One, or both of my kids could be a potential victim of the extremists.

Amherst, instead of living in your subjective perception, try looking at objective reality. The world is not a perfect place. Pretending it is just makes you look like a bunch of lobotomized lab rats, scurrying about without rhyme or reason. Get a clue, you sanctimonious idiots.

Now excuse me. I have to call my kids to say good night. One day, they might not be there thanks to the ignorant fools in Amherst.

Opinion-What balloon boy tells us about America

A few days ago, enthralled Americans watched the sight of a shiny, mushroom-shaped balloon flying through the air on national TV. By now, everyone knows the story was that a six-year-old boy was allegedly in the balloon. We all saw the video image of the balloon landing in a wheat field, volunteers frantically struggling through the uncooperative earth, finally reaching the balloon to find it empty. It was empty because the boy was safe at home, right where daddy had hidden him away.

As the facts came out one by one, the portrayal of the dad is somewhat less than flattering. The more we learned about this man (I will not use his name because that is what he wants us to do) the more we realized he is nothing more than a self-centered media whore. The facts speak for themselves.

He met his wife during acting classes. Both were unsuccessful actors, and so he chose to market his other hobby-science. I have found radio shows of his dating back to 2006. He was also a tornado chaser. When I read this quote, I got chills: “The {edit} take their sons on most of their missions. “I think they really are having fun," {edit}{edit}said. "They get so much more that they can't get from any other entertainment."The {edit} had a close call July 12 when they found themselves in the midst of a tornado in Buckeye."I think I have odd kids. They start screaming with excitement," {edit} {edit} said”. Hmm. I took my kids on a whale watch once. I do not think that a whale has ever sucked a car up off the road and hurtled it, and its occupants, to their deaths, as a tornado is more than capable of doing. Yet both of these parents saw nothing wrong with this potentially fatal behavior.

We all know that the couple appeared twice on the show “Wife swap”. We all know the couple both feel they are descended from aliens. Now we find the that the dad has been shopping a reality show based on his “The science detectives” radio show, featuring footage of him and his wife endangering their children by chasing tornadoes with them in the car. The first network, TLC, turned them down. What was the dad’s reaction? He planned the stunt that captured the nation’s attention. That will surely land them a reality show, right?

I fear it just may. I was listening to a radio show today. They had a guest from Ireland. He is a radio talk show host over there. When asked about balloon boy he stated that they do not have kooks like that in Europe, because the press humiliates them rather than publicizes them. You see, in America, we reward incompetence. It starts in tee-ball. They call them participation trophies. You get one just for taking part, even if you do not hit the ball all year. Incompetence rewarded. Our government gave billions of dollars in bailout money to banks that had screwed things up in the first place. Incompetence rewarded. Automakers too stubborn to notice market trends and found themselves in bankruptcy received bailout help. Incompetence rewarded. A man who figuratively bombed the moon and sent 14,000 troops to Afghanistan gets a peace prize. I do not know if that is incompetence, but it is definitely a participation trophy.

The family of balloon boy will undoubtedly end up with a TV show. Regrettably, America will watch. You see, that is what America does best; it rewards incompetence. What a shame.

Two wrongs don't make a right, Glenn Beck

The purpose of this blog is to encourage people to think for themselves, and not to accept as fact everything they see and hear. I use the word lemmings to describe these people; they follow blindly without questioning. I see articles, videos, and news items daily that spout alleged facts. I hear, or participate in, conversations where I hear unfounded assertions. This blog’s purpose is not to persuade you one way or another; it is to encourage you to research things for yourself. I sincerely hope you enjoy my blog.-Pete


Earlier this month, I wrote a blog called "Glenn Beck and the big, bad, blog. It dealt with the White House blog telling lies and misinterpretations about things Glenn Beck had said on his show. A friend of mine, who is a self-proclaimed liberal, asked me if I intentionally looked for things to write about just to anger them. Those of you who have read my blog for a while know I see or hear things that do not ring true, and so I check them out and then write about them. I try to be objective, and if I want to interject my opinion, I will label it as such. As for my friend, well, I do not need my blog to upset them. I can do that without any help.

Today's blog actually deals with Mr. Beck again. It is research into a comment he made on his show. The comment Mr. Beck made was on his October 12, 2009 show where he stated that if the Obama reform was passed as written, 45% of current doctors told a poll they would quit their practices. That just sounded way too high for me. Here is what I found.

First off, I don't put a lot of faith into polls in general. The questions can be vague, the pollster may have an agenda, the responses are questionable, and the target demographic of the poll can be picked to skew results. That being said, I looked at the poll that Mr. Beck used for his information. It came from a paper called "Investor's Business Daily". It is a financial paper, with a rather conservative editorial slant. The methodology of the actual poll was also very casual at best. Basically, I wouldn't quote this poll as a source on an academic paper.

Mr. Beck took the figure of 45% from the poll result, and said that is how many doctors would quit if the reform passed. I found that to be a gross exaggeration for two reasons. 1)Glen says the doctors WOULD quit. The question asked was if the doctor would CONSIDER quitting their practice. The capitalized words are key here. 45% of doctors said they would CONSIDER quitting, not actually quit. So Mr. Beck is drawing a wrong conclusion here. 2)Also, note the word THEIR. That means an individual doctor might quit HIS private practice to join a group practice instead. That doesn't mean they will quit; they would just move to a different location with partners. Basically, Mr. Beck used data from a questionable poll and then misrepresented the conclusion.

Earlier I wrote about a blog who misrepresented statements by Mr. Beck. Now I am writing about misrepresentations Mr. Beck has made about a poll. Am I for or against Mr. Beck? I will not say what I believe. My belief is irrelevant. I am just trying to encourage you to question and research things for yourself. That is the purpose of my blog. Remember, the truth is out there…you just have to look for it.-Quaero verum

Goodbye Sally. You will be missed. RIP.

If you look up at the banner above, you see a set of eyes peering at you. The eyes are mine. I've been told, usually by mothers of prospective girlfriends, that my eyes have an "evil" quality about them. I do not know if that is true. I do know this; Friday, October 16, 2009, those "evil" eyes were filled with tears over the loss of a very nice lady, Sally.

Sally was what can only be called a fixture at our office. Hers was the voice you most likely heard if you called. She was the one you went to if you needed a little help with an issue. She always could make you laugh, or at least smile. Sally could say more with a glance of her eyes than some people can say in a speech. Sally was the one constant we could all count on. Now she's gone.

I was on the road when Kelly called me from the office. She was obviously upset, more than I have ever seen or heard her before. She choked out the words "Sally passed away" and lost her composure. I was stunned. Not Sally. That is when the tears came. I was shocked.

I cried when my mother died. I cried when my favorite aunt died. I cried when my best friend took his own life. Even when the man who gave me life died, I did not cry until the casket was lowered into the earth. Yet, here I was with tears streaming down my cheeks at the loss of a co-worker. Not a wife. Not a relative. A co-worker. I did not even know how old she was, yet I was crying at her loss. That, my friends, is a testament to just how special Sally was.

Monday, I will go to the office, and I will walk past Sally's desk. Except this time, she won't look up from her paperwork to ask how I'm doing. She won't be doodling on a scratch pad when things calm down for a couple of moments. She won't be joking with the other folks in the office. She won't be asking for a favor because someone else goofed something up and she's trying to fix it. I will walk by her desk, and she will not be there. Ever again. And I will miss her.

Work will go on. The phones will ring. The clients will get their service. The checks will still come out on Thursday. I suppose, in a while, we will all go about our business as usual. It is the circle of life. When I am hurt, I turn to music to soothe me. I found this song, that I think is rather appropriate. It deals with the cycle of life. Tonight, I will listen to this song and think about my friend Sally.

These "evil" eyes...well...there's going to be alot of tears in these eyes tonight.
Sally, rest peacefully my friend. I miss you already.

Lessons I learned today

I have often said that a day is a waste of time if you do not learn something new. Today, I think I earned a college degree. Today, I learned a few things. I learned a little about history. I learned about the definition of a true friend. Most importantly, today, I learned a lot about me.

My job sometimes involves waiting around for people. I have dead time that needs killing. Redundant, don’t you think? Today was such a day. I spent a couple of hours in Plymouth, Mass. Some of you folks may remember, Plymouth is where history tells us the Pilgrims landed. Just as I did in grade school, I went to see the Plymouth Rock Memorial (a memorial for an inanimate object?). I strolled through the Pilgrim Memorial Park. I saw the Mayflower II, supposedly an exact replica of the original Mayflower that sailed for 66 days across the Atlantic Ocean some 389 years ago (That was some of the history I learned).

A nearby sign says that 33 men sailed the Mayflower. It does not mention how many women and children were on the ship. While I was there, about 40 tourists got on the ship. They could barely move. I started thinking about the lack of space that ship had. I figured that there had to have been at least 60 people on the ship, plus crates of supplies and water. Talk about panic/anxiety attacks! If I get a little antsy, I can get in my car and take a ride. When you are in the middle of an ocean, you have no such luxury.

As I left the ship site, I saw two young men, maybe early 20’s, plugging in their cell phones to an outside electrical outlet at one of the businesses. As I walked by, I chuckled. The two looked at me with puzzled expressions (I get that a lot). I remarked that the people who sailed on that ship would not even hear about electricity for at least two hundred more years, yet we worry about being able to charge up our cell phones. The more I thought about how tough those early settlers had it, the angrier I got at myself for all the times I felt self-pity when things did not go exactly my way. For the first time in a very long time, I was ashamed of myself. How humbling.

Now, with all this newfound perspective on my life, I took a walk. There are two problems with walking when you have something on your mind; first, you do not realize where you are going, and second, you do not know if you have the stamina to get back to where you started. Somehow, I ended up on the breakwater the goes out into Plymouth Harbor a considerable distance. Constructed out of boulders, you need to pay attention to every step or you will break an ankle quickly. Before I knew it, I was at the end. As I stared out over the calm waters, I felt all the little cares, the aggravations, the self-pity, just drift away like a piece of driftwood. I had found contentment.

As I walked back to my car, I learned another thing about myself; apparently, I can perform strenuous exercise without dying, despite feelings to the contrary. Maybe I will start a more vigorous exercise regimen. Make that, maybe I will start an exercise regimen. On the way back, I saw some things I missed on the way out.

I saw this little skiff tied up to a dock. It is about 12-14 feet, and quite old. The owner however, displayed quite a sense of humor in the way he decorated it: he made it into a miniature pirate ship. Pretty cool, huh? Another realization struck me: with all the violence and hate in the world today, humor is alive and well. I think we all need to keep that in mind, because, when we lose our ability to laugh, we lose our ability to enjoy the best things in life. Things like friends. I lost sight of that briefly, and I did something that irked a very dear friend.

As usual, in my haste, I did something that I should not have. Now, I could have talked the issue over first, but chose to act first and that was just stupid on my part. Against any type of logical thinking, my friend forgave me without an apology. An amazing person indeed. The experience taught me something about real friends; no matter how bad, or how stupid, or how selfish you may act, a real friend will always be there with open arms to forgive you, even if you do not deserve it.

I did come across one thing though that has had me perplexed beyond belief. At one point, I sat on a bench and found myself watching the seagulls. I admired their freedom. If they don't like where they are, a few wing flaps and they're gone. No driver's license, car registration or insurance, plane or train tickets, reservations, nothing. They just up and go. Wow. Then a question popped into my head, and I can't get it out. Maybe you can help me. My question is: How do seagulls walk? Their bodies are just way too disproportionate to their legs. How the hell do they keep their balance? If anyone knows, please tell me. I just can't make it work in my mind. It's something I want to learn.

A day is a waste if you do not learn something new. I received one hell of an education today. Today was a very good day. I hope for many more good days in the future, not just for me, but for all of us. Take care friends.

The problem of Massholes

I live in Massachusetts. I am a native of this Commonwealth. Yes, I said commonwealth. Massachusetts, along with Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentucky, are technically not states; they call themselves commonwealths. What, you may ask, is a commonwealth? Merriam-Webster defines it as: “a nation, state, or other political unit: as a : one founded on law and united by compact or tacit agreement of the people for the common good b : one in which supreme authority is vested in the people”. I find this quite fascinating, because in no other state do the people actually have less control of the goings on around them. Here are some examples.

In Quincy, Mass., a 79-year-old man drives his car into a loaded school bus and drives away without stopping. The driver of the bus reports the incident and provides the Quincy police with a license plate number. Upon finding the culprit, and seeing the damage on his vehicle, do you think he was arrested for hit-and-run? No. Did he receive a citation for leaving the scene of an accident? No. Because of his advanced age and his claim, he did not know he hit the bus, was the RMV notified he was a hazard, which would result in a suspension of his license? No. So why a hazard to society would be allowed to literally get away with a dangerous crime without so much as a traffic ticket confounds me. Maybe it is because he is related to members of the Quincy police department , and, by the way, used to be the mayor of Quincy. Did I tell you this old-timer is still working? Yes he is; as the Clerk Magistrate in Quincy Court. Is that enforcing the laws for the common good? I think not.

In Gloucester, Mass., an 18-year-old goes before the judge for the second time on the same charge; DUI. If you do not know already, the legal drinking age in our commonwealth is 21. The first time around, the court suspended his license. Apparently, though, that did not prevent him from getting behind the wheel while drunk and driving on a suspended license. Therefore, when he went to court to face charges, the 18-year-old pleaded guilty to OUI (2nd offense), Driving with suspended license, and leaving the scene of an accident. Looks like this person will do a little jail time, right? At the very least, spend some time in an orange vest picking up trash on the roadside. Nope. The judge gives him a $350 fine and sends him out to wreak more havoc on Massachusetts roads.

Do you want to hear about the 39-year-old Rockport man charged with driving an unregistered car with a suspended license; for the ninth time? If you think that seems like too many offenses, you have not seen anything yet. His RMV driving record is twelve pages long. A guilty finding would have suspended his license automatically for four years. Again, a dim-witted judge let him off with a continuance without finding; as long as he does not do anything wrong for six months the charge will be dismissed. Are you kidding me?

One would think our legislators would enact some type of measure to protect the citizens of the commonwealth from these moving road hazards. That should happen. That could happen. The next item on the list is a State Senator who admitted to a hit-and-run accident on Monday. He claimed he panicked because of his driving record. Of course the only reason he claimed anything at all was because he hit the other vehicle so hard, it left an imprint of his license plate on the other vehicle. A look at his driving record shows two DUI convictions, and a third where he received a gubernatorial pardon. The accident occurred as he was driving home from watching a N.E. Patriots game. Do you think he was aware of how much trouble he would have been in had he stayed at the scene of the accident, where one occupant in the other car was injured? Do you think he knew the penalty for hit-and-run was less than the penalty for a third DUI? I think that his job as an attorney probably made him aware of those facts.


Massachusetts has some of the highest insurance rates in the country. Now we see why. The roads are full of Massholes. Does the Commonwealth of Massachusetts really represent government for the greater good? I don’t think so.