Stop raising interest rates

2 yr ................99 30/32..............4.40%

5 yr ..............100 3/32 ...............4.35%

10 yr .............100 28/32.............4.38%

30 yr ..............112 15/32 .............4.53%

The above chart is the price quote for the U.S. Treasury bond market for December 30, 2005. The third column to the right denotes the bond yield percentage.

There are a couple of things that should jump out at you.

The first is that despite the fact that we are at war in two countries, we have a large balance of payments deficit and we are running pretty significant budget deficits, yet the yield on the thirty year Treasury bond is at 4.53%.

By historical standards this is below average and by itself would indicate a couple of important things. First and foremost is that people who buy this investment instrument continue to believe that it is the safest fixed income vehicle in the world, that the 4.53% yield meets expectations over that length of time and that most importantly, inflation is sufficiently controlled as to make that yield attractive for continued investment.

The next item of interest is that the two year yield is at 4.40 which is higher than both the 5 year and ten year bond. This is called inversion of the yield curve. Since the 30 year is only 13 points higher than the 2 year it is also possible that the two might invert against the 30 as well.
The significance of this as a harbinger of economic events to come should not be over looked. The last five recessions in the United States have been preceded by this event. This in and of itself is not the sole factor in an economic slowdown however by its appearance so frequently before bad turns for the economy it should not be downplayed.

The most recent occurrence was in 2000. The Fed operating under the perceived threat of inflation continued to ramp up short term rates up to near 6.50% until eventually the short yield inverted against the thirty year bond by almost 50 points. The recession that followed forced the Fed to reverse policy and they frantically began to cut rates to again re-invigorate the economy. The whole process was exacerbated by the events of 9/11.

With the U.S people and economy in shock, the Fed reacted by reducing short term rates to levels not seen in our lifetime. The results really should not be a shock to any of us. The availability of very cheap money spurred a housing boom that resulted in more people in all economic strata owning homes than anytime in American history. The low cost of money also spurred a significant increase in all forms of American consumer debt. Home mortgages, car loans and the despicable credit card debt have all sky rocketed.

The inversion of the yield curve is an ominous development for those people who took advantage of those low prices for money but for reasons unknown did not lock those low rates in.
Just as there was an enormous boom in these areas we may now be likely to experience an enormous bust. With variable rate debt vehicles rising with each Fed increase in short terms rates the monthly debt repayment burden has increased on the American consumer. Soon to be instituted minimum monthly payment increases on credit card debt will only exacerbate this problem.

If the Fed continues to raise rates the impact will reverberate throughout the US economy. American auto makers are teetering on disaster and rising rates have contributed to that problem. The housing market over the past two months has shown significant weakness and mortgage default is up. A trickle will turn into a torrent if the Fed persists.

Alan Greenspan has been widely praised for his management of the nation’s monetary system since his rise to the post of Chairman of the Federal Reserve. It would be a shame that on his way out the door, his lasting legacy is one of a significant economic bust precipitated by an over aggressive Fed worried about non existent inflation.

Owning a bathroom scale

A guy asks his wife what she wants for Christmas and she says "something that goes from zero to sixty real fast." He finds himself in the dog house after he buys her a bathroom scale.

It was after hearing this joke and reading an article that people who own a scale are "much more likely to lose weight and keep it off" if they actually step on it, that I asked for one for Christmas. We haven't had one in the house for about 20 years after a seemingly minor encounter with my wife. I happened to step on the scale and was offended by it's report. When I went down stairs I mentioned to her that the scale had to be broken because it was giving me an erroneous number (on the high side). She said "nonsense, there is nothing wrong with that scale."

Later on I heard a muffled cry from upstairs and needless to say that scale was never seen nor heard from again. So here we are 20 years later and it is out of necessity that I welcome one back into castle.

The necessity is as a result of the food coma that I get into around this time of year. It starts at Thanksgiving and then over the next 45 days or so it is one food orgy after another culminating in some New Year's Eve resolution about having to slim down.

I looked back in my journal over the past few years and my resolution strangely enough is exactly the same. I weigh 208 and my goal is to get down to a svelte 190. I start off January 1 all full of resolve and determination but by the time I come full circle I am back to exactly the same weight I started at.

So this year I am trying something a little different. Instead of waiting for the new year I started the day after Christmas. Instead of hitting the gym and figuring I am making progresss I now have a little square box with numbers to verify what my progress is. The next change is no more weights at the gym. From now on it is going to be something that makes me breathe hard and break a sweat. I deduced that this might have some merit when I tried to follow a little bit of instruction from a Pilates for Dummies video that was gathering dust on my shelf. The instructress witch had me slumped over on the couch gasping for air after about 15 minutes.

I will try this method for now and see what result it brings. I am not quite desperate enough yet to actually consider eating less.

Leaks are good for Bush

Classified information in Washington is more or less currency to be used by politicians as a way to curry favor with media or business or any other place that it might be used to propel them into ever more "important" positions. This is of course is not limited to Washington, anywhere people congregate and vie for power there will always be the manipulation of information for selfish interests. Machiavelli is still a household word in politics over 400 years later for a reason.

The opposite is also true in that leaks are made to denigrate the opposition, place blame or simply shift media focus on to some other story du jour. If that is the intention of the leakers of late with the story about CIA flights, government wire taps and now the radiation surveillance program, they should start thinking twice about hurting the Bush administration with this information.

The most recent leaked story which should help to propel the Bush approval ratings higher was printed in U.S. News and World Report Friday. An exclusive headline blared that the government was monitoring for radiation near Muslim sites without a search warrant. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/nest/051222nest.htm

The article raises questions as to whether or not a warrant should be issued to monitor public and private areas for radiation. The article brings up a case involving lamps for the growing of marijuana in which Justice Scalia opined that warrants were necessary for such activity.

Pardon me if I suggest that radiation detection is a galaxy away in importance. I care if my neighbor gets pinched for growing some weed in his cellar by a helicopter flying over his house. I don't care if a radical is captured for possessing material that might be used in construction of a dirty bomb. If his civil rights have been violated we can certainly adjudicate that subject after he is in custody and his materials confiscated.

I am similarly not to concerned in this case with profiling. I want the government profiling any individual or group of individuals who has privately or publicly stated their interest or intention to acquire nuclear materials for the purposes of unleashing it upon our populace. Any person in government who argues against this type of strategy should not be trusted with anything to important.

This type of thinking must resonate with the rest of the public because since the revelations by the NY Times, Bush's poll numbers have been rising steadily, If it was their intention to damage him, they may have unwittingly given him a boost he otherwise might not have gotten. So to with this new report. As soon as I read it I thought to myself that is exactly what I would want done if I was the boss. A few more leaks like this and Bush will be at 60%.

Another hole to fill

It was disappointing to see that Johnny Damon has joined the evil empire. Disappointing but not wholly unexpected since Johnny was on record as saying there was “not going to be any home town discount.” When all was said and done it was simply logic that turned Damon into a now loyal Yankee.

The signing sweepstakes had gotten off to a slow start after Damon’s agent Scott Boras had talked about a 7 year deal for the 32 year old outfielder. That proposal got about what you expected, a lot of laughing and no firm offers. Things took a turn for the worse for Damon over the weekend when after being on the West Coast; he was quoted as saying the Dodgers had interest.” Unfortunately the Dodgers were saying the exact opposite.

That brought us to the current situation where it was reported the Yankees would offer 4 years and 53 million but not a day beyond four years. The deal was a take it or leave it situation and since Boras and Damon could look manly going to the Yankees for less than hoped, they could not or would not do the same with the Sox unless another magic year showed up.

There can be no denying that this is a blow to the Sox in a number of different areas. Damon was a good club house guy, a very good leadoff hitter and one of the few on the team with any speed. He was a better than average defensive outfielder although his arm was no better than Bernie Williams. There are a couple of questions about his banged up shoulders but apparently not enough for the Yankees to be worried.

The already terrifying Yankee lineup becomes even more so with Damon leading off in front of Jeter followed by Sheffield, ARod, Matsui, Jiambi, Posada and Cano. It should be remembered however that there still is the reason why the season is played. In case anyone hasn’t noticed, the Yankees are sporting a 200 million plus payroll yet they have no banners since 2000. The lineup looks potent but they still have to pitch the ball every game. Johnny won’t be helping them in that department.

So it looks a little bleak for the moment and the empire is on the tip of everyone’s tongues. The fans will curse management’s ineptitude and Damon’s lack of loyalty but nobody ever won a world series in December and this deal is not likely to be the one that makes the Yanks an odds on favorite.

This was your typical mercenary type deal. Damon would play for the biggest money and if that happened to have come from Toledo he would have been expressing his happiness on becoming a Mud Hen and profess his ever lasting admiration for them.

The Sox have some money to spend and some excess pitching. With holes at shortstop and centerfield you can bet something will be done shortly. In any event, the sun will rise and the sun will set and some lucky guy will get a lot of money to “feed his family” to play centerfield in Fenway. He will be happy to be a Red Sock until he is happier to receive more money somewhere else.

The news wasn't bad

I was anxious to get hold of the Boston Globe on Friday morning to catch up on the results of the Iraqi election. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to conclude that this is the most pressing foreign and domestic issue that the country faces.

I was also curious to see how the Globe would cover the story. I imagined that if bombs were flying and people were dying it would be well covered. I also expected that if things went relatively well it would have been some what down played.

I knew right away that results were a spectacular success because the first story I saw on the front page above the fold was that the Storrow drive tunnel might have to be refurbished and God forbid, traffic might have to be re-routed through the Back Bay or the esplanade. This is the LEAD front page story.

Now that is the type of hard hitting, informative journalism that we have come to expect from the Globe. Today is more of the same. There is a story in the world section by some Reuters guy and a column by Bush/America hater Derrick Jackson.
Jackson laments the fact the Bush admitted there maybe be 30,000 civilian casualties in the Iraqi war.

No where in the piece does Jackson mention the 300,000 Iraqis murdered by Saddam or the 1 million plus people lost in his forays into Iran and Kuwait. In fact I can never remember Derrick making any comments on those figures. In stead he gives us this quote "That illustrates just how far Iraq has removed Bush from his own humanity. Without evidence of weapons, he would still order a war that kills thousands of innocent people. Bush now admits knowing the scorecard. But it still remains only a game".

I Don't recall Derrick lamenting the number of dead Serbians as a result of Clinton's non-UN non-French sanctioned intervention in Bosnia nor did he question Clinton's humanity.

If the Globe had any interest in a positive outcome of the Iraqi elections, there are any number of angles they might have reported on. But they aren't interested in a positive outcome. So until another Jack Murtha or Cindy Sheehan or Howard Dean inanity is spoken,or another American soldier is killed trying to help launch a fledgling Iraqi democracy we will hear about redirected traffic on Storrow Drive and wire taps and Scooter Libby or Karl Rove.

It gives me great pleasure to take a couple of quarters and tease the Globe dispenser machine. I put just the edge in and then I take it out and buy another paper.

The weather was bad

Yesterday marked the first significant snowfall of the year. The event once again reinforced the notion that the only reason I think I live in Massachusetts is because A: there aren’t many earthquakes and B: I don’t know any better.

I was eager to assess the impact of a significant snow fall because I have recently taken a new job that now brings me closer to home by 9 miles but unfortunately requires me to head South from Burlington towards Boston down into Medford. The total distance from door to door is exactly 11.6 miles and you would think it would be a relatively short trip. Think again.

I have tried a variety of different routes to try and find the most efficient one. Despite having 2 major highways, Route 128 (95) North to Route 93 South, the best route is through Woburn and Winchester on the main streets. So far the best I have been able to make the 11.6 miles is 23 minutes. That was at 6:45 in the morning and not on the super highways but on the back roads. The back roads are the best choice because despite having 2 “super highways” and despite over 14 billion dollars spent on the big dig, route 93 is still a parking lot in the morning into Boston and in the evening out of Boston.

My worst fair weather experience so far took place last week when it took me 50 minutes. There were no accidents or no other discernible reason for this. The aggravation was made worse by the fact that a guy riding a bicycle was on the same route as I was and he actually beat me to my destination.

Yesterday drove home the possible reason why Massachusetts is losing population. The snow started early in the morning about the time everyone was on their way to work. By noontime it was snowing pretty heavily in the Northwestern suburbs and by 2 o’clock rain turn to snow in the Boston metro area. This soon turned into white out conditions and the out-lying suburbs accumulated about a foot of snow.

What effect did it have on my commute? Well 11.6 miles turned into an epic 3 plus hour journey. My preferred route following the back roads was completely ruled out by one of many cars that were stick in a famous Massachusetts rotary. When I saw this I was fortunate to be able to turn around and head back to another route. As far as I know the other people might still be there.

The number of odd automobile locations were to numerous to mention as they were stuck in every conceivable location including abandoned vehicles right in the middle of an interstate highway. Some were driven completely off the road as people kept going when they couldn’t see and unfortunately went in a direction where no road existed.

Since I am no stranger to these conditions I remained remarkably composed until after picking up the Mrs. from her place of work I arrived home to find that my snowplow guy had not arrived and my driveway was completely covered in the foot of snow plus another foot of windblown drifts. This did not turn out to be a major problem as my two neighbors jumped in with their snow blowers and had me cleaned out in no time.

Tim and Yusef are great neighbors and are always ready to help anyone in the neighborhood. I find it remarkable that a guy like me who has grown up in the frozen tundra of the Northeast gets bailed out by an always winter prepared guy who grew up in Egypt. I always kid him after the heavy snowfall clean up about longing for the sands of Egypt and he always laughs and he tells me he loves it here. Go figure.

When I finished up and got settled in the house I made it a point of calling my snowplow guy who by the way was referred to me because my regular guy had retired from plowing. When I got him on the phone I asked how come my drive way wasn’t plowed?

His reply was that “the weather was too bad, I couldn’t see.” I didn’t bother to ask him in what snowstorm the weather was good; instead I said that I didn’t think I would need him this year.

America pulls out!

Does that sound like a catchy campaign phrase or a soundbite that a politican will make hay with? How about "Army, broken, worn out, living hand to mouth?" Compare this to "No substitute for victory." In the age of short attention spans and short message politics it seems as though the tide has once again turned.

In the space of 2 weeks the Democrats have squandered what appeared to be an advantage to be exploited in the 2006 midterms and turned it into an albatross hanging around their necks. That albatross is Congressman John Murtha. The party has been on the slide again from the moment Murtha uttered the words "complete withdrawal." It seemed like gold for a fleeting moment as the leftist media fawningly described Murtha as a committed hawk who had a change of heart and realized his mistakes and was now coming to his senses.

His change of heart was short lived however when given the opportunity to express his feelings on the floor of the house via a non-binding resolution, Murtha along with over 200 other Democrats could not find the nerve to cast even a symbolic vote.

The slide continued as Murtha, apparently relishing his new found fame as a national media darling uttered the following hogwash. Speaking in Latrobe, Pa., Wednesday, the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee and Subcommittee on Defense said troops in Iraq are "barely getting by," and won't be able to meet future military threats to the country, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. If Murtha is to be believed, the most technologically advanced and well supplied military in the world cannot sustain 130,000 men in combat. Since Murtha is on the committees whose responsibility it is to make sure this is not true then perhaps it is time for the congressman to retire if he is not up to the task.

When then Democratic Senator Zell Miller excoriated the Democrats at the Republican national convention, Democratic strategist James Carville said "I feel sorry for that poor old man" perhaps James is thinking the same about Murtha.

All the usual suspects have jumped on the Murtha bandwagon, Nancy Pelosi, Hapless Harry Reid and the Post and Times all see Murtha as "changing the debate" on Iraq. Unfortunately for the Democrats prominent members of their own party are recoiling from Murtha as fast as possible. Bill and Hillary Clinton along with John Kerry have all rejected such a foolish course of action and even the French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin chimed in with his opposition.

The most vocal of the Democrats was Sen. Joe Lieberman who had this to say, "I have just returned from my fourth trip to Iraq in the past 17 months and can report real progress there. More work needs to be done, of course, but the Iraqi people are in reach of a watershed transformation from the primitive, killing tyranny of Saddam to modern, self-governing, self-securing nationhood." This eye witness account for some reason could not be found on the pages of the Washington Post or New York Times.

Forgetting for a moment what the out of power people had to say let's look at what the boss had to say. In an address at the Naval Academy in front of a group of people he must lead, President Bush did not equivocate. "To all who wear the uniform, I make you this pledge: America will not run in the face of car bombers and assassins so long as I am your commander in chief."

More importantly than speeches however is a clear cut plan for achieving our goals. Look herehttp://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/iraq/iraq_strategy_nov2005.html
and you will find what many have said does not exist. This is clearly identified plan entitled National Strategy for Victory in Iraq. Unless the Democrats can come up with a document that clearly articulates a plan of action that is superior to this one, the party is going to remain fractious and directionless heading into the mid terms.

Squash peels

Those who fail to learn lessons from history are destined to repeat their mistakes. This old axiom was brought home to me Thanksgiving eve.

About ten or fifteen years ago on another Thanksgiving eve, I had just finished peeling squash and stuffed all the peelings down into the garbage disposal. Things were going along smoothly when the water began to back up in the sink and suddenly what I had was a bunch of dirty water swirling around in an orange colored vortex.

Although plumbing is not a specialty of mine, I managed to go through some of the steps, beginning with a plunger, and finally unscrewing the trap all to no avail. Next up was the snake which I sent through the trap and managed to find the blockage and give it a couple of good pokes. Still no luck. Now the action of last resort was to open the big cap in the cellar and try to remove it from down stairs.

As you might imagine I had more success than I intended as I dislodged the peels and they along with an abundance of garbage filled water descended down the pipe at high velocity and directly into my face and all over my head. Recounting of this story never fails to result in gales of laughter from my wife and children who were witness to the event.

Against the backdrop of this humiliation you might think I would never have repeated this mistake. Well last night I was merrily peeling squash and chatting with my better half. I was in a cheery holiday mood and blithely cleaning up the sink of peels and unconsciously pushed them into the disposal. The minute I turned it on I knew it was a mistake. Soon the spinning orange vortex appeared in the water and it got deeper and deeper.

Having now vividly recalled my previous exploits, I thought immediately of calling the plumber. This was not an option because of Murphy's Law of home disasters. That law is that something bad will always happen on the eve of a holiday, the holiday itself or on a Sunday. Plumbers and electricians are never available on those days.

So I started the regular routine which I now recalled by heart. I first looked for the plunger but for some reason it was no where to be found. Could someone have borrowed my plunger? I doubt it, but since I couldn't find it I took off down to O'Connors Hardware to buy a new one. Having used the standard rubber plunger for the last four decades I opted for a new high tech bellows type version. Of course when I got it home it was useless,I plunged and plunged to no avail.

Next up was the trap and when I found that the blockage was right at the trap I wondered to myself why I hadn't checked the trap first before I wasted money on the stupid looking accordion plunger. That was only a brief recrimination as I was quite happy to have found the problem and in no time would have things back in order.

I got my finger in the trap and found that the peels were rather tightly packed in there and I couldn't seem to get things moving. No worries I thought as I had a screw driver handy and I began to poke inside the pipe and could feel the peels yielding. Finally things got moving as water and peels began to drain out into the bucket. Unfortunately water also came gushing out of the rather large hole I had poked in the side of the pipe as a result of my aggressive screw driver work. Water was now shooting out of the trap as well as horizontally under the sink and all over everything.

Now it was getting late and O'Connor's would be closing soon so it was into the car for another trip to the store. I was picking up a replacement piece of pipe when I came to find out why plumbers are not available in these critical times. The store guy was helping me find the right size pipe when a young fellow with a little boy at his side told me it was an inch and a half pipe. The fellow told me he had a similar problem to mine at his house. The very little boy asked his daddy how come he knew what size it was and the father replied "cause plumbers know those things".

This event will now take its place amongst the many stories my family tells of my ineptitude around the home improvement scene. When they make fun of me around the dinner table they never fail to close with the now most famous event. One Christmas Day I managed to break both toilets in the house. I won't pass on any wisdom from that event however I will say this, throw squash peels in the trash.

Manny's going no where

The latest news in the Manny Ramirez saga comes from David Ortiz who reported last night from Santo Domingo is that Manny will not be returning to Boston. According to Big Papi, Manny wants to play some where else, preferably the West Coast. "Only Manny and his family knows what he goes through" said David.

Well my heart goes out to Manny. I can't imagine what hardships he has to endure while he accepts 20 million from the ball club and soaks up fawning admiration from the fans of Red Sox Nation. What I do know however is that the Sox still have the rights to him for the next three years. Those rights include the obligation to pay him another 57 million dollars.

Now that Manny is a 10 year veteran he can block any trade to a club that he doesn't like so this obviously limits the places the Sox can deal him to. With a market restricted to clubs who can afford the balance of his contract and locations that Manny will go, it severly restricts the club's ability to move him. Restricted, meaning that it is unlikely they can get fair market value for him in return.

Without a blockbuster hitter or a frontline pitcher or two or three can't miss prosepcts it makes absolutely no sense to accomodate Ramirez. With the soon to be completed Josh Beckett trade, the club is sending a clear message to the fans and the Yankees that they have no intention of taking a year or two off to retool, lower payroll and start a youth movement. By adding Beckett and a possibly rejuvenated Mike Lowell at third base the club is at most one or two key players away from being the dominant club in the East.

There are question marks in the inifeld at second base and in the outfield primarily in center. With Johnny Damon being represented by the despicable Scott Boras it is unlikely that he will be returning here. He will be missed, however his asking price of 12 million for 5 years is almost universally laughed at by the circle of Sox fans I hang with. That money can be spent more effectively in other areas.

With the addition of Beckett, the emergence of Papelbon and DelCarmen and contributions from Craig Hansen and a return to reasonable form by Keith Foulke, the club looks pretty solid in the pitching department.

Which brings us back to Manny. The club has tried to dump him every year since he came on board. Every year since he came on board he has asked to be traded. The bottom line is that it is in neither party's interest to part ways. The team is making an effort to return to the World Series and this is an appropiate place for a player of Manny Ramirez caliber to showcase his skills.

The Duo of Ramirez/Ortiz brings up memories of such immortal pairs as Mantle/Maris, McCovey/Mays, Colavito/Cash and with a few more years of huge numbers dare we say Ruth/Gehrig. It would be inconceviable for the club to dump a 45 home run 144 RBI man without a certifiable stud in return

It is time for both parties to grin and bear it. It is a dfficult relationship for both parties but it makes no sense to for either the club or Ramirez to break up a relationship that serves both parties interest simply because of some perceived short term inconvenience.

Bush punched back

After weeks of personal attacks on the credibility of his decision to invade Iraq, Bush finally came off the canvass to lay a few left hooks on some of his chief critics. Most of whom by the way voted to authorize the resolution to use force against Iraq. Just in case any one forgot, Bush's policy was not created in a vacuum or pulled out of thin air. This was an extension of American policy on Iraq that began with Bush 41 and extended through the Clinton administration. It seems as though the Democrats forget that it was President Clinton who initiated the Desert Fox bombing campaign against Iraq for the very reasons that were included in the Iraq policy continued by Bush 43.

That same policy was an extension of the United Nations who time and time again had passed ferocious but toothless resolutions ordering Saddam to comply on inspections. The straw that broke the camel's back was Bush's refusal to make endless paper threats. Considering the climate at the time, what was a prudent course of action? The country had been attacked and though it can be proved conclusively now that Iraq or Saddam had no direct involvement in the 911 attack what should the leader of a shaken nation done? We had years and years of diplomatic conflict over Saddam's efforts to gain and proof that he had used WMD, would it have been better to wait to see if he would use them again?

Forget all of that for the moment and examine the situation from the Washington political angle. The mid terms are coming up and no matter which party is out of power it will seek to find any issue that might enable it to make gains against the other. To Hell with the country's best interest, it is the party's interest that matters at the moment.

The Democrat's smell a little blood in the water after months of relentless attacks on a couple of rather thin issues. Prosecutor Fitzpatrick has spent two years investigating a non crime and comes up with an indictment of Lewis Libby claiming that he lied to a grand jury. In his statement Fitzpatrick identifies Libby as the first administration official to "out" CIA paper shuffler Valerie Plame. The ink on the indictment is barely dry when two very strange things occur. General Paul E. Vallely announces to the world that long before the "Plamegate" issue surfaced, Joe Wilson himself had told the general in the green room at Fox studios that his wife was a CIA agent. Joe responded in outraged indignation, however he has not responded to General Vallely's request to sue him.

This week comes another shocker. Despite Fitzpatrick's 2 year "exhaustive" investigation he gets a call from an administration source who says that he mentioned to Bob Woodward of the Washington Post, that he had outed Plame a full month before Libby ever mentioned it. One wonders immediately why Woodward would allow Libby to be ruined in public by this accusation, put out of work and will probably be bankrupt by legal fees knowing what he knew? Why did the Post continue to hammer on the importance of alleged Libby wrong doing when they knew he didn't do it?

Apparently tiring of the Bush lied troops died mantra, Plamegate and the appearance of a steady stream of "duped" Democrats decrying his "manipulation" of intelligence, Bush fought back. Apparently these senators and others forgot that it was the exact same intelligence that they were receiving when they overwhelmingly endorsed the Iraq resolution. Unfortunately for these people their remarks both in print and on video can be immediately called up and reviewed. Chris Wallace made poor Senator Jay Rockefeller look like an idiot on the tube last week replaying his own remarks.

Bush fought back in two ways. First by his Veteran's Day speech and also by unleashing an unusually quiet Vice President Cheney on the opposition. After months of virtually unanswered attacks on him, Bush makes a few obvious comments about short memories and he is immediately attacked for questioning peoples patriotism and launching a coordinated attack against people of conscience.

The real damage done to the revisionists however came yesterday. A well respected Democrat, Rep. John Murtha had called for the immediate withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. Faced with an opportunity to put the Democrats on record as to their real intentions, Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) drafted a simple resolution calling for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Since a resolution is only a sense of the membership and has no practical impact in law everyone would have an opportunity to say where they stood if only symbolically.

Of course the resolution was defeated by an astounding 403 to 3. Listen to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) who said the Republicans "engaged in an act of deception that undermines any shred of dignity that might be left in this Republican Congress." She called Hunter's resolution "a political stunt" and "a disservice to our country and to our men and women in uniform". After hearing Ms. Pelosi over the past few months, these comments either ring hollow or were comedic in nature.

It is getting more and more difficult to respect any of these people.

A party organ

In an Op Ed piece entitled Romney's rush to reform healthcare, Joan Vennochi and the Boston Globe prove once again that Democratic Party politics are always front and center in any position the Globe takes on any issues. Party considerations will be first even with those issues that the Globe has considered to be the centerpiece of their drive for social engineering in Massachusetts.

Healthcare reform has been a major issue in Massachusetts since the Dukakis era when the then Governor of Massachusetts tried to make universal health care the center piece of his national ambitions. No one at the Globe denigrated Dukakis for his ambitions yet listen to Ms. Vennochi's take on Romney's efforts. "A one-term governor with a thin political resume, Romney needs a major accomplishment." I guess what Joan is saying is that healthcare reform is a laudable goal but not if a Republican governor is involved in the proposal.

The true purpose of the Globe's desire to see slower progress on health care reform is presented later in the article. Although ostensibly about Governor Romney, it contains primarily quotes from Attorney General Thomas Reilly. Reilly is the Globe's anointed choice to be the next governor of Massachusetts.

Even though health care reform and fully insuring the the citizens of the commonwealth has been an often stated goal for the past thirty years, Reilly and Vennochi wonder why there is such a rush to re-write legislation by January 15th. With Senator Kennedy, Senate President Robert Travaglini and House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, all influential Democratic leaders supporting this type of legislation why not strike while the iron is hot and get a bill passed?

The answer is that Vennochi, the Globe and Reilly are all concerned that Romney will throw his hat back in the ring for Governor. Ms. Vennochi hides this concern under the thin veneer of concern over Reilly's one announced competitor in the Democratic Party, Deval Patrick. Vennochi reasons this way "Reilly may have his own political reasons for slowing down the healthcare reform train. His opponent Deval Patrick, has embraced the most ambitious healthcare package". It is interesting that in an article in which Ms. Venocchi criticizes Romney for his interest in promoting healthcare for political reasons yet she has no criticism for Reilly for trying to prevent it for the same reason.

This is a pimp piece for Reilly because there is not a chance that Deval Patrick is a serious candidate for the Democratic nomination as governor. Mr. Patrick may be a wonderful man with good ideas and a reasonable resume however he is woefully under financed and a relative unknown to voters across the state.

The real threat to Reilly and to the Globe' agenda is the incumbent governor. Vennochi and the Globe know this, hence at every opportunity they will take shots at Romney for any perceived slight to the state. The article mentions two recent events related to Romney, his attack on the Massachusetts Supreme court for it's 4 to 3 vote to legalize Gay marriage and the fact that he smiled when the speaker at the Federalist Society introduced him as someone who fought against the modern day KKK, the Kerry Kennedy Klan.

Certainly the venue was one in which it was appropriate to criticize the Massachusetts Supreme court and secondly although the KKK comment might have been of questionable taste, was Vennochi or any other liberals up in arms when Whoopi Goldberg and the Hollywood crowd had much more offensive things to say about President Bush? Seems to me that the indignance rings a little hollow.

Romney will make up his mind very soon about a run for re-election in Massachusetts. You may have seen the recent Zogby poll showing any Republican running a very distant second to Reilly in a race for governor. Don't believe it for a second. Romney is a very effective leader, a charismatic personality and he will be extremely well financed.

More importantly is the fact that the although overwhelmingly a blue state, the people of the state are reluctant to let the Democrats return to full control of all the branches of the government. The Globe knows this and like the true party organ that it is, it will make every effort to denigrate Romney whenever possible. The people at the Globe would make the old Pravda proud.

Good luck Theo

All good things eventually come to an end, to bad it had to happen so soon. Theo Epstein's rein as the resident baseball god came to an end in Boston this week under somewhat murky circumstances.

As usual, the Globe had it all wrong as the paper had announced that Theo would be re-upping for 1.5 million a year on a three year deal. Of course the next day Theo was announcing his resignation from the club because he no longer could put in his heart and soul.

As the various news conferences unveiled and the talking heads had their say it became apparent that nothing of real substance was said by any of the parties involved about the real reason for Theo's departure. Only Theo and Larry Lucchino know fully what transpired between them but as an interested observer and a fan of the club I can only say that I hope Theo has not peaked and looks back upon these past three years as his crowning achievement. What personal slight could Lucchino have committed to get Theo's nose so out of joint?

Sure he will get another baseball job but how could it be the same as being the head of a club like the Sox? At 30 years old he was substantially involved in ending a champonship drought that had lasted 86 years. He was revered in town not only for his accomplishments but also how he conducted himself in the job and in the community.

As far as Lucchino is concerned, didn't Theo owe him a little bit of slack? Forgetting all the mentor non sense, it still was a fact that Lucchino had advanced Theo at every opportunity till he finally anoninted him to one of the top jobs in all of baseball. So Lucchino low balled Theo on the first couple of contract offers, so what. After all Theo was making $300,000/yr for the last three years. An offer of first $800k then $1.2 and finally $1.5 million seemed to be a pretty good indication the club wanted him back.

Theo was no stranger to negotiations. I think he might have made a few low ball offers in his time. Certainly David Ortiz comes to mind. Did he think he should get Beane money or Cashman money after three years on the job? Speaking of Cashman, whatever Theo had to put up with in working for Henry/Lucchino couldn't possibly compare to having to answer to the old irascible Yankee, Boss Steinbrener. Hell, I thought Henry was going to cry at the news conference over the loss of his boy wonder. Steinbrener would have kicked Theo in the ass for being so childish as to be offended by any "leaks" in the organization.

In any event the Epstein era is over way to soon in Boston. The kid would have been an icon here for decades to come, as it is his name will still be on the lips of every Red Sox fan for the next century. His real work was still being done and he should have stuck around to see the fruits of his labor in the farm system graduate and excel at the major league level.

In the end result, that may be Theo's real legacy here. After all, that is really the way a general manager over the long haul is judged. Yes we won a championship but Theo's contribution was not the only thing that put us over the top. Much maligned Dan Duquette as well as the ownership should get some or as much credit as Theo for the end of the curse.

Here's hoping he does well in any endeavor he chooses and that this decision has made him happier. I hope he didn't wake up the next day and wonder what the Hell have I done?" Or that in the future doesn't look back upon this as a hastily made foolish decision in youth.

He may end up being the Dodger's general manager or the new GM in Washington but will it come with a 120 million dollar payroll? Will he end up on the scrap heap with other general managers who have failed in medicore situations? Only time will tell but one thing is for certain, the Sox will still be the Sox. They will get a new GM, they will spend a bunch on payroll and they will draw around 2 million.

It still is a tax break

The Daily Times had a front page piece last week reviewing the status of the TIF or Tax Incentive Finance agreement that Sun Microsystems and the town had signed back six or seven years ago. The town has two of these arrangements and neither of them is in compliance with the terms of the original deal.

Let's state the obvious outcome to date of the Sun TIF deal. Yes we are glad to have them, yes there are 2100 new jobs on the site and yes they have put up some beautiful buildings and yes they contributed 6 million dollars to the town's school system for technology upgrades and yes the traffic improvements at Network Drive and route 62 have resulted in enormous improvements over the old situation.

In addition, they are wonderful neighbors and they do a lot in the community as an organization. All of that is true including the fact that they also were diligent in working to clean up the contamination that existed on the site as a result of manufacturing activities by previous owners of the site.

All of this is undeniably true. What is also true is that they were to have created roughly 4000 jobs in town and substantially more build out of the campus was to be completed by now. In exchange for that they were given tax reduction from the town as well as substantial investment tax credits from the state.

The current situation is that they have not met the terms of deal they signed. It is a difficult business environment but it is just as difficult a municipal tax environment if not more so. This is going to become even more difficult over the next several months when residents receive their new tax bill. The number has not been fixed as of yet but it is certain that the residential tax bill in town will be going up by double digits. Not because of over spending by town meeting but simply because of the shift in residential values.

To put it simply, the same amount of money has to be raised for this fiscal year, however where it comes from is determined by values. The residential value has increased substantially and the commercial values have declined. Therefore, more of the tax levy will come from the residential side of the ledger. Barring any unforeseen relief from the state, the news is not going to be good. There could not be a more obvious illustration of this than the Four Points hotel on Wheeler Road that changed hands last year. It had previously sold in 2000 for 14 million dollars but last year it was sold again but this time for for 6.48 million dollars. That resulted in a loss of about 200 thousand in tax revenue. Who do you think is going to make that up?

This situation is likely to be transitory as the residential values seem to have peaked and will likely moderate or decline during the next business cycle. Recent activity seems to indicate commercial and office space is beginning to recover according to some of the bigger players in town. How long it takes to return to a much higher commercial value remains to be seen but it certainly is not going to be immediate.

While this is going on the town is facing a number of financial challenges, fore most of which is the school building issue. The town will be faced with 2 problems. What to build or renovate and while construction goes on where to put students?

Perhaps a solution is one of those public private partnerships we often hear about. From what I understand, Sun has substantial vacant space in their buildings on Network Drive. How difficult would it be for the town to enter into negotiations to lease some of that space to house a number of classrooms? There would be a number of hurdles to overcome such as insurance indemnification and segregating access to a building from the rest of the campus but nothing that appears to rule out the potential at first glance.

The applicant is not in compliance with the TIF agreement and does not appear to be any where near compliance in the future. If that is the case why is the town still extending annual tax reduction? If the town had not met its obligations what would Sun's attitude be? Everything's fine and we are happy to be here? Somehow I think not.

Why not a creative solution that takes into consideration some of the challenges the town currently faces? It would be a complex negotiation however two facts remain. The town needs space and Sun is not making good on their own promises. It is not unreasonable to ask them to do so. If they can't meet the original terms of the deal then perhaps it can be amended to meet the needs of the community in other ways.

Partisanship run amok

Two years of investigating an alleged crime and what does prosecutor Fitzpatrick come up with? The answer is that the original referral for investigation was not a crime however activities involved in the investigation are. Those activities apparently are inconsistencies in answers to questions about a non-criminal event that happened over two years ago.

I didn't get the whole Plamegate issue when it happened and I don't get it now. The facts seem to be that some brain surgeon in the CIA decided that it was appropriate to send Joe Wilson, a known Clinton partisan to Africa to investigate the yellow cake claims. It has now been verified, that despite Joe's denials, his wife recomended him for the job and apparently was at the debriefing when Joe came back with his "findings".

Joe also briefed the whole country about his opinions on the subject by writing an Op Ed piece in the New York Times disputing President Bush's statement that Iraq may have tried to acquire yellow cake in Africa. This is a new policy for CIA contractors from what I understand. You now get a contract for a secret mission from the CIA and when you come home you get to put your findings in a national newspaper and write a book about the fall out. Nice work if you can get it. Joe is now likely to be a favorite on the speaking circuit.

So a known opposition figure makes a statement calling the Republican president a liar and no one should take notice in the opposing camp? If Rove has the reputation the Democrats give him credit for he should have had the FBI investigate Wilson. Instead he and Libby and the Republican political apparatus put out the story that Joe is a little loose with the truth and his wife who works at the CIA put him up to the caper at the behest of some Langley types with their noses out of joint over Bush's effort to clean up the place. That is hardly what I call bare knuckle politics and the retribution Rove and the Bush family is supposed to be famous for. Actually it sounds a lot like the absolute truth.

The Wilson's and apparently the CIA is outraged over the "outing" of "covert" operative Flame and the CIA ends up referring the matter to the Justice Department. This is the same woman who Aaron Brown on CNN last night called under cover and then showed a full page spread of her and Joe in Vanity Fair. Now thats what I call undercover! Plame has been a desk jockey for over six years for the CIA and hardly could be considered covert.

Can you remember the last time the CIA made a referral to the justice department over a leak? If every leak in Washington were investigated there would be no one working on anything else. Is there a place in the world more famous for anonymous comments either for retribution or partisanship than Washington D.C.?

So no crime was committed yet Libby faces charges that have 30 years of prison as a possible result. Fortunately no jury in the land will convict him of this but it will make good copy for the Bush haters for the next two or three years. President Bush ought to put the whole thing to rest right now and pardon Libby. While he is at it he should pardon Sandy Berger who was caught red handed stealing secret documents out of the natonal archive. The partisans in the media would have a hard time complaining about that outcome.

Bullies on the right

One of the great rallying cries of the conservative elements of the country is that we are a land of opportunity. If we are independent and hard working and self reliant all will work out in the end to our own and the nation’s benefit. We are often regaled with the bootstraps stories and tales of individual strength and achievement. No need to rely on a welfare state, big government or affirmative action to help anyone along. We should all be self reliant and expect no special treatment.

Apparently that mantra does not always apply or it specifically does not apply to Harriet Miers. Despite that fact that she seemed to meet all the criteria of the doggedly determined self made individual who worked hard and broke down barriers and achieved at the highest levels in her profession. According to what conservative dogma tell us she should have been judged on her merits. Harriet got real special treatment, she was purposefully denied the consideration of a public review. Nominees to the United States Supreme Court are given a hearing before the senate judiciary committee and then voted on by the senate. Instead she was bullied into a withdrawal.

The right often complains of the elitism of the lefties at the Washington Post, New York Times and other liberal media outposts of the Democratic Party but they have clearly shown that this type of snobbery is not exclusively the domain of the Eastern liberal establishment. They took a perfectly fine woman with a track record of accomplishment and dedication and simply trashed her. There is no paucity of self important, self righteous media windbags on the right as well as the left.

The hue and cry raised up from the right wing punditry of the Republican Party over this appointment was vastly over blown in comparison to their importance to the electoral potential for the party in national elections. George Will, William Kristol, Ann Coulter and Charles Krauthammer amongst many of the hard right may have won a battle in this nomination but it is no guarantee that they are going to see the president bow to their demands.

If do they get their wish, it may result in some very negatives effects in the 2006 mid term elections. If the president does nominate someone who has a verifiable track record and will state unequivocally that they are against Roe vs. Wade and passes the fundamentalist litmus test there will be a bruising nomination battle that will likely result in defeat for the nominee. The result will be that the conservative elements of the party will be abandoned by moderate Republicans and Independents and the Democratic crossovers will return to the Democratic fold in the up coming elections. Could an all out fight over one court nomination be a watershed event?

The Republican Party may find over the next election cycle that altogether too much credit has been given to this wing of the party as its core strength and the punishment for that miscalculation could be the wholesale defections of moderates away from the Republicans. If that happens we will get to see how many candidates the right wing of the party can get elected on their own.

Wither the Globe?

The Boston Globe circulation figures are out and it is not good news for the paper that is essentially the Massachusetts edition of the New York Times. As a result of declining ad revenue and reduced circulation figures across all of its holdings, the Times has announced job cuts of 500 positions of which over 100 are coming from the Globe.

Having grown up reading the Globe and believing every word written in its pages it is difficult to see the paper fall on hard times. It is particularly difficult to see the human impact of people losing their jobs. The Globe and Times are not the only print media companies feeling the pinch as the internet and other outlets are cutting into revenue sources that were traditionally dominated by the paper business. Car ads, job postings, real estate and even personals have all gravitated to the internet in large numbers primarily because it is cheaper and in many cases a much more effective medium to accomplish your goal.

Unfortunately for the Globe it is more than just competitive ad pressure that is contributing to its decline. The Boston Globe simply is no longer a reliable source of unbiased news or analysis on local or national issues of importance. Its parent is suffering from the same affliction. Any more decay of the Times stock price and it will be the stockholders demanding a change louder than the readers

Now that there is a huge quantity of critical analysis available from a variety of different points of view on every subject it is quite easy to see that the Globe, along with its parent, the New York Times is simply a slanted party organ that chooses its stories and reports the facts in a way that promotes particular view points of the occupants of the news room or the editorial boards.

A number of issues come to mind that I have followed over the years that convince me that the Globe will print what supports its point of view. Nothing could be more obvious than their unabashed love of Chapter 40B affordable housing legislation. The suburban communities have complained for years about the developer led scam that 40B is, yet it has always fallen on deaf ears at the Globe because the powers that be at the Globe have determined that it is good for us. There fore any reasonable objection is labeled as being against the poor or being a snob. There has never been an in depth examination of how the law is exploited to the detriment of the effected communities or how the richest communities avoid it.

The Gay marriage issue is another favorite on Morrissey Boulevard. Although I have no personal position against Gay marriage it was an agenda that the Globe pushed from day one and never allowed any meaningful or thoughtful arguments, disagreement or opposing strategies to be presented in the paper. A razor thin 4-3 margin by the Massachusetts Supreme Court was essentially trumpeted as the will of the people. Any effort by residents to get the question on the ballot is denigrated by the Globe at every opportunity.

Political candidates are another area where the Globe reports what it feels will promote its agenda. An example is the Globe’s candidate of choice for governor. It is clear to any casual reader that the paper has anointed Thomas Reilly as its choice and there fore nothing negative regarding Reilly is likely to appear in the paper. The paper was Hell bent on attacking the church and Cardinal Law over the sex abuse scandal but where was the criticism for Reilly under whose watch a good deal of the wrong doing happened? Also where was the criticism of Reilly for not indicting the Cardinal? The excuse was that the statute of limitations had run out yet it was clear the Archdiocese was conspiring to hide evidence on these cases right up until the very last moment.

Another Reilly strategy that received virtually no criticism from the Globe was the foolish Microsoft suit. Massachusetts was the last state standing in the suit primarily because the software companies in the state were likely to be gratified by Reilly’s stubborn willingness to hold a losing hand till the end.

At every opportunity the Globe sneers at Govenor Romney for tax policy, or political travel or poor appointments or anything else to tarnish him, Reilly of course gets a pass.

I guess the paper should be applauded for supporting a favorite son for President however the free pass that John Kerry has been given by the Globe during his whole career has been nearly scandalous. In contrast, Bush has been President for five years and with the exception of an occasional Jeff Jacoby article it is difficult to find one thing that Bush might have done as the president that the Globe might give him credit for.

Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Kennedy, Rangel, Boxer, Feinstein, the Ku Klux Klan Senator and of course Bill and Hillary can all find a kind word now and then but any mention of Bush is always accompanied with fire and brimstone and damnation!

The Op Ed and editorial pages are another place where the Globe is driving readers away. There is only so much of the same sniveling left wing sycophantic drivel that one can take from the likes of Thomas Oliphant and Derrick Jackson before you come to the realization that .50 cents a day is way to much to spend when you can get more accurate information on the web for nothing.

The Globe is dying a slow painful death and they have no one to blame but themselves.

A Democrat's lament

Those of us moderate Democrats who fret over the current state of the party might well take a moment and look back in time to lament what might have been, had the party heavyweights possessed the moral fiber to make a few hard decisions when it mattered most.

Where might the party be now if, after President Clinton’s speech of August 17, 1998 in which he admitted that he had been lying for well over 8 months regarding his inappropriate relationship with Monica Lewinsky, someone actually acted in the party’s best interest?

What if someone with some Democratic Party stature said:

“Hey wait a minute Bill! This admission of yours comes after you addressed the nation on January 22 and denied the relationship, and then on January 23 you assured your cabinet of your innocence. Don’t you think you might have compromised everyone around you Bill? Do you think perhaps the party is at risk now unless you do something chivalrous - like fall on your sword? Now it gets a little stickier because we find that Bill has even less morals than we thought and prefers hubris as a character trait.” When the press finally had the decency to ask Clinton if he would resign, says Bill on February 6, 1998 “I would never walk away from the people of this country and the trust they placed in me.”

What should have happened is that a good Democrat should have convened a smoke-filled room meeting of other good Democrats and said this:

“The guy is damaged goods, who is bringing the party down, and we need to jettison him now before he can do us any more damage.” Of course that wasn’t done and the scandal was allowed to go the full route to the ultimate impeachment and trial of the President of the United States. Mrs. Clinton referred to it as a vast right wing conspiracy, but we all know the number of convictions, fines, pardons or disbarments that came during the administration. In the end it was a matter of law enforcement not conspiring, but doing its job. Clinton served out his term, but the smell of his presidency lingered.

Much is being said now about the coalition of conservatives and evangelical Christians who banded together to support George Bush and defeat both Vice President Al Gore and Senator John Kerry in the last two elections. However, given the razor thin margin or lack of margin that George Bush defeated Al Gore by in the 2000, many groups can claim credit. It is just as true that a disaffected group of moderate Democrats and Independents banded together to give the Democrats a nice hard slap in the face by crossing over to the Republicans.

That slap was not limited to the presidential race, since the Republicans have benefited substantially from gains in the Senate, House, gubernatorial mansions and state legislatures through out the country. That slap came as punishment for Clinton exposing the country to four years of discussions of oral sex, groping in the oval office, sexual harassment suits and perjury.

One can only speculate what might have been, had Clinton been forced to resign by his own party. A nice clean Al Gore would have had two years to solidify his image as a strong leader. Sandy Berger and the rest of the Clinton crowd might have been unemployed much earlier and wreaked less damage on the country. Perhaps instead of everyone in the government being pre-occupied with presidential sex scandals, they might have been focusing on such things as terrorism and African genocide.

Perhaps a President Gore might have avoided an adventurous pre-emptive invasion of Iraq or perhaps not.

One could say that it doesn’t matter because it is all water over the dam. That is not the case, however, if Hillary Clinton becomes the 2008 nominee. The very man who should have been forced from power in disgrace by his own party will likely attempt to return to the scene to do even more damage to the Democratic faithful. Hillary may have solid numbers in the core of the party and it's leadership, but on the fringes and with the independents, it will be a stampede to get away from her as fast as possible.

As time goes by it would be interesting to see some inquisitive historian begin to explore the actions of Democratic power brokers to determine who was in the behind the scenes coalition that saved the Clinton presidency from pragmatic elements of the party. One can only speculate how long it may be before the party recovers from their mistake.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=4913

Early optimism

The release of President Bush's recent poll number have given hope to the Democratic Party faithful that an imminent reversal of the party fortune is to be realized in the 2006 mid term elections. Bush's 39% approval rating points out the weakness of the Republicans and should present an opportunity to exploit a weak leader, an administration embroiled in quagmires in Iraq and Afghanistan and now engaged in bitter internecine warfare over the Miers nomination for the Supreme Court. Coupled with that is the shifting of blame from the state leaders in Louisiana for the Katrina failures to the Bush administration and the growing budget deficit. Interest rates and oil prices are also contributing to dissatisfaction and that will only increase with the winter heating bills soon to be upon us. But wait, hold on a moment, let's not get giddy just yet.

John Hinderaker at http://powerlineblog.com/archives/011936.php makes the point that every president since 1963 has had approval ratings at some time during their presidency at least five points lower that what Bush is at right now. With a full year to go before the mid terms and three full years to go before the end of the Bush 43 era it may be a bit to early for unbridled optimism by the Democrats.

There are a number of reasons for the Democrats to be cautious about predicting any gains in the senate and house in 2006. First and foremost is Iraq and Afghanistan. We are winning in both places and it is becoming more and more apparent that that is the case. The number 2 man in Al Qaida, Ayman Al Zwahiri sent a rather telling letter to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi this summer that indicated things weren't going to well in the insurgency. Zwahiri suggested that cutting off heads and blowing up Iraqis was not likely to be a winning strategy. The letter, which was released this week can be viewed here http://www.dni.gov/letter_in_english.pdf.

The Iraqi constitution elections are scheduled for Saturday and you can tell that they might be a success by the fact that the press is giving hardly a mention to the event. If the constitution is adopted and the elections are a smashing success it could represent a turning point in Iraq as well as a watershed event for the Bush policy.

It might only be a temporary respite but it seems as though some real progress toward a settlement in the Middle East is possible. If a Palestinian state is created and results in some real progress toward economic development and creation of sustainable institutions that can improve the overall prospects of the inhabitants of Palestine then history might treat this as a significant achievement by the participants and by connection, the Bush administration.

Katrina was a political and public relations nightmare for Bush but as time has gone on it has become increasingly more apparent that the news coverage of the event was not the finest moment for the American press. As more sober analysis is done it becomes clearer that the failures of government lie directly at the state and local level. Time will tell if Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin are punished at the polls for their incompetence.

The left has been having a field day over the possibility of Bush losing his "brain" if Karl Rove is indicted in the Valerie Plame case. I have a hard time having any anxiety over this non issue. Joseph Wilson has been largely discredited for his assertion that he debunked the 16 words in the State of the Union message relative to the Niger uranium. As far as Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame being outed as a CIA operative, it hardly seems like a crime in the context that it has been described. Wilson was recommended for the job by his wife who worked as a desk jockey, not an under cover agent at the CIA. After Wilson's op ed piece in the New York Times with its rather dubious claims why shouldn't the administration have questioned his credibility based on how he got the assignment? While we are on the subject, how many CIA consultants print their findings on the op ed page of any newspaper? We will know soon enough but it appears to be wishful thinking that Rove will be a casualty.

Can the democrats make hay on the findings of any misconduct in the administration? Well I guess they could profit if Rove were indicted but even with that unlikely occurrence a comparison of the Clinton era crimes found here http://prorev.com/legacy.htm would still make the Bush era saintly by comparison.

Speaking of the name Clinton, even if most of the afore mentioned items go against the Republicans, the continued rise of Hillary Clinton as the anointed Democratic nominee may be enough to scare the American public away from the Democrats in 2006. There is simply no more a polarizing figure in American politics today than Hillary Clinton. Moderate Democrats and independents in large numbers will not support Mrs. Clinton and for a variety of good reasons. First and foremost is the fact that she has nothing in her experience to qualify her as the President of the United States. An experienced senator has not been elected president since 1960. How can a freshman senator with no military, foreign policy or government management experience hope to govern the nation?

More so than her lack of credentials has been the negative impact of her husband on the party. Elected in 1992 with 43% of the popular vote it only took a short time for the Democrats under Clinton's leadership to lose majorities in the senate, house and governor's offices nation wide. The damage was extraordinary. The party lost the following during the Clinton legacy; 48 house seats, 8 senate seats, 11 governorships and 9 state legislatures. The Democratic Party is in the position it is today because of Bill Clinton. It is unlikely that the former first lady will reverse that damage and indeed might contribute to the further marginalization of the party.

Go White Sox

The elimination of the Yankees by the Angels last night makes the disappointment of the Red Sox failing to defend their championship a little easier to bear. In retrospect the signs of a weakening ball club were obvious all season yet because the Sox were in first place late into the year there was optimism that a repeat was possible.

The level of competition is so close that one or two cracks in your armor may hold up but when wholesale damage is done to key components of your ball club, then surely some one with better luck is going to exploit you. So it was in the Red Sox vs. White Sox series where you found the Chicago club hitting a nice stride at the end of the season by sweeping an upstart Cleveland club while the Red Sox were hanging on by a thread during an emotional season ending series with the Yanks.

So here’s to the White Sox and despite them having Carl Everett on their team I wish them the best in ending the Chicago curse of not having won a world series since 1917. They seem to be a solid club up and down the order and have some excellent pitching that should get them close to winning it all. The remaining clubs seem to be evenly matched so the White Sox certainly can’t be ruled out.

This loss for the average Red Sox fan seems to be much less traumatic than in the pre Championship era simply because we still had the memory of the 04 come back and excitement. Looking back on the season it was quite a tribute to the club that they performed as well as they did when you consider that two of the projected starting five pitchers (Miller and Schilling) were knocked out by injuries most of the year. Add to that disaster losing the closer (Foulke) and most other clubs might have folded long ago.

The performance of the Ortiz Ramirez duo was certainly one for the ages as we have not seen production at that level in the long history of the club. Ortiz by himself was worth the price of admission when you consider that in terms of clutch hits he had a season that might have eclipsed the great Yaz in 67.

So now it is time for speculation about next year. Who should stay and who should go and what shoring up do we need to do to be competitive once again?

Pitching is always place to examine first and this is a prime weakness for the Sox. Wells is 42 and headed for knee surgery. Wakefield and Schilling are 39, Miller is going in for labrum surgery and Clement might need psyche surgery after that disastrous game one performance. Jon Papelbon projects out as winning a job in the starting rotation next year and there seems to be an abundance of young arms in the minors. Jon Lester, Jeremy Gonzalez, Manny Del Carmen, Lenny Dinardo and Craig Hansen all look like contenders for the remaining spots. A young free agent flame thrower would be a nice addition but it appears as though the free agent ranks are somewhat thin.

The rest of the regulars need a little shaking up as both age and contract status will contribute to the decision making. Johnny Damon is an outstanding lead off hitter and a hard nosed ball player that any club would love to have. However, his agent is the insufferable Boras and he is talking about 5 years and 12 million per year guaranteed. If that’s the case Johnny will be playing some place else next year.

Kevin Millar’s contract is up and despite his clubhouse presence, his lack of productivity means that he will be moving on. The other first baseman, John Olerude is a serviceable starter/ bench player and should be kept if at all possible. Roberto Petagine wasn’t given much of a shot during the course of the year but what we did see of him should earn him at least a look for next year. It would be nice to add a very large right handed hitting first baseman but we hsall see.

Second base should be given to Tony Graffanino. Despite his game two error that changed the course of the series, this is a good hitting hard working guy that is a substantial upgrade at the position.

Edgar Renteria is our shortstop for the next three years at 10 million a year. Edgar was a distinct disappointment this year in almost all categories. He led the majors in errors and his hitting was spotty at best. To be fair there were a number of injuries Edgar battled during the course of the year so perhaps next year a healthy Edgar can provide more of what we expected.

Third base looks like it is finally going to be Kevin Youkilis territory as Bill Mueller’s contract is up and he is likely to be a hot commodity on the free agent market. Mueller was a stalwart player in all aspects of the game and was a joy to watch. In this case he and the Sox are victims of age and economics. He is likely to get more some where else and the Sox have a younger available replacement that needs to get in the line up.

The outfield will certainly need some shoring up. The Sox will surely shop Manny but unless they get tremendous value in return, Manny must stay. Despite any problems of the juvenile sort, Manny is basically a good citizen who is a good team mate and he is the second part of the best one two punch in baseball.

If Damon goes the Sox will have to trade or sign a free agent centerfielder and a serviceable right handed hitting back up for Trot Nixon in right field. Nixon could end up being trade bait of some sort since his production this year was not what it has been in the past.

At catcher the club is set as both Varitek and Mirabelli are signed into the future. Varitek had a noticable drop off in the last month of the season but the bottom line is that any catcher with that kind of a work load has a production drop off late in the season because of exhaustion. Varitek is worth the money solely for his handling of the pitchers and his defense. They shouldn’t be relying on him for big offensive production.

The last item for consideration is Theo’s contract. He has a championship to his credit and he has a farm system that is well on its way to being restocked with some exciting young talent. It is time to give Theo a nice raise and a longer term deal. Let’s give him time to see whether he is a one time wonder or is he the boy genius of the baseball world. The answer is probably some where in between but what we have seen so far is plenty enough reason to want him to stay at the helm.

In any event it should be a very interesting off season. Steinbrenner is in the same place as us except he spent 80 million more dollars than we did. His pitching staff is aging and so to is his outfield.

So, for the time being let’s shift our allegiance to another group of long suffering fans. Go White Sox!

A debt of gratitude?

The recent nomination by President Bush of Harriet Miers points out quite vividly that elitist resume snobs are not restricted to the left and to the North East. Is it all about the resume or is the outrage from the hard right of the Republican Party more about what they think they are owed?

The objections range from cronyism to lack of constitutional scholarship but really what it boils down to is that the right wing wants an out and out confrontation over a nominee with a verifiable paper trail that lays out an opposition to Roe vs. Wade and any of the other issues that are close to the ultra conservatives heart.

President Bush knows this and it is clear he has no intention of giving the right what it wants and he has very good political reasons for not doing so. First and foremost is that despite all the talk about losing his base, Bush knows that the base has no where to go. It is they that owe a debt of gratitude to Bush not the other way around. Where else on the conservative side of American politics was the Kristol, Frum, Will, Novak Brownback, Coulter wing of the party going to find someone who could defeat a sitting Vice President? Was Pat Buchanan a likely winner or was John McCain even a possible choice for them? Somehow I doubt it.

Bush is pragmatic enough to realize that he has over 3 more solid years to govern from the white house and to make preparation to hold onto to and even expand the Republican majorities in the house and senate. These plans could be derailed by allowing the Democrats to continue with another round of Bush bashing were he to nominate a hard right wing ideologue to the Supreme Court knowing in advance that the nominee would in all likelihood be defeated. The right might like to think they have a majority in the senate but when push comes to shove a very conservative nominee with a track record will be abandoned by the eastern moderates in the senate and will go down in flames.

This nomination proves once again that Bush is a very shrewd thinker. The bulk of the criticism has come from his own party and that which is likely to come from the Democrats was somewhat blunted when Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said he thought Miers was a fine appointment as soon as it was announced. This will blunt some of Senator Charles Schumer’s criticism about President Bush’s lack of consultation with the senate. If Bush consulted Reid and Reid suggested Miers and presto Miers is the nominee then it would seem Chuck has been trumped.

Is Harriet Miers qualified to sit on the Supreme Court? This is an interesting point and largely debatable point for a nominee since the constitution lays out no specific criteria for an appointment.

In a paper entitled “Qualifications as universal factors in the outcomes of supreme court nominations” that can be found at this site, http://ednet.rvc.cc.il.us/~PeterR/Papers/paper2.htm by P.S. Ruckman Jr. it can be said that yes she is qualified primarily because the chief element in all Supreme Court appointments is politics.

Should the cronyism charged be considered in weighing Ms. Miers appointment? Let’s be honest, in Washington and state capitols across the country and in fact most corporations and smallest of organizations, cronyism is a chief qualification for a post. If you have simply adequate credentials for a post but you have the trust of the boss and a proven history doing a good job for him or her don’t you get the new job?

Although she is obviously not a constitutional scholar, Ms. Miers certainly seems to have a resume filled with achievement and dedication and real world experience and unsheltered exposure to regular humans that might bring a refreshing perspective to a group of cloistered old men.

In any event, all of the speculation and opinion including this one are all irrelevant at this point. Bush is the boss and the boss makes this appointment. What the boss has said at this point is that he finds her to be dedicated highly intelligent and hard working and is worthy of holding this most august position. We would all best be served if we wait for the confirmation process and find out just who Harriet Miers is in her own words.

Feelin alright

Well we got through a rather confusing weekend where no one really seemed to know what the playoff arrangements were supposed to be. Most of the people I had spoken to had the Sox in a playoff with the Yankees for the division crown should the Sox take two out of three. To everyone's surprise the Yankees clinched the division with a win on Saturday by virtue of their record in head to head competition with the Sox.

That result had Yankee fans wondering exactly what they had won when they considered that they had to fly across the country to engage the Angels who at this point may be playing the best ball in the American league having finished 14 and 2 down the stretch.

As most of us had predicted early on, the final results came down to the last day of the season as the Indians ran out of gas and the Sox got in the post season by a hair.

So off they are to Chicago to engage the White Sox who finished the season as the number one seed having won the most games in the American League. That record is some what suspect when you consider they played the Royals as many games as the Sox had to face the Yankees.

Chicago had gotten off to a huge division lead and were coasting until September when the Indians made a strong push and cut the Chicago lead from a high of 16 games down to 3 games going into the last three games of the season. Cleveland ran out of gas and lost three in a row, which gave Chicago its final margin of victory of six games to win the division.

Chicago comes into the series with a very strong front line rotation of Contreras, Burhle, Garland and Freddie Garcia. If they are to win then this group will have to go deep into games and hold down the strength of the Red Sox line up which from top to bottom out scored Chicago by over two hundred runs during the season. The White Sox pitching has a low ERA but as a group is not a huge mystery to the Red Sox. Contreras in particular has been involved in the Yankee Red Sox wars and has had mixed results with Sox hitters.

The middle of the White Sox line up has some pop of its own with Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye however thier numbers are only about 70% of what Ortiz and Ramirez have produced for the Red Sox.

The intangibles here are about the experience that the Red Sox have in the post season and the fact that after having won last year the overwhelming cynicism of the fan base has been erased and so to has any of that pressure gone from the club. I felt this first hand in the all important Toronto game. After having snapped the channell five or six times during the course of the evening I came to the ninth inning. Ortiz had tied it at 4 in the eighth inning and came up again in the ninth with two on. The sea change for me was that sitting there I had no doubt that Ortiz would win the game.

The White Sox on the other hand are carrying the type of burden that the Boston crew suffered throgh for years. Chicago fans are thirsting for some sort of baseball achievement and notoriety far different than what Steve Bartman brought to the baseball world.

Call me fat dumb and happy and still reveling in last years win but there is no clear favorite in the playoffs and a loose group like the Red Sox has as good or better chance than anybody. So for posterity's sake my prediction is the Red Sox in five!

In another related note I would have to add my two cents to the MVP discussion. David Ortiz is the single most clutch hitter I have ever seen in the many years I have watched and religiously followed baseball. When he comes to the plate everyone in the ball yard (including the opposing pitcher) expects some sort of a smash somewhere. He was named player of the month for September for good reason as he carried the club down the stretch.

If I had a vote I would cast it for him. All of that being said I fully expect that Alex Rodriguez should win the prize. His numbers with the exception of RBI was equal to Ortiz and he played 150 plus games in the field as a probable gold glove third baseman. For my money ARod is the most complete player in the game today.

Chivalry is not dead

Isn't it comforting to know that the United States senate is one of the few remaining bastions of chivalry?

Where else could Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco go and receive kid glove treatment in the aftermath of one of the most incompetent exhibitions of leadership in American gubernatorial history other than the U.S. Senate?

A day after former FEMA Director Michael Brown was excoriated before a senate committee and termed "clueless" by one of its members, Gov. Blanco appeared and requested that the committee "not talk about her performance during Hurricane Katrina." Apparently it mattered not that the senate committee had issued an invitation to Governor Blanco ostensibly to respond to Mr. Brown's charges that Louisiana was dysfunctional during the emergency response to Katrina.

The kindly senators all agreed with Governor Blanco that it would be more important to discuss the size of the aid package that would be necessary to begin the process of repairing the damage done by both Katrina and the administration of Ms. Blanco and Mr. Nagin.

Couldn't one senator have mustered the nerve to ask Governor Blanco what assurances that the American tax payer would have that the same levels of incompetence and corruption which apparently are the hallmark of Lousiana government won't be displayed in the rebuilding of the state in the same way that it was on display in it's destruction?

Even more importantly than the future how about just a few questions as to what Governor Blanco is doing right now to alleviate the suffering of her constituents who were victimized by the disaster?

No, the primary leader of a state that has just under gone some of the most egregious failures of civil management responsibility got less of an examination than the adoption records of the children of John Roberts by the New York Times.

How kind of our senators to be so considerate of Governor Blanco's feelings.

Humans would be immortal

Humans could be immortal if we weren't sports fans. I use last year's American League playoffs and this year pennant race as examples of how each at bat in each game steals a little bit of our lifes energy from us.

The emotional roller coaster of being down three games to none and then rising from the dead to defeat the Bronx Bombers left most of us in Sox Nation fully exhausted. Thankfully we were revived by a vanquishing of the Cardinals in four games. While we revived, the Yankee fans suffered a winter of ignominious defeat which probably contributed to a decline in their physical and mental health.

It seemed so short a time to bask in the glory of our first win in 8 plus decades then we were thrust into another season. It began with great expectations of a possible repeat when suddenly the pitching ace and the closer were knocked out of action. The early season cockiness soon dissolved into day to day fretting.

As the interminable season wore on confidence returned as the Sox pulled as far away as 4 plus games ahead of the Yankees. This state of euphoria evaporated when Shaughnessey of the Globe committed an unforgivable sin by declaring the Yankees dead and that the Sox would waltz home to the American League championship. The baseball gods responded not only by tying up the race but also throwing the wild card in question by reviving the Cleveland Indians.

So here we are after 157 games of a 162 game schedule with three teams tied for only two spots. The Sox have two more games with the Blue Jays and then the Bombers are in town for the final three games of the season. In all likelihood the season will come down to the last pitch, in the last game on the last day of the season.

I already have chest pain.

Be Ready

For those of us far removed from the events of recent weeks surrounding hurricane Katrina and now Rita have brought the average sober individual to the question of what would we do if we were struck with a sudden natural disaster of any sort?

My short answer is do nothing or be panic stricken since I have taken virtually no precautions whatever for any type of emergency beyond a thunder storm. A flashlight and a few candles is the sum total of my emergency kit.

Fortunately there are a number of places on the web to explore proper preparedness and we can begin by taking a look at http://www.ready.gov/ and some of the things that they recommend. The following is the basic emergency kit:

§ Water, one gallon of water per person per day, for drinking and sanitation
§ Food, at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food
§ Battery-powered radio and extra batteries
§ Flashlight and extra batteries
§ First Aid kit
§ Whistle to signal for help
§ Dust mask or cotton t-shirt, to help filter the air
§ Moist towelettes for sanitation
§ Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities
§ Can opener for food (if kit contains canned food)
§ Plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place
§ Unique family needs, such as daily prescription medications, infant formula or diapers, and important family documents
§ Garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation

The water components should look like this;


One gallon of water per person per day, for drinking and sanitation.
Children, nursing mothers, and sick people may need more water.
Store water tightly in clean plastic containers such as soft drink bottles.
Keep at least a three-day supply of water per person.


The food should consist of the following;

Store at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food.
Select foods that require no refrigeration, preparation or cooking and little or no water.
Pack a manual can opener and eating utensils.
Choose foods your family will eat.
Ready-to-eat canned meats, fruits and vegetables
Protein or fruit bars
Dry cereal or granola
Peanut butter
Dried fruit
Nuts
Crackers
Canned juices
Non-perishable pasteurized milk
High energy foods
Vitamins
Food for infants
Comfort/stress foods

For those of us in the Northeast the most likely natural disaster would be a blizzard of epic proportions. The following are some things to learn like the back of your hand.

Eat regularly and drink ample fluids, but avoid caffeine and alcohol.
Avoid overexertion when shoveling snow. Overexertion can bring on a heart attack—a major cause of death in the winter. If you must shovel snow, stretch before going outside.
Watch for signs of frostbite. These include loss of feeling and white or pale appearance in extremities such as fingers, toes, ear lobes, and the tip of the nose. If symptoms are detected, get medical help immediately.
Watch for signs of hypothermia. These include uncontrollable shivering, memory loss, disorientation, incoherence, slurred speech, drowsiness, and apparent exhaustion. If symptoms of hypothermia are detected, get the victim to a warm location, remove wet clothing, warm the center of the body first, and give warm, non-alcoholic beverages if the victim is conscious. Get medical help as soon as possible.
Conserve fuel, if necessary, by keeping your residence cooler than normal. Temporarily close off heat to some rooms.
Maintain ventilation when using kerosene heaters to avoid build-up of toxic fumes. Refuel kerosene heaters outside and keep them at least three feet from flammable objects.
Drive only if it is absolutely necessary. If you must drive, consider the following:
Travel in the day, don’t travel alone, and keep others informed of your schedule
Stay on main roads; avoid back road shortcuts
If a blizzard traps you in the car, keep these guidelines in mind:
Pull off the highway. Turn on hazard lights and hang a distress flag from the radio antenna or window.
Remain in your vehicle where rescuers are most likely to find you. Do not set out on foot unless you can see a building close by where you know you can take shelter. Be careful; distances are distorted by blowing snow. A building may seem close, but be too far to walk to in deep snow.
Run the engine and heater about 10 minutes each hour to keep warm. When the engine is running, open an upwind window slightly for ventilation. This will protect you from possible carbon monoxide poisoning. Periodically clear snow from the exhaust pipe.
Exercise to maintain body heat, but avoid overexertion. In extreme cold, use road maps, seat covers, and floor mats for insulation. Huddle with passengers and use your coat for a blanket.
Take turns sleeping. One person should be awake at all times to look for rescue crews.
Drink fluids to avoid dehydration.
Be careful not to waste battery power. Balance electrical energy needs - the use of lights, heat, and radio - with supply.
Turn on the inside light at night so work crews or rescuers can see you.
If stranded in a remote area, stomp large block letters in an open area spelling out HELP or SOS and line with rocks or tree limbs to attract the attention of rescue personnel who may be surveying the area by airplane.
Leave the car and proceed on foot - if necessary - once the blizzard passes.
The first line of defense against a natural disaster is to at least start thinking about the things you need to be doing to deal with it.

Boston's breach of trust

The issue of the Mary Cummings Trust took on a more confrontational face this week with the printing of a remarkable interview with Jeffrey Conley, executive director of the Boston Finance Commission in the Burlington Union. It is just short of a declaration of war since as far as I know, Mr. Conley has little or no authority to act on behalf of the City of Boston in initiating any lawsuits or ratifying any negotiations.

The interview was remarkable in that it apparently spelled out what Boston's strategy will be in attempting to negotiate a liquidation of the Cummings Trust property and then Boston applying the funds to some other use in Boston such as the construction and up keep of the Rose Kennedy Greenway.

Boston's strategy, according to Mr. Conley would be to negotiate with Burlington and Woburn and would involve as I see it an attempted municipal bribe by offering to donate 12 acres to Burlington as an inducement for Burlington to look the other way while Boston violates every trust law known to mankind. Conley went on to say that if the municipalities could not come to an amicable agreement then "the city could go to court and try to break the trust."

Well it is obvious that Mr. Conley and the City of Boston are operating under the assumption that Burlington and Woburn can some how be bullied into an action that is in complete contrast to what is in both communities and the commonwealth's best interest not to mention what is in complete contravention of Mrs. Cummings express wishes in her will and trust law.

Boston is operating under the mistaken impression that they should be rewarded for 80 years of breach of trust. Boston was left the property with specific instructions as to what the property was to be used for as well as what the additional cash assets were to be dedicated for. The specific language was to "keep the property open forever as a public pleasure ground". Let's re-iterate that point, not any other property, not the Rose Kennedy Greenway, not anywhere else but THIS specific property.

In the Burlington Union interview Mr. Conley states the obvious, in that Boston has not met any terms of the trust for "decades", and apparently has no intention of doing so. Mr. Conley also acknowledges that the trust has over $400,000 that he says came from stock that was liquidated in accordance with instructions in the will. Mr. Conley is incorrect in this assertion since the will specifically states that the income from the stock in the trust should go to the maintenance and upkeep of the property. There is no mention of the word liquidation any where in the will document.

Now that Boston has shown its hand what is left for the Cummings family and the City of Woburn and the Town of Burlington to do? One noted attorney in town suggested to me that we should be careful not to piss off Boston because they would sell the property and we could end up with nothing! Oh really? Despite the fact that we have an attorney general who wants to be governor and might look the other way on this if it meant some votes in Boston and despite the fact that Boston has a large delegation in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, this over all question inevitably will be decided in the courts and not in either of the other two places.

The facts of the matter are pretty clear and they point to the unavoidable fact that Boston and the trustees of the Mary Cummings Trust (who ever they are) are clearly in breach of their fiduciary responsibility to Mrs. Cummings. The operative word here is TRUST. Mrs. Cummings TRUSTED Boston and the named trustees to fulfill her instructions in the will. Those instructions were specific in every way. No where in the will did it say to sell her property for the benefit of some other person's legacy. No where in the will does it say that Boston should benefit financially from the assets of the trust. In fact no where does it say that the residents of Boston should benefit from the property as a public pleasure ground. It only states specifically that this specific property be kept "open forever".

So what is the remedy for the potential plaintiffs against Boston?
Well apparently a plaintiff can rely on res ipsa loquitur. What this means is that the act speaks for itself and needs no other information to determine negligence. This certainly could apply to the trustees 80 year record of negligence in fulfilling the terms of the trust. According to search conducted on the web, "for breach of duty, it must be decided whether or not the defendant, the one being accused of negligence, behaved in a way that a reasonable person would have under similar circumstances." The Cummings Trustees failure is obvious since a descendant of Mrs. Cummings, Mr. Warren Cummings himself will tell you that in his long life the trustees have accomplished virtually nothing of Mrs. Cummings instructions. Take a walk on the property and res ipsa loquitor would come to mind.

An ugly battle could be avoided in all of this if Boston comes to its senses. This property is not an asset of Boston's to be used as a source of income. This is a liability for Boston since it requires Boston to fulfill its responsibilities.

The best course of action is for Boston to remain as the beneficiary of the property and agree to have the City of Woburn, Town of Burlington and a descendant of the Cummings family as co-trustees to see to it that the terms of the trust are fulfilled.

This is really no different than the Marshall Simonds trust that Burlington is familar with. Would anybody in town allow Simonds Park and the common to be sold off by the Simond's trustees? How on earth could we idly stand by and allow Boston to loot Mrs. Cummings?