Sunday, April 29, 2012

Kreider, Kreider, Kreider






















He's just 20 years old and a Boston College junior who three weeks ago led his team to the NCAA Frozen Four championship. Now Chris Kreider is hearing 20,000 New York Rangers fans chant his name at Madison Square Garden as he leads the Rangers in the post-season Stanley Cup Playoffs.

With an assist and a game-winning goal in today's 3-1 victory over the Washington Capitals, Kreider was selected the #1 star of the game.

Pretty heady stuff.

He turns 21 on Monday. Happy Birthday.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Yankees 15 - Red Sox 9

The New York Yankees spoiled Fenway's centennial on Friday, and then added insult to injury on Saturday, coming back from a 9-run deficit to score 15 unanswered runs to win 15-9.

The Red Sox collapsed at the end of last season and missed the playoffs, sending team manager Tony Francona packing, and replacing him this season with Bobby Valentine. The Red Sox are in last place with a 4-10 record.

According to NESN:
"Bobby Valentine had a closed-door meeting with Red Sox management Saturday after Boston's fifth straight loss, a 15-9 demolition by the Yankees that redefined the level of problems the Red Sox have had his year. But when Valentine and general manager Ben Cherington emerged from the meeting, they only had good things to say. Cherington said he is "very satisfied" with Valentine and his performance, even after Saturday's loss and the Red Sox falling to 4-10. Principal owner John Henry and team president Larry Lucchino also went to the meeting and voiced their support afterward."
Somewhere, George Steinbrenner is smiling.

Read more at: http://www.nesn.com/2012/04/bobby-valentine-gets-support-from-ben-cherington-after-rough-loss-to-yankees.html
Bobby Valentine had a closed-door meeting with Red Sox management Saturday after Boston's fifth straight loss, a 15-9 demolition by the Yankees that redefined the level of problems the Red Sox have had his year. But when Valentine and general manager Ben Cherington emerged from the meeting, they only had good things to say. Cherington said he is "very satisfied" with Valentine and his performance, even after Saturday's loss and the Red Sox falling to 4-10. Principal owner John Henry and team president Larry Lucchino also went to the meeting and voiced their support afterward.

Read more at: http://www.nesn.com/2012/04/bobby-valentine-gets-support-from-ben-cherington-after-rough-loss-to-yankees.html
Bobby Valentine had a closed-door meeting with Red Sox management Saturday after Boston's fifth straight loss, a 15-9 demolition by the Yankees that redefined the level of problems the Red Sox have had his year. But when Valentine and general manager Ben Cherington emerged from the meeting, they only had good things to say. Cherington said he is "very satisfied" with Valentine and his performance, even after Saturday's loss and the Red Sox falling to 4-10. Principal owner John Henry and team president Larry Lucchino also went to the meeting and voiced their support afterward.

Read more at: http://www.nesn.com/2012/04/bobby-valentine-gets-support-from-ben-cherington-after-rough-loss-to-yankees.html
Bobby Valentine had a closed-door meeting with Red Sox management Saturday after Boston's fifth straight loss, a 15-9 demolition by the Yankees that redefined the level of problems the Red Sox have had his year. But when Valentine and general manager Ben Cherington emerged from the meeting, they only had good things to say. Cherington said he is "very satisfied" with Valentine and his performance, even after Saturday's loss and the Red Sox falling to 4-10. Principal owner John Henry and team president Larry Lucchino also went to the meeting and voiced their support afterward.

Read more at: http://www.nesn.com/2012/04/bobby-valentine-gets-support-from-ben-cherington-after-rough-loss-to-yankees.html
Bobby Valentine had a closed-door meeting with Red Sox management Saturday after Boston's fifth straight loss, a 15-9 demolition by the Yankees that redefined the level of problems the Red Sox have had his year. But when Valentine and general manager Ben Cherington emerged from the meeting, they only had good things to say. Cherington said he is "very satisfied" with Valentine and his performance, even after Saturday's loss and the Red Sox falling to 4-10. Principal owner John Henry and team president Larry Lucchino also went to the meeting and voiced their support afterward.

Read more at: http://www.nesn.com/2012/04/bobby-valentine-gets-support-from-ben-cherington-after-rough-loss-to-yankees.html
Bobby Valentine had a closed-door meeting with Red Sox management Saturday after Boston's fifth straight loss, a 15-9 demolition by the Yankees that redefined the level of problems the Red Sox have had his year. But when Valentine and general manager Ben Cherington emerged from the meeting, they only had good things to say. Cherington said he is "very satisfied" with Valentine and his performance, even after Saturday's loss and the Red Sox falling to 4-10. Principal owner John Henry and team president Larry Lucchino also went to the meeting and voiced their support afterward.

Read more at: http://www.nesn.com/2012/04/bobby-valentine-gets-support-from-ben-cherington-after-rough-loss-to-yankees.html
Bobby Valentine had a closed-door meeting with Red Sox management Saturday after Boston's fifth straight loss, a 15-9 demolition by the Yankees that redefined the level of problems the Red Sox have had his year. But when Valentine and general manager Ben Cherington emerged from the meeting, they only had good things to say. Cherington said he is "very satisfied" with Valentine and his performance, even after Saturday's loss and the Red Sox falling to 4-10. Principal owner John Henry and team president Larry Lucchino also went to the meeting and voiced their support afterward.

Read more at: http://www.nesn.com/2012/04/bobby-valentine-gets-support-from-ben-cherington-after-rough-loss-to-yankees.html
Bobby Valentine had a closed-door meeting with Red Sox management Saturday after Boston's fifth straight loss, a 15-9 demolition by the Yankees that redefined the level of problems the Red Sox have had his year. But when Valentine and general manager Ben Cherington emerged from the meeting, they only had good things to say. Cherington said he is "very satisfied" with Valentine and his performance, even after Saturday's loss and the Red Sox falling to 4-10. Principal owner John Henry and team president Larry Lucchino also went to the meeting and voiced their support afterward.

Read more at: http://www.nesn.com/2012/04/bobby-valentine-gets-support-from-ben-cherington-after-rough-loss-to-yankees.html
Bobby Valentine had a closed-door meeting with Red Sox management Saturday after Boston's fifth straight loss, a 15-9 demolition by the Yankees that redefined the level of problems the Red Sox have had his year. But when Valentine and general manager Ben Cherington emerged from the meeting, they only had good things to say. Cherington said he is "very satisfied" with Valentine and his performance, even after Saturday's loss and the Red Sox falling to 4-10. Principal owner John Henry and team president Larry Lucchino also went to the meeting and voiced their support afterward.

Read more at: http://www.nesn.com/2012/04/bobby-valentine-gets-support-from-ben-cherington-after-rough-loss-to-yankees.html
Bobby Valentine had a closed-door meeting with Red Sox management Saturday after Boston's fifth straight loss, a 15-9 demolition by the Yankees that redefined the level of problems the Red Sox have had his year. But when Valentine and general manager Ben Cherington emerged from the meeting, they only had good things to say. Cherington said he is "very satisfied" with Valentine and his performance, even after Saturday's loss and the Red Sox falling to 4-10. Principal owner John Henry and team president Larry Lucchino also went to the meeting and voiced their support afterward.

Read more at: http://www.nesn.com/2012/04/bobby-valentine-gets-support-from-ben-cherington-after-rough-loss-to-yankees.html
Bobby Valentine had a closed-door meeting with Red Sox management Saturday after Boston's fifth straight loss, a 15-9 demolition by the Yankees that redefined the level of problems the Red Sox have had his year. But when Valentine and general manager Ben Cherington emerged from the meeting, they only had good things to say. Cherington said he is "very satisfied" with Valentine and his performance, even after Saturday's loss and the Red Sox falling to 4-10. Principal owner John Henry and team president Larry Lucchino also went to the meeting and voiced their support afterward.

Read more at: http://www.nesn.com/2012/04/bobby-valentine-gets-support-from-ben-cherington-after-rough-loss-to-yankees.html
Bobby Valentine had a closed-door meeting with Red Sox management Saturday after Boston's fifth straight loss, a 15-9 demolition by the Yankees that redefined the level of problems the Red Sox have had his year. But when Valentine and general manager Ben Cherington emerged from the meeting, they only had good things to say. Cherington said he is "very satisfied" with Valentine and his performance, even after Saturday's loss and the Red Sox falling to 4-10. Principal owner John Henry and team president Larry Lucchino also went to the meeting and voiced their support afterward.

Read more at: http://www.nesn.com/2012/04/bobby-valentine-gets-support-from-ben-cherington-after-rough-loss-to-yankees.html


Saturday, April 21, 2012

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Big Gamble


Martha's Vineyard's Wampanoag Tribe is asserting its "inherent right" and intention to apply for a casino license in Aquinnah, formerly Gay Head, along with additional sites on the mainland.

According to the tribe's Aquinnah Gaming web site:
"The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) has a long history as a responsible and respectful neighbor and friend.  The Tribe continually strives to ensure that the interests of not only its tribal members, but those of the surrounding community are appropriately acknowledged and responsibly addressed.  The advancement of the Tribe’s gaming interests are foundationally grounded in this same philosophy and it is the Tribe’s intent to honor and respect the concerns of community members to ensure that a long, prosperous and symbiotic relationship between the Tribe and the host community can be advanced."
Please, no.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

The Titanic Metaphor

Nearly 100 years ago, why we can't let it go, and how to make it the life of the party.

Le Petit Journal Paris ~ April 28, 1912


The Iceberg ~ taken from the deck of the Carpathia










Monday, April 9, 2012

John Jay House & St. Matthew's Glebe

Sunny skies with temperatures in the upper 60s made Easter Sunday a walk in the park.

Just a couple miles from the house are Bedford House, the homestead of John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and New York's second governor. Next was the St. Matthew's Church glebe and Ketchum Preserve. We had both relatively to ourselves except for a horseback rider and a family flying kites.

Andromeda in bloom
Homestead
Old Fred, Jay's steed
St. Matthew's Glebe

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Swing Vote

The New Yorker ~ Barry Blitt
SCOTUS watchers are saying President Obama's "unprecedented" warning to the Supreme Court justices not to overturn his term's signature legislation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, was really targeted at Justice Anthony Kennedy. Appointed by President Reagan in 1988, Kennedy is considered the "swing vote" in either a 5-4 loss or 5-4 victory for the White House.

The court's focus during last week's oral arguments was on the act's individual mandate and whether it oversteps the Constitution's commerce clause. This argument is supported by the fact that 26 state attorneys general have sued the federal government over the constitutionality of the mandate. As telling was Justice Antonin Scalia's mocking comment last week that reading and trying to understand the 2,700-page legislation was a violation of the 8th amendment, barring the federal government from imposing cruel and unusual punishment. But was Scalia really joking?

Dan Henninger's column today in The Wall Street Journal, The Supreme Court Lands in Oz, explains why:
"Where better to begin than at the mandate itself. The mandate is the probable cause of the law's demise and so the source of the president's rage. In fact, the word 'mandate,' as argued before the court, appears nowhere in the ACA. What they were litigating was Subtitle F, Part I. Rather than 'mandate,' its Orwellian title is the 'Individual Responsibility Requirement.'
"We already know that 67% of polled people think the mandate, which compels individuals to buy health insurance or pay a penalty, is unconstitutional. That number might go closer to 100% if people got a look at the law's language.
"The ACA calls the act of purchasing insurance a 'required contribution.' Naturally, many will wonder if they can get out of this. That depends on the meaning of 'required contribution,' as defined in "Chapter 48—Maintenance of Minimum Essential Coverage, (e) Exemptions, (B) Required contributions:
"For purposes of this paragraph, the term 'required contribution' means . . .: (ii) in the case of an individual eligible only to purchase minimum essential coverage described in subsection (f)(1)(C), the annual premium for the lowest cost bronze plan available in the individual market through the Exchange in the State in the rating area in which the individual resides (without regard to whether the individual purchased a qualified health plan though the Exchange), reduced by the amount of the credit allowable under section 36B for the taxable year (determined as if the individual was covered by a qualified health plan offered through the Exchange for the entire taxable year)."
Now we know what former and one-term Speaker Nancy Pelosi meant when she told House members "You'll have to pass it to know what's in it." Well, that's exactly why we're where we are now.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

BMW Mini Yachtsman

No more racing to make the Woods Hole ferry to Martha's Vineyard! I just ordered the new BMW Mini Yachtsman for delivery by the July 4 holiday weekend.  Specs and features include:
  • It is 16.8” in length and comes with Reef Blue metallic which silver alloy wheels and matching silver rudder.
  • The exhaust snorkel comes in Reef Blue as well and the extendable rooftop antenna does double duty as it is fitted with a “get-you-home” 20-foot white sail, which allows for zero-emissions sailing with the right wind.
  • The Mini Yachtsman sleeps or seats two and has waterproof rip-stop upholstery, seat cushions which double as flotation devices, and a Marine Chronometer for celestial navigation.