Greetings from Nicaragua

I have had a lovely few days here in Nicaragua. I am thinking of opening a motorcycle dealership here because it is less corrupt than Boston. I cleared some land with a couple of locals and a chainsaw for a friends project, met with his builder and laid out the new buildings, and talked about how we can make it as ecologically friendly as possible, such as solar hot water heaters, recharging rain water, using grey water to irrigate the garden, etc.

I was out surfing with my friend who i was staying with and his girlfriend. we had a perfect quarter mile long beach to ourselves. just at dusk an oliver riddley turtle came ashore and i got into a foot race with a local with a machete to save the turtle. i was able to convince the gentleman that it would bring him good luck to let the 100 pound turtle go, and back into the surf i directed him. i love turtles, and to see one hacked up on a perfect evening would be terrible.

ive been staying in total surf shack. we have a composting toilet out side, one tap of running water for dishes which hadnt been done for eons until i washed them this morning. i havent had a shower since i left the states 5 days ago, just making frequent trips into the ocean to swim, surf, and body surf. played soccer with the local kids on the beach, and bought some souvenirs for friends back home.

it turns out that this weekend was motorcycle weekend, so about 300 bikers and i enjoyed the beach side shacks, the ac-dc coverbands, and the dancing and the drinking and the partying went on well past when i went to bed at 3 am, after helping two american girls get rides on motorcycles with guys who knew how to ride, and werent drunk!

It has been very relaxing, and the people are friendly, and you really get a sense of how much we use and waste in the western world. do we really need a wii, a flatscreen, 3 cars, movie theaters, etc. why not get out for a hike, play some ball with the locals and be exhausted leading to a good nights sleep!

still, cant wait to get home to see Dr. Lora!

many young folks here, very idealistic, very fed up with the futility of governments. they are starting eco tours, trying to save parklands, and trying to educate and enpower locals. very rewarding.

hope everyone is doing well in boston, i watched the usa lose to canada in hockey in a room full of canadians (tons of them here) so i was happy for them.

adios!

Email reply from the Governor's Office

I got an automated email from the Governor's office:



Dear Mr. mccrea:

Thank you for taking the time to apply for appointment to a state board or commission. All of your information was successfully added to our electronic system, which allows us to search for civic-minded constituents whose interests and expertise match the requirements for any given board.

Governor Patrick deeply appreciates your commitment to serving our communities. We will remain cognizant of your areas of interest as the Governor moves forward with appointments to the over seven hundred state boards and commissions. Should you have any questions or concerns, or if you would like to add additional information to your profile, please reply to this message or call us at 617.725.4055.

Sincerely,
The Appointments Team
Office of Governor Deval L. Patrick



I called the phone number and asked when the decisions would be made by and I was put through to the voice mail of Madelin (sp?) Grant. I left a message asking when the decision would be made, with my phone number.

I will keep you apprised of the situation loyal readers!

What does it take to get good schools?

There are two articles today which, I believe, approach the same topic. In the Boston Globe there is an article about how the City of Boston has not evaluated teachers in order to get rid of bad ones and improve education for all. In the NY Times there is an article about the head of several successful schools about how the most important thing in a successful school is getting good teachers.

Do I need to explain further?

How much does the Governor care about filling posts?

These are the positions on the Finance Commission which are appointed by the Governor to oversee the independent Financial Commission which is supposed to be the watchdog agency for the City of Boston. As you can see, 2 positions are open, 2 positions expired and only former Mike Ross worker Reuben Kantor is legitimate. With a hat tip to the Zak, you can apply for this position (unpaid) at:

http://appointments.state.ma.us/BoardDetail.aspx?brdid=160218


Mr. Paul J. Minihane Chairman Chair 10/09/2009
Mr. Reuben Kantor Seat 1 07/17/2013
VACANT Seat 2
VACANT Seat 3
Mr. Robert O'Connell Seat 4 08/09/2007


Kind of hard to believe that the State or City really wants anyone overseeing their finances when no one is appointed to the commission overseeing the finances.

Happy Mardi Gras!

VEGAS, BABY!!!

KEVIN WITH HIS GIANT BEADS AT THE VENETIAN !!

Valentine's Day is my birthday, so this year my wife surprised me with a weekend in Vegas. We left friday morning and came back Sunday night and the fun almost never stopped. We had a wonderful suite at the Venetian, we saw Cirque du Soleil "O" at the Bellagio, saw Penn & Teller at the Rio, I played in a Poker tournament at the Mirage and came in second, won money playing craps, saw some other sights, Clara went shopping, and because I miss New Orleans and Mardi Gras so much, I bought the biggest pair of beads I've ever seen. They were quite the topic in the airports flying home!

As usual, on the flight out of Boston the TSA official didn't know what security level we were at and told me that the public is on a 'need to know' basis and then proceeded to give me an overly hard time. Penn & Teller have a very funny bit in their show where they purchased one of the airport metal screening devices for $4800 and they showed how they set it at different levels for different types of passengers (the one at Boston City Hall is set very low, like for first class passengers). They also showed a number of dangerous weapons you can bring through the device such as plastic 'comb/knives'. They also sold the Bill of Rights printed on a metal plate the size of a credit card to carry in your wallet. They are sold for $5 (www.securityedition.com) and I got Penn to sign mine after the show. They are avowed libertarians, and Penn is an atheist. Funny enough a Haitian cab driver the night before the show told us he doesn't like Penn because he has vanity license plates which say "NO GOD" because he is an atheist as well. My hat is off to them for being boldly patriotic and against the erosion of our civil rights during their show, a potentially bad thing for their bottom line. They are also very funny, although I was a bit disappointed they were still doing tricks I saw them do in Boston over a decade ago.

Happy Lundi Gras!

please support sarah wenig!

I'll never forget being at their candidates forum the very day The Globe broke the story of the deleted emails. The 3 of you each spoke well about the issues at hand, Menino - well, you know. Then he was endorsed by adults old enough to remember Watergate and so smug they didn't even consider their own credibility. It was the scariest thing I ever witnessed in civic life. These people would endorse the slightly veiled second coming of George Wallace if they were told to by the right person. So I'm running for delegate and in that crowd, I need to bring my own votes. PLEASE refer to your lists and encourage friends and supporters to come to the Ward 5 caucus, Saturday 2/20 @ 9:00 am - in the Guatemala Room of the Community Church, 565 Boylston st, 2nd fl, Copley Sq. My # is 617.835.2565. Give it to your friends. Ask them to vote for me, one more independant voice needed in the Back Bay area.


Sarah sent this to Sam Yoon, Michael Flaherty and I!

Don't you wish you had a job like this!:

The Boston Herald today reports on the huge salaries pulled down by Boston workers including a custodian making more than $100,000 a year.

My favorite quote is from John Tobin:

The extravagant perk drew a sharp rebuke yesterday from a flabbergasted City Councilor John Tobin, who said, “You have to live in a cave not to realize the good old days were good old days.”

The Jamaica Plain councilor said the city’s big-spending ways are hard to justify in the face of school and police cutbacks, library consolidation and other belt-tightening moves.

“It’s just hard to say it’s business as usual in the economy we’re in,” Tobin said.

So, to sum up that it is hard to justify the work that the Mayor and the City Council have done in approving these budgets and signing these contracts and hiring these people. Of course, John Tobin has voted for the budget every single year that I can remember. Remember, the only real role that the City Council has is to review the budget and know the numbers.

The importance of a good health care plan...

Health Care Plan
> > A wealthy hospital benefactor was being shown around the hospital when
> > during her tour, she passed a room where a male patient was masturbating
> > furiously.
> >
> > "Oh my GOD!!" screamed the woman, "That's disgraceful!!! Why is he doing
> > that??"
> >
> > The doctor who was leading the tour calmly explained, "I'm very sorry
> > that you were exposed to that, but this man has a serious condition
> > where his testicles rapidly fill with semen, and if he doesn't do that
> > at least 5 times a day, he'll be in extreme pain and his testicles could
> > easily rupture".
> >
> > "Oh well, in that case, I guess it's ok." commented the woman.
> >
> > In the very next room, a male patient was lying in bed and it was
> > obvious that a nurse was performing oral sex on him.
> >
> > Again, the woman screamed, "Oh my GOD!! How can THAT be justified?"
> >
> > Again the doctor spoke very calmly, "Same illness, better health plan."
> >

Only in New Orleans....

A flight was cancelled yesterday because the pilots were 2.5 hours late because of the parade. A passenger on the plane who was also a pilot suspected them of being drunk, so he called 911 and the flight was grounded!

Not a good day for my sewer main to back up in New Orleans...

Today was the day of the New Orleans Saints Super Bowl Parade. It also happened to be the day that my main sewer backed up, and I had to get the City out to dig out the sidewalk to fix the broken pipe.

This could either turn out great or horrible..., it seems to be in that gray area under the sidewalk where it is hard to determine if I own it or the city owns it.

Hopefully the great spirit of positivism and Mardi Gras will have this end in a good way, but we are still waiting to get someone out there....

Update, the Superbowl parade is being broadcast live on NOLA.com, so far it is 50 minutes late, but that is New Orleans, the Big Easy....

I watched the game with my New Orleans friends in the shirt I last wore at the Superdome for their home playoff game in 2006, good kharma!!!

Who DAT????

Steve Murphy is running for State Treasurer!

Apparently the one month of this term is enough already!

I can see how with Steve's excellent performance with the Boston City Budget
of voting for pay raises for councilors while city services are being cut
that people would think he is the change they are looking for!

Read more here!

Robert Jubinville is running for Governor's Council!

I have met this gentleman, and he seems to understand that reform is needed not just with our politics but with our courts.

Votejubinville.com is the link.

I hope you will consider him for your vote!