Archive for May 18, 2022

Five Thoughts That Have Little or Nothing to do with Politics Under the Fedora

Posted: May 18, 2022 by datechguy in Uncategorized

On the way to work last week I saw a hawk circling over Water Street in Fitchburg. Last week there was a Coyote in the parking lot of the warehouse I work at in Devens.

As little as two decades ago that would have been unthinkable, but then again as little as three to five years ago I never saw a rabbit in town. Now their not only all over my back yard but every day on the way home from work I see at least 3-5 darting around all over town.

Given that I grew up with a back yard abutting woods and a stream this change is even more dramatic.

I started attending adoration of the Blessed Sacrament ten years ago taking over the hour that my mother had done at the Chapel after she died and I’ve noticed a significant change in the decade this has been going on.

When I first started the adorers where I’d say 80-90% women. A man, particularly one in his late 40’s was an oddity. Not completely unique but an oddity.

Now when I go to adoration more than half of the people are men.

I can’t place when this started happening but it has happened.

One fact of life that is often ignored is that even on bad decisions there are some winners.

Remy is exactly right in his parody of Old Town Road that new Stadiums rarely workout for cities in terms of economic growth.

However when Worcester took the RedSox AAA franchise from Pawtucket there were two groups of winners.

The first was those was anyone who drove in Kelly Square before the change because that seven way intersection was one of the most dangerous bits of road I ever drove on. To me it’s amazing that there wasn’t an accident there every single day.

The second group of winners were baseball fans like me who now have a AAA stadium under 30 minutes away. The truth that it is likely a bad deal for Worcester will not take away my enjoyment of the ability to see baseball at practically a major league level affordable both in terms of price and time to get there.

It may be that sooner or later another city might decide to outbid Worcester and the team will move but until such a day comes, if ever, I’m going to enjoy every season of it.

I do most of the grocery shopping in the house and it’s become over the last year one of the most depressing tasks there is.

I find myself happy to pay “sale” prices that are at or above what was the standard or the high price on items just two years ago.

I can see my shopping habits chance as prices do and while I always had an eye for a bargain but with the knowledge that it will cost double to heat my house this winter I find myself scrimping now so I won’t have to suffer in the cold.

Being the son of depression era parents it’s not that hard to get in that habit but it feels like failure on my part as a provider. I know that’s not a popular idea these days but I wasn’t raised in these days.

Finally as I get older I find myself reflecting on my life more. I done a lot of different things from owning a business, to writing a book to occasional public speaking. I’ve had two radio shows, one still in progress interviewed mayors, governors, Cardinals, congressmen, senators and questioned one future President on the campaign trail. I even won a civil case before a jury acting as my own lawyer once against the real thing.

I’ve failed a lot too, I failed in business, My radio show while syndicated locally never broke through, I didn’t make it nationally and instead of a comfortable living in my major I find myself working full time at a warehouse while drawing only a quarter at best of the blog traffic I once did never managing to break though to the point where I could make a living at it as others have. And there are times when my failures, particularly my financial ones, press against me rather heavily.

But in the end I have a good wife and a marriage in its 34th year and two good honorable God Fearing Catholic mass attending sons both making a better living than I am.

If that’s not a successful life I’d like to know what is.

Something smells Here at BLM? Nah Every Big Money Donation Went for the Intended Purpose

Posted: May 18, 2022 by datechguy in culture
Tags: ,

Friar Tuck You two are accomplices! That means that lottery was a cold blooded swindle!

Will Sharpe: Now is that any way to talk about honest people?

Friar Tuck: I have no licking for any of these lotteries sweeping the country, but some of them are honest. Yours is a downright fraud.

Will Sharpe: Fraud? We gave value for money. A moment’s excitement in their drab lives.

The Adventures of Robin Hood: The Lottery 1958

Over at Hotair there is a piece about how the money collected by BLM Black Lives Matter or also known as Build Large Mansions) on how these folks have been spending the millions that have been showered upon them:

The Associated Press has obtained copies of the group’s financial disclosure statements and it turns out that BLM has become a very profitable venture for a supposed non-profit organization. Even after blowing through an eye-popping amount of money over the past couple of years, the group is still sitting on roughly $42 million in assets.

But in fairness part of the 37 Millions has been spent, on friends and family that is:

This of course comes right out of the Three Stooges Tax Guide that note charity begins at home.

And some of the local chapters are wondering why they are not seeing the tens of millions raised. Jazz Shaw asks the question:

Did all of the wealthy liberal donors and Hollywood elites who flushed cash into BLM to “help the movement” ever think to ask where the money was going?

The outrage of the local chapters and the questions by Jazz and the snark from Ed would all seem valid but they ignore a rather critical fact about the money donated by the rich and the powerful and by the various corporation that shoveled millions to this organization.

I submit and suggest that practically none of this money was donated for the purpose of protecting or improving actual black lives hurt by discrimination or racism or even by unfair police practices.

If they were, then all of the outrage and the shock and surprise at the wonton use of these funds for personal and family profit would be valid.

But as the purpose of these funds, both corporate and individual were

  1. To publicly demonstrate individual and/or corporates “virtue”
  2. To publicly be included as “part of the club” of right thinking people
  3. To make sure they were not on the list of people to be targeted by social justice rent a mobs

And all of these donor goals were achieved!

Once you realize that people were spending monies on personal and public reputations rather than some altruistic vision it’s had to get outraged by it.

Jazz closes saying:

 potential donors should be made fully aware of this situation before they open up their wallets again.

He should have no fear. The donors know that every cent will still be used to enhance and/or protect the reputation of those who give them and as long as that remains true, they will be satisfied.