Can Michelle Obama force you to eat your broccoli?

Probably so, under ObamaCare.

Tony Volpe, R.I.P.

I previously posted what I thought was a humorous piece on the death of a mobster, Anthony Volpe, and got back several furious emails from his children.In addition, I received a phone call from his son, who was very upset with what I’d said. I’m not a monster, despite what his children think, so I’ve removed the post. Anthony Volpe is dead and gone, and his sins are between him and his God. His children remain here on earth, and I apologize to them for hurting them in their time of grief. And no, this apology has nothing to do with threats of violence but rather, just an act of humanity and sympathy at Christmas time.

Nice job, John Robben

John’s a great photographer, but he tossed his camera aside to pluck a kid out of a creek at Innis Arden.

UPDATE: I really like this quote from the GPD, because Lt. Gray (by the way, what happened to my old classmate, GHS ’71, Lt. Daniel Allen?) gets what’s fun about sledding and other risky activities:

Lt. Kraig Gray, spokesman for the police department, said police were not aware of the incident, but urged residents to use caution when sledding.

“Part of what makes sledding fun is the element of danger,” Gray said “But it can be a hazardous activity, especially for young ones when they are not monitored closely.”

Greenwich twins don’t know when to quit

Take the money and run, guys

Keep on keeping on. Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss settled with Facebook for $65 million, but now they want more. Yeah, you were probably screwed, but how much do you need to move on and get a life?.

A despicable old traitor

I so despise Coleman McCarthy that I refused to comment on his remark that ROTC students came from parents too poor to pay college tuition, but here’s someone who still cares.

More on the FDNY exam

The Village Voice – The Village Voice! – has a great article on why the Fireman exam has no racial content. My (few) liberal readers won’t believe me, but surely they’ll go to the source of all knowledge and report back. The judge in question is demanding that NYC hire black folks who can neither read nor think, but are er, black. The city is resisting. I’m with the city on this one.

And all without stimulus funds

Chinese immigrants expand from basement kitchen to 5,000 sq. ft. warehouse. That should produce more jobs than Obama’s $700 billion did.

No new firemen for NYC

18 months ago, a federal judge ruled that the FDNY’s application test discriminated against blacks, not because of any specific requirements, but because fewer blacks passed than whites. He has prohibited the department from hiring anyone until it comes up with a test he approves of. He hasn’t liked anything yet and so, down 370 new firefighters that it needs, the city of New York is paying massive overtime to current fierefighters, ruining its budget and depriving 370 men and women jobs they want. So goes modern American society.

Don’t be stupid

Owners of 32 Dairy Road paid $4.5 million for the place in 2008 and made the following improvements:

CONCEIVED & EXECUTED BY AN INTERIOR DESIGNER ADD’S & EXTENSIVE MODIFICATIONS HAVE RECENTLY BEEN COMPLETED. A 2ND FLR ADD W/BR SUITE OFFICE & PLAYRM/GYM, NEW KITCHEN, ALL NEW BATHS, CAL CLOSETS THROUGHOUT, CRESTRON SYS, NEW TELEPHONE SYSTEM, NEW SEPTIC, CUSTOM DESIGNED KOI POND W/NEW FILTRATION. THIS IDYLLIC HAVEN W/EXTENSIVE NEW LANDSCAPING. NEW POOL & WATERFALL, NEW POOL HSE, TERRACES & VINE COVERED PERGOLA & NEW CUSTOM AWNING OVER TERRACE.

Asked $5.495, got $4.4.

280 Stanwich

 At least this owner didn’t put anything into his purchase except for a heated driveway. Paid $2.5 for it in May, 2007, and sold it yesterday for $2.1 150. Even after commissions and taxes, he got off lucky.

 

 

 

Owners of this Old Greenwich ranch asked $1.695 for it in May, 2009, sold it yesterday for $1.250. I wonder how many buyers they lost between listing it and selling it?

27 Shadybrook Lane, Old Greenwich

 

 

 

 

Buffalo shit

Would I lie to you?

Is there anything more annoying than a press release printed as a genuine newspaper article? I think not. This one claims that bison meat is so desired that producers can barely keep up with demand. Fine – and what’s that demand? 92,000 pounds per year. That compares to U.S. consumption of 27 billion pounds of beef in 2009.

I’m not anti-bison, I think they’re great. But newspapers who print ridiculous articles like this deserve to fold.

UPDATE: Do they read my blog? They’ve corrected the article to say that it’s 92,000 head, not pounds, and note that that is still less than 1% of U.S. beef production.

Obummer’s multi-million dollar vacation

I don’t begrudge our president and his family a (nother) vacation,  and I wasn’t going to comment on this story, but the more I read, the more I wondered. The Prez could have stayed at the Marine base two miles away, saving a million or so on security costs.  I can see that three beach-front homes for Obummer and his friends would be more fun , but perhaps the Commander-in-Chief should share quarters with the troops he’s ordered into harm’s way?

“We shall emulate France!”

Viva la non differance!

Cuba ends subsidies on soap.

Mandatory blood tests?

We are rapidly going overboard.

Profile in Courage

I once was blind, but now I see

 New York Governor Paterson demands criminal investigation into snowplowers union slowdown. What a hero, standing up to the unions. Of course, he does leave office at midnight tomorrow, so ….

Old dogs have no teeth

Chris Dodd, who has about a week to go before he’s removed from the Senate, slipped a $100 million grant to UConn’s hospital in Farmington into the Obama Care bill. But now that he’s going nowhere, the money went instead to a hospital in Ohio. So Dodd’s constituents will be sending their dollars to Ohio. On the other hand, why should Ohio’s taxpayers have subsidized Connecticut’s? A nice lesson for those states, like ours, that send more money to Washington than they ever get back.

As suspected, NYC’s snow removal woes were due to the union

Drivers were instructed to raise their plows, smash equipment, etc.

As long as we’re talking about ancestors …

Why is the federal government spending money encouraging young students to study electrical power generation?

The power companies desperately need a jolt of youthful energy. The industry and the creaky distribution system it manages are on the cusp of a major technological overhaul just as about half of electric utility employees are expected to retire in the next 5 to 10 years.

Last spring, the energy secretary, Steven Chu, awarded $100 million in stimulus money to 54 training programs in the smart grid aimed at high school and college students around the country. “Building and operating smart grid infrastructure will put tens of thousands of Americans to work,” Mr. Chu said at the time. “Today’s investment will help ensure that we have the work force in place to meet this need.”

My great-grandfather, John Caldwell, arrived from Ireland  in 1861, just in time to enlist in the Union Army, where he served in the Pennsylvania 61st with George and Herman Westinghouse. After the war, he joined the brothers in Pittsburgh, where George figured out AC current (and defeated Edison’s direct current) while Caldwell handled the financing.

My point is that a trio of young men managed all this without any help from the government. Modern day examples of this same triumph might be Bill Gates and Steve Jobs and, before them, Bill Hewitt and Dave Packard.

In fact, do you know a single example of our government promoting and jump starting a single industry, other than the welfare force and the Teachers Union? I don’t.

Survivalist?

I don’t watch this stuff but apparently there’s a rash of survival shows on TV these days, all showing you how to snare small game, start a fire without matches and all that. That’s all fine and in fact, I actually know how to do all that and more, and have done so, but that was when I was young and stupid and spending a lot of time in the wilderness. Most of us, including me, live in urban territory these days. If I were worried about survival, I’d be taking lessons on how to build a generator and water filter. Of course, knowing how to use a rifle, shotgun and pistol wouldn’t hurt either. Maybe I can trade those skills with an engineer.

A pardon for Billy the Kid? Forget it.

 

Colonel Albert Jennings Fountain

Out-going New Mexico Governor Richardson is considering pardoning Billy the Kid, 130 years after he  committed a  murder most foul.  My ancestor, Col. Albert Fountain, defended the Kid at his trial and if he couldn’t get him off, then the Colonel was having a rare bad day or the Kid was guilty as hell. I suspect the latter.

Fountain and his seven-year-old son Henry were later murdered in 1896 in the White Sands. New Mexico was a rough place back then.

If your dog needs an overcoat, he’s in the wrong part of the country

According to this article, if you have a little shitzu, a coat may be in order, but so would  be a move to Florida.But a large dog, bred for cold? Save your money. Casey the Wonder Dog, my yellow Lab,  chased geese in freezing Long Island Sound waters until his 13th year. He’d probably have bit me had I tried putting a blanket on him.