Here's a portion of the article in the Projo today regarding the state employees unions' fight to prevent shutdown days because the state can't afford it....
"PROVIDENCE — State government will open on Friday after all, as a result of a temporary stay issued by Supreme Court Justice Maureen McKenna Goldberg that put the kibosh on the first of Governor Carcieri’s 12 government shutdown days.
State workers in matching green T-shirts cheered outside the courthouse. But the celebration was short-lived.
Little more than an hour after the judge ruled, Governor Carcieri said the judge left him “with no option but layoffs.”
He said layoff notices would go out within a week to the last 1,000 union and non-union people hired, which presumably would include the state’s new Medicaid director and education commissioner. “It should greatly disturb every state employee and every Rhode Islander that labor leaders are willing to sacrifice people’s jobs so they can maintain their stranglehold on the citizens of this state,” Carcieri said."
That last sentence by the governor is SPOT ON. No, really.... that's fine. People who are in the unions pay their dues and the union leaders say they are there "to protect their members". Well..how is the choice of MORE for some and ZERO for others ANY kind of fair representation
or protection. It shows arrogance, power-hunger, and a severe lack of common sense. Of course, in THIS state, the unions are so entrenched that people actually PUT UP WITH THIS.
The legislature is elected and charged with making a budget. In RI, the legislature is ruled by democrats. They DIDN'T create a budget that the state can live within. In fact, they increased spending. Now the REPUBLICAN governor - a lone member of his party in this sea of Democrats - must do something.
(from the projo) "The 12 shutdown days are a key part of (governor) Carcieri’s response to the $67.8 million in unspecified savings that lawmakers directed him to produce in the new state budget they adopted in June. While leaving the actual cost-cutting decisions to him, they required “reductions of 6.25 percent of recommended salary and benefits.” "
He proposes 12 shut down days.... even suggesting that employees could work out WHICH days so that it would be to their benefit AND allow the state services to stay in operation. But the unions fight it. And so now their must be layoffs.
And the ignorants of the state will say it's because of the governor, because, well, he IS a Republican. Right. Her eat the center of legislative and elective Democratic corruption.
How lame. How disgusting.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Monday, August 31, 2009
To my favorite Patriot... Congrats on a Fantastic & Honorable Career!!!
Tedy Bruschi Retirement
New England Patriot: 1996 - 2008
The only pro player whose jersey I actually purchased....
BRUSCHI MAKES HIS LAST PLAY
Posted by Tony Massarotti, Globe Staff August 31, 2009 12:18 PM
Thirteen seasons later, this is how Tedy Bruschi makes his last play: he walks. He leaves with pride and he leaves with dignity. He leaves behind a heart, body, and soul that he entrusted to no team but the Patriots and to no region but New England.
And so with Bruschi announcing his retirement this morning at Gillette Stadium, maybe it is time to take pause. Maybe there is still some loyalty in sports after all. Maybe a guy like Bruschi can come here, as he did in 1996, and play in six AFC Championship Games and five Super Bowls, winning three titles and appearing in one Pro Bowl. Maybe he can survive a stroke and declining skills. And maybe, at the end of it all, he can go out wearing the same uniform he wore in, an increasingly rare example of the company man who stood for principle and values more than he did the bottom line.
But then, we always knew Bruschi was old school, right down to the Ray Nitschke mentality and the genetic eye black.
"There's a sign when you come into this facility that says, 'Do your job.' I did my job for 13 years,’" Bruschi said. "Now my job is done. My job is done. I’m looking forward to living the rest of my life."
The Patriots turned another page today, folks. At roughly 10:45 a.m., Bruschi officially and formally handed the keys to Jerod Mayo, then began the rest of his life. Even the steely Bill Belichick got a little choked up. Bruschi went out the way Mike Vrabel did not, a Patriot from beginning to end, a man to whom Belichick and the Patriots were every bit as loyal as Bruschi was to them, even amid a decline in performance that was apparent to everyone.
Bruschi stayed. The Patriots kept him. A New England organization more businesslike than any in professional sports made obvious choices and sacrifices to accommodate a player who was, if nothing else, different.
Was Bruschi the best player ever to wear a Patriots uniform? No, no, no. But this is about so much more than that. These Patriots will forever go down as a team that belonged to Belichick and Tom Brady, though the club’s identity was formed just as much around people like Bruschi and Troy Brown. Those are the men who defined the Pats as much as anyone, smaller and less physically gifted players who brought a tireless spirit and a desire to win, the latter of which requires a selflessness and coachability that few players ever get credit for.
Every Sunday, from September 1996 through December 2008, the Patriots always could count on getting Bruschi’s best, however good that was.
Along the way, lest anyone forget, Bruschi endured the kind of cataclysmic event that would have (should have?) ended most careers. It was shortly after the Patriots’ Super Bowl victory in 2005 when Bruschi suffered a stroke. Most everyone thought he would never play again. Bruschi missed training camp and opened the year on the physically unable to perform list, then made a celebrated return to the field on October 30 against the Buffalo Bills.
"This is something I’ve never done before -- jumping back in the seventh week," Bruschi said. "It’s just a process. I think it's gotten better as it's gone along. To tell the truth, right now I think I'm close. I can't say I'm all the way back because I believe in the process."
So here we are now, four years later, and Bruschi still believes in the process. The Patriots defense, in particular, has been in a transitional state for the last few years, from the secondary on up. The defensive backfield has completely turned over in the last two years. Now the linebacking corps has, too. Bruschi is one of the original cornerstone of this Patriots dynasty, the ground floors of which were built during the reign of Bill Parcells. He walks away now in good conscience, knowing he has given the Patriots everything he has, and that he can no longer give them enough.
Almost certainly, there was a process here. Maybe the Patriots told Bruschi he was no longer good enough. Maybe they didn’t need to. In this case, the specifics do not really matter. Bruschi was one of the original Patriots who fostered the idea of togetherness, who believed in the players and the coach being on the same page, who believed in the good of the group and the parts being secondary to whole.
Tedy Bruschi now walks away proudly, the consummate playmaker making the final, decisive play.
New England Patriot: 1996 - 2008
The only pro player whose jersey I actually purchased....
BRUSCHI MAKES HIS LAST PLAY
Posted by Tony Massarotti, Globe Staff August 31, 2009 12:18 PM
Thirteen seasons later, this is how Tedy Bruschi makes his last play: he walks. He leaves with pride and he leaves with dignity. He leaves behind a heart, body, and soul that he entrusted to no team but the Patriots and to no region but New England.
And so with Bruschi announcing his retirement this morning at Gillette Stadium, maybe it is time to take pause. Maybe there is still some loyalty in sports after all. Maybe a guy like Bruschi can come here, as he did in 1996, and play in six AFC Championship Games and five Super Bowls, winning three titles and appearing in one Pro Bowl. Maybe he can survive a stroke and declining skills. And maybe, at the end of it all, he can go out wearing the same uniform he wore in, an increasingly rare example of the company man who stood for principle and values more than he did the bottom line.
But then, we always knew Bruschi was old school, right down to the Ray Nitschke mentality and the genetic eye black.
"There's a sign when you come into this facility that says, 'Do your job.' I did my job for 13 years,’" Bruschi said. "Now my job is done. My job is done. I’m looking forward to living the rest of my life."
The Patriots turned another page today, folks. At roughly 10:45 a.m., Bruschi officially and formally handed the keys to Jerod Mayo, then began the rest of his life. Even the steely Bill Belichick got a little choked up. Bruschi went out the way Mike Vrabel did not, a Patriot from beginning to end, a man to whom Belichick and the Patriots were every bit as loyal as Bruschi was to them, even amid a decline in performance that was apparent to everyone.
Bruschi stayed. The Patriots kept him. A New England organization more businesslike than any in professional sports made obvious choices and sacrifices to accommodate a player who was, if nothing else, different.
Was Bruschi the best player ever to wear a Patriots uniform? No, no, no. But this is about so much more than that. These Patriots will forever go down as a team that belonged to Belichick and Tom Brady, though the club’s identity was formed just as much around people like Bruschi and Troy Brown. Those are the men who defined the Pats as much as anyone, smaller and less physically gifted players who brought a tireless spirit and a desire to win, the latter of which requires a selflessness and coachability that few players ever get credit for.
Every Sunday, from September 1996 through December 2008, the Patriots always could count on getting Bruschi’s best, however good that was.
Along the way, lest anyone forget, Bruschi endured the kind of cataclysmic event that would have (should have?) ended most careers. It was shortly after the Patriots’ Super Bowl victory in 2005 when Bruschi suffered a stroke. Most everyone thought he would never play again. Bruschi missed training camp and opened the year on the physically unable to perform list, then made a celebrated return to the field on October 30 against the Buffalo Bills.
"This is something I’ve never done before -- jumping back in the seventh week," Bruschi said. "It’s just a process. I think it's gotten better as it's gone along. To tell the truth, right now I think I'm close. I can't say I'm all the way back because I believe in the process."
So here we are now, four years later, and Bruschi still believes in the process. The Patriots defense, in particular, has been in a transitional state for the last few years, from the secondary on up. The defensive backfield has completely turned over in the last two years. Now the linebacking corps has, too. Bruschi is one of the original cornerstone of this Patriots dynasty, the ground floors of which were built during the reign of Bill Parcells. He walks away now in good conscience, knowing he has given the Patriots everything he has, and that he can no longer give them enough.
Almost certainly, there was a process here. Maybe the Patriots told Bruschi he was no longer good enough. Maybe they didn’t need to. In this case, the specifics do not really matter. Bruschi was one of the original Patriots who fostered the idea of togetherness, who believed in the players and the coach being on the same page, who believed in the good of the group and the parts being secondary to whole.
Tedy Bruschi now walks away proudly, the consummate playmaker making the final, decisive play.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
"We Lose the Last Brother Today ..."
For those of us who grew up in this time, these men defined the politics of our youth and beyond. They were also part of the social pain that was the 1960's ...
RIP Senator Kennedy
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Sigh...
From Boston Dirt DogsTested Positive in 2003 ...
Disappointed? Most Definitely.
Sad? Yes, very.
Surprised? I guess not.
The numbers reflect SOMETHING for every player who took P.E.D.'s
And as a Boston fan, I always agreed that perhaps we could feel a certain moral superiority because none of the Red Sox were linked to juicing - unless it was far before or after their tenure there. But now all I can feel is disappointment for the entire situation...for the fact that EVERYONE allowed it to happen.
And it CERTAINLY won't be fun next week to hear the crowd at the new Yankee Stadium when Big Papi comes up....
Why? All I wanted was a pure, wonderful memory of 2004 and 2007..... and now it's a little less "Clear"....
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Walter Cronkite: RIP July 17, 2009
The man who formed network news, who brought us through the Vietnam War and the race to the moon. How sad that he died so close to the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing...
40 Years: July 20, 1969
NASA photoI am forever in awe of the accomplishments of the US space program, of the bravery of the people involved, and the endless benefits derived from human exploration.
As am 11 year old boy, I thought that those kinds of peaceful accomplishments in space would continue and accelerate...
As wonderful as the Space Shuttle is, I cannot WAIT for the new Constellation Program to bring man back to the moon and Mars.
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