Neal/Wesley Postmortem

After spending over two million dollars on his re-election campaign, Congressman Richard Neal still was unable to win a landslide victory last week over his almost penniless opponent Tom Wesley, who still managed to get a solid 43% of the vote. A class act until the end, Wesley released the following statement this week:

Despite the fact that Massachusetts did not pick up a seat on Capitol Hill, there were many inroads into restoring strength on Beacon Hill. Perhaps voters were more comfortable swinging towards more two-party balance in the Statehouse than in adding to the new majority in the US House. At least for this year’s cycle. At the Congressional level, the incumbents depleted their enormous war chests to hold off challengers who were outspent by factors of 20-1. That treasure is gone and it is not coming back now that the Democrats have lost their majority.

We gave hope to 91,181 voters who have not had a choice in 14 years. Maybe our incumbent will be a little more responsive in his behaviors to his constituents. Something tells me that 2012 can be a great year for any number of seasoned challengers.

You made this possible. I was honored to carry the banner and I am humbled by the experience.

The people of our Valley owe a great debt of gratitude to Wesley (and his primary challenger Dr. Jay Fleitman) for the wonderful role they played this year in returning our Valley to a fully functioning two party democracy after 14 years of Neal's unchallenged incumbency.

A horse and wagon crossing the UMass campus.

Me, Paul Revere and his horse at Raos in downtown Amherst.

 



Bowie in a downtown Northampton window.

 



Making beautiful noise in Goshen, Massachusetts.

 



Showing off tattoos in Amherst.

Pelham Secrets

The other day I was in Pelham, the sister town to Amherst that also shares the same high school. It is a small out of the way place with lots of beautiful little hideaways if you know where to go. Yesterday I went hiking past this trespass sign that is so old that it can barely be read. Does that sign still have any authority? 

It doesn't really matter - we citizen journalists consider such signs merely a dare! The first brook we came to had these wooden planks to walk across. 

Further on in the Pelham wilderness, this rickety arrangement had to suffice. 

Penetrating yet further into the woodlands, we had to do a balancing act on these logs and board. 

At last we came to this giant pine. Pine trees grow slowly, so one that has grown to this gigantic size must be at least 300 years old. 

Nearby lay this ancient handmade stone wall, with a mysterious cemetery beyond. 

How odd to find such a place deep in the woods, yet neither so deep nor so mysterious as to prevent someone from placing a few flags to honor Memorial Day. There will always be those who make it their personal duty to care for the secret places. 

The best woodland setting we came to was this beaver pond. 

Alone with nature in these hidden, quiet places one can truly be at peace. 

The People's Justice

Recently I noticed that the Amherst Grocery Store has gone out of business. While I'm usually a cheerleader for our area businesses, I was glad to see this particular place close its doors. 

The reason I'm glad is because I read this article in the Amherst Bulletin:

An Amherst shopkeeper was arrested at his home on charges related to the theft of thousands of dollars of merchandise from other local stores after police found stolen items at his home on the afternoon of April 6. 

Mohamed S. Nagooradumai, 39, (above) of Palley Village Place, who owns Amherst Grocery Store on Main Street, was arrested at 12:32 p.m. on charges of receiving stolen property over $250 and credit card fraud over $250, police said.

Lt. Ron Young, head of the police detective bureau, said the investigation began in December when an Amity Place woman reported several credit cards were taken from her home and later used to make purchases.

After police determined that the credit cards were used at stores in both Amherst and Hadley, including the Wal-Mart at Mountain Farms Mall and the Sears store on Route 9, detectives obtained video surveillance and paperwork indicating that Nagooradumai might be responsible.

After getting a search warrant, police detectives executed it at Nagooradumai's home, where two stolen appliances and a variety of clothing was recovered Tuesday, Young said.

The credit cards used in the alleged thefts have not yet been recovered. Young said additional charges may be filed against Nagooradumai as the investigation continues.

Many people told me after that article appeared that they would never go to that store again for any reason. Perhaps this spontaneous boycott contributed to the store's closing. It just goes to show you that government regulation of business is seldom necessary, because the marketplace inflicts it's own punishment through the righteous actions of the wise consumer.

This video has surfaced of militant libertarians smoking marijuana onstage in April at the Amherst Extravaganja. 

 

Grateful Dead medley performed by the Doug Hewitt Group at the Harp Irish Bar in Amherst. 

Monumental

I'm surprised to see all the trees being cut down on the Westfield town common. I hope they know what they're doing. 

Some things that are removed cannot be easily replaced. In Springfield they tore down the historic Hotel Charles, and over twenty years later all that's left is this stone remnant and a vacant lot.

Oh my, if these walls could talk about local politics.

This was my father's favorite non-Irish restaurant.

The ancient walkway past the old armory. 

I'm delighted to see that the colonial monument that used to stand on the corner of State Street has been returned after being missing for decades. It had to be removed because it was made of sandstone that was dissolving in the acid rain of the 1970's. 

Actually it is not the original monument, but an exact replica made from a mold of the original and using material that will not erode. It is also not in the exact location it once was, which was right on the corner, but perhaps these ground vents made it impossible.

Oh well, at least it didn't completely vanish, as so many historical things in Springfield have done. Here are some advertisements in a window across the street. 

It's sad to see that the old Kavanaugh's Furniture has bit the dust. It doesn't look like anything is going to be replacing it anytime soon.

This lion on State Street figures into one of my earliest memories. 

I recall as a little boy my mother saying to me as we drove past, "Look Tommy, a lion!" I looked but was underwhelmed because it was obvious to me that it was made of stone, and to be truly cool the lion would have to be alive.

This is one of the oldest businesses in Mason Square. When was the last time you heard the term launderette?

The new sidewalks in front of the old Indian Motocycle Building. Click here to read about the building's scandal plagued history.

The former Monarch Insurance building, now a high school, but previously a politically connected business which also sank beneath a sea of scandal in the 1980's.

In yet another flashback I remember seeing these monuments in Saint Michael's Cemetery as a small boy. 

I had nightmares that the statues came alive. 

 

From this Boston Road bus stop in ol' Pine Point I headed back to the North Valley.

Arriving back in Northampton, I listened to the street musicians. 

By the way, today was the big pancake breakfast in downtown Springfield, as captured in this Tony Mateus photo. 

Bax and O'Brien interviewing Springfield Mayor Dom Sarno.

Now by the light, shining through from within, we'll find our way back to the stars once again......

Frank Frazetta 1928-2010

Camelot's End

A Backward Glance

 



Like I'm sure many of you, I've grown weary of the tsunami of verbiage about Scott Brown's victory in the race to replace Ted Kennedy. Sheesh, Brown hasn't even been sworn in yet! Can we give the guy a chance to serve at least one minute in office before we declare him the national savior or the spawn of Satan?

However, in all the commentary about the Brown victory, too little attention has been paid to one aspect of the election - the end of the Kennedy era. No one who was raised in Massachusetts can be completely untouched by the myth of Camelot, however overly romanticized it may sometimes have been. Whenever I would go visit my relatives in Texas, people used to ask me, "Why do you people keep electing that Teddy Kennedy?" It was never easy to explain it. Teddy was in fact more to the Left than our state's electorate really is. Therefore it is not that big of a surprise that he was replaced by someone further to the Right. We tolerated Teddy's liberalism because of who he was, and the link he represented to his lost brothers.

John was the best of the three brothers, and the least liberal. His taxcut policies, which brought the nation out of a recession in the 1960's, was copied successfully by Ronald Reagan to bring the country out of a recession in the 1980's. President Obama might be wise to notice that pattern. John Kenendy was also willing to bring the world to the brink of nuclear war to thwart the socialist regime in Cuba. Robert was less the cold warrior and fiscal hawk his older brother was, but had passion and idealism to a degree that is rare in politics and that may have made him as good a president as John - but sadly we never got the chance to find out.

The youngest brother Teddy was deeply flawed, but Massachusetts voters never seriously considered the possibility of throwing him out of office, even after the incident at Chappaquiddick. Whatever he may have done to embarrass Massachusetts over the decades, he was still Johnny and Bobby's brother, and for that reason we could never bring ourselves to remove him from office, even though he was involved in a series of scandals that would have destroyed the political career of anyone with a different last name.

Now, for better or worse, whether one was a fan or a critic, the Kennedy era is over. We will never see a dynasty like that again. The times have changed, with a new era now dawning where small is beautiful, and the big government programs championed by Kennedy Democrats are falling into disrepute. Much of the Kennedy's legislative legacy, especially Teddy's, will no doubt be repealed in the coming years.

But that's almost irrelevant. If you're a son or daughter of Massachusetts and you ever felt an emotional bond to the Kennedy's, however irrational that attachment seemed at times, then you can't help but feel a certain twinge of sadness to read this final verdict yesterday by Mark Kriforian in the National Review:

So maybe the work does not go on, the cause does not endure, the hope does not live and the dream really can die.

Or maybe we're just in the process of redefining that dream in a way that's appropriate to this new revolutionary age. So as we head into the future with new leadership and new ideas based on the libertarian principles now most suited to our times, it's okay if we pause for a moment to look back at Camelot one last time, perhaps even with a tear of nostalgia in our eye.

 

Undressed for Success

Gee, I never thought of John Mayer as a sex symbol until I saw the latest Rolling Stone.



Have you noticed how almost no one gets on the cover of the Rolling Stone anymore unless they're willing to get at least half undressed? Not that I'm complaining. 

Remembering Tech

Mark Alamed has a great post about the history of Springfield's Techical High School, which was foolishly closed over 20 years ago for political reasons. My mother was a Tech graduate, and my father attended there for a time before dropping out to join the military. 

Above is a rare image of the Spring Street side of the school as it appeared around 1940. That section has been torn down, but the front part is still standing. To read Alamed's writing and see the historic photos click here.

New Year's 2010

End of the Decade Edition

A new decade starts tomorrow? Gosh, that went by quick. When me sainted grandmother was 92 she told me that the passage of a year at her age felt to her like only a month had gone by. That's the cosmic joke - when we are young and have decades before us, time seems to crawl and we wish it would go faster. Then when we are older, and are anxious for time to pass slowly lest it rush us towards the grave, it speeds up! God may be great, but he also has a sick sense of humor.

What is not humorous is the flurry of fires in Northampton which have already resulted in two deaths. The news media is going hysterical over it

.



The public however is staying cool. I mean what the hell else can you do?

Changes such as a new decade are often a time for a backward glance. Here are some odds and ends from my most reason expedition through my legendary vaults.

I found this Nixon for President button among my father's things after he died. My father was not a Nixon fan, but customers were always giving him campaign stuff at the bar, some of which he would save. 

Nixon's campaign slogan was "Nixon's the One." The one for what was never explained. Anyway, what worked for Tricky Dick was good enough for Springfield Mayor Mary Hurley, who adapted the slogan to suit her 1989 campaign. 

I also found among my father's things these old postal stamps from the days when they only cost five cents. I believe these date back to the 1960's.

Remember Camel Cash? Both Joe Camel and his cash were ultimately banned.

Jeff Hulbert reading my zine in 1992. 

Me and Jay Libardi in Pine Point in 1981

The photo from my spare drivers license in 1991.



My 1988 W-2 receipt from when I worked at the Springfield Newspapers.



A button commemorating the 360th birthday of Springfield in 1986, given to me by Kateri Walsh. 

My receipt for working at the polls in Springfield in 1998. 

Promotional photo from an appearance by Hot Tuna with Paul Kantner at Pearl Street in Northampton in 1988.

Still Riding


The funniest publication in Massachusetts is Boston's Weekly Dig. It can be hard to find out here in the boonies, but they usually have it at Newbury's Comix in downtown Amherst. I like this blurb they had to promote this week's appearance of the New Riders of the Purple Sage:

"America's premiere psychedelic cowboy band" has long since outgrown their humble origins as a Grateful Dead side project, easing into their dusty, patchouli's-for-sissies niche. Whereas the Dead evoke images of that acid-casualty uncle that sheds hemp bracelets and takes an hour to make coffee, The New Riders are more like that grizzled old guy at the corner of every bar that has a beard like a scab and only trips on peyote, because that's what God intended us to trip on, dammit.

Ken Kesey and Ken Babbs on New Years Eve 1995.

Happy New Year Everybody!