3D Ramblings 3/23/12

This has been a long week.  My brackets are busted, I have been trying to figure out my land re-assessment, or lack thereof and now I have a meathead neighbor who thinks he is a tough guy and owns the neighborhood.  And the Occupiers are back, really this is just a spring/summer protest? Yeah, a week in the life of 3D

Massachusetts Political Corruption – Massachusetts just recently received a “C” from the Center for Public Corruption.  It ranked 10^th in the country.  I have no idea what goes into coming up with these laws but New Jersey was ranked 1^st in the country.   The corruption in this state is so bad that Se. Scott Brown recently joked about House Speaker DiLeo not feeling comfortable being speaker until he hears the words “You have the right to remain silent”

Tim Murray’s new career – I have to admit that I chuckled when I recently saw Tim Murray show up at a St. Patrick’s Day breakfast wearing a NASCAR outfit.  It shows some humility but it doesn’t hide the fact that there is still something missing from this story.  Maybe one day it will come out, but hey we are the 10^th least state susceptible to corruption, so I am guessing the truth will not come out.

TSA – Another black eye for airport security.  A video was recently released showing a TSA agent patting down a 3 year old boy……..in a wheelchair.  I’m all for heightened security and making our skies safer but one thing I have noticed the many times I have flown and have been “randomly” selected (each time).  There is no common sense with these agents and with as little common sense they do have they do feel they are smarter than you.  Like the lady in San Francisco who held the security line for 10 minutes because she couldn’t identify a wine glass in one of my carry-ons.  Or the agent in Philadelphia who made me go back through the line because she forgot to tell me to take my flip flops off.  Had I not been waiting for the 6 TSA agents to determine what to do with a candle I would have been let loose in the Philly airport.  Common Sense people, that’s all we ask.

Double Your Pleasure – A house in Clinton was hit by a car twice over St. Patrick’s Day weekend by drunk drivers.  Luckily nobody was hurt or displaced.  I guess there really isn’t anything else to do in Clinton.

BU – In “the Social Network” Mark Zuckerberg took a shot at Boston University because he felt they were not intellectually up to par with Harvard.  Well, now he has a new reason to take shots at them.  The recent stories of Hazing and sexual assault by BU students makes people consider what is going on at that school.  Every time I hear a story of binge drinking, hazing or sexual misconduct at a Boston school, it’s always BU.  It’s time the administration take control of their students and rebuild the reputation of that fine institution.

“Mind if we dance with your date” – That will be the common question asked to Mike Stone of Minnesota.  All the girls at his high school either rejecting his request to go to prom or already had dates.  So Stone took to Twitter and asked his favorite porn stars to go to the prom.  He finally got a positive response and is now raising money to pay for the flight for his date.  Mom and Dad must be so proud!  The adult film star, who is 19, said that she wanted to go because she was not able to go to hers.  That’s maybe because she was expelled for sleeping with a teacher, just speculating.

Class Action? – I can’t believe that this happened at a law office.  Employees at a Florida law firm were all fired because they all wore orange shirts to work on pay day.  The management of the firm claimed that the employees were staging some form of protest against the firm.  The employees claimed that they wear orange on pay days because they all go out for drinks and wanted to look like a group.  I guess somewhere in the middle of this is the truth.  I find it hard to believe that a law firm would act so irrationally.  But then again it is Florida and I have seen crazier things.

New Tax – A Baltimore school teacher is under fire because she is accused of shaking kids down for their lunch money.  She also had a swear or “act-up” jar, the students would need to pay a quarter every time they acted up.  Well, I guess that’s one way to make up for budget shortfalls.  You just can’t make this stuff up.

Trayvon Martin – This story disgusts me.  The fact that this man George Zimmerman is not behind bars, or not even in custody is the actual crime.  The police hiding behind a law that is stupid in the first place.  I am not going to come out and say that this shooting was racially motivated, I don’t know enough about it.  But the more I hear about it, the more inclined I am to think it was. If the roles were reversed Martin would  be in jail.  The “Stand your Ground” law should be used at trial and not during the investigation.  Let a jury of Zimmerman’s peers determine if he was acting in self-defense.

Bounty-gate – The NFL came down hard on the New Orleans Saints this week and deservedly so.  Maybe now the public will leave the Patriots alone as this pales in comparison.  The fact that you need to motivate a professional athlete even more by paying him extra on top of his millions of dollars to hurt someone is mind boggling to me.  Just saying.

No Justice? – This one ranks up there with OJ.  The acquittal yesterday of the men accused of murdering 4 people, one was a 2 year old boy in Mattapan 2 years ago just shows how unfair the justice system is.  The families still have no closure, and the man who potentially shot these people were set free and cannot be tried again.  Did the DA’s office move this to trial to quickly?  It remains to be seen.  However, my thoughts are with the families of the deceased.

3D

Coming Right Atcha

Got Flights?

The departure of Direct Air from Worcester Regional Airport came as a large surprise (pick up the sarcasm.  The only surprising part of it was how abrupt it was.  At least the previous airlines gave the airport some notice that they were pulling out of the airport.  The Direct Air experience in Worcester was simply too good to be true.  I personally have not flown Direct Air so I have no personal opinion regarding the airline.  However, what I have read and heard was mixed.  The day the story broke, I immediately e-mailed a friend of mine that is heading to Florida in April to visit her in-laws.  She and her husband had flown Direct Air previously and had a wonderful experience.  Then there was the fiasco around the holidays when flights were delayed with no explanation to passengers.  Those were the stories you would hear, so the future of the airline was inevitable, but nobody wanted to read the writing on the wall.

So what next at Worcester Regional Airport (ORH)?  The city has wiped its hands clean of it by selling the airport MassPort in 2010.  So is there a difference if the city runs the airport at a loss or if the state does?  It's all taxpayer money getting thrown at it.  MassPort has said that they will not close ORH because they still feel it is a viable airport.  That's wonderful news, but it is time for MassPort to fish or cut bait.  The residents of Worcester are fed up with the inconsistency of the airport and want this problem resolved, because to be quite honest we keep throwing money at the problem and it continues to operate at a loss.  Not a popular decision in tough economic times.  MassPort needs to take one thing into consideration when deciding what’s next, the customer.

There are two options when it comes to ORH and they are simply cut in dry.  If MassPort truly feels that ORH is a viable airport they need to put a full court press on and think outside the box, that’s the first option.  The second option is to close the airport and convert the land into a wind farm or sell the land to developers.

I am in support of the first option but a realistic one.  MassPort and the City of Worcester need to get the "Pie in the Sky" attitude when it comes to the airport.  They cannot simply just look at non-connecting carriers when it comes to attracting airlines to ORH, been there, done that and we don't even have a t-shirt to prove it.  ORH is the FAA abbreviation Worcester REGIONAL airport, which should be the first approach that Massport should take. Start with utilizing the Northeast region for flights.  Work on deals that send flights to Portland, Burlington, Buffalo, Baltimore, New York, Newark and Atlantic City.  In the summer try to get some flights to Martha's Vineyard.  There may not be many flights going this route, but it is better than nothing.

MassPort needs to start playing "Let's Make a Deal" with the airlines it deals with.  They should approach Jet Blue and Southwest and waive any airport fees to fly a minimum amount of flights out of Worcester, at the same time give them discounts at Logan Airport to grow their presence there.  Andrew Davis, who is the director of the airport, says that those airlines would not think of that move because Logan airport is only at 85% capacity.  This is where MassPort needs to get crafty, don't sell it as an overflow option but an additional growth opportunity for those airlines.  Use the "viability" of the airport as a selling point.

Another option Massport can do is use the airport as a connector airport as opposed to the direct route.  Approach the big airlines and offer the puddle jump option for the airlines.  For instance, the people that fly to Orlando, run it through Newark.  Instead of spending an hour in the car and traffic to go to Boston, drive up to Worcester, save a substantial amount on parking and run a connecting flight to Newark.  That flight is an hour long.  It's a wash.

There is hope for Worcester Regional Airport, if it's done right.  Accessibility to the airport will always be an issue, but the city council should not address it until MassPort does their job.  Use the new casino law to be an easy access to point to the Western Mass resort, don't let that go to Bradley.  There is ample opportunity but there needs to be some dealing and a lot of thinking outside the box.  Unfortunately, I don't have the faith in Massport to do the right thing and they will continue to lose the reported $3 million a year.  I think City Manager Michael O'Brien can work his magic.  Let's hope so.

3D
Coming Right Atcha

3D Ramblings 3/16/2012

I am mad as hell and I can’t take it anymore!!!!

Direct Air – So the news of Direct Air suspending their flights until at May 15 comes to a surprise to ……nobody.  It was too good to be true and we all knew it would not last.  So now MassPort needs to step up, along with the Worcester City Council.  If the city wants the airport to be viable let’s get real airlines in here and let’s get the infrastructure the airport needs to succeed.  If not, either sell the land or convert it into a wind farm and let’s make some use of that land.

Bomb Threat on Airline – A domestic dispute led to a boyfriend calling in a bomb threat on the plane the girlfriend was on causing the flight to be diverted to Buffalo to be swept.  Two points on this, first the two need to be treated like every other terrorist that gets caught.  Send them to Gitmo, and let them see how the U.S. is not messing around with its air safety. Secondly, do we think that less of Buffalo that we would send a potential bomb to its airport?  Or is it because it borders Canada?   Just asking.

1^st Amendment?  -  A Lynn (MA) English high school student, who happens to be a Lesbian, was reprimanded and forced to change a shirt she wore to school promoting her lifestyle.  The shirt said “all the cool girls are lesbians”.  I don’t think the issue here is gay vs. straight, which media wants it to be.  I think it’s an “I’m gay and I am better than you issue”.  Sometimes pointing out your lifestyle is just out of line.  Just look at those clowns on Jersey Shore.  If she was wearing an “I’m not gay, but my girlfriend is” t-shirt I think she would have a better argument.  That’s just my opinion.

Remarried – Long Island Lolita victim Mary Jo Buttafuoco recently remarried in Las Vegas.  I would like to make a joke here but the tragedy that this woman went through was punishment enough.  I wish her well and hope this guy is nothing like her meat head ex-husband.

Things that make you go hmmmmm…..- The Today Show recently ran a story saying that stores have seen a recent spike in the theft of…..wait for it….Tide.  Yep, the laundry detergent apparently has a quick street turnaround for the druggies in this country.  So if you see me walking out of BJ’s with a pallet full of Tide, I have started my own enterprise and it is better to not ask questions.

Pay – The Telegram and Gazette just ran its annual top earners in the City.  The Police Chief and the Superintendent of Schools topped the list.  There is no problem with that.  What I found staggering was that the Fire Chief was 42^nd on the list behind 11 Police Officers and 24 Sergeants, Lieutenants and Deputy Chiefs.  There were no teachers or Firefighters on that list.  Just saying

Wedding Fees – Only in Worcester does the City Council take away an abuse of job by a city official and employee and reward them with a raise.  So basically they said “We know you pocketed money that should go into the city coffers, so don’t do it anymore.  But to make up for that loss of money here is a raise”  What the hell is the difference????

U.S. New Flag – A U.S. Flag with the picture of President Obama where the stars should be.  This is not the fault of the President but it does goes to show the fascination that the media created with this man.  His supporters will go to no lengths to offend anyone to promote how awesome he is.

Darwin award – So recently if you are a friend of my on Facebook you saw me share a picture that said I when I am bored I send a text to a random number that said “I hid the body…now what?”.  Well, I bet you can guess where this going.  A 15 year old Arkansas girl did it….but the random number happen to be a Police detective.  Can’t fix Stupid.

Finally – It’s the most wonderful time of the year.  Not Christmas, but March Madness.  I love this time of year.  I could literally watch basketball all day.  As of right now I already won my bracket because I go with the philosophy of “Anybody but UConn”.  They lost last night.  My prediction, Michigan State wins the whole thing.

3D

Coming Right Atcha