Another war ends... Iraq starts to implode

For those boomers who can remember.. how many wars have ended in your lifetime?
Does that not give you a moment of pause?


Thirteen years and more than 2,000 American casualties after it began, and a trillion dollars later the war in Afghanistan will conclude responsibly, President Barack Obama said on Sunday.

see the story at CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/28/politics/obama-afghanistan-end-of-combat/index.html

20 thousand wounded... while a small force remain, soldiers will face uncertainty and danger as long as they stay. And lets not forget, we are going to see more and more younger vet's with serious battle scares of the brain and body. Let's hope the new VA will take care of them all.

I get why we went... revenge was in our hearts...9-11 changed our thinking and young men and women realized patriotism was in and joined by the thousands. Even with the Taliban leader dead... our mission will most likely involve us going back in to fight a new more barbaric group of religious fanatics. Bombing them out of existence may prove fruitless. More beheading's will spur more retaliation on our part.

Perhaps we can hear from a veteran... of any war...to comment

Was officer Duncan's conduct objectivley reasonable dealing with Euri Stamps?

 After reading the entire court decision, I'm convinced even more now, that the internal investigation by DA Loen after the killing of Mr. Stamps, was inadequate.

We know now that Officer Duncan, drew down on Mr. Stamps with an assault riffle, as he complied with the officer and with hands on his head, even though the officer was told that Mr. Stamps posed no threat by the commanders and offered no resistance. The officer's finger was on the trigger, knowing full well, the safety was off. While the judge has ruled officer Duncan will not be liable to pay damages, the Town and it's insurers appear to be on the hook. 

Questions that I still have are:
Who decided to call in SWAT for this young thug?
Who decided to send the cops in, even after the suspect was in handcuffs?
Did officer Duncan get drug tested after the shooting?
How many hours that day did the officer work before the deployment of the SWAT Team?
Does officer Duncan's per-employment psych exam indicate any racial bias?
Should we feel safe with an officer in Town that has violated department policy relating to gun safety?
Was there ANY discipline of Officer Duncan by the BOS or the Police Administration??

We won't know until Town Meeting what the financial damages to the Town are, but I surmise it will be 1 million at least for the wrongful death part. But if the jury finds Officer Duncan violated Mr. Stamps constitutional rights, the award may be much much more. While Town Counsel has brushed this off as "we are insured for such cases" and that his firm will not be involved, I believe any award over what the insurance company will pay, will be born by the Town's coffers, in legal fee's paid to big shot attorneys defending the town in federal court. Can you spell SMOC

While Chief Carl read the tea leaves and disbanded the SWAT Team, before he left town, as a result of the killing, I still wonder how the Town leadership can sit on their thrones and not take a stand. An innocent black man was unlawfully killed by our cops, in the name of the war on drugs. The very same cops we rely on for our safety. The very same cops who went to the wrong address and held a mother of her kids at gun point. All to serve a warrant on a drug dealer. Where does it end? How many innocent people will have to die before we DE-escalte? 

I have faith in our Police Chief that he will do the right thing and he should not be judged for the actions of his predecessor, but I for one would like to see Officer Duncan plying his craft somewhere else, along with any of the sworn force that believe black lives don't matter.


http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCOURTS-mad-1_12-cv-11908/pdf/USCOURTS-mad-1_12-cv-11908-0.pdf

The "Interview" plays... Joe Cocker left us

I'm pleased to see the independent movie house play the movie, for multiple reasons. The biggest is free speech. Even the President took a stand. Who do the N Koreans think they are? All the threats over a comedy?  That young mad man running the show in the North needs to acquire a sense of humor. Well maybe rent one, as they have little to no economy to begin with.

So now You Tube will play it, sell it and rent it.... now were talking capitialism. Be the first on your block to see it... You'll pay more in the theraters for sure but don't look for it there for a long time.
ANY incident at a Movie House would be disastrous for the industry. Look for metal detectors and airport like security of anything happens. And if the N Koreans are involved, look for the US to stop the sun from shinning over that country, one way or the other.


I saw Joe Cocker a few years ago on the Cape. With his back round singers, sang every song I wanted to hear. "Ticket for an airplane", originally from the Box Tops, was never done better. The brass section and great piano make that song a classic. Paul McCartney said today, that Joe's rendition of "High with the help of my friends", was the best he'd ever heard it done. Joe was not at the last Woodstock reunion I went to but who can forget his performance at Woodstock. No one had that gravely voice and those moves were legendary satire for John Bulishi in Saturday Night Live.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11309189/Joe-Cocker-obituary.html

Cuba's beachs... A State Budget defict of 700 million

As a lover of white sand beaches in the Caribbean, I can't wait to through my towel down on a Cuban beach... in a communist country... with 57 Chevy's that still run.

When the Castro's go... a new vacation island will appear and who knows, they may want to trade with us. All good I say and about time. That's one place and people we shouldn't fear.

The amount of the State budget deficit continues to increase. Deval's people said it was 300 million and now Mass Taxpayers Foundation Michael Widmer says it could be double that. Charlie will have his work load handed to him trying to balance the needs of the State while trying to fix what the ruling party has done once again, leave the house in financial trouble. And the move by Deval to transfer 500 managerial employees to a union, so to be protected from being let go when Charlie takes the reins, takes the patronage cake. 

Think back at this time at the next Town Meeting as the cuts may effect local aid and or education. All of which will hurt Framingham's budget.

Legalizing Marijuana ... the debate continues

As a result of the latest series of Public Policy Questions asked in November, which were overwhelmingly passed, Globe West published 2 opposing views. If Beacon Hill does not act in time, come 2016, the people will weigh in on this, as they have in the past, favorably.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/west/2014/12/13/the-argument-two-view-legalizing-marijuana/4Pc03jvii48YvZhtX90CtN/story.html#comments

Watching a friend die

Nothing slaps you in the face of your own mortality as when you witness a friend's slow but sure demise. Having lost many of my own relatives and parents years ago, I was reminded of the agony the family and friends go through as well as your sick friend.

In 2000 I was collecting signatures in front of CVS and Country Fair Market for Framingham's first Public Policy Question and met many. One older grey haired women, after hearing my speech, signed the ballot. Little did I know, this grey haired senior citizen would play such a role in my life. And in 2002 I decided to run for State Rep and was contacted by Toni Burrill. She asked if she might help gather signatures.. and that she did. She asked all her neighbors, family and friends. I did get on the ballot and lost my shirt to Deb Blummer. That same year, I started the talk show "Jim Pillsbury Live" and almost every show, Toni would call in, with a great question of our guests.

In 2004 my old friend Grave Easton became my co-host and played solo acoustic guitar and sung his own songs. Toni was Grave's biggest fan and loved his songs. In the Candle Light was her favorite song and if Grave didn't sing it on that show, she always let me know.

In 2012 I ran again and of coarse, Toni was collecting signatures for me. As her health waned, she couldn't get to her beloved TM. Toni wanted me to be at TM, so she didn't run again and I was elected to TM.

And then last year, she once again, collected signatures for my last Public Question. She believed in Democracy and how her signature meant something.

In the last months of her life, she was at Windgate and I would see her every day. I would take this frail women outside for a but, have a laugh or two and she really enjoyed it and got into trouble for doing it.

Toni was and will always be in my memories as long as I live.

Sunday at Boyle Brothers on Union Ave from 4 to 6PM is the wake

Monday at St George's at 10AM is her service.

Toni requested no flowers.

Ice Rink repairs top 5 million

I wonder how many readers think spending 5Mill plus on the Loring Arena?
I get the ADA upgrades and the his and hers lockers and showers.. of coarse.

Not being a hockey parent ever, I missed out on how nice it is to practice and play in Framingham, but may be a hard sell at TM. There are plenty of questions on why we own and run that place now. I thought we had approved monies at TM last year for Arena repairs, but perhaps I'm mistaken.


I can't wait to hear what else is in capital this year. More trucks for DPW to match the trash bins, I'm sure. And a new building for the "inventory".