Finneran: Odds and Ends

Friday, January 11, 2019

Tom Finneran, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™

The Boston Globe writes a front-page story about women wearing those long dark puffy coats and asks the question “have these women given up”? Apparently the Globe deems it important for women to feel the oppression of “fashion” which highlights the female form. This is the type of absurdist fashion which puts gullible women in the clutches of hustlers selling wickedly uncomfortable shoes, ever-changing “seasons”, and ever more expensive “styles”. I like the female form as much as anybody, but I prefer a sensible woman who realizes that winter in New England is no joke. Hey Globe---women are wearing those coats because they work. They keep you warm, which is of course the purpose of a winter coat. Perhaps the progressive Globe is not as progressive as it claims. I, on the other hand, am a true feminist. More power to the ladies and power to those long dark puffy coats.
Speaking of progressives, are they really enthralled by the notion of a seventy percent—70%!!!—federal tax rate? This is as absurd as the Globe’s posture on long dark puffy coats. A government which demands a seventy percent tax rate is not a government. It is a monster. Perhaps the monster will spare its subjects. Perhaps the progressives will sober up. Don’t hold your breath.
Must we continue to glorify Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez before she has done anything at all? I am reminded of hotshot rookies who enter the NFL or the NBA and get hit with a hard dose of reality. Major League baseball too……….how many times has the next “phenom” fallen flat on his face when he meets next-level competition? And at least said hotshot rookies actually succeeded at something as they worked their way up the food chain. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has yet to do anything in her young life. Yet the press is utterly breathless. Their adoration is mis-placed. It belongs on the researchers in the midst of the march against Alzheimer’s and ALS. It belongs on the teachers who inspire young people to believe in themselves. It belongs on the surgeons who save lives. And it belongs on those who protect our freedoms from bad actors.
Here’s to a worthy New Year’s resolution. Be cheerful. Choose to forego the manufactured fevers of our age. Everyone seems to hit the outrage button ten times a day. Spare me the effects of “social media”. It is not social in any way. It gives a megaphone to obnoxious people.
They are not worthy of my time or yours. Tune them out and laugh at the absurdity of life. Why argue politics with people you’ve never met? Why get agitated over things you cannot control? Twitter mobs? No thank you. There’s more than enough rage in the human heart.
Who will host the Oscars? Who cares? Kevin Hart is being drawn and quartered for some politically incorrect remarks he made about ten years ago. So much for perspective. So much for forgiveness. The rage machine rumbles on with those oh so tolerant progressives sharpening the guillotine. Please remind me how much I’d like to hang out and grab a drink with them. On second thought, please don’t.
All is not lost in the year 2019. The year started off with the continuous awe of human life and human achievement. Babies were born. Every one of them is a miracle. Every one of them is precious. Don’t let the frequency of the event blind you to its awesomeness. And scientists demonstrated the genius of humanity. On New Year’s Day, NASA’s New Horizon space probe flew in for a close-up of the most distant object in our solar system. The object—Ultima Thule—is four billion miles from the sun. Four billion! This is the most distant exploration undertaken in world history. The New Horizon probe was launched in January of 2006. Its mission was to study Pluto. Some eight years after launch, Ultima Thule was discovered by the Hubble Telescope team. Thus, a new additional target presented itself. After the brilliant photographic exploration of Pluto in July of 2015, NASA team members adjusted the course of the spacecraft to fly by that new target, another billion miles down the road. This is jaw-dropping brilliance, plain and simple.

Awe never gets old.

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Tom Finneran is the former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, served as the head the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, and was a longstanding radio voice in Boston radio.

Finneran: Odds and Ends

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Finneran: Odds and Ends

Related Slideshow: PHOTOS: Inauguration Day - January 1, 2019

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