For nearly three years I traveled around the United States to upwards of 30 states and every week I rented a car. Seldom did I use the same rental company and drove a potpourri of cars manufactured in this country, Korea, Germany and Japan.

Here are some interesting statistics that I hope all will enjoy.

In a survey of 200 children (6-9 yrs.) taken by Tootsie's of London (July 2008):

98% could not identify an artichoke

I stay away from the letters page in the Monitor these days, reading only the original letter and wincing as I glance through the people posting replies. It has been vitriolic of late as one of the most nasty campaign seasons grinds to a conclusion in about two weeks.

In March an ordinance passed in Barnstead, wrapped in a pretty package masquerading as protection of our water table under the guise of a way to stop companies from coming in and pumping bottled water from that table.

Boston Market closed it's doors and ceased operations in Concord last week.  This closure and future closures by Boston Market should come as no surprise.

I can speak to this topic precisely as I was the training manager for Boston Market back in 1995-1997 and I opened several units for the company before landing in Concord and running that as a training store for the New England area. 

I wanted to spark a discussion about the way both progressives and conservatives view themselves and their philosophy.

A progressive Democrat sent me an email and copied several others who I assume are progressives. This list illustrates the thought process of liberals and progressives. Below that list I took the liberty to modify and comment on it! Maybe this will spur interesting discussion of each point.

New Challenges       

A few months back, an anonymous person sent me a less than flattering letter filled with critique of my letter and blog writing.  They attacked me personally and brought up, what this pompous dolt thought were valid points as to why; I had no right to speak my mind on anything. 

With politics front and center in the news, I have had little time to focus on much else on my blog. Today I am taking a break to offer some quick mentions of new music from artists that you may have never heard of or have forgotten.

Below is a very interesting piece that I picked up on line.  In parentheses are my comments.  It illustrates what is wrong with Congress and how some people are just not picking up on what is really going on: