More on Mitt Romney and historic events

When Mitt Romney 60% of the voters in  New Hampshire's primary didn't vote for Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor declared, “Tonight we made history.” History, in this context, was manufactured because political wonks discovered that Romney is the first Republican non-incumbent presidential candidate to win nominating contests in both Iowa and New Hampshire.

No, my friends,  last Tuesday's "historic" moment is as historic as Al Bundy's four touchdowns in a high school football game. It's the worst kind of political geekery that passes for analysis, made even worse when raised up by a candidate on a national stage.

No, my friends, history was made with:

• the march on Selma to Montgomery in 1965


• the march on Washington in 1963


• the march on the Pentagon in 1968


• Juneteenth in 1865


• Nelson Mandela's walk from prison in 1990


• the ratification of the Bill of Rights in 1791


• the election of a black president in 2008

This history-is-waiting tidbit started showing up a couple of months ago. I haven't verified that Jim Geraghty's column in NRO, War-Gaming the GOP Early Contests, Six Weeks Out, is the very first mention, but it's among the earliest. The factoid gained momentum after Mitt's presumed eight-vote triumph in Iowa. It was held high by the candidate, much as a fifth-grader would raise a blue ribbon for the best bug collection.

All around the world, people are fighting and dying for the right to have a government of their choosing. Should we warn them that it's is what their future could be?

We, for varying values of we, are idiots.^™

R.I.P., Huck

Five years ago tonight, we had an ice storm. In the powerless quiet, my father sailed away.

Crime in suburbia

From The Landmark (subscription required):
[Editor's note: there were 19 suspicious items this week.]

Holden

Monday -- January 2

3:52 a.m. Suspicious vehicle, Wachusett St.
1:52 p.m. Suspicious vehicle, Newell Rd./Main St.
4:05 p.m. Caller reports leaving tools at home on Main St., Jefferson
11:54 p.m. Report of drug transaction in parking lot of business, Main St.

Tuesday -- January 3

10:03 a.m. Suspicious vehicle stopping at houses, taking pictures. Centerwood Dr.
2:04 p.m. Narcotics violation, Main St.
2:14 p.m. Narcotics violation, Main St.
2:16 p.m. Narcotics violation, Main St.
2:20 p.m. Narcotics violation, high school, Main St.
9:11 p.m. Female reports harassing voice mails from blocked phone, soliciting prostitution, Greenwood Pkwy.
9:30 p.m. Police check on vehicle with flashers activated, party reading a text, Bailey Rd.

Wednesday -- January 4

5:18 a.m. Water in street is freezing, S. Wachusett St.
6:27 a.m. Backyard skating rink broke and water is leaking into road, Birchwood Dr./Plymouth Rd.

Thursday -- January 5

8:41 a.m. Suspicious vehicle, open garage door, Gallair Cir. All set, contractors doing work
12:55 p.m. Suspicious incident, Jefferson Mill, Main St.
9:30 p.m. Suspicious vehicle, Manning St.

Friday -- January 6

10:20 a.m. Concerned citizen calling about male fishing on Unionville Pond. Caller doesn’t believe ice is safe
10:25 a.m. Person at station to advise they will be taking pictures of signs in town over the next few weeks
1:00 p.m. Narcotics violation, high school, Main St.
3:57 p.m. Caller hit a dog, Main/Broad Sts.
9:48 p.m. Group of kids standing around ice rink near senior center; appears the ice has been smashed

Saturday -- January 7

2:22 a.m. Suspicious vehicle, Surrey Ln.
12:22 p.m. Report of dog falling into water off the White Trail at Trout Brook, Manning St. Dog removed itself from water
2:47 p.m. Men with two trucks behind building, Princeton St.
5:11 p.m. Suspicious vehicle, Reservoir St.
9:53 p.m. Man dressed in black standing in travel lane, Main St.

Sunday -- January 8

12:20 a.m. Female locked herself out of bedroom, needs assistance with straightening coat hanger to pop the lock, Bull Run. Neighbor assisted
7:31 p.m. Suspicious vehicle parked at gate to Trout Brook, Manning St.
8:30 p.m. Report of five trucks drag racing up Main St.
9:03 p.m. Police check parking lot for kids hanging around, Main St.

Paxton

Thursday -- January 5

2:00 a.m. Rutland PD requests courtesy transport of male trying to get to Northbridge, Richards Ave.

Saturday -- January 7

3:53 p.m. Suspicious vehicle with hazard lights flashing, Marshall/Laurel Sts.
7:27 p.m. Caller reports gun fire in woods across from home, Suomi St.

Sunday -- January 8

12:11 p.m. Black and white dog in Grove St./Holden Rd. area
9:05 p.m. Suspicious vehicle in soccer field parking lot, Grove St.

Princeton

Monday -- January 2

11:55 a.m. Officer found cardboard box in roadway and removed it, Hubbardston Rd.

Thursday -- January 5

2:41 p.m. Report of loose chickens in road near Thomas Prince School, Sterling Rd.

Rutland

Monday -- January 2

11:07 a.m. Small dog loose and headed toward Rte. 68
12:03 p.m. Person out running was followed home by a chocolate Labrador, E. County Rd.

Tuesday -- January 3

9:12 a.m. Dead cat beside road, Main St.
4:05 p.m. Caller reports black bear in back yard, Main St.
6:56 p.m. Caller requesting assistance with vehicle lockout, Kalloch Dr.

Wednesday -- January 4

12:37 p.m. Dog running around the neighborhood, Peters Ave.

Thursday -- January 5

8:51 a.m. Suspicious white van and black car parked on Lowry Ln.
3:39 p.m. Request for police to check home foreclosed on where people are present, Winifreds Way
8:00 p.m. Officer enroute to Oakham to assist Oakham PD looking for a suspicious male, Forest Hill Dr., Oakham

Friday -- January 6

10:45 a.m. Person at station to file a complaint of a man sitting in a vehicle adjacent to his residence. When questioned, he started swearing at person, Maple Ave.

Saturday -- January 7

9:30 a.m. Caller reporting on an incident that occurred two weeks ago, Main St.
1:08 p.m. Officer assists person locked out of vehicle, Main St.
5:46 p.m. Caller reports looking at old house foundations and finding a pit with approximately a dozen animal remains in it, Ware Rd.
8:25 p.m. Caller wants to speak with officer about a call she made to police, Main St.
9:59 p.m. Complaint about loud music, Kosta Ave.

Sunday -- January 8

8:42 a.m. Person concerned about people walking on pond on Fisherman’s Rd., concerned they may fall through ice
4:00 p.m. Suspicious pickup in neighborhood going from driveway to driveway, two males inside, Clearview Rd.
4:00 p.m. Animal control officer located spot where animal remains found, Ware Rd. Environmental Police contacted

Sterling

Monday -- January 2

11:12 p.m. Vehicle hit deer on Princeton Rd. by tree farm. Front-end damage to vehicle.

Wednesday -- January 4

1:38 p.m. Caller observed man standing outside car two days in a row, Mellon Hollow/Leominster Rds.
7:16 p.m. Advised business owner of suspicious motor vehicle parked near building. Spoke with occupant; he is picking his wife up at work, Northeast Blvd.
9:43 p.m. Motorist reporting figure in long black coat, white hat, standing by building at Maple/Pine Sts. Could not determine gender

Thursday -- January 5

10:29 a.m. Walk-in to give larceny report regarding recovered jewelry. Victim was unaware that jewelry had been stolen.

Friday -- January 6

10:19 a.m. Black pickup truck observed driving onto posted “no hunting” property, Redstone Hill Rd. Party says he is there with permission to remove a felled tree
10:41 a.m. Two swans on lake, vicinity of Hall Ave. Appears one is deceased
10:50 a.m. Motor vehicle accident, Justice Hill Rd. Unoccupied vehicle stuck on wall, may have run over female’s foot
11:12 a.m. Wild animal in distress, S. Nelson Rd.
4:24 p.m. Caller reporting unfamiliar car in neighbor’s driveway. It is new home health aide

Saturday -- January 7

10:49 a.m. Walk-in reports gray cat missing overnight
11:54 p.m. Person lying on grass at end of Olde Parich Ln. Friend will pick up

Sunday -- January 8

7:05 a.m. Two beagles reported in yard, Matthew Ln.
11:46 a.m. Multiple reports of cows loose in Clinton Rd.
12:16 p.m. Raccoon on deck, Belmont Dr. Caller told to stay inside until animal control officer arrives
9:14 p.m. Caller hears loud noise in house, Olde Parish Ln. Noise was from sister

Want some free points? Nah, I'd rather make the highlight film.

For as long as I can remember, I've told every player, coach, and fan that high school coaches must do a better job of teaching kids how to shoot free throws. They nod politely and move away from me. At the next practice, I see kids working on fast breaks, three-pointers, and the muscle show. Each game, they'll leave 10, 12, 15 points on the floor as a pile of bricks.

Great coaches and players at all levels lose games for their teams because they will not work on free throws. According to most statistics, free-throw percentages improved in the last 50 years. In every sport, records have fallen in successive generations, but not here. A baseball equivalent might be the hitter who swings at each pitch outside the strike zone in the hope taking one yard. Rather than accepting a walk, the hitter strikes out or hits a weak grounder to second.

One coach, Cob  Carlson, profiled in today's Globe, has developed a program called Automatic Free Throws. Carlson would love to work with Rajon Rondo to help the Celtics' All-Star point guard improve his clang-worthy 59% free-throw percentage. (Ray Allen has a career 91%. Two former Celtics, Larry Bird and Bill Sharman, shot better than 88%.) So far, however, the Celtics have not responded to Carlson's offer to help, nor has any other NBA team.

Use averages to make a bad choice of a college major

Lily Tomlin used to say that if we could grow up to have the jobs of our dreams, we'd have a world filled with cowboys and ballerinas.

There's no shortage of studies showing the relative economic value of various college degrees. This morning's Boston Globe carries a Washington Post story that asks and answers this question again. What’s a college degree worth? Depends on your major.The story points out the average starting salary for graduates in selected fields.

Yup, it does. What's never mentioned in these articles is anything about the student's aptitude or abilities or credentials. The articles suggest that young people should do the research and make the best decision about lifetime incomes. It's simple math.

Average salaries give you just enough information to make a bad choice of college major decision or career. Dan Ariely noted, "Everyone, except for the very depressed, overestimates their chances when it comes to good things..." Further, as the number of people obtain degrees in these desired fields, the market can saturate and salaries can plummet. Take a look at what's going on with the number of law school graduates, as seen in Students Employed As Strippers’ Should Be Part Of A Law School’s Ranking.

I've seen plenty of artists who are working in technical or scientific professions. A few can blend these skills and build creative solutions. I've seen just as many who are terribly mismatched. They bring glory to neither their skills nor their profession. They can be a danger to others.

I've seen plenty of people accumulate debt and anxiety while studying for careers for which they are well-suited. Even though we have computers to do our math for us, programmers need to have superior math skills to tell the computers what kind of math to do. It's not simple math

Your poet-programmer who takes two or three times as long to solve a problem will be producing at an hourly rate of a barista. Folks who are that productive don't stay employed for long.

The same, by the way, works in reverse. I speak from experience. In a couple of days, I could learn how to strum a tune on the guitar or plink it out on the piano. Several of my grandchildren could achieve the same in about 20 minutes, having fun in the process.

The American myth is that anyone can be anything. It's a cruel myth. There are so many more factors that go into success and/or happiness.

• You have to choose, but that's not all you have to do.


• You have to work, but that you have to do.


• You have to have skills, opportunity, and good luck,  but that's not all you need.

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1. Choose a major based on what you're good at.


2. If you're not particularly skilled in something, pick what excites and throw in a few risky things as well.
   Don't worry about GPA. As a manager, I never ask for or cared about GPA. Some companies might care, but fewer than you think.


3. If you don't have skill or passion, but can afford it, stay in college, hoping that some spark might begin to glow.
   If you can't stay or if nothing happens, maybe it's not time.
   I didn't get my B.A. until my late 20s. I wasn't the oldest in my graduating class.  I had, by then, a definite career goal - a Ph.D. program followed by teaching.
   I crashed and burned two months in.
   I've since had a great life and career in a field for which I was never trained.

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