Marc Comtois

Bury Power Lines? Too Expensive

By Marc Comtois | November 1, 2012 |

After Irene, the idea of burying power lines was bandied about. As I recall, the cost of such an endeavor was a major disincentive. Here’s some hard numbers from Popular Mechanics: 80 percent of our power lines are located aboveground, and the main reason for that is cost. “It’s tremendously expensive to bury power lines,”…

Batten Down The Hatches!!

By Marc Comtois | October 29, 2012 |

Flags up, stay safe!!!

The Benghazi Coverup

By Marc Comtois | October 26, 2012 |

It’s been the cover-up story “relegated” to Fox News and the internet. But perhaps it will change now that we know the Obama Administration refused the CIA military support 3 times during the Benghazi Consulate attack. [A]n urgent request from the CIA annex for military back-up during the attack on the U.S. consulate and subsequent…

Do Women Think Only With Their……

By Marc Comtois | October 26, 2012 |

As a husband, father, son, brother, friend etc. of fine ladies young and old, I think a political campaign that continually targets women by focusing on areas related to female sexuality does a disservice to the most important organ women have: their brains. I’m pretty sure women are also interested in the economy and foreign…

“Cheerful Pessimist” Jacques Barzun Dead at 104

By Marc Comtois | October 26, 2012 |

Historian, teacher and cultural critic Jacques Barzun, one of my intellectual “heroes”, passed away at 104. What a life! He wrote about pretty much everything, but his historical writing culminated with his From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life, 1500 to the Present. He also authored books on writing and historical method,…

Obama Vows to Reform Medicare/Social Security….in 2008

By Marc Comtois | October 16, 2012 |

Andrew Kaczynski reminds us of the promises, promises then-Senator Obama made in the ’08 town hall debate (video at the link): On Budget: “I’m cutting more than I’m spending.” On Budget: I want to go through the budget line by line, eliminate programs that don’t work, and make programs that do work cost less. On…

Democrats Try to Put Fighter Pilot Back in the Kitchen

By Marc Comtois | October 13, 2012 |

Rhode Island native Martha McSally is running as a Republican for the 2nd Congressional District in Arizona. Her opponent is Ron Barber, winner of a special election in April and former aid to Gabby Giffords. Nancy Pelosi’s Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is running this ad against McSally: McSally thinks the ad’s portrayal of her is…

Veep Debate Aftermath

By Marc Comtois | October 12, 2012 |

Last night, for those who followed our live-tweeting of the Vice Presidential debate, Matt Allen tweeted out that Biden was killing Ryan. I countered that, no, in fact these debates are often much more about optics than what is being said (for good or bad). After the debate, Charles Krauthammer observed that those listening to…

Lara Logan on Al Qaeda in Afghanistan

By Marc Comtois | October 11, 2012 |

I know it’s the economy and we’re all war weary, but we can’t ignore foreign policy. Benghazi has shown that. So does the current state of Afghanistan. The reason we got into Afghanistan–the support provided to Al Qaeda by the Taliban–still exists. CBS News correspondent Lara Logan did a report for “60 Minutes” a couple…

Brown Poll Gives Insight on RI Voter Mindset

By Marc Comtois | October 10, 2012 |

The latest Brown Poll is full of approval ratings and horse-race numbers. Ian Donnis and Ted Nesi are just a couple of those breaking it down. For me, the most interesting was the contrast between question #15 and #16: 15. Would you describe the state of Rhode Island’s economy these days as excellent, good, not…