Bryan Strawser

You are here: Home / Archives for Massachusetts

Massachusetts

William Manchester Dies at Age 82

by ·

The Boston Globe is reporting that author William Manchester has died, aged 82:

Author William Manchester, who wrote a popular epic biography of Winston Churchill but was crippled by strokes before he could complete volume three, died Tuesday of cancer, his daughter said. He was 82.

Manchester penned 18 books, including two novels, but became famous for his controversial chronicle of the assassination of his friend, President Kennedy, and biographies of other 20th century giants such as Churchill, Douglas MacArthur and the Rockefellers.

He died in his sleep at his home in Middletown, Laurie Manchester said.

”He would have wanted to be remembered as a writer first and foremost, and then as a historian,” she said. ”Writing came to him easily, it was like breathing.”

This an incredible loss for the biography world – Manchester wrote some of the leading biographies of the 20th century, including studies of Kennedy, Churchill, MacArthur, the Rockefellers, and many others. It’s a shame that he won’t be able to finish his last book about Winston Churchill.

Memorial Day: Memories of Flags

by ·

I was involved with Scouting from a very early age. I was, at first, a Cub Scout, then a Webelos, and finally a Boy Scout.

The weekend before Memorial Day, in my first year as a Boy Scout, my troop and I spent the entire weekend placing flags on the graves of all of the veterans in two of the townships in Fountain County, Indiana – mostly around my hometown of Covington, Indiana. There were hundreds of them – including my paternal grandfather, James “Jay” Strawser, who served in the Second World War.

It was this experience, and many others like it growing up, that have instilled in me, a deep recognition of the sacrifice that our veterans have made.

This picture in today’s Boston Globe reminded me of those many days spent in the late spring sun, planting flags and remembering those that came before us:


photo

The Honda Civic Hybrid

by ·

Two weeks ago, while making my normal morning commute into Boston on MA Route 24 in a bit of rain, I managed to rear end a Ford F-150 Truck. The resulting crash, while at a very low speed, caused around $3000 in damage to my 1999 Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic Hybrid. Yup, you got it. Hybrid.

Gas prices here in Massachusetts are at $2.20 / gallon right now. A quick review of the financials on the Civic showed that I’d get a $1500 tax credit for buying the car and would save around $2100 annually on gas. that’s a pretty easy sell for me – even if the car was more expensive than I’ve been paying for cars over the last ten years.

The Prius was nowhere to be found – turns out that there’s only three for sale in the state right now – none close to me and not a one in the color or option combination that I’d be interested in.

My local Honda dealer in Raynham, Massachusetts, Silko Honda, called me a few hours after my initial inquiry via Honda’s Website and we made arrangements for me to meet with a salesperson. Once there, I don’t mess around. I hit my questions, went on a test drive, and bought the car.

I brought her home on Sunday:


DSC03394


DSC03396


DSC03403

So far I’ve driven 31 miles around town and averaged 44.6 miles per gallon. Not a bad start to my new life as a Honda Civic Hybrid owner.

UMass President Bodyslams Student Author over Tillman Piece

by ·

Yesterday’s Boston Globe reports on this shit from the left:

A college newspaper columnist who wrote that NFL player and Army Ranger Pat Tillman “got what was coming to him” when he was killed in Afghanistan triggered a furor at the University of Massachusetts yesterday, drawing hundreds of angry responses from across the country and a scathing statement from Jack M. Wilson, new president of the University of Massachusetts.

Writing in the UMass-Amherst Daily Collegian, graduate student Rene Gonzalez, called Tillman “a `GI Joe’ guy who got what was coming to him.”

Tillman, who gave up a $3.6 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals to enlist in the Army after Sept. 11, was killed in a firefight in eastern Afghanistan last week.

“That was not heroism; it was prophetic idiocy,” Gonzalez wrote. His piece, which ran on Wednesday, was paired with a second column praising Tillman’s heroism.

[…]

The controversy roused Wilson, named president of the UMass system a month ago. Wilson issued a statement yesterday recognizing Gonzalez’s right to free speech, but called his comments “a disgusting, arrogant, and intellectually immature attack on a human being who died in service to his country.”

Wilson called on Gonzalez to apologize to Tillman’s family and friends. Gonzalez did not reply to phone and e-mail messages yesterday.

Only in my state…