rattlesnake study group

Rattlesnake Study Group1

12-26-2016

This is the first part of a two piece writing on the people named to be on rattlesnake study group.  I’ll start with the positive side first.   Kudos for Dr. Alan Richmond and Senator Eric Lesser.

Dr. Richmond is expert in the herpetological field the kind of snakes that slither; the snakes that inhibit Beacon Hill he might find tiresome.  How did he get named to group?  Did French (the past expert, and one of the five stooges) end up proving that Darwin’s theory of natural selection still holds true? It is rumored they stashed French and his velvet tongue in a broom closet a victim of Darwin and replaced him with Dr. Richmond.  French is now giving elocution lessons by appointment only.    An update since I last wrote Leo Roy, appointed by Baker, has earned the high dishonor of becoming the fifth stooge something about being caught with his hand in the cookie jar for a party around the fourth of July paid for by the taxpayers of The Commonwealth.  Get this, the chairman of the stooge board, Beaton, Baker’s go to stooge slaps Roy’s hand and says don’t get caught again. What is wrong with this picture? The head crook telling a lesser crook not to get caught again.  Is this akin to the pot calling the kettle black?  Roy is in charge of a 191    million-dollar budget 2016.  How can this be?   How can the lawmakers on the hill allow this?  Appears to be something wrong with the vetting process.  Now we have five proven stooges interacting in the malignant DCR Here they are in descending order Beaton, Roy, Peterson, Buckley, and French.  Beaton is the first rat to jump the sinking Quabbin rattlesnake  ship (didn’t name himself to study group).  French got chewed up by Darwin, which leaves us with 3 stooges, Peterson,Roy, and Buckley on study group, coincidently all stooges appointed by Baker (political patronage).Beaton is the firewall between Baker and the stooges which are his charge.         I will write more about Roy in second part.

Walk through one of the biology colleges at U Mass Amherst and ask about professor Richmond, nine out of ten times the kids will say you mean the snake guy?  That is the highest compliment a professor can get from students.  The kids have a grading system for professors: in descending order it is (1)  a pet name (snake guy) kids will listen and learn from a professor of this category) (2)an easy grader (3) hard grader (4) sucks.Students have an extremely sensitive bullshit meter. Dr. Richmond is the snake guy.     Dr. Richmond’s character is unassailable even though he draws a salary from the Commonwealth, I don’t believe he can be bought like the five stooges and Baker. Dr. Richmond I’m envious you get to play with the five stooges (Beaton, Roy, Peterson, Buckley, and French).  You have all the fun.  Can I buy a ticket to the show or better yet can I be your coat holder?  After you dazzle the WASPS and money-grubbing politicians with truthfulness and when  the applause dies down I’ll have your coat ready you just slip your arms in and bow and leave majestically. I’m tickled pink thinking of you sequestered in a room full of WASPS and around the corner politicians!  Lastly and most importantly Dr. Richmond cares about the fate of rattlesnakes, whereas the rest are in it trying to siphon the money off.

Senator Eric Lesser you are an anomaly in this rattlesnake debacle in the best of ways, you have high intelligence, integrity and foresight to see through the ruse.  I can not heap enough platitudes on you.  Senator Lessor you give me hope that democracy can work. That is a lot of money in the rattlesnake feeding   trough that has attracted politicians past, present, and future.  It takes a huge person to walk away from that kind of money as you did, my hats off to you! You were the first one that matters to understand that this is about money not rattlesnakes. You immediately realized the only solution to this issue is to defund it You wrote a bill to do that but Senator Gobi wouldn’t co-sponsor it so it died.  It appears Senator Gobi talks the talk but will not walk the walk.

The pot of gold is unimaginably huge You asked in one of your communications were all this ASP from Arizona was popping up. That is part of the national herpetological society (national snake club)  with assets greater than 100 million dollars.  Allow me to give a rough estimate of the pot of gold

½ million-dollar federal grant

½ million matching state grant

multi million dollar NHES budget (French’s empire, endangered species)

30 plus million dollars in assets New England herpetological society (New England branch of snake club)

over 100 million dollars in assets for national snake club.

I hope the snake club makes Baker and the five stooges return their gratuities.  Sadly, this greed is a bipartisan issue and almost certainly goes back to the last administration.

In conclusion, Thanks Dr. Richmond and Senator Lessor I know you both will fight the great fight.  Dr. Richmond for rattlesnakes.  Senator Lesser for the citizens of the Quabbin Watershed.

Senator Lessor defunding this rattlesnake issue will only be slightly harder than passing term limits on the hill. I am counting on you seems everyone else is lined up at the feeding trough.

Since this was written, Dr. Richmond has wandered off the reservation.  Read blog post titled# Dr. Richmond