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Working on a slow Saturday at the cafe. Last night I got a chance to do something I don’t do enough. Listen to a live band play good old rock and roll. I joined my pals Bill, Paul, Joe and my son Sam and we drove up to the Route […]

In Vermont, the reporters for the Burlington Free Press have had it. It’s the last straw. They are seething over…parking. “While people are angry,” said one veteran journalist at Vermont’s largest daily newspaper, this week “the prevailing mood is one of disgust.” “We feel absolutely frustrated and undervalued,” said another […]

I’m going to New York City next week. This made me think about a recent proposal by Mayor Bloomberg to begin charging cars a ‘congestion fee’ to enter the city. I think this is a fantastic idea. London began congestion pricing in 2003, and the grumblings of a few have […]

It’s the fourth of July in the cafe, and we’re getting our reward for sending out emails to our coffee lovers. I got at least six people who said they came in ’cause we sent the email. It’s not that busy but it is always heartening to welcome new folks […]

I got a glimpse into the worldview of a younger generation the other day, when my daughter Kate returned from a press trip up to Old Orchard Beach, ME. She was there to write an article for GoNOMAD about a family vacation, and told me what she hated most. “All […]

Can one man bring back an old brand by following the advice of an advertising company? Sure. “Just go out and listen,” says Lois Kelly, managing partner at Foghound in Providence. Today’s WSJ tells the dramatic success story of Narragansett Brewery. The aging RI beermaker was resurrected by Mark Hellendrung, […]

Today’s WSJ reports that Italy’s President Prodi has hired a man known to some as ‘Dracula’ to help collect billions in the country’s collective unpaid taxes. In the story Beppe Severgnini, a social commentator compares Italian and American’s reactions to tax evastion and says there is a solidarity among tax […]

As I drove up from Holyoke this morning, there was a big back-up on the Deerfield exit off-ramp. Because we so rarely ever have traffic jams in our bucolic pocket of the world, I knew at once it was an accident. The statie who flew by me confirmed it. When […]

Today is a high energy day. I’ve got lots to think about and I’m feeling great. The first thing on my mind is an invitation I got yesterday, an answer to a dream I’ve had for a decade. It was from the Ministry of Trade for Colombia–an invitation to travel […]