Here is a great infographic to help you understand what is at stake tomorrow on Super Tuesday.  It also has some interesting facts about the remaining candidates and how well they utilize the power of social media in their campaigns.

We here in Massachusetts are perhaps more familiar with Mitt Romney as a leader than any other people in the US, yet our commentary on his leadership, and our support for the man, has largely gone under the radar as the media seems bent on putting any Republican forward to run against Barack Obama in 2012 — except for Mitt Romney.  Why do you think that is?  It’s obvious that the liberal leaning media does not want Republicans to nominate the candidate that will beat Obama;  it want another John McCain and Sarah Palin type ticket.  It wants us to choose another loser.  So the fact that the media is trying its best to have Romney ignored is the very proof we need that he is the man to win against Obama in 2012.  Click the graphic below to expand it:

The previous alimony laws allowed judges to award lifelong alimony to divorced spouses after either short and long term marriages. Most other states have either already updated the alimony systems in their regions, or never had such liberal awards as an option. The old law in Massachusetts often required payments to go on even after the paying spouse had retired or the spouse receiving it moved in with a new partner or remarried.

The new law enjoyed widespread support in the legislature, and now allows most of those paying alimony to stop once they retire. It further sets limits based on the length of a marriage, a more reasonable gage for determining the amount and duration of alimony to be paid.

To help you understand the new laws, this infographic provides details and contrasts the old system with the newly adopted one.  Click to expand the image:

Here is Emeril Lagasse’s take on how to make that perfect batch of New England Clam Chowder.  Even people from Massachusetts with such discriminating taste buds will find this quite acceptable.  Enjoy!

During that time, it was a common aspiration of anyone facing death to attempt a true spirit of forgiveness.  This, they believed, might  help them not to appear before God in a state of anger or malicious wrath.  One of the accused, Sarah Good, was confronted by a reverend who tried to exact a last minute confession from her so that she would not die having been a liar.  Instead, she told him that it was he who was lying, and if he took her life away “God will give you blood to drink.”  It was an odd coincidence, many believe, that at the time of his death, he was found with a mouth filled with blood following a ruptured artery.

The bodies of the dead, many that there were, were temporarily buried at the rocky execution site where they had been killed. This place was difficult to reach, and required a boat to get in and out of.  The dead “witches” were not to be allowed to be buried on hallowed ground or family land, but were to remain segregated to the place of their deaths.  However, some families of the dead secretly sent after the bodies of their loved ones, exhuming them after dark and bringing them home for proper burial.

The witch trials were a black mark on the face of early American history.  Fueled by misplaced religious zealotry, fears of the slave cultures brought in from the islands, and superstition, this tragic episode in Massachusetts has nonetheless taught a valuable lesson on the frailty of humanity in its temporal nature — that much of the evil carried out by man is initiated by a desire for good.

When visiting Salem, Massachusetts, a trip to the Salem Witch Museum would be well worth your time.  If you are a lover of history, even more so.

The Freedom Trail a red-brick walking route stretching 2.5 miles and covering  16 historic sites of national significance. In 1958, when a threat of destruction loomed, the citizens of Boston came together to preserve the Freedom Trail.  Today, it remains a unique assortment of museums, churches, meeting places, burial grounds, parks, historic markers, and even a ship, all of which that tell the story of the American Revolutionary War.  The Freedom Trail is now considered to be one of our national treasures.

Included among the sites of historical interest along the Freedom Trail are seventeen places where events took place that would change the world forever:

1. Boston Common
2. Massachusetts State House
3. Park Street Church
4. Granary Burying Ground
5. King’s Chapel
6. King’s Chapel Burying Ground
7. Benjamin Franklin’s statue / former site of the first public school — Boston Latin School
8. Old Corner Bookstore
9. Old South Meeting House
10. Old State House
11. Site of the Boston Massacre
12. Faneuil Hall
13. Paul Revere House
14. Old North Church
15. Copp’s Hill Burying Ground
16. Bunker Hill Monument
17. The USS Constitution

One of the most intriguing stops along the way is site number 14 on the list – The Old North Church.  It was from the steeple of this, the tallest building in Boston at the time, that two lanterns were lit to warn patriots on the other side of the harbor that the British regulars (also called “redcoats”) were on the move.  They were coming in order to confiscate weapons from colonists, on orders from King George III, who had long feared, based on reports from his chief officers and spies, that the American colonists were either close to plotting, or had plotted, a revolt against Britain.  The strategy was to remove all weapons from the hands of common people, so that any uprising could be quickly and easily quashed.

The British were not prepared for the ingenuity of the American colonists.  Paul Revere and the Sons of Liberty had a plan, and it was enacted the moment the lights were shone from atop the Old North Church.  This was the beginning of the American Revolution.

Six Flags New England

Six Flags is the destination to go to world wide but you don’t have to go any further than right here in Massachusetts. It has even been featured on TV and several online lists because of some of the most fun rides ever. Bizarro and Catapult have been given rave reviews by critics and coaster enthusiasts everywhere. Don’t take their world for it though. Come out and see for your own two eyes.

Greasy-pole Contest

Gloucester is home to one of the wackiest traditions! While it may seem absurd to watch 50 guys attempt to get a flag on the end of a greasy pole, it is actually quite the spectacle. The guys go at it time and time again. Wipe out after wipe out. In the end there is one man that takes home the title of champion. Only locals are allowed to participate in the actual competition but many tourists gather to the spot every year to watch the event.

Boston, Massachusetts

The center of hustle and bustle in MA and the site of some of the best night life in the state. Where anything from clubs to the date scene is ready to go at any minute you are ready. Along with that are some of the US’s greatest chow down locations and if you are only looking for light side of the equation then you will have a blast in Boston’s shops both boutiques and antiques.

MIT: Massachusetts Institute of Technology–Widely held as the top research and engineering school in the world, is awarded billions annually for that research. Graduates of this school become some of the highest paid and most important members in our society.

Harvard University–The nation’s oldest University and also was the first corporation to be founded in the US. It’s wealth, prestige and respect have made Harvard the first choice for many important figures in history–including a majority of the presidents throughout the past.

Boston University–Along with MIT and Harvard, BU is one of the largest Universities in the US and is also classified as a Research University (very high research activity) spending about half a billion in research annually.

Boston College–While not quite as prestiges as the universities listed above, Boston College still ranks (31st) among the top of the universities in the world. It’s main campus features some of the first Gothic architecture in the country and is protected as a Historical District.

There are a total of 115 Higher education and Universities in the state of Massachusetts boasting some of the largest and most notorious names in the world. Between them they generate enough research revenue to fund small countries and produce doctors of their respective fields as well as anything from rocket scientists to the some of the world’s brightest physicists. Massachusetts is a great place filled with some of the most important people in society today. Love your state and help it prosper. Also, if you chose to pursue education at one of these schools, there are great Direct TV local packages in Massachusetts! Be sure to check it out.

The first settlers from England who landed in Massachusetts, known as the Pilgrims, began for the first time their settlement at Plymouth in The Year of Our Lord 1620. There  they developed good relations with the native people called Wampanoag. It was the second permanent English colony in North America that was successful at all, after the Jamestown Colony in Virginia. The Puritans came next,  and they established the Massachusetts Bay Colony (where Boston now is) in the year 1630. Those Puritans who believed the Church of England was too much like the old Roman Catholic church in structure, came to Massachusetts in order to have religious freedom. Just like the Plymouth colony, the bay colony was founded under a royal charter which is an agreement with the English government. All of these factors and many more like them ended in several new colonies being established not long after Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay. People who did not agree with this, such as Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams were shunned due to religious disagreements. Williams eventually founded the colony of Rhode Island,  and Anne Hutchinson joined him there a number of years later.

Expansion of the Colonies

In 1635, a group of clergymen from Massachusetts went in a south westerly direction and founded Hartford, Connecticut. In 1636, some of those people went on to set up Springfield along the Connecticut River, where the Commonwealth’s largest expanse of agricultural land is located. Early tensions between the settlers and the native tribes led to several wars between Native Americans and Caucasians in the 17th century, namely, the Pequot War from 1634–1638 and King Philips War (mostly against the Wampanoags) between 1675–1676. During King Philip’s War, Springfield was burned completely to the ground. Both wars ended in victories for the English settlers and their Native helpers. In 1691, the Plymouth Colony and Massachusetts Bay Colony along with present-day Maine all combined into one large, single colony. Keep in mind, this was a very scary thing for people to do. With no protection, no home security, they were basically left to defend themselves against everything.

A Great Quake

In 1755 on Tuesday, November 18, a terrible earthquake struck the region of New England. The first tremblings of the ground were quickly followed by about one minute of sustained undulations of earth. Violent temblors came next, causing houses to be damaged, furnishings and other interior belongings to fall and be broken, and people to fear for their lives and belongings. In Salem, Massachusetts, a prominent doctor wrote in his journal that he “thought of nothing less than being buried instantly in the ruins of the house.” The shaking went on for two or three minutes more and seemed to move from the northwest  are down to southeast. Boats located along the coast were affected, with some ships shaking so much that sleeping sailors were jolted from bed thinking the ship had run aground. Back in Boston the earthquake hurled dishes to the floor, stopped clocks, and bent weather vane rods on churches and at Faneuil Hall. Stone walls collapsed due to the shaking. New springs appeared from the ground as old springs dried up. Underground streams changed their courses and resulted in the emptying of many wells. Chimneys took the worst damage of all. In Boston, about a hundred of them were leveled with about fifteen hundred more damaged, the streets in some places were almost covered with the fallen bricks. Amazingly, there were no deaths or serious injuries.

That’s a bit of a history lesson for the day.