BostonHerald.com – Two marine conservation groups are offering a daylong ocean trip on Cape Cod to search for great white sharks, humpback whales, gray seals and seabirds in their wild habitat, billing the trip as the first of its kind and calling it a safari.

Organizers say there’s room for about 250 people on the Sept. 6 expedition. It is intended to raise funds for the nonprofit organizers — the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, which is based on Cape Cod, and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation, which is based in Plymouth.

“This is the first trip of its kind in Cape Cod and we are thrilled to offer this opportunity,” said Emily Moss of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation.

First of its kind? I’m pretty sure they might be wrong on that one. This trip has happened a few times around here before, half the people on Cape Cod have taken this trip. We just don’t call it a “safari”, we call it “Saturday afternoon”.

I guess you can’t really expect someone who says “in Cape Cod” to know that though. I guess in a way it is actually true now that I think about it. It really will be the “first trip of its kind IN Cape Cod”, seeing as nothing has ever happened IN Cape Cod, things only happen ON Cape Cod. There is simply no quicker way to spot a washashore a mile away than the hearing them say IN Cape Cod. We should hand out THESE at the bridges to avoid this in the future.

P.S. Of the 250 people on this “safari”, how many will be wearing fanny packs and Teva’s with socks? I say 178.

CapeCodToday.com – Effective June 27, the National Marine Fisheries Service implemented a new rule designed to protect right and humpback whales that prohibits lobster traps in an area stretching from Cape Cod Bay to Boston between Jan. 1 and April 30. Scott Leddin, a Marshfield lobsterman, said the rule will hurt the lobster industry and related businesses from bait retailers to fuel suppliers.

“We’re willing to work with these people, but it’s a big hit,” said Leddin, who explained that the industry has already moved to use breakaway buoys and other safety devices to protect whales. Rep. James Cantwell, a Marshfield Democrat, said he would like to see Massachusetts receive an exemption.

He said the waters off the coasts of New Hampshire and Maine are not subject to the same restrictions while the right whale population has doubled in recent years.

“We think it’s an overreaction, period. But we are seeking an exemption at the very least. This will put people out of business,” Cantwell said.

Does anyone get more fucked with by our government than the people who provide us with food? It seems like every day you hear of some fishery being closed, or farmers going out of business because of some ridiculous regulation. Listen I like whales as much as anyone but not letting thousands of people make a living 1/3 of the year with no warning is just not cool. There’s gotta be a better solution.

Could you imagine if the government decided that the banking industry causes too much pollution so they shut down banking for 4 months a year? How do you think that would work out? You just can’t mess with peoples money, that is unless they make it by feeding the rest of the country apparently.

CapeCodOnline.com – Legislators on Wednesday overwhelmingly overrode Gov. Deval Patrick’s veto of $1.95 million in funding for Cape Cod Community College, reviving the West Barnstable campus’s hopes of launching a Federal Aviation Administration-certified airplane mechanic program in the fall of 2015.

Coming the day before the legislative session ends, the 115-0 vote in the House and 39-0 vote in the Senate erased Cape Cod Community College President John Cox’s doubts of whether the earmark could clear the two-thirds majority it needed to return to the state budget for fiscal 2015.

“We’re content, and we’re ready to move on this program,” Cox said Wednesday, after Senate President Therese Murray called to inform him of the override vote. “We still have to get the final approval through the FAA, but that process has already begun.”

Whew! That was a close one huh? If I were the Governor I’d demand a recount, 115-0 and 39-0 is just too close to call.

I know this post will probably cause a shitstorm just like every time we comment on a political subject, but anyone who reads this site on a regular basis should know by now that we don’t align ourselves along any party lines. We just call ’em like we see ’em, and this one deserves to be ridiculed for sure.

No matter if you are a Democrat, Republican, Communist or a member of the friggin’ Whig party you’d think someone in a position as high up as Patrick would be able to gauge the political tide on an issue a little better than this no? 115-0 in the House and 39-0 in the Senate? That’s an absolute bloodbath. I’m pretty sure Deval would’ve fared better if he tried to pass a law making babies and puppies illegal.

Seriously though, does the guy just hate planes or what? You’d think his wife had an affair with a Cessna or something.