Massachusetts
updated
9:21 a.m.
What’s going on at Innermost Parts? Why has posting been so light? Here’s the deal. Many of us at Innermost Parts are spending our time getting the Change Agency off the ground. Change Agency is a chartered campus club with the same goals as we have: to grow and strengthen the progressive community at Brandeis. [...]...
Innermost Parts - 8:50 a.m.
Well, apparently the Globe has its talons dug deep into the burning question whether various state officials' campaigns have paid required state and federal taxes on investment earnings from campaign funds that were invested in vehicles like certificates of deposit. Not exactly the kind of hot-button issue that makes voters' heads explode, but obviously, taxes owed should be paid. What's ...
Blue Mass. Group - 7:06 a.m.
[Crossposted from ONE Massachusetts] Massachusetts stands out as the top 2 state in terms of clean energy leadership among states in the US . The federal government recently awarded an important financial award to the state for investments in our education system . But while it is clear that all of this is only possible with our shared support, it often feels uncertain how this support should ...
Blue Mass. Group - 6:43 a.m. - 3 clicks 
I’m not much of a fan of the TV show The Amazing Race, although my grand-daughter tells me I should be. Well, I guess she is right. The show held “open casting calls” last Saturday at the 99 Restaurant in Tewksbury and the place was packed. I can see why. The show features several teams [...]...
Richard Howe - 6:09 a.m.
The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. I am not an economist, nor do I play one on TV. I am struggling along with others to understand all the moving – and not moving – parts. And I am yearning for President Obama to outline a bold and comprehensive approach to [...]...
Richard Howe - 6:09 a.m.
Yesterday’s Globe had an article that provides a glimpse into the shadowy world of big money political fund raising. The US Attorney has charged Martin Raffol, a high ranking executive in a big Massachusetts constructions company with illegally funneling $12,000 to the campaigns of Congressmen Barney Frank, Stephen Lynch, Mike Capuano and William Delahunt. [...]...
Richard Howe - 6:09 a.m. - 3 clicks
Who knew political campaigns were a source of tax revenue? Apparently not a growing list of candidates. The Globe tells us two more Democrats -- Lt. Gov. Tim Murray and Auditor hopeful Guy Glodis -- have been snagged for failure to pay state taxes on investment interest generated when campaigns park contributions in bank CDs. And we discovered that Martha Coakley's AG campaign also had some iss...
Massachusetts Liberal - 3:21 a.m. - 3 clicks
NYTimes columnist Timothy Egan today writes about the “summer home” owned by all Americans, by which he means the vast tracts of public land and majestic national parks around the country. Lowell’s national park is about a place held in common by Americans, too, as well as an idea: the development of an industrialized, ethnically [...]...
Richard Howe - 12:29 a.m. - 4 clicks
Jim Peters, who’s married to the sister of the late Paul Tsongas, shares some thoughts on campaigning for his sister-in-law, Niki Tsongas, and on the upcoming election: Being related to the Democratic candidate for Congress has its ups and downs. I get my pick of overly large T-shirts with the appropriate logo for that year [...]...
Richard Howe - Wed 7:28 p.m.
Each evening until the September 14th Primary Election I hope to write a short summary of the political activity that intersected my day, not as someone who seeks out this stuff, but as an average voter who listens to the local radio station, occasionally reads the local newspaper, and looks through that day’s mail after [...]...
Richard Howe - Wed 6:40 p.m.
Front page of today's Cape Cod Times - High Court Green Lights Cape Wind My heartiest condemnation is reserved for the Cape Cod Commission and the Town of Barnstable for bringing this case in the first place, although a skosh less for Barnstable. You see, not long ago the Cape Cod Commission sued the Energy Facilities Siting Board claiming they had jurisdiction, if not intelligence or ex...
Blue Mass. Group - Wed 3:26 p.m. - 3 clicks
Republicans are masters of guilt by association and it's fun to watch when they use this tactic against their own kind. So it is amusing to watch Joe Malone call out his opponent Jeff Perry for being two degrees away from Hugo Chavez . My take on the fact that Ron Kaufman, MA GOP's representative to the Republican National Committee (and Andy Card brother in law), being a lobbyist for Chavez is...
Blue Mass. Group - Wed 3:05 p.m.
In this week's issue of the Boston Phoenix -- in print tomorrow, online now -- I write about the surprising emergence of Worcester as an epicenter of political power in Massachusetts. I can hear you snickering out there. Worcester has never gotten much respect, but it might be time to readjust that thinking. Tim Murray, Jim McGovern, Guy Glodis and others could be wielding power in the st...
Talking Politics - Wed 12:46 p.m. - 4 clicks
Over the course of the year I have occasionally remarked that it's typical of Massachusetts Democrats that, in a year where voters are clearly angry at insider Beacon Hill Democrats, the party is rallying around former party chairman Steve Grossman and former Deval Patrick campaign political director Suzanne Bump, for the open statewide offices of treasurer and auditor. But should Democratic...
Talking Politics - Wed 12:46 p.m. - 4 clicks
It's time to play Choose The Punchline! The Guy Glodis campaign for state auditor has sent out a very nice mail piece with this very large banner headline: "Guy Glodis Will Reign In Wasteful Spending" Is the punchline: A) I hope he's better at auditing math than auditing spelling. B) Wasteful spending, like printing and mailing something with a huge misspelling? C) When ...
Talking Politics - Wed 10:28 a.m.
The President talked to the nation last night about the "end to combat operations" in Iraq. And while conservatives talk about the evils of domestic spending, and rail about the deficits being incurred by the federal government, they seem to be supportive of continued spending in Iraq, including massive amounts ......
Bill Manzi - Wed 7:26 a.m.
Ray Medeiros is a candidate in the Democratic State primary on September 14th, 2010. He is a progressive, working class candidate with a vision to bring the working class back to the forefront of our policies and politics. Ray has been called the "everyman" candidate by local media. LISTEN TO THE AD ...
DailyKos (Massachusetts) - Wed 5:26 a.m.
As if it weren't hot enough already, things just got torrid for Tim Cahill. And I'm not talking about the Globe basically calling his new commercial lacking in fact . Nope, the man who has kept the state's books for the past eight years -- and is running on a platform of fiscal responsibility -- has been shown to be a tax cheat when it comes to running his campaign. But a selective cheat it a...
Massachusetts Liberal - Wed 2:43 a.m. - 2 clicks
It seems like with each new rebrand of the Baker campaign they start with a new commercial and slogan then come out with new attacks. Past attacks have gone nowhere as the details of the half truths become public knowledge. One might also argue that Baker should instead focus on providing voters honest answers to difficult issues. But alas the Baker campaign decided to go a diffe...
Blue Mass. Group - Tue 9:40 p.m. - 2 clicks
It's hard to see Sen. Orrin Hatch's comments regarding the "Ground Zero Mosque" as anything other than a slap right across Mitt Romney's devastatingly handsome face. Senator Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, said mosque proponents "have every right" to carry out their plans in New York, just as Mormons had a right to build their temple, despite neighborhood opposition.... "I remember when the Be...
Blue Mass. Group - Tue 8:42 p.m. - 5 clicks
The big story today was the disclosure that Republican Congressional candidate Jon Golnik had been arrested in 2001 for Driving Under the Influence. I’m pretty sure that the Eagle Tribune broke the story. That paper’s latest is here and the Sun has a small piece here. The Globe also has the story [...]...
Richard Howe - Tue 7:20 p.m. - 2 clicks
EOHHS has set up a new website to be the central source of official information on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in Massachusetts: mass.gov/NationalHealthReform. The site includes grant and demonstration opportunities, letters of intent, an implementation timeline and … Continue reading → ...
A Healthy Blog - Tue 1:07 p.m. - 9 clicks
Originally posted on Citizen Orange . The "DREAM Now Series: Letters to Barack Obama" is a social media campaign that launched Monday, July 19, to underscore the urgent need to pass the DREAM Act. The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, S. 729, would help tens of thousands of young people, American in all but paperwork, to earn legal status, provided they...
Blue Mass. Group - Tue 11:29 a.m. - 2 clicks
Update This really is getting crazy: http://www.boston.com/news/loc... The police report claims rolling papers were found and says Jon admitted smoking half a joint, the statement submitted on his behalf in court says that he took a hit from a communal joint, and now he claims no toking. Jon Golnik, who many have been saying was the strongest candidate against Niki Tsongas, has admitted an ...
Blue Mass. Group - Tue 11:29 a.m. - 3 clicks
The Quality and Cost Council’s newest committee, the Committee on the Status of Payment Reform Legislation, is holding its first meeting tomorrow, September 1, 10:30-11:30am at 1 Ashburton Place, 21st floor (download agenda (pdf)). HCFA is one of a number … Continue reading → ...
A Healthy Blog - Tue 11:05 a.m. - 2 clicks
A note in today’s Globe about a vintage postcard exhibit at the Boston Public Library, reminded me of the value of post cards as historical and cultural documents. While this exhibit focuses on early 2oth century Boston, the millions of cards in the hands of private collectors and in local historical societies and libraries have [...]...
Richard Howe - Tue 8:08 a.m. - 8 clicks
The noble, highly useful busybodies at JP Progressives have been flogging their legislative forum series ...and with good reason. I had noticed highlights of the 2 nd Suffolk Senate District and finally dug into the 19 questions, plus 12 yes-or-no lightning round ones. The geographically sprawling and diverse district includes the Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Chinatown, Dorchester , Jamaica Plain, ...
Marry in Massachusetts - Tue 8:08 a.m. - 8 clicks
It looks like Had Enough and the always amusing yet unattended Had Enough Tour is officially toast. Had Enough in its hey day : Wendy's asked, "Where's the beef?'' The dairy industry posed the question, "Got milk?'' And now, Charles D. Baker, Republican gubernatorial candidate, is hoping to coin a slogan of his own, asking voters, "Had enough?'' Baker, in an attempt to rebrand his campaign,...
Blue Mass. Group - Tue 7:01 a.m. - 2 clicks
From the UMass Lowell Office of Public Affairs: “First-year students are officially welcomed to the university community at Convocation on Tuesday, Aug. 31 at 10 a.m. at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell. The keynote speaker is Bill Strickland, winner of a MacArthur Foundation ‘genius grant’ and more than 10 honorary degrees for his work to [...]...
Richard Howe - Tue 5:47 a.m. - 7 clicks
OK, so here I am driving North on Rt 95 with my wife last Friday. I’ve taken this trip many times before so I know the traffic patent well…what to expect, where to expect it and when, including the time of year. For the most part the traffic flow that day was [...]...
Richard Howe - Tue 5:47 a.m. - 2 clicks
To cap off my summer, I built a fence. L.'s cousin came down from Vermont and we worked together for three and a half days, building a cedar picket fence on both sides of our house. It was something that L. and I had been wanting done to the house since we moved in. The previous fence was a chain link fence that was designed to be temporary, to sit on the ground, but it had been lashed to iron re-...
Flash & Yearn - Mon 7:25 p.m. - 2 clicks
Reading the New York Times yesterday, I sadly accepted that, as a self-declared expert on Republican woman officeholders, I would have to write a blog post about this op-ed about how progressives somehow need to get themselves a Sarah Palin, rather than, oh, I don't know, the many many serious Democratic women who are major political players having a real impact on politics and policy in ...
Talking Politics - Mon 5:06 p.m. - 2 clicks
We all read the story in last week's Boston Globe about how some legislative candidates are tacking to the right. Just wanted to bring another example to light: state Rep. Steve Tobin of Quincy, who is running to replace Mike Morrissey in the state senate. Rep. Tobin in a column in the Braintree Forum this week took a page out of the GOP playbook saying he opposes expanding the Bottle Bill to ...
Blue Mass. Group - Mon 10:25 a.m. - 8 clicks
Odious, irrational and hostile well describe the recent Tea Party rally at Castle Island. Anyone unaware of what the anti-gay/anti-marriage equality types are thinking can get a fill at MassResistance's video recap . Surely the most ear-worthy vid is of the dissenting judge on the MA Supreme Judicial Court when it ordered Wacko Hurley's crew to let LGBT folk march in Southie's St. Patrick's ...
Marry in Massachusetts - Mon 9:08 a.m. - 49 clicks
Campaign-speak - the language spoken by professional political types - is a language that resembles English, but that often makes you scratch your head wondering if the people employing it really meant what they appear to have just said. Consider the case of Amy Goodrich, the Baker campaign spokeswoman who recently declared that Team Baker was "happy to provide a platform" for a guy whose busin...
Blue Mass. Group - Mon 8:49 a.m. - 2 clicks
It has been a while since I posted to BMG, so I wanted to give you an update on my summer of campaigning, and to ask for your help. As someone who got into public service as a volunteer, Democratic Town Committee member and Chair, and then as a School Committee member and Chair, I know that elections are won and lost based on grassroots campaigning and voter contact. That is why my campa...
Blue Mass. Group - Mon 8:49 a.m. - 2 clicks
A great spot on "This Week", with education heavyweights with real policy differences talking about the Obama Administration efforts in this area. Superintendent Rhee in Washington has not been afraid to stir the pot vigorously. The Obama Administration has made some real enemies with the Teacher unions, and you can ......
Bill Manzi - Mon 5:06 a.m. - 2 clicks
At least Glenn Beck acknowledged Barack Obama isn't a Muslim . The Fox News host, who now claims his weekend rally in Washington wasn't a political event but a religious revival, fessed up on yet another Fox show (imagine that) that he somehow misspoke when he called Obama a racist. What he meant to say was the president was a captive of black liberation theology. "You see, it's all about vic...
Massachusetts Liberal - Mon 2:47 a.m. - 2 clicks
Compartmentalization of mental health within the medical profession and stigma related to mental illness has meant that definitions and diagnosis are often difficult to nail down. Not too long ago, mental health was thought to be inapplicable to adolescents because … Continue reading → ...
A Healthy Blog - Mon 2:24 a.m.
Last Friday, Congressman Lynch and I went toe-to-toe at a mini-debate moderated by Jon Keller. The 15 minute debate aired on WBZ this morning and is available online. It was a spirited, substantive debate on the issues -- something we need a lot more of in politics, frankly. I'm sorry it only lasted 15 minutes -- and that, thus far at least, it's the only scheduled debate of this campaign. First...
Blue Mass. Group - Sun 4:47 p.m. - 12 clicks
Welcome to the Change Agency, the new progressive activist group on campus! After a lot of hard work from a lot of talented people, the Change Agency is finally ready to go public and bring activism at Brandeis to new heights. And each and every one of us can bring our talents together and play [...]...
Innermost Parts - Sun 3:27 p.m. - 7 clicks
Everyone should read that New Yorker article on the "ideological campaign funded by the fossil fuel industry", specifically the Koch Brothers. And then everyone should read "eaarth" to get the other side of the story, about what the Libertarians have done to the planet. Bill McKibben is interviewed in the Lexington Minuteman in advance of him speaking Sunday night (7:30 at Cary Hall on Mass ...
Blue Mass. Group - Sun 2:44 p.m. - 11 clicks
Last Sunday’s Boston Globe lead editorial echoes many of the concerns of consumers across the Commonwealth who are questioning the proposed sale of the Caritas Christi hospital chain to the Wall Street private equity firm Cerberus. While acknowledging that the … Continue reading → ...
A Healthy Blog - Sun 2:21 p.m. - 11 clicks
In 2008, Lisa Knapp Stillman shared her personal story of caring for her twenty-four year old son with severe mental illness (SMI). Of all of the struggles she has faced, she emphasized the effect of his illness on his oral … Continue reading → ...
A Healthy Blog - Sun 2:21 p.m. - 3 clicks
The last few days haven't been kind to House Speaker Robert DeLeo . It's only been 10 days since the speaker and his team have been exposed as emperors without clothes on the subject of Wonderland Greyhound Park. Today's Yvonne Abraham column brings to the Metro section what Paul McMorrow's piece did for the op-ed page: the fact the track was a goner no matter what happened on Beacon Hil...
Massachusetts Liberal - Sun 7:06 a.m. - 3 clicks
Same old boring song and dance. Or is it? As everyone begins to fight and claw over a rapidly shrinking economic pie nobody wants to talk about the elephant in the room consuming everything in its path. And that is the public employee pension system. Every state is obviously different, ......
Bill Manzi - Sat 8:06 a.m. - 3 clicks
Unlike certain deluded Democrats , Jim McGovern has figured out a basic truth about politics: if you stand up for who you are and what you believe, voters will respect you. The worst thing a politician can do, IMHO, is constantly adapt his or her positions to what seem to be the prevailing political winds. McGovern doesn't plan to change his beliefs or stance on the issues in the wake o...
Blue Mass. Group - Sat 7:47 a.m. - 14 clicks
The scariest article I have read recently deals with corporate spending run amok, and may explain where the Tea Party got its start and its money. This is a must read. I want to hear what you all think about this. Essentially, while George Soros operates in the open, and not to support his businesses - the Kochtopus is, in fact, one of the top ten polluters in the world, and using i...
Blue Mass. Group - Sat 7:47 a.m. - 3 clicks
By George I think I've got it! A plan to deal with both an ugly hole in the ground in Downtown Crossing and raise much needed cash for Boston. It's simple: move the Boston Public Health Commission's new chicken farm from Long island to the Filene's hole . Then market the eggs produced there as a substitute for those recalled by the FDA for salmonella contamination. OK, there are some pro...
Massachusetts Liberal - Sat 6:06 a.m. - 15 clicks
The Massachusetts Democratic Party unveiled a short web video attacking Charlie Baker's tenure as the CEO of Harvard Pilgrim, highlighting the rate increases for customers and the pay increases for himself that occurred during his time there. While Deval Patrick holds his powder his surrogates are doing a very effective ......
Bill Manzi - Sat 6:06 a.m. - 12 clicks
Bill Hudak supporter getting ready for a rally in Boxford: (Credit: The Most Ridiculous Tea Party Protest Signs ) The group "one in five Americans" believes our commander in chief is a Muslim, accepts alien abductions as fact, can't find the U.S. on a map, and thinks George W. Bush was a great president. HuffPo spotlights the group and its core beliefs. Onion: Texas Vows To Reclai...
Blue Mass. Group - Fri 11:05 p.m. - 12 clicks
In this day when most of the elected play Sydney Lassick roles to their corporate masters, one Congressman is being congressional. Congressman Markey, largely ignored in the main stream media is the hero of the citizen involved media. He's doing what a Congressman should be doing: Investigating what response the government should be making. He even got a response to th...
Blue Mass. Group - Fri 11:05 p.m. - 17 clicks
Weekly Mulch: Fighting the Joe Millers of the World by Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium blogger Joe Miller, Sarah Palin's choice candidate for one of Alaska's Senate seats, does not believe in climate change. That didn't bother Alaska voters: this week, Miller bested Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the state's Republican primary. If that weren't worrisome enough, it also emerged that t...
DailyKos (Massachusetts) - Fri 12:22 p.m. - 4 clicks
Welfare benefits cashed in Casinos One more reason I am glad THIS has not come HERE. Magical thinking: THIS time I will win. More magical thinking: My money doesn't last through the month and already, without a food pantry run I cannot feed my family. But that is ok - because THIS time I will win. Gambling IS a child welfare issue. Parents HERE have lost their ch...
Blue Mass. Group - Fri 11:45 a.m. - 4 clicks
Governor Sarah Palin, in remarks broadcast on Fox News, correctly points out that while Senators like Scott Brown may be tolerated in Massachusetts, he would never be accepted up there in Alaska, where the pioneering spirit is dominant. And lets face it folks she has a valid point. I know ......
Bill Manzi - Fri 11:27 a.m. - 13 clicks
So we've got Charlie Baker speaking at a big fundraiser for Bill " kooky lawn sign " " I AM NOT A BIRTHER " Hudak. We've got him speaking at a fundraiser for Brad " Censured! " Marston. Hey, maybe Charlie's just going all-in for every Republican candidate he can find. But wait, what about poor Dan Winslow? Dan, one of the few actual adults running as a Republican this fall...
Blue Mass. Group - Fri 9:09 a.m. - 3 clicks
My racism antennae are twitching again about the 2nd Suffolk Senate race. Two years ago, Sonia Chang-Díaz wrested the seat from indicted, now convicted Dianne Wilkerson. We heard such nastiness in that campaign. It appears to be steaming up again. Back then when the ever ditzy Wilkerson ended up having to run a sticker campaign after not even bothering to collect enough sigs to get on the ballot,...
Marry in Massachusetts - Fri 8:05 a.m. - 97 clicks
In a past life as an alleged state policy maker, I had to fill out the dreaded Statement of Financial Interest, laying bare (within ranges) my somewhat meager income and assets. It wasn't pleasant, but it was a fair price to pay for working in the public sector. Back then Massachusetts also had a somewhat progressive law -- even if the filer was told who, if anyone, requested the document. But...
Massachusetts Liberal - Fri 5:44 a.m. - 10 clicks
It's hard to tell some times which Alice in Wonderland character best describes Sarah Palin. Is she the Queen of Hearts, vanquishing Alaska foe Lisa Murkowski and demanding the removal of Scott Brown's head ? Or is she the Mad Hatter, the well-paid titular head of the Tea Party, dragging the Republican Party even farther to the right, perhaps even enabling Democrats to survive a November trou...
Massachusetts Liberal - Fri 5:20 a.m. - 18 clicks
Former Governor Sarah Palin had some choice words for Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown on Fox News yesterday, saying that in places like Alaska folks wouldn't put up with the "antics" of Scott Brown. Also seemed to agree that Brown has been supportive of the "Reid-Pelosi" (or was it Pelosi-Reid?)agenda! Palin ......
Bill Manzi - Fri 5:20 a.m. - 16 clicks
Last January, Massachusetts’, and the world’s, attention was drawn to South Hadley when tragic events made the issue of bullying a front page story. The legislature acted quickly, passing and enacting new legislation designed to address the issue. Earlier this … Continue reading → ...
A Healthy Blog - Thu 2:01 p.m. - 14 clicks
As described in a NY Times article Tuesday, Governor Paterson of New York last week signed into law a bill requiring physicians treating patients with terminal illnesses to offer to share information with them or their representatives about end-of-life care … Continue reading → ...
A Healthy Blog - Thu 2:01 p.m. - 4 clicks
"I had no choice," "They forced us," and too many similar variations have become the big lies in public life. Scam artists, politicians, murderers, and church officials each and all try to cloak their iniquities with this deceit. At its worst, we see this with abusers. Low life sorts who beat a spouse or child claim self-defense, hold that the victim forced them to do it. Oddly, when it comes...
Marry in Massachusetts - Aug 26 - 5 clicks
Governor Patrick's education announcement. Methuen will receive $1.8 million in education funding from this federal grant. NEW BEDFORD - Wednesday, August 25, 2010 - Governor Deval Patrick today allocated $204 million from the federal Education Jobs Fund to school districts across the Commonwealth, bringing state support for public schools to ......
Bill Manzi - Aug 26 - 11 clicks
Apparently, it’s in the blogger code to preface all discussion on the formerly-arcane issue of health insurers’ “medical loss ratio” (MLR) with a comment on the term. It does always strike me as odd that, from an insurer’s accounting point … Continue reading → ...
A Healthy Blog - Aug 26 - 3 clicks
Charlie Baker continues to showcase his financial superiority in the governor's race, launching a new TV ad in the ultimate dog days of summer when most candidates save their dollars for a time when people are focusing on more than their vacations. And today's Globe highlights another question about a strategy that, so far at least, has failed to generate any positive momentum for the candidate...
Massachusetts Liberal - Aug 26 - 3 clicks
As we reported last week, the Quality and Cost Council accepted the recommendation of an expert panel that there should not be public reporting of a hospital-wide mortality measure for now. The presentation that was given to the Council from … Continue reading → ...
A Healthy Blog - Aug 25 - 3 clicks
Check out the new and improved CommonHealth blog, from WBUR. In the early days of health reform, CommonHealth was an important forum for serious and off-the-wall debates about the issues facing state health policy. Reporter Martha Bebinger opened it up … Continue reading → ...
A Healthy Blog - Aug 25 - 3 clicks
For my obsessive interest in the ongoing extinction of elected Republican women, the big news from yesterday's primaries was the apparent defeat of incumbent US Senator Lisa Murkowski. Apparent, because it's close and Alaska is a wacky state where votes come in from the hinterlands by sled or something. But as of this moment it sounds like she's going to lose (and could not get her na...
Talking Politics - Aug 25 - 4 clicks
Tim Cahill and Charlie Baker hit the airwaves with new ads in advance of Labor Day, with Baker touting his ability to fix things that are broken, and Cahill talking about his success with the new school building system. Both hit on the pledge to work on job creation. Governor ......
Bill Manzi - Aug 25 - 3 clicks
THEY want my stuff. THEY want to hurt me. Keep THEM away. NIMBYism is most obvious and somewhat understandable with the institutionalized — substance abusers, child abusers, convicted criminals, developmentally disabled. Yet many towns put a finer point on it for others. I've been watching the inane hoo-ha for the past 15 years around here about (drum ratta tatta...wait for it) bicycle/walki...
Marry in Massachusetts - Aug 25 - 3 clicks
Today's Herald offers some insights for tea leaf readers curious about the changes possible now that Joe Scaccia has taken over the top slot from Kevin Convey. And the initial impulse is to say "not many." First and foremost, there's the really strange decision to lead an editorial board interview with Democratic treasurer candidate Steve Grossman's indifference to an endorsement "snub" fro...
Massachusetts Liberal - Aug 25 - 2 clicks
Blago goes on the Jon Stewart show, and has at it with Jon. Pretty good entertainment, but probably not worth much discussion. The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c ...
Bill Manzi - Aug 24 - 3 clicks
Electrons are cheap, even with paid web/social media developers. Our attorney general, Martha Coakley , did a so-so job with new media in her run for Ted Kennedy's Senate seat, but she's full tilt now that she's settled back into her office. Amusingly enough though, and likely befitting the chief MA cop, her approach is tight, very tight. Get a sense of that from her official Web Communicati...
Marry in Massachusetts - Aug 24 - 9 clicks
Majority Leader Harry Reid, looking at some pretty terrible poll numbers, is hitting tea party favorite Sharron Angle with a multi million dollar barrage of negative ads using her own words. Reid's strategy boils down to "you may hate me but Sharron Angle is nutty" and it is having a ......
Bill Manzi - Aug 24 - 2 clicks
It's obvious why Seamus Romney is getting antsy. The man who threw the dog carrier on the car roof and his principles under the bus for a 2008 presidential run is getting ready to hit the road again ! Yep, like the proverbial seven-year itch, only on a shorter cycle, Willard Mitt Romney is about to embark on a coast-to-coast tour, a 25-state midterm jaunt ostensibly to help the Republican pa...
Massachusetts Liberal - Aug 24
That EJ Dionne article continues to impress. Let me just excerpt 2 paragraphs that I found gripping: And I must pause to praise the following sentence: “No one is more temperamentally conservative than a Manhattan leftist living in a rent-controlled apartment and holding tenure at a university; his or her way of life is inevitably [...]...
Innermost Parts - Aug 23 - 2 clicks
What could come of dozens of the nation’s richest people getting together? The options are limitless. Bill&Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet, longtime billionaires and philanthropists, have teamed up to create a network of America’s richest people, reaching out to the Forbes 400 in order to ask for donations. However, this campaign, now known as The Giving Pledge, goes further than a...
Innermost Parts - Aug 23 - 2 clicks
IF YES….. I received this e-mail from the national Democracy for America group, one of the many causes I support and wish I was more involved with but sadly am not…Don’t let the same thing happen to you. (I love you, Howard Dean!) It takes three things to win elections — good candidates, good campaigns, and [...]...
Innermost Parts - Aug 23
The American Enterprise Institute is an explicitly right-wing organization. They have a new report out claiming that we students study an average of 14 hours a week, which is 10 hours less than people in the 60′s. Their summary: In 1961, the average full-time student at a four-year college in the United States studied about [...]...
Innermost Parts - Aug 23 - 2 clicks
I just finished a reported New Yorker article by George Packer on the modern senate. It’s multifaceted and hard to to summarize. You should read it. Anyways, it got me thinking about our Senate. You know, the Union Senate. I don’t think anyone has a good opinion of the Senate. Its composition seems to change [...]...
Innermost Parts - Aug 23 - 2 clicks
I’m reading a gangbusters book review by EJ Dionne. This passage really grabbed me: the historian Michael Kazin has it right when he argues that American progressives have succeeded in improving the “common welfare” only when they “talked in populist ways–hopeful, expansive, even romantic.” Kazin cites the line popularized by Ralph Waldo Emerson, “March without ...
Innermost Parts - Aug 23 - 2 clicks
In 1972, the young reporting team of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein almost single-handedly uncovered the evidence of the political scandal of the century and forced the resignation of a corrupt President. Thirty years later, another corrupt administration lied the nation into an ongoing war with the complicity of a media that served as cheerleaders [...]...
Innermost Parts - Aug 23
Want more even more Sahar in your life? I made a personal miniblog to document things that make me smile and keep track of my adventures. Also sometimes writing for Innermost Parts feels constricting. I have to worry about style, staying on topic, being witty, etc. So this’ll be a place to let off steam [...]...
Innermost Parts - Aug 23 - 2 clicks
Aha! I think I have the secret formula: one example is a potential oddity. Two examples are more than mere happenstance Three? It's a trend! The Globe gloms onto that formula today with a story about how three Massachusetts Democrats in swing districts are sliding to the center in the House and Senate races. Under the prominent Page One headline, the newspaper of record declares: "For Dem...
Massachusetts Liberal - Aug 23 - 5 clicks
There's a very simple message behind Brian Mooney's story today about the fund-raising and sending habits of the Massachusetts gubernatorial candidates. Charlie Baker, the Republican running on his managerial talents and his promise of making government lean and mean has out-raised incumbent Deval Patrick by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, while more than doubling Patrick's spending. And after a year ...
Massachusetts Liberal - Aug 22 - 6 clicks
You would think that for the four bucks they snag for each to and from Maine that New Hampshire public works officials could fork over a few dollars for directional signs when the muse actually strikes someone to stop in the Land of Booze and Butts Taxes. After experiencing a Saturday backup from Salem to Kittery on the way north, Mrs. OL and I decided to stop off in Portsmouth to break up the tr...
Massachusetts Liberal - Aug 22 - 5 clicks
Like an old lioness, sleepy but beginning to feel hunger and the drive to hunt, the Boston Globe is finally running real campaign stories a month before the primary. Last week, it acknowledged that three are in real competition for a key race , treasurer. Who knows, maybe after the primary, it will belatedly cover the two contenders for Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin's office. Tod...
Marry in Massachusetts - Aug 22 - 22 clicks
We impatient sorts can smile a bit looking at the NYT poll analysis of the continuing acceptance of same-sex marriage. A feature today amalgamates various polls to show a steady rise in support for SSM , from 45% to just over 50% depending how the source. Three Columbia University political science profs note this tend is sure to continue. They mention that three biggies — California, New Yo...
Marry in Massachusetts - Aug 22
In this week's issue of the Boston Phoenix -- in print and online now -- I have a short take on Monday afternoon's gubernatorial debate. I suggest that Charlie Baker is showing improvement as a candidate, but still has a ways to go to catch up with Deval Patrick and his team. Read it here: Baker's Learning Curve ...
Talking Politics - Aug 19 - 5 clicks
Not that I want to support the return of former Speaker Tom DeLay to the public forum, but I'll note that he makes an interesting point about the Democratic Party's national grassroots organization efforts, which he says will mitigate some of the potential for Republican gains in the US House. He might be right -- although it remains to be seen how effective that operation prove...
Talking Politics - Aug 18
Oh, Charlie, Charlie, Charlie.... Scot Lehigh followed up with Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker the other day about his appearance at a Bill Hudak event, figuring that he's now had enough time, since I wrote about it , and since Scot first asked him about it , to have forged a serious response. I can't say that his response strikes me as very serious: “I don’t...
Talking Politics - Aug 18
Once upon a time, like back in February when Bill Delahunt announced his retirement, there was a lot of thinking that Republicans could win the race this November for his replacement in the 10th District. After all, it's one of the least-Democratic districts in the state, and in January its voters went gaga over Scotto Brown. The Republicans got two legit candidates -- former Treasurer Joe Ma...
Talking Politics - Aug 17 - 3 clicks
