Bee!

A bee fell from a tree and landed on my windshield yesterday. I was about to get out of the car and go to work, but stopped immediately. I had a bad experience with a hornet when I was a kid, so bees sorta freak me out.




But the bee was a little lazy or lethargic, and was just sort of hanging out on the windshield. So I grabbed my camera and took some pictures.



Then I opened the door and ran away. Stupid bees.

Kevin Garnett: Breaking down the breakdown

Kevin Garnett deserves every accolade he's getting today. Slate decided to go a slightly different way, embracing the Big Man's deliciously weird post-game interview with Michelle Tafoya. Great read. Here's the video:

Celtics!

(photo h/t: Celticsblog)

Man, that was a beat-down for the ages. As a casual Celtics fan, this was amazing. I can't imagine how the die-hards feel today!

10 Dimensions?!?

Holy crap.

Back to the Future with a Reel Mower

Treehugger had a great post about using a reel mower to cut your grass. I just bought one a month ago, and I love it. I'd recommend it to anyone.

People get a little freaked out by the thing. I think it's because they remember hauling out their dad's rusted out, impossible to use mowers and left them behind long ago.

The first time I took the mower out, a neighbor yelled out to me, "What is this, back to the future?"

There are a number of reasons to get yourself a push reel mower:

1. It's quiet. This could be the biggest personal benefit of a reel mower. You can cut the grass and think at the same time.
   
   
2. It doesn't take longer to cut the grass. Gas-powered machines require a little prep time and down time before a cut to check for fuel, oil level and cleanliness, and after a mow to clean out the cutting area (spark plugs detached, please!). A push reel can go as soon as you touch, but will take just slightly more time to cut the grass. Raking afterwards can take time, but you can solve that by getting a bag for your push reel. Yeah, they make them.
   
   
3. It's cheaper. All you need is the push mower and a little WD-40 to keep things loose. Occasionally, you may want to sharpen the blades. Gas mowers use, um, gas, and I hear that can get pretty expensive these days. You also need to get tune ups and oil changes. And they cost more to buy out of the box.
   
   
4. No pollution. Seriously, if you're considering getting a push mower, isn't that a big reason why?
   

But there are some issues to consider:

1. It takes a little more physical effort to use. It's only slightly more work than pushing around a gas-powered mower, but it's still more work. It's the same as a hard walk or slight jog, and you can control the exertion by controlling your own speed and effort. I'm very much overweight and out of shape, and can definitely feel the burn, but it's not a deterrent at all.
   
   
2. It doesn't cut the perfect lawn. If you're looking to model your lawn after the putting greens at Augusta, you're our of luck. Reel mowers, by their design, can't catch really tall blades of grass or weeds. It also leaves wider edging than a gas mower (maybe two to three inches total). You'll need to follow up on these errant strands with your weed whacker. If you do, buy a cordless model. Just as powerful as your gas-powered whacker, but not as heavy.
   
   
3. Expect to rake. There are bags for reel mowers, but the word on the Interwebs is that these bags aren't so efficient. I still haven't gotten around to ordering one, opting instead to rake my lawn after a mow. The whole process takes me only an hour, compared to about 40 minutes to mow with a gas-powered mower. Had I a bag, there'd be no time difference.
   
   
4. People are somehow threatened by push mowers. My mother and sister told me I was crazy for getting one. My next door neighbor offers me her gas-powered mower every time I go out. The guy across the street heckled me. You need to really stand strong in your convictions if you're gonna do this.
   

So go get a reel mower! It's quieter, it's free exercise, and it's better for the world, damn you.

Time to celebrate, every 90 seconds

Crosswalk Countdown - GuerilLA from Kelly Herrington on Vimeo.

(h/t to Andrew Sullivan, who's Mental Health Breaks get me through the day)

Um...

Either people have too much time on their hands, or the good people at the gummi factory should have thought this through a little better.



(from Consumerist via Buzzfeed)

Tim Russert RIP

He was a hero of mine and will be greatly missed.

What just happened?

Don't follow politics but wanna sound smart? Slate gets you up to date in eight minutes:

Science explained! Think of it as a creepy Euro party...

This is brilliant:

(h/t: Matt Yglesias)

Got an extra $1.4 billion you need to spend?

You can always do this:



Thankfully, both pilots ejected and were uninjured, according to Wired's Danger Room. Still, yeesh.

They're piling us like cord wood on the Blue Line

Globe Photo by Bill Greene


OK, so which is most retarded part of the Globe's Blue Line seat story?

1. The basis of the story is that "many passengers have found themselves alternately fidgeting and slipping since the T began introducing the cars in February." The support for that statement? Four people complaining during the reporter's ride-along with the unwashed masses of the North Shore.

2. Breathlessly reporting that a driver "conceded that many passengers are, in fact, slipping" with this graf:

"Some people do have that problem," he said with a laugh before zipping to the turnaround at the Wonderland stop.

3. The driver had to be quoted anonymously because of T policies that bar employees from talking to the press. This is a story of such urgency that we had to resort to anonymous sources. I sympathize. This is clearly the most explosive revelation in a major newspaper since the Pentagon Papers. Or last year's high-end stroller expose.

4. The scientific survey of pole gripping:

A ride on the new Blue Line cars this week revealed what appeared to be a higher percentage of seated passengers clutching the metal poles than on other lines.

Really. That's in the story. A page one story.

5. Ignoring a more relevant and interesting story revealed by riders and the T's spokesman: People are complaining, and the T is admitting, that people are falling over from hard stops on new equipment. Has anyone been injured? What about the equipment is so different that it causes hard braking? Will operator familiarity ease the problem, or is it an equipment failure?

Ah, but that's for another day. A reporter has to follow his gut, and this reporter's gut told him to feature the middle-aged lady whining about the seats because they have a great photo for it.

6. After heading out into the trains searching for piles of riders on the floor, the reporter waits until the 22nd graf to get the T's official number of complaints about the seats. We read for a screen-and-a-half before we're told there have been seven complaints about the seats in the last four months. Seven complaints. That's a little less than one every two weeks. I can see why we had to rush a reporter out onto the train.


Personally, I like the new cars and the new seats. When you walk into one of the car, you look at all the surfaces and realize a T worker could walk in and wash the entire interior with a garden hose. That makes me happy.

Obama wins!

Andrew Sullivan has linked to this a couple of times, but he's right: It sums up how I feel perfectly:

Skit of the year

Jonah Hill has jokes:

Olbermann scorches Clinton

Keith Olbermann unloaded on Sen. Clinton over her incredibly stupid and insensitive assassination comment. It's 11 minutes of fire.

(h/t: Nicole!)

Truth

The Onion does it again:

Could Hillary Clinton Have What It Takes To Defeat The Democrats In 2008?

Green Will Make Your Head Hurt

Wired has a great package up online that challenges some of the most revered ideas of environmentalism. If our overarching goal is to reduce global warming, then we will have to accept some things we have resisted for a generation, like nuclear power, genetically modified crops, and actually buying a used Civic instead of my beloved Prius.

X > Y

Radar has a pitch-perfect whine and defense of Generation X posted online.

You've earned your retirement, boomers. So rest assured that your babies are in good hands as you go. As a member of the nowhere generation, now come of age, I'm proud to announce that our time has arrived. We may not be the next Greatest Generation, but we're pretty good at calling bullshit.

Definitely cranky, but that's sort of our mode, isn't it?

A Beat Down For Our Time

Love him or hate him, Chris Matthews can help put things in perspective. He spent five minutes putting a hurt on a third-rate radio host trying to compare Barack Obama to Neville Chamberlain:



Every once and a while, it helps to ask people if they're full of shit. You'd be surprised how many ways they can say yes.

(h/t: TPM)

Wow.



(h/t: Andrew Sullivan)

Overheard at Fenway

From the asshole drunk college kids sitting behind me:

"So I went to take the train at 3 a.m. last night, and guess what? There was no train."

"I live near there! You could have stayed with me."

"I didn't know you then."

Facebook: For the ego that needs a beating

I signed up for Facebook. This is my second go-around with the site, to be honest. I tried it out for a week last year and didn't really like it. But a lot of people I know are using it, and I like to keep up with things.

Anyway, they have these targeted ads on the site. Facebook has decided that the targeted ads I want to see are from a "Thirty Plus" dating Web site.

Thanks, Facebook. As if I don't already feel like a weird old-man-stalker type using your site.

State of the Thunder Cats

Did you hear the governor last night? Massachusetts is on the move! So the governor's secret is out: He's actually Lion-O from the ThunderCats:



So if Massachusetts is the ThunderCats, who's Mumm-Ra, our sworn enemy? I say New Hampshire. I'm sure Dan Kennedy would say it casino gambling. The firefighters would say its Mayor Menino, although I think he's the perfect Snarf.

Memo to Tom Reilly: You suck

Lost in all the talk of the Big Dig settlement is this: Tom Reilly was ready to settle for less money than is needed just to repair the shoddy work left behind in the project. What in God's name was he thinking? And he wanted to be governor?

I am an iPod Jedi master

Guilty admission: I got a compliment on my iPod’s diverse music selection, and I have been gloating over it for two days.

(Yes, I am a dork)

Two friends of mine threw a fantastic New Year’s party in the Back Bay, and asked that people bring their iPods along to dock with their spiffy new stereo. That way, everyone could play DJ. That’s a fantastic idea and it’s something I’ll include in all future parties.

So I brought my iPod, and dropped it into the dock to play some Fratellis. After a while, I forgot about it, until someone got their hands on the thing and made a bitchin’ On-The-Go playlist that everyone loved. As I left the apartment, the music was still going, so I asked my friends to hang onto the iPod til the next day.

Yesterday afternoon, I got a text:

"BTW, I’m not giving your iPod back."

My heart went soaring.

I don’t know why, but it feels like a confirmation that years and years of collecting music has led to some sort of accomplishment. Stupid, I know, but hey, it feels good to think I’m some sort of Ahmet Ertegün in waiting.

Remember the 10 Immutable Laws of Local News Storm Coverage

With a foot of snow coming this way for this evening, and then another foot coming for the Pats-Jets game Sunday, I thought it would be important to remember the 10 immutable laws of local news storm coverage. Because honestly, can't we give Dick Albert his moment in the spotlight? I updated the list ever so slightly (goodbye, Dick Cheney gun joke!) to keep it fresh for the kids, but these rules are immutable, so they remain the same as last year.

Remember, if there's snow in new England, our local news teams will do the following:

1. Send out reporters to at least two of the following four coastal areas: Revere/Winthrop, Hull, Scituate or Gloucester. At at least one location a wave will clear the sea wall. Run clip 743 times.
2. Send a reporter to somewhere along Route 128. During the blizzard of '78, motorists died as they became stuck on the clogged road and snow covered their vehicles' exhaust pipes. That will never happen again, but there needs to be a reporter on the scene for the possibility of a corpse interview.
3. If the station has a bigger budget, send someone to Worcester City Hall, which serves as a reminder that there is some form of civilization in Baja Vermont after all.
4. Doppler radar: This is a new entry to the weather coverage. It's no longer good enough to get radar information from the National Weather Service. Each station must have its own doppler radar tower that will provide "up to the minute" coverage of a 36 hour Snow Event.
5. Call the storm a Snow Event. This is mandatory.
6. Keep at least two weathermen (ahem, meteorologists) inside the station at all times. It makes the team look rugged, like one is on the air while the other is catching 10 minutes of sleep on a cot set up in a broom closet somewhere. Like firefighters, or Jerry Lewis during the telethon.
7. The anchors get to wear sweaters, like they just came in unexpectedly, and weren't aware they were working the extended Snow Event shift like four days ago. No blazer or otherwise professional clothing. If I can't believe that Ed Harding was at home splitting firewood when he was called for the extended coverage, then clearly NewsCenter Five doesn't care about the Snow Event.
8. Nothing is a bigger story than the Snow Event, even when baseball announces everyone who ever played the game cheated.
   
9. The following events, if captured on film, must be shown at least 743 times: A man falls, a car fishtails, water clears the sea wall (see rule #1), close-up of plows clearing the highway, kids with shovels trying to make some extra cash, a reporter losing their hat or hood in the wind. There are others, but these are your meat and potatoes.
10. At least one meteorologist must wonder out load "Will we get to official blizzard status?" and then remind us of the rules of a blizzard as defined by blah blah blah.

Dennis and Callahan on the outs? It's about time.

Dennis and Callahan may be on the outs with WEEI. Scott's Shots broke it, the Herald led with it, and Dan Kennedy analyzed it.

Good riddance. John Dennis is still all right, and I think that the last four months of co-hosts has allowed him to work outside of the rigid lines Gerry Callahan draws for him on the air. The ratings apparently remained sky-high for Dennis without Callahan, according to Scott:

While it is believed the two sides are at least in the same neighborhood on salary and length of the deal, Dennis and Callahan are basing their demands on what they see as their combined value to the station. Entercom's perception of that value (especially with the most recent ratings book indicating the absence of Callahan didn't have any appreciable effect on the show's popularity) appears to be somewhat lower.

If the rating stayed strong without Gerry tossing hate-filled bombs every morning, then 'EEI could replace one or both of these guys and not miss a beat. Dan Kennedy agrees, and suggests moving Dale and Holley to the morning drive time. That's a fine idea. I also think extending an offer to Bob Neumeier for an noontime slot with another host would work as well. Maybe you pair him with Steve Buckley and Jon Meterparel. Or swap Buck for Steve DeOssie. Or keep Meter in the mornings for some continuity with the 18-24 demographic. The station has options thanks to the cast of thousands format The Big Show employs. They've developed a fairly deep bench of players to draw from.

Still, it's incredibly bad timing on WEEI's part, as the Jimmy Find Radiothon is this week, and they want their A-Game to raise some cash. Why create this swirl of garbage now? WEEI is still running an ad featuring Dennis for the Jimmy Fund telethon. Whether that's an oversight, a sign that this is more posturing than a true break-up, or an effort to keep the best face forward for the charity is anyone's guess. And if the true story of Gerry Callahan's prolonged illness is more serious than run-of-the-mill throat trouble, this could become a very damaging story for the station in particular and Entercom in general.

Revere Beach is noisy at night? WHAT?

Honestly, am I supposed to have sympathy for someone who buys a luxury condo on Revere Beach and is then surprised that there are kids outside making noise at night? These people wants some sympathy, and want the cops to push all the kids out into the sea, apparently:

"They sit on the wall, they talk loud, they laugh, they play the music, there's a lot of young girls," said Gloria DiSerio, taking a breath and mimicking a high-pitched yelling sound she said some of the girls make when they laugh: "'Aaaah! Aaaah!'"

Young girls laughing. The horror.

So what exactly is the next step? The article goes on and on about anti-gang measures and saturating the beach with cops, but how's that going to protect these poor luxury condo owners from young girls and their banshee-like laughter?

Or maybe they can get their neighbor evicted. She's an airline pilot. Think of all the noise SHE makes flying out of Logan every day.

Just like in Stripes!

Remember Stripes? One company in the Swiss army apparently does; They invaded Liechtenstein last night.

Gerry Callahan vomits on freedom of religion

Remember how I said I was done with Dennis and Callahan? I've been backsliding, and just now I got a reminder why he's an incredible bigot: Gerry Callahan just said Muslims should not be allowed to pray on an airplane, because it makes everyone else on the plane nervous. Apparently, keeping your backwards stereotypes is more important than protecting first amendment rights.

Hey Jason Wolfe, isn't that just as bad, if not worse, than John DePetro calling Grace Ross a fat lesbian? Can we expect Callahan on the bread line tomorrow morning? Please advise.

The Globe just ripped off Steve Garfield

The Boston Globe has an interesting follow-up on the new parking meters used in Boston. Apparently, the city is violating credit card company agreements by requiring a minimum charge on the meters. A nice get, no?

It would be, if Steve Garfield hadn't covered this ground yesterday. Sure, maybe the Globe was already on the story, but I doubt it. Steve posted his stuff at 8:24 a.m. yesterday. I think it's pretty clear the Globe saw his post and decided to follow up on the point. Would it have killed the writer, Bruce Mohl, to credit Steve in the paper?

That's so cheap.

The chickens have come home to roost. In my mouth.

I just got back from the dentist. We'll be seeing a lot of each other in the next few months.

I have four cavities. Four. How does that even happen? At leas they're "tiny" cavities, as my dentist cheerfully pointed out. I mentioned this before; she's really nice, even when telling me I'd be better off buying a new jaw at a local morgue.

Ok, she didn't say that. But I can tell that's what she meant.

It doesn't stop there, of course. I also need braces. It's like high school all over again. And what really kills me is I'll need braces because of previous dental work; my teeth are shifting because my wisdom teeth came out last year. Solving one problem in the back of my mouth led to me looking like Grace Ross in the front of my mouth. Aces.

But the icing on the cake has to be the now-necessary implant for a lingering baby tooth. The "adult" tooth was impacted and removed when I was like 12, so nothing ever pushed lil' baby out. But now baby's loose and ready to leave home and find an apartment in Allston somewhere. So I need an implant. That means they are going to push a screw into my jaw to hold down a fake tooth.

And of course, no one dentist can do any more than one of these things, so I'll see my regular dentist for the cavity, an orthodontist for the braces and a periodontist for the screw job. It's like I'm the golden goose of Revere dentistry. Yeesh.

More Boston.com shenanigans

After posting about what I think is partisan gaming on boston.com's "most popular stories" rankings, I've been keeping an eye on the list. It looks like supporters of both campaigns (or maybe the campaigns themselves) are playing with this list

There are a couple of things that make me think things are not occuring organically:

1. These top stories are listed according to e-mailed recommendations made within the last hour
2. The top stories all ran days earlier

Here's a screenshot of the top rankings at about 10 a.m. this morning:



The top story? It's LaGuer, which originally ran Oct. 4! All of a sudden, 262 people saw this and had to recommend it to their friend? Three weeks later? Same thing with the second story, which is about Patrick donating money towards a DNA test for LaGuer, which ran Oct. 5.

Remember, today's Oct. 24.

It doesn't just go one way, though, as a friend pointed out to me. A lot of recent "top stories" on boston.com have been about women's groups endorsing Patrick, Criminologists hating on Healey, and lawyers defending Patrick.

So you tell me: How do these weeks-old stories all of a sudden become super popular? Is it that hard to imagine both campaigns putting an intern in front of a computer to send out recommendations all day and keep stories up in the mix?

To test my hypothesis further, I just e-mailed a story (Girls Soccer Stars!) to five people at once, and it showed up on the list as one recommendation. So when we talk about 262 recommendations, that's 262 times people looked at the article, clicked on the "e-mail to a friend" link, and sent the article to a buddy. So 262 people in the past hour decided to e-mail out a three-week old story that's dominated the headlines and commercials for nearly a month? C'mon now.

No more tolls? It's about time.

Well, no more tolls in theory. Most likely, the proposal to get rid of them dies when Patrick is made governor.

It's about time the tolls were pulled out. I don't understand why transportation (roads, rail, busses, and subway) requires a user-based fee system for its maintenance and repair, rather than paying for it out of the tax rate. We all live in this state, and my tax dollars are being spent to pay for schools, cops, fire depts, etc all across the state. If it weren't for the state's tax dollars, cities like Lawrence and Springfield would have no public services. As a taxpayer, I pay for rape crisis centers all across the state, not just in my area code. And that's how it should be. We are a commonwealth, after all.

But if you insist that there's a good reason to make this a regional issue, try this on for size. My Plan B theory, which I came up with right now: Kill the tolls on the pike and replace them with a gas tax. Use that money to cover the expense of repairs to the pike itself and to funding the Big Dig bonds. What's left over should be used on road projects across the state. That's on top of normal yearly appropriations, of course.

Next split the state into five parts: North Shore, Boston, South Shore/Cape, Central and Western. The tax collected in each region can be used exclusively on projects within that area. So repairs can be made to bridges and roadways across the state evenly and according to road use in each area. And they can finally pave the road to Springfield. That's not ideal, but it could work.

Is Healey's camp gaming Boston.com's story rankings?

Here's something odd: I was reading Boston.com at about 11:30 and saw the top five most popular stories (as determined by who e-mailed the story, you know the drill). There was this story about Patrick benefitting from a Big Dig contractor's fundraiser. It seemed oddly familier to me, and when I clicked on the link, I saw that it was the same story that ran on Oct. 12.

What's a five-day old story doing on top of the most e-mailed stories of the day?

So I clicked on the "Full List" link for the most popyular story page. That takes you to a list of the most e-mailed stories in the past hour. The Anti-Patrick story had been sent out 247 times. Here's a screenshot:



When I went to look at the daily list (most e-mailed in the day), I saw the story had been sent 303 times:



And for the past week, the story had only been e-mailed 330 times:



So what's the deal? How did this story all of a sudden go from less than 100 recommendations in five days to 247 in an hour? Did a big blog link to the article? Or is some Healey fan or the Healey campaign itself sitting around e-mailing this article to everyone? Are there Shenanigans afoot? Seems so to me.

T fare rollback. I was almost right!

Well, the T has adjusted the proposed fare increases:

Subway and trolley rides would go from $1.25 to $1.70, bus fares from 90 cents to $1.25, and most commuter rail passes would cost 22 percent more.

Riders who pay cash or use automated fare CharlieTickets instead of CharlieCards, which will become available next month, would have to fork over 25 cents more to ride buses and 30 cents more to ride subways and trolleys. Under the original proposal issued in April, the surcharge would have been 40 cents for bus and 55 cents for subways and trolleys.

I came close to calling it a few months ago:

If I had to make a guess, the T will offer transfer to CharlieTicket riders and keep the increase at $1.70, instead of retreating on the final increase amount itself.

I suppose that's a good impetus to get people using the credit card style Charlie Cards, but still, it soaks the casual T user who has no idea there's a caste system for fares.

I live next to Wonderland. As a terminus, it attacts a lot of casual users coming to Boston from the North Shore every weekend. Now I get to deal with irate dads, confused old people, and stupid teenagers from Swampscott clogging up the Charlie pass machines, trying to figure out why their fare costs more than everyone else's. Awesome.

Nancy Pelosi needs to go

Nancy Pelosi drives me crazy, because she can take political slam dunks and turn them into half-court jumpers at the buzzer.

Take the recent case of Republican Rep. Mark Foley, who has resigned after sexually charged e-mails and IMs he sent to minors were uncovered. The Republican leadership apparently knew about this almost a year ago, and squashed it rather than chase Foley out of his position.

The problem couldn't be any clearer: A Republican was sexually
exploiting underage staff members, and the GOP leadership knew all
about it.

Instead of saying just that, though, here's what Nancy Pelosi wrote to
the Ethics Committe, knowing full well it was her money quote:

``It is a nightmare for every child, parent, and grandparent to learn
that a child is being stalked on the Internet by an adult in a
position of authority," House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, Democrat
of California, wrote yesterday to the Ethics Committee. ``The fact
that Mr. Foley was engaging in this behavior with underage children,
that the Republican leadership knew about it for six months to a year
and has characterized the inappropriate behavior as `overly friendly'
and `acting as a mentor' and that apparently no action was taken to
protect these underage children is abhorrent."

Instead of saying what everyone else is thinking ("what bastards!"),
she turns it into a treatise on how to say nothing by saying every
damn thing in your head.

She starts with a preamble on why sexual expliotation is bad. That's
followed by one sentence that makes seven different points, some
redundant, all completely clouded by crowding and a passive voice:

1. Foley did what we said was bad in the first sentence
2. The child was underage, which is redundant
3. GOP leaders knew about it for some indeterminate amount of time
4. They pooh-poohed it using awful euphamisms
5. They didn't do anything to stop it.
6. These kids, again, are underage
7. It's abhorrent!


Why not say this instead:
"Mark Foley--a congressman!--exploited and sexually preyed on
children. Republican leaders knew about this, but chose to cover it up
instead. Why? To protect their hold on power in this chamber. They
sacrificed the safety of children for the sake of an election."

The point is clear, language is active, and is a better quote for the
newspapers. And that was after a two minute pass at a rewrite. I'm
sure all of us can come up with better if we had a little more time.

Seriously, who's writing this stuff for her?

Sorry, Ma, but you had a good run

OK, so according to the Globe, the new torture bill would allow the President to detain legal aliens indefinitely and with no recourse to petition the courts with a writ of habeas corpus.

Apparently, the scourge that is my mom has to be stopped.

I mean, hey, that whole habeas thing is a bit overrated anyway, right? Sure, it's been a cornerstone of our code of laws for 791 years, but Alba seems to have changed everything. Seriously, mom, what did you do?

Mihos wins, but Patrick benefits

So I slept on it a little bit, and I think that Christy Mihos actually won that debate last night. While Patrick did land one or two clean punches on Healy, Mihos was certainly the motor that drove many of the answers. The other candidates and Healy especially, had to react to Christy's positions and bombastic statements.

Did he come on too strong? My initial reaction was yes, a little, but afterwards the most vivid memory is of him hammering Healy on the Big Dig, so maybe going that big with an attack was useful. Also, he still came away as likable, sort of like your irascible but fun uncle.

I think the guy moved the needle a little bit and may clip some of Healy's support among independents and may nibble at some really conservative voters, which is bad news for Healy.

Patrick did alright in that he didn't implode. He landed a few good shots, but mostly could hang back and look reasonable because Grace Ross was staking out way-liberal stances and Mihos brought the shovel to smack Kerry Healy. He shined in comparison to Healy thanks to the work of the other two candidates. All in all, a good night's work.

Kerry Healy was playing defense all night, and then was flat when she touched her bread and butter issues (taxes, illegal immigration, the balance of power in the state). At times, she was literally fending off three players at once, especially during the Big Dig segment. You have to wonder if Republican Presidential hopefuls were watching how the Big Dig plays against Healy. The same failure to recognize and react to the problem could tar Romney in the primaries 14 months from now.

Grace Ross was certainly the most liberal person on the panel, but she wore it with a smart common people theme, and used softer language to describe her positions. Sort of a Class Warrior without the sword. She came off well, even if she was a bit unfocused earlier in the debate.

Gubernatorial Debate!

6:00 p.m. Here we go! Chris Wallace is here, fresh from his beat-down at the hands of Bill Clinton.

6:01 p.m. What's with the HBO Boxing After Dark intro graphics? "OK< JIM, the debate is scheduled for 12 rounds followng the unified rules..."

6:02 p.m. Taxes: Patrick: $980M in new taxes and fees under Republicans! And I'll hypnotize local towns to lower property taxes, even though I have no way to actually make that happen. Ross: Huh? Mihos: Towns are starving thanks to Healy and Romney! Healy: We don't need no stinking taxes! (hole empty answer on her main issue)


6:05 p.m. Property taxes and budget shirtfalls: Healy: People are leaving because of the taxes? I thought it was because there aren't any more jobs. Collectivized healthcare purchasing is a good idea. Patrick: Again with the $980M in new taxes under Republicans. Seems kinda tinny to me. Ross: (what the Hell is she wearing?) Help to the small businesses by increasing the minimum wage? Mihos: Big Dig is to blame? What?

6:08 p.m. How can you roll back both the income tax and property tax? Mihos: WE HAVE TO DO IT! More Big Dig, and a shot at the Sox. Healy: "My opponent Deval patrick" and special interests (Message to Mihos and Ross: Screw you!) Patrick: Special Interests Healy's talking about were the Massachusetts congressional delegation. First clean point of the debate goes to Patrick. Ross: Huh?

6:10 p.m. Patrick breaks in: We all agree on creating pportunities and job growth. Healy: Agrees to increase local aid. Stronger on rolling back income tax to 5%. "They deserve the roll back." Ross to Healy: You have the power to Veto. Where were you? Mihos: (yelling again) "That's what we're sick of in this state...throwing bombs at each other." Heh.

6:12 p.m. Affordable Housing: Ross: If we had a system that was flat for all taxes, we'd have about $3B more, mostly from people on the top. Now is openly soliciting for a sweetheart land deal. Mihos: "We're overtaxed." "This state is unafordable/, that's why people are leaving in record numbers." It appears Mihos is wholesale stealing Healy's playbook while poking her in the eye. Healy: Patrick took a pledge with AFL-CIO! How can you negotiate for the state? Patrick: I never traded a quid pro quo (ed-cough, cough, cough).

6:15 p.m. Voter questions introduced my Maria Stephanos! MCAS: Patrick: In favor, but we "slap it on top of school systems already under strain." Remedial programs. Other measures of child's progress. Ross: "We have a generation now that may not make it out of high school." Test is the reason why, apparently. No Mittens in school in winter! Mihos: "Fist to come out against" MCAS. More local funding. "It was a tool, it's now a weapon." (great line). Healy: It's not about funding, it's about standards. (to deval): You were against it before you were for it. wicked flat reposte)

6:18 p.m. Ilegal immigrants going to college: Healy: I will always be opposed to that proposal. We should use that money to lower tuition for students who are citizens. Patrick: I disagree, but there are good points on both sides. "People are not coming here for in-state tuition, they're coming here for jobs." Healy/Romney support businesses that hire out illegal immigrants. Ross: Immigrants who work here pay taxes here! Mihos: Used work illegal one, two, three, four times. Drags healy's husband into this, connects her to GWB. Healy: (Can't get a word in edge-wise as Mihos hectors her to respond to his silly attack).

6:22 p.m. Illegal immigrant driver licenses: Patrick: I want to know the name and faces of the people who are here. (good line, delivered flat). "People aren't coming here for driver's licenses, they're coming here for jobs." Ross: "What we really need to look at is what happened to our economy." Has nothing to say about drivers licenses. Mihos: "The Democrats want their votes, the Republicans want cheap labor." (to Healy) How many corporations has your administration fined for using illegal immigrants. Healy: It's Ton Reilly's fault! (point to Mihos) License is "most basic form of identification" in this country. If illegals have livceneses, they win...

6:24 p.m. (to Mihos) Would you push to arrest illegals driving w/o a license? Mihos: Yes, and I'll call INS (ed-which no longer exists) Healy: Calls Mihos on INS and agrees to lock up people driving. Matter of right or wrong. Patrick: It's a matter of priorities. With gun and gang violence "soaring" there's more important things for cops to focus on. Work with Kennedy and Kerry for "real solutions." Ross: Illegal immigrants make the worst wages. (to Mihos) You cry about the companies, but you want to go after the individuals (point to Ross). Use cops to stop drugs!

Shonda Schilling has a question! (Wow, it's missus bloody ankle!) Question on teacher merit pay: Healy: Love it! And let's give incentives for good teachers to work in underperforming schools. Mihos: You can call me Christy, and I'm against merit pay. Make these decisions at the local level, not from "elites up on beacon Hill." (Oy.) Ross: Best measure of school performance is how much money a town has. Tells an unfocused anecdote about class size. Patrick: Loves incentives to draw teachers to underperforming schools. Likes merit pay "in a way that encourages collaboration, bot doesn't defeat it."

6:30 p.m. To Patrick: It's a (an?) historic election: What has changes that Mass mihtbe second state to elect an African-American governor, or first female gov. in Mass history, or first independent. Why's Mass ready for a black governor? Patrick: If that was the only issue, I wouldn't win. I'm black, but I'm also a successful businessman, have led in gov't., in non-profits, yada, yada, yada. "Checked out, check back in" makes it's first appearance in the debate. Ross: The critical issue is race WIll be a critical factor, anyone who says otherwise isn't telling the truth. So will gender. Mihos: (Good God, this guy's got a tan. It's Geaorge Hamilton-esque). Republicans suck! Democrats suck too! Everyone is an indempendent now! Healy: The reason why people support me is I understand what it takes to make Mass more affordable. Auto rates, etc.

6:33 p.m. To Healy: Which policy do you identify closely with Romney? Least identfy? Healy: Most with fiscal restraint, least with abortion. Patrick: "Fiscal disciple is the responsibility of any governor." "prine economic pump." (Dud is smooth). Third time he mentions $980M in taxes and fees. Ross: Prison is too expensive! Shelters are too expensive, let's put people in housing. Republicans are wasting our money. Mihos: Now stealing Patrick's $980M line. Raised gas tax. "Ask a barber on the street what's happened to his license!" (ed- I love this guy) Cut to commercial. In a debate? Classy move, Fox 25!

6:38 p.m. And we're back.

6:38:30 p.m. To Mihos: How are you not just a spoiler out to screw Kerry Healy? Mihos: "How can you spoil a system that's rotten?" (good line). Big Dig is proof everything's FUBAR. Jane Swift violated Christy's civil rights, and Healy cheered her on! Mihos just stole Patrick's checking out nostrom. Healy "You're my hero, Christy." If Deval wins, we'll go back to the Dukakis era where there's only one party in control (ed- It took you 40 mionutes to hit your biggest selling point?) Patrick: People want broader experience. Big Dig was a grea tproject, but there were huge problems and there was hardly any attention paid to this. Ross: I make about $20K-$30K a year, and these peeps are super rich! "They have no clue what the rest of us face."

6:42 p.m. To Ross: Why are you even here? Ross: We need to talk to real people about real issues. "It's called trying to rebuild democracy." She's totally pulling at my Nader heart strings. Patrick: I grew up on public assistance. We're not about drawing divisions, we want to build community. Healy: Balance is about to be lost on Beacon Hill (Did she just concede)? If it weren't for me and Romney, a cap gains tax would have been retroactively applied! Mihos: I'm spending my kid's inheritance to run! Ross to Patrick; I didn't say you were divisive! I'm saying 60% of us are in a recession!

6:46 p.m. Voter Question! How we gonna keep businesses here, creating jobs? Ross: All of the tax breaks are going to the top brackets and corporations! We need real universal health coverage. Healy: If we're serious about job creation, roll back the income tax! And let's work on our permitting process. Mihos: I AM a small business owner! We can't afford to live here! Whoa, he "agrees with Kerry on this issue." Patrick: Permittign needs to be fixed. We need to connect good ideas with capital. Fix the roads!

Why is no one looking into the camera? Isn't this like debating 101?

6:49 p.m. Big Dig: To Mihos: What responsibility do you bear? (meatball down the middle for Mihos) Mihos: Fired for speaking up, voted to recoup funds from bechtel, voted for oversight, took Matt Amorello to court for documentation. Romney/Healy allowed the Big Dig's property manager to sign off on the commonwealth's responsibilities! Healy: Wanted to merge MadssHighway and Turnpike Auth. (yawn). It took a tragedy to get the merger done. Patrick: "That stem to stern review was promised when" thre Romney admin. came in. Healy isn't taking respnsibility for her failures in Big Dig. Healy responds: We totally have done an independent review. Patrick again: And it took a death and that is a "shocking shame." Ross: You shoulda had every contractor in your (healy's) office and demand they fess up now! Mihos: Hitting hard on Healy. "Two people are dead today because you did nothing. (woulda scored a point except he's coming off WAY too hard). You are paying the companies everyday!

6:54 p.m. To healy: Romney was late into the Big Dig game, right? Healy: We were totally interested in doing something, but no one would give us any information. What could we do? Patrick: I commend the gov and lt. gov for your work since the accident. But the point is leadership is taking on the problem from day one, not making excuses (scoring big points.) Ross: Both Patrick and Healy have taking money from Big Dig contractors. Cashman wants permits for LNG in Fall River and new Wind Mills. There should be no new permits until everything's straightened out. Mihos: The Big Dig is the state's project. Everything has to be voted on by THEIR Hwy Dpt. "This intentional indifference to blame everyone except themselves is what has caused this mess."

6:57 p.m. Sick time abuses. what can you do to stop this from happening? Patrick: I'll stop it! Ross: We need collaborative leadership! Mihos: Independent Authorities "poster childs" for what's wrong w/ Mass. Amorello totally paid himself and his "hacks" off with sick time, vacation time, etc. Healy: Independents were supposed to remove politics. What they did was remove responsibility. I'll fix 'em! Then she blanked on UMASS.

6:59 p.m. Question from Jasper White: How you gonna help fishermen while protecting the environment? Mihos: Screw Cape Wind! Ross: "The Fisher Industry has also suffered greatly." "We have to increase agricultural and fishing and those sort of things." healy: Fighting in Washington to protect our fishermen. Patrick: We all love Jasper's cooking! Fishermen are drug addicts? What?

7:02 p.m. Mr. Patrick has asked for everyone to run a clean campaign. Shouldn't you be ready to handle criticism and sharp elbows as a governor? Patrick: I can handle it, but let's all get along and work together on stuff. Ross: I totally agree with Deval. Mihos: I want to give people a chance to listen to the issues. Wants a discussion on the issues after hitting Healy with a sledge hammer for an hour. Healy: Word, let's keep it clean. I want Deval to tell the 527s to not participate in the campaign. Patrick: Don't associate me with those 527s!

7:06 p.m. Closings: Ross: I was a community organizaer. We should all have a voice! "the heart of massachusetts is a just heart."

7:07 p.m. Healy: thanks the sponsors (second time tonight). I see and I believe in higher stds in our schools, more charter schools, merit pay. DP oppposes those positions. "Under Deval Patrick, taxes would only go up." Deval's soft of crime!

7:08 p.m. Mihos: "I love this state. That's the only reason I'm running for governor." I'm the only person here FROM this state! "Everything I have is here; this is my home. Massachusetts is worth the fight." Christy's Proposition One is on my Web site!

7:09 p.m. Patrick: Every election is about a choice. I want us to be about the politics of hope. Everyone has ideas, but those ideas don't go anywhere without leadership. I'm totally a leader. "I'm not asking anyone to take a change on me: I'm asking you to take a chance on your aspirations."

Liveblogging the debate

I plan on liveblogging tonight's gubernatorial debate. I've never done
anything that ambitious with the site before, and have hemmed and
hawed about it all day. But I've decided to try. We'll see how it
goes.

Gerry Callahan just ruined WEEI for me

Well, that's it for me and WEEI for a while, at least in the mornings. Gerry Callahan just called Jesus Christ "stupid."

It gets better: It wasn't everything about Jesus that was stupid, just the whole forgiveness thing. You know, love your neighbor, turn the other cheek, "forgive them father, they know not what they do." That thing.

I'm not even religious, and I found that offensive.

The duo were talking about the nun in Mogadishu who was shot by Muslim extremists as a response to the Pope's speech last week. As she lay dying, she mumbled "I forgive you" over and over.

This had Callahan tied in fits, saying she was an idiot for forgiving two guys who shot her, and that her action essentially gave them permission to kill more nuns. When John Dennis calmly tried to explain that she was trying to emulatre Christ, and retold the whole "forgive them father" story, Callahan called Jesus stupid for forgiving the people who killed him.

Never mind that it's the basis of the entire Christian belief system. Forgiving others is stupid, because it gets in the way of Gerry's bloodlust and the President's political interests. What a jerk.

Kerry Healy needs a new music guy

Watching the post-election coverage last night was dull dull dull. But one thing caught my attention: When Kerry Healy was introduced, the loudspeakers at the hall started playing Van Halen (OK, Van Hagar's) "Dreams."

Dreams? As in, "My hope to be the next governor is a dream?"

Sheesh.

Deval Patrick for governor

The primary is tomorrow, so I have an endorsement for my four readers: Deval Patrick for governor.

There are competing interests in this race: The best interests of Massachusetts and the best interests of the Democratic Party. These are the interests presented by the candidates. And while most voters don't necessarily care about the health of any one political party, I do.

Tom Reilly, unfortunately, is not a good fit for either role. His deplorable performance in the first televised debate was the latest in a string of gaffes, and that shows that he's a good guy who isn't ready for the type of politics a governor must deal with on a day to day basis. He may have won the second debate, but the fire he showed then was tempered by the first debate's ersatz cries of indignation over the release of readily-available financial records.

Both Patrick and Chris Gabrieli, however, would be good governors, I suspect. Gabrieli has shown a better grasp of the finer details of policymaking and would thus be a stronger player on Beacon Hill.

Gabrieli is also more committed to the job. A governor Gabrieli would run for re-election until his own wake. This is his ceiling as a politician; Good humor aside, he's not built for a federal race at any level. And this seems like a job he wants, and not a weigh station for bigger and better things. As governor, Gabrieli would work hard for the interests of the state.

So would Patrick, although perhaps not as effectively as Gabrieli. Yet.

That's the second consideration in this election: Deval Patrick is still green, but he's a candidate that is built for higher office. The Democratic Party needs to develop candidates for national offices, and Patrick could be a key player in that.

I am very wary of giving the governor's office to another politician angling for a different job, but Patrick has the dynamism, charisma, and ideas that will translate well into a senatorial bid. He even has the build of a presidential candidate. I'm not running the guy for president just yet; I'm just saying his background, public speaking abilities, policy ideas and charisma are the foundations of a presidential candidate. Whether he has the temperament is still a question, especially after the second debate last week.

The larger picture is a candidate who will do a good job as governor, and has the ability to learn on the job and groom himself for higher office. Although that means he's likely in the job for one or perhaps two terms, it may be a short term we can live with.

I lamented to my friend that there was no senatorial opening for Patrick, because that would be a great fit for him, and it would give us Gabrieli in the state house. Maybe that's the dream scenario, but it's not reality. I hope that Gabrieli doesn't hang it up and runs again when Patrick does take that next step.

Racism! at the Stop n' Shop

I was a little sort on cash the other day, so I took my half filled jar of coins and went to the local Stop n' Shop. They have those Coinstar machines, which take a big wet bite out of your total payout (like 9%), but are super convenient.

I walk in the store, and there's a line to use the machine. There was a young Latino couple at the machine, some middle-aged white lady and then me. The young couple's engaged in light conversation in Spanish and pulling out obscene amounts of change from plastic bags. It's clear they've been there for a while, because their total's over $100, even with another bag of change to go.

The lady in front of me turns around and looks at me, which I thought was weird. I live in Revere. People don't look at each other.

When the couple pulls out their second bag of change, the wife looks back at the line (there's someone behind me now) and smiles. The lady in front of me turns around again and gives me a "Can you believe this?" look. What the Hell? I realize that this is some sort of trial by fire for this woman, and that she thinks I'm her partner in adversity.

I can't figure out why she was so agitated that people sometimes have a lot of change. So I sort of suck in my bottom lip and make my eyes all wide, trying to convey a "Hey, what are you gonna do?" sort of look.

The couple finally ends after rolling through like $250 worth of change. No lie. They must have set some sort of Coinstar record. Now it's put-upon lady's turn at the machine.

She gets to the first menu on the machine, which asks if you want the instructions in English or Espanol. She audibly grunts and SMACKS the English button. All of a sudden, everything is clear; she's not upset some couple took a long time at the machine; she's upset some Latino couple took a long time at the machine.

Great. Some racist is trying to make communion with me in the Stop n' Shop.

She punches through the menus and the machine is ready to take her change. Except she doesn't know what to do. The racist lady doesn't know how to use a Coinstar machine, even though the instructions—helpfully written in English, as requested—are on the screen, next to the picture of change falling into the tray.

"What? How does this work?" she asks.

"You have to put your change in that tray and slide it down the slot on the side."

"Oh! OK, thank you!"

So she dumps her change in the tray…and freezes again.

"Now what?"

"Now lift the tray and the coins will fall into the slot."

"Oh! Oh, OK. Thank you again."

Now she grabs the handle and pulls the tray up, dumping all her change into the slot and overwhelming the machine. It accepts like $7 of change from her and rejects the remaining $20-something, which falls into the rejected coin tray.

"What? What happened?" she asks.

"It didn't read the change. You have to take it out of that bottom tray and try again."

"OK, you know what? I don't have time for this, and I certainly don't have the BALLS of that OTHER couple. I'm just going to put this change back in my bag [ed. Note: She really was giving a play by play like this] and take my slip for $7. Thanks for your help."

Oy.

A good first step

The Hancock Tower is up for sale. That's step one. Step two is convincing the buyer to re-open the observatory that was surreptitiously closed for "security reasons" after September 11.

292

Remember that number. 292.

Yum!

Have you had the news cookies at Dunkin Donuts? Sweet Lord God, they're good.

I had gotten one the other day, and I couldn't believe it. So when I went to my regular Dunks today the guy asked if I wanted my regular, and I said, "No, I think I'll have one of them cookies instead."

Both he and this other worker literally cheered when I said that. Seriously. They said they were sent to learn how to bake them and stuff, and people were taking home as many as they could after the session was over.

So I asked about that story in the Globe, saying Dunks was going to expand to lunch foods and stuff. They seemed less enthusiastic. "There's one in Nashua selling hot dogs," said the guy with a sigh. "That's weird. I can't get used to that." Amen.

If things break the right way, I could be wearing a totally cool patch. Like a pirate.

I got contacts like a month and a half ago, right before I flew out to Chicago. When I got back I had the doctor adjust my prescription, and he gave me a pair that was supposed to last me a month. That was five weeks ago. OK.

Here's the thing; I'm a lazy bastard, so I never went and got a new box of the contacts. I put mine in yesterday morning and it felt sort of normal, except the left eye was giving me a little trouble. But it didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary, so I just went to work.

After about two hours, the itchiness turned into some very low level pain, and I took my left contact out. It was partially torn. This was at like 10 am. But everything still seemed manageable, so I did a little research online and found the closest Wal-Mart. I don't like shopping there because of their labor problems, but I figure the contacts aren't made in a sweatshop and they offer really big rebates and stuff. The closest one is in Salem, like 20 minutes away.

At about noon I hopped in the car and head out there, and I found the smallest, most busted looking Wal-Mart you've ever seen. And there's no optometrist inside, so I figured I was screwed. But I decided to take a shot at the pharmacy anyway. While I was waiting for the one guy to come see me, my eye all of a sudden started bugging out. Like searing pain, all at once. I pulled the contact out, and it was completely torn apart. A whole huge side was missing, and presumably its floating behind my eyeball, because I could never find it.

The guy finally came over and I asked if they carry boxes of contact lenses. He said no. OK, where is there an eye place around here that would? He didn't know, because he lives "on the other side of the state." I swear to God he said that. Then he told me to ask the girl at customer service.

So I go over to customer service, and the girl (she was like 16) was ringing up customers, because this was the smallest most busted Wal-Mart ever. I finally get to her and asked where in the area I could get a contact lens prescription filled. Without looking at me, she says "try our pharmacy over there," and points back to where I came from. No, I explained, I talked to the pharmacist and he doesn't have contact lenses there.

She finally stopped and looked at me, and literally recoiled with disgust. This was the first indication I had that my eye at that point looked disgusting. She said to try the CVS up the street, which I knew absolutely wouldn't carry contact lenses. Thanks, I said, and left.

When I get to the car, I removed the other contact lens because walking around with just one was actually worse than nothing at all. Then I pulled down the visor mirror, and my eye looked like Sauron from the Lord of the Rings movie. I have never seen an eye that red and bloodshot in all my life. Wicked gross.

Of course, I went to CVS anyway, and sure enough they didn't have contacts, and suggested I try the mall. But I'm now 50 minutes into a one hour lunch break, and I have a 20-minute drive back to work. So I couldn't go to the mall.

I was forced to head back and wear the prescription sunglasses I keep in my car. Sunglasses in the office. I looked like a total jerk for the rest of the day. One friend helpfully offered to make me an eye patch. Everyone else just laughed at me. Supportive bastards.

Because really, what's a nation without borders?

The New York Times has accomplished what many have said could never be done: They have drawn the first true border between Red Sox and Yankee nations. It's a fun read, and the author takes an appropriately goofy tack in declaring any given town's allegiance, be it the sale of logo lighters, a flag on a far-off porch, or the say so of a diner operator.

And we're winning the war! All of Massachusetts is solidly behind the Sox, while there are enclaves of Sox territory in New York state. And the Sox have made a real beachhead across the Connecticut River, which was considered the traditional redoubt between Sox and Yankee country. For God's sake, we already control ESPN's headquarters! Can Waterbury be that far behind? It's like Island hopping to Japan in World War II; Bristol to Waterbury to New Haven to Bridgeport to-- Well, OK, maybe they can keep Bridgeport.

NESN: no sense of humor

So Youtube has taken the Dennis Leary video down, dammit. But AlterNet to the rescue! Hat tip to Jason at HappyScrappy for finding the new version. And a hat tip to Universal Hub and Andrew Sullivan for pointing me to this in the first place.

Dennis Leary is my hero

And don't forget Lenny Clarke, either. The two just roast Mel Gibson during last night's Red Sox game. Priceless.

UPDATE: So Youtube has taken the video down, dammit. But AlterNet to the rescue! Hat tip to Jason at HappyScrappy for finding the new version. And a hat tip to Universal Hub and Andrew Sullivan for pointing me to this in the first place.

This was my friends' apartment

Did you hear about the fire yesterday in Shrewsbury? My friends Seth and Allissa lived there. They got out OK, but one of their cats didn't make it. If you look at the photos, they lived on the top floor, where all the firefighters are walking around. The roof over their apartment collpased.

I drove out to see them last night, along with another friend. We stopped by the place before meeting up, and it was just stunning to see the damage and breathe in that smell of burning wood. Just awful.

Joe Lieberman: Using fear to win votes

Joe Lieberman is using yesterday's exposed terror plot for his own personal gain. It's absolutely vile:

"If we just pick up like Ned Lamont wants us to do, get out by a date certain, it will be taken as a tremendous victory by the same people who wanted to blow up these planes in this plot hatched in England. It will strengthen them and they will strike again."

So Joe's decided to make political hay by accusing his Democratic opponent of cutting and running in Iraq, a war which Joe says makes us safer from terrorist attacks like that one that was planned in England and exposed yesterday. And he doesn't understand why he's so closely linked to President Bush and VP Cheney. Sheesh.

Joe's statement is misguided in so many ways, we can actually list them out:

1. By Joe's logic, we should invade England and "take the fight to them" over there. These were British citizens who planned this attack, after all.
   
2. You can't level foreign policy rebukes in a pizza parlor. Or any place called a parlor for that matter. No discussion about the situation in Darfur while you're in line for a Fribble at Friendly's. Got it?
   
3. This quote: "How the heck can we be in a battle in which we are fighting as Democrats and Republicans against each other when these terrorists certainly don't distinguish based on party affiliation?" makes absolutely no sense. Democrats and Republicans are fighting "this battle," but "this battle" is the global war on terror, but it could be the war in Iraq, and we're fighting—literally, it seems—against each other, but we're also fighting the terrorists (or Iraqis), so we should stop physically harming ourselves, or…huh? I understand you're speaking extemporaneously, but seriously, didn't you review this in the car on the way over?
   
4. Maybe, when we defeat the terrorists, they will then decide to wage war as Independents.
   
5. Godwin's law is in effect: Joe used the Nazis to make his point. He loses the election and now owes everyone here a soda.
   
6. Department of redundancy department: All Soviets were communists, Joe.
   
7. Picking up and leaving in Iraq is a morale boost for terrorists. That's opposed to, say, keeping troops in Iraq to be killed by said terrorists.

Again with the helicopter moms!

Good God almighty, make it stop!

Apparently, the Globe can't. stop. talking. about. "Helicopter parents." Today's version of the same story: Parents have a hard time detaching themselves to kids at camp.

Stories of helicopter parents -- so called because they hover ever so close to
their children -- abound among baby boomers. Competitive, overbearing, and
unwilling to let go, they have changed the flavor of kindergarten enrollment,
Little League cheering sections, and college admissions. Now, 140 years after
the first privileged boys trekked out of grimy Northeastern cities and into the
woods for a season of fresh air and exercise, those parents are redefining the
way summer camps are run, too.

I'm not saying it isn't interesting, I'm just saying it loses value when you run the same damn story over and over. Enough already.

This all reminds me of Jack Shafer's fun thread on Slate, where he excoriates newspapers for running with stupid, uninformed articles about the non-present Meth explosion in our country. Seriously, Dan Kennedy, where are you on this?

They were still doing this?

OK, I understand that politicians are the most humorless people on Earth (save Barney Frank, of course), but really: After three-plus years, they were still calling them "freedom fries?"

The congressional cafeteria: Run by that uncle who tells the same joke at every Thanksgiving.

The Boston Globe: Same stories, year after year

The recent coup at the Globe has left the venerable newspaper in the hands of crazy old people from my neighborhood. They've struck again today, picking up an AP story from a far off place (New Haven) to reiterate the same point they made in an editorial last week and an article three weeks ago: Today's parent are super control freaks and their kids are mush-headed idiots:

They have researched discount textbook outlets, campus safety, even individual professors. But they are not honor students; they are not students at all. They are "helicopter" parents, so dubbed for their tendency to hover, prepared to swoop in at a moment's notice lest harm befall their progeny.

But it doesn't stop there, this lunacy dates back to last year, when the Globe reported about how today's parents, um, are super control freaks and their kids are mush-headed idiots.

Theories abound to explain the growing ranks of what administrators call ''helicopter parents" who hover over their offspring. Hypotheses range from the competitive frenzy over school success to the high cost of college education and the trend toward smaller families, in which children make decisions with their parents.

Perhaps it wasn't a coup after all, but an obsessed editor assigning and picking up stories on the same damn theme to fulfill her off-to-college article quota? Or the Boston Globe just out of ideas?

Whole state agencies bend to my will

How about that? I, the guy who gets like four visits a day to his site, somehow got the MBTA to change the not-really-a-password problem, which exposed the e-mail addresses submitted to an online survey. They even left a comment on my original post.

That's what you didn't know about me; I got pull.

For my next trick, I'll try to convince them to eliminate the proposed fare double-standard for people without Charlie Cards, to green light the promised red-blue connector, and to sell Meth to pay for basic maintenance. What do you say, guys?

OK, maybe not the Meth part. But hey, at least they were good enough to fix the loophole. Thank you. The problem, however, is now you can't see the results of the poll, either. If the powers that be at the MBTA (or their PR firm) are still reading over here, how about releasing the poll results for everyone to see? When you're done collecting the info, of course.

MBTA: e-mail snitches

So my buddy Rob decided to take the T Web site redesign survey yesterday. After he was done, he clicked on the link to see the overall results of the survey. That took him to a page asking for a password.

Most people would quit there, but Rob's a daredevil. He tried the first thing he could think of as a password for the MBTA: Charlie. It worked.

And what Rob found was the survey results, along with the e-mail addresses of everyone who submitted the info to the survey.

Yes, that's a small transgression, and the worst that'll happen is some harvester will collect those addresses and send people more spam, but seriously: The T couldn't take some step to protect this information? Yeesh. And why have a password at all if its going to be so damn easy to figure out? It's like using your own name or "money" for your ATM card.

But it was interesting to see what people would like to see on the T Web site. The best suggestions: T maps overlaid with street maps, the ability to recharge CharlieCards online, and overall suggestions to simplify the design.

The best snarky sugesstion (via Jason): "Here is, so far, my favorite response to the question of what should be on its new website: 'Why we have such poor service'"

Shut-in grandmas stage bloodless coup on Morrissey Blvd

Where's Dan Kennedy when you need him? It appears that the editorial board of the Boston Globe has been deposed and a new junta of retirees from my neighborhood has taken control of the paper. I came to this conclusion after reading the paper's editorial on all those spoiled kids going to their fancy colleges:

At the moment, this is a generation that lacks the common sense to stay off
deadly train tracks or campus rivers when they're icy. A generation that can't
seem to make decisions without texting home, and whose helicopter parents -- so
named for their hovering ways -- have actually begun negotiating salaries with
job recruiters on their kids' behalf.

The evidence of the grandmotherly coup:

1. They're complaining about crank kids and their too-fussy mommas.
   
2. The story they refer to ran in the paper two weeks ago. All my uncles complain about stuff they read or saw "on the TV" two weeks ago.
   
3. It appears as though they nodded off for a nap around the fifth graf.
   
4. They've taken a point I initially agreed with and nagged about it to the point where I take the other side just to be stubborn. I am six years old again.
   
5. Word has it tomorrow's editorial will be about "those goddamned squirrels getting into the bird feeder again. Those seeds are for THE BIRDS!"

Chicago, good friends, good ballpark, terrible fans

It's been a while, I know. I was lazy, and then I was on vacation. Sorry about that.

I went to Chicago last week for a vacation. I have a bunch of friends out there, although oddly almost none were originally from the city. It's a great city to visit, and I go pretty often.

My friend Molly performed with her sketch comedy troupe at a benefit show. She was great, as were some of the other groups. But others were awful. What was the worst? The headlining act for this battered women's charity event was called "Pimprov." Seriously.

I also saw a buddy's reading. My friend Jonathan runs "The Dollar Store." It's a monthly reading of stories inspired by items bought at—wait for it—a dollar store. Really fun.

I also saw The Grackles (a friend's band) play, and went to the aquarium. And ate like a bastard. Good trip.

Lots of my friends out there are going through some personal shit, and I won't exploit that stuff here. And I don't have a lot of pictures, because I'm stupid and forgot my camera every time I went out. So let me tell you about the Cubs game I went to.

The park, once you're in your seat, is awesome. I was on the first base side, so I had a great view of the Budweiser house and home bleacher sections neighbors put up. The ivy really does give the park a different feel, too.

But some stuff was bad. They have a hand-operated scoreboard, which is cool, but the information on the board was all over the place and hard to read. Plus, a lot of pertinent information, like the pitcher's line and stuff, was no where to be found. Lousy.

And the fans were all kind of stiffs. I was told repeatedly by friends out there that people only go to Cubs games to drink Old Styles and be seen by other people, and it's totally true. They knew more about baseball than the awful fans in San Francisco, but still weren't into the game.

Get well soon, Peter Gammons

Terrible news: Peter Gammons, the finest baseball writer of this generation, had surgery to repair a brain aneurysm on Tuesday. It's a topic that hits close to home with me, because my father died of a hemmorage in his brain. Bob Ryan wrote the news linked above. I know Ryan is a close friend with Gammons, but I still am a bit unnerved by the obit tinge of the piece.

Get well, soon, Peter.

Three things

1. My buddy Jason had an op-ed run in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel yesterday, where he explains how he got his high school to stop forcing kids to stand for the pledge of allegiance. He makes the point perfectly; respect for our freedom has to include the freedom to keep your seat.
2. Remember how I said Barney Frank dug knuckle-deep into his nose on national TV? There's video evidence on youtube.
3. Enough of the waiting; Build the goddamned parks! I swear, I must be the last guy in the commonwealth who still likes the Big Dig project, but they're starting to lose even me.

Mitt Romney: cowardly hack

Brian McGrory batters the Hell out of Mitt Romney in today's Globe for skipping out on the Tip O'Neill Tunnel dedication:

Could it be that he's still sulking over the fact that Congress flicked aside
his efforts to assign the main portion of the Big Dig the completely white-bread
name, ``The Liberty Tunnel"?
Could it be that he's so partisan that he can't
take a couple of hours out of his day to honor the memory of one of the great
Democratic leaders to come from this state, a truly significant national figure?
Or could it be that his presidential aspirations have made him so
knock-kneed that he's afraid to be associated in any way at all with the
so-called liberal politicians from Massachusetts, especially as he's performing
for a national Republican audience?
Take your pick. One's as bad as the
other. A classless partisan or a political coward -- you decide.

McGrory has been hit or miss lately, but this piece is dead-on-balls accurate about how craven Mitt Romney really has become. Think back to before he ran for governor, and how he had plotted to take Utah's top executive job. This was never about Massachusetts or being an effective governor, it was about raising his profile. And now, as he panders to the right, he's making the same classic mistake most would-be candidates make; He appears feckless and petty. And by yesterday's performance, we now know it isn't just an appearance.

Tony Maz: He-man woman hater

Wow, Tony, take it easy! I know it must be hard for you, a reporter, sitting up in the press room, filling your face with lobster and drink, to look down and see pretty college-aged girls sitting where fat bastards like me used to be, but seriously; It's not that bad.

Yeah, they can be annoying, but so were fans in the park before all these fair weather kids came rolling in. And it's always been impossible to get seats at Fenway. When I'm shut out of the game, it doesn't matter who's sitting in the park instead. I hate them all, equally, as God intended.

And the cell phone thing? Are you serious? Generally, it's rich season ticket holders and their buddies who sit behind home and wave at the camera while on the phone. How many pink hats sit back there? Really, Tony, you're a great writer, but let's learn to pick our fights a little better, n'kay?

What a snitch!

What's up with this lady? Some gas station made a mistake and was selling premium gas for 32.9 cents instead of $3.29. And this lady called 911 -- nine-one-one! -- to tell the cops! The station owner would have picked up on this anyway, so why screw everybody else? Maybe it's because I'm from Revere, but that ain't right...

Welcome back, Heraldites

Pat Purcell has taken the chains off his columnists, so we can again read them for free on the Herald's Web site.

 

It's about damn time. This is a great move by the Herald, and it's great news for Boston in general.

 

What we had before were these Herald columnists, putatively the voices of working class Boston, locked up in a caste system style Web site where you had to pay more for their wit and wisdom. Excuse me? No one really discussed these guys anymore. When you would hear the talk on the radio (Oddly dominated in our market by Herald people), you couldn't follow up by going to the Herald's Web site and reading the column. That's bunk.

 

Here's the thing: Columnists grow in value as they grow in influence. The more people talk about a columnist and her work, the more readers that columnists gets. So walling them off behind a subscription ransom is completely counter intuitive. You effectively separate the columnist from any chance at hooking new readers. These writers are the bait for the newspaper. You give them away for free to draw eyes. And dollars.

 

You want a better example? Look at TimesSelect. Who really talks about Maureen Dowd anymore? Paul Krugman? No one online, at least. These columnists used to dominate the "most requested" page on nytimes.com. Look now, as of Thursday morning, there's one Times select piece in the top 25 most e-mailed stories. There are none on the "most blogged" list.

 

Newspaper still view the net as a threat, because they can't figure out how to make money off the thing. But that's just a lack of imagination. Newspapers must find a way to make the Internet work for them, because it's so clearly their future. Stop stop whining about Craigslist and do something about it. Localized vertical searches are a good start, but Google will catch up. Keep innovating. And keep the columnists out in the open!

 

*Full disclosure: I used to work for Community Newspaper Company when it was owned by Purcell.