Politizine

• A letter to Barack Obama

  From Ralph Nader
  
  November 18, 2009
  
  Dear President Obama,
  
  You are nearing the day of decision as to whether you order the dispatch of more soldiers to Afghanistan.
  
  Some of your advisors have urged up to 50,000 more soldiers, including several thousand called trainers of the [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 19, 2009, 2:16pm EST
  

• Down right creepy?

  Or maybe not: The first lady of South Carolina recently tried sought to have her name trademarked after it was revealed that her husband was having an affair with a woman in South America. The July 2 filing of the trademark was intended for items to be sold by an [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 16, 2009, 8:10am EST
  

• Oh wow ... look at this car!

  [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 14, 2009, 12:39am EST
  

• A quick kudos to President Obama ...

  assuming the following is true: ["After spending binge, White House says it will focus on deficits"].
  Since I'm always criticizing the president for the clueless and inept things he does, let me be a bit positive here. This is a great idea. In fact, I'll go one step further: [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 13, 2009, 8:28am EST
  

• Uh-oh ... NY-23 not settled ...

  Via Political Wire.
  It looks like final counts are not actually final in NY-23 where the Conservative candidate apparently lost to the Democrat. Eh, well, maybe not so fast: ["Recanvassing shows NY-23 race tightens even as Rep. Bill Owens is sworn into House seat"].
  Three thousand votes with more [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 12, 2009, 4:10pm EST
  

• Democrats failing the people; Republicans acting worst than third-graders

  Guest perspective by Ralph Nader
  The House of Representatives debate on the health insurance “reform” is over with the Democrats failing the people and the Republicans disgracing themselves as having left their minds back in the third grade (with apologies to third graders).
  
  House Democrats were determined to pass [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 12, 2009, 10:26am EST
  

• Hilarious political ad

  This is funny and so true: ["Pass Medicare for All or Pass Nothing"]. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 12, 2009, 7:55am EST
  

• Dobbs out

  This is a bit weird:
  
  
  
  I wonder what this is about. Speaking tours? New jobs? Presidential campaign? I guess we'll have to wait and see.' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 11, 2009, 7:58pm EST
  

• Healthcare insurance isn't auto insurance

  A quick break from my work duties to share this diddy from our clueless president via ABC News: ["Interview with the President: Jail Time for Those without Health Care Insurance?"].
  
  On the issue of jail time for people who don't comply and buy federal government approved health insurance,' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 10, 2009, 11:43am EST
  

• Political passage of the week?

  Yeah, most definitely. From this article: ["Deeds memo damning in hindsight"].
  This pretense is more reassuring to the candidates paying for the advice than what is often the reality: voters are fickle, the factors that motivate them are ephemeral, political operatives are often winging it, and even the shrewdest [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 09, 2009, 7:41am EST
  

• The Afghanistan quagmire

  Guest perspective by Ralph Nader
  Matthew P. Hoh, a former U.S. combat marine captain and Department of Defense civilian in Iraq starting in 2004 and until September a political officer in the Foreign Service stationed in Afghanistan is giving some consternation to President Obama’s advisors as the Commander in Chief [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 09, 2009, 6:33am EST
  

• House passes supposed "health care" reform ...

  The vote was 220 to 215, with one Republican voting for the bill.
  A provision remains in the bill that has a criminal penalty of prison time for not purchasing an insurance policy. They also took out abortion funding in order to secure the votes (to secure the votes of [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 07, 2009, 11:07pm EST
  

• 47 years ago today ...

  Richard Nixon held a press conference in which he railed against the press, since he wasn't given fair coverage in a gubernatorial race against Pat Brown in 1962. Nixon stated the classic line, "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore." Six years later, he won the presidency. Via Political [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 07, 2009, 3:47pm EST
  

• Menino pulls away

  Menino is pulling away from Flaherty, by 13,500 votes with 92 percent counted. Wow. An unprecedented fifth term. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 03, 2009, 9:40pm EST
  

• Election 2009: Tight race in Boston

  The Menino-Flaherty battle is going down to the wire. With 24 percent counted, less than 200 votes separates the two. Wow.
  In Manch, Republican Ted Gatsas wins easily ... so does the tax cap.
  In Concord, incumbent at-large city councilor Dan St. Hilaire has easily won reelection, with more than [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 03, 2009, 8:48pm EST
  

• Al Gore: Looking good

  Former Vice President Al Gore has a new book coming out. I stumbled across this clip from CBS via Political Wire:
  
  
  Watch CBS News Videos Online
  
  Since I'm always commenting on how female pols look, let me look beyond the book promotion and get right to' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 03, 2009, 5:59am EST
  

• Great Frontline show ...

  called "The Warning," about how officials in the Clinton Administration refused to allow derivatives to be regulated and how two of the three people who stop this are now working in the Obama Administration. What a hero Brooksley Born is. And now, the Democrats are refusing to regulate derivatives again, [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 29, 2009, 11:02pm EDT
  

• Thoughts on the first (and only?) Mass. special election Senate debate

  I was able to listen to most of the Democratic U.S. Special Election Senate debate via WBZ 1030 tonight and then, later, switched to NECN online, which I realized it was webstreaming [I would later try to pick up WBZ-TV's webstream but it wasn't working for me at work, for [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 26, 2009, 11:30pm EDT
  

• Change presidents, but some things never change

  A good word out to Political Reporter Mark Matthews of ABC 7 in San Francisco for asking Leon Panetta some tough questions after his appearance at the Commonwealth Club, basically admitting that the CIA was continuing to assassination people overseas:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 24, 2009, 5:20pm EDT
  

• Nov. 2009 Top 30 Chart

  Nov. 2009 Top 30 Chart
  Reporting: WAAF, WBRS, WCUW, WFNX, WHRB, WMBR, WMFO, WRBB, WUML, WTCC, WZBC, WZLX
  
  1. Passion Pit – Manners
  2. Drug Rug – Paint the Fence Invisible
  3. Dinosaur Jr. – Farm
  4. Mission of Burma – The Sound The Speed The [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 23, 2009, 7:15am EDT
  

• This looks good

  ["The Fourth Kind"]. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 19, 2009, 11:22pm EDT
  

• Hooksett Banner to publish weekly

  There is some seemingly good news on the local media front: The Hooksett Banner, one of the Neighborhood News newspapers serving the suburban Manchester region, will return to publishing as a weekly, according to a notice on the front page of the Oct. 15 edition.
  The Banner and the Goffstown [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 19, 2009, 9:11am EDT
  

• CBO Report On Medical Malpractice Flawed

  Guest Perspective by Ralph Nader
  Stuart Hagen must either be greatly overworked or possessed of an overwhelmingly monetized mind.
  
  As the author of a Congressional Budget Office’s reply to the request by Senator Orrin G. Hatch (Rep. Utah) for an “updated analysis” of medical malpractice reform, Hagan neglected [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 19, 2009, 6:43am EDT
  

• New Citizen Funded Elections Task Force Convenes Tuesday

  From the inbox:
  A new task force charged with developing policy to create a system of publicly financed elections in New Hampshire will meet for the first time at 3 pm on Tuesday, October 20th in Room 103 of the State House in Concord. The bi-partisan group was mandated [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 19, 2009, 12:07am EDT
  

• Shut your TV off on Nov. 5 ...

  [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 19, 2009, 12:02am EDT
  

• This video is critically important ...

  I don't get to listen to Democracy Now much and, frankly, I don't care for some of Amy Goodman's obsessions. But this segment, featuring former bank regulator William Black, author of, "The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One," is very good, and a warning to all' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 16, 2009, 8:02pm EDT
  

• Barney Frank and the Planet of the Banks

  Guest perspective by Ralph Nader
  What planet is Congressman Barney Frank on, anyway? It is the planet of the banks and other financial firms that keep his campaign coffers humming, as their chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.
  
  On his extraterrestrial perch, camouflaged by his witty and [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 16, 2009, 1:33pm EDT
  

• Sometimes, I'm brilliant ...

  Yeah, I have moments of brilliance sometimes. Like this little line I wrote on facebook early this morning in reaction to Samantha Clemens posting a note about the Nobel Peace Prize Committee explaining its ridiculous prize to President Barack Obama:
  Hmm, well, I guess if continuing the fraudulent war in [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 14, 2009, 12:30am EDT
  

• Newseum

  I'll have pictures and a bit about my trip to the Newseum on Sunday. Stay tuned. One thing I was shocked about D.C.? The friggin' 10 percent sales tax! Yikes!!
  
  Update: Maybe I should have written "food tax" is 10 percent ... I paid a 50 cent tax on [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 12, 2009, 11:38pm EDT
  

• Blogging break

  I'm going to take a few days off from blogging. Talk amongst yourselves.' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 09, 2009, 6:11am EDT
  

• Another round of short takes ...

  First, this is the most laughable thing I have ever seen, which had me rolling off my kitchen table seat after turning on my computer and spitting out my coffee this morning: ["President Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize"]. I have lost whatever remaining small amount of faith I had [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 09, 2009, 5:42am EDT
  

• Oh, this is not good ...

  A bit of analysis from the Washington Post here. New healthcare system, meet old healthcare system: ["Meet the New Health-Care System, Not That Different From the Old Health-Care System"].
  Eh, that doesn't sound like "reform" to me ... that sounds like status quo. How stupid can people be supporting' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 08, 2009, 7:55am EDT
  

• Sign of the times

  In the Monitor this morning, in the D section, there are a slew of auction notices. One of them is for the Plymouth moviehouse in Plymouth, which apparently went out of business recently. It was renovated in 2003 too. The auction will be held on Oct. 23. You would think [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 08, 2009, 7:45am EDT
  

• What's going on in Boston?

  I haven't had much time to write about much at all these days. So, I totally missed the returns from the Boston city elections.
  David Bernstein from the Boston Phoenix has some pretty good analysis here: ["At-Large Campaign Funds, As They Pass The Prelim"].
  I too would question the' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 07, 2009, 10:51pm EDT
  

• Follow the N.H. Legislature on Twitter

  From the inbox:
  The New Hampshire House of Representatives is now on Twitter, the social networking site where short messages can be seen describing news events and other developments taking place in the largest state legislative body in America.
  “We are excited to use this newer form of communication to [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 06, 2009, 8:16am EDT
  

• Credit card problems still overwhelming

  Guest perspective by Ralph Nader
  Consumers rejoice. Floyd Norris has just penned a piece for the New York Times titled: “Rich and Poor Should Pay Same Price.”
  
  Mr. Norris said, it seems “absurd to have a system that requires people who do not use credit to subsidize those who [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 05, 2009, 10:03pm EDT
  

• "Jack and squat ..."

  Oh, this is too funny ... and too true. What has President Obama actually done? Jack and squat:
  
  [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 05, 2009, 7:30am EDT
  

• Time for Citizens to Convene

  Guest perspective by Ralph Nader
  Just when many conditions seemed ripe for a progressive political movement, the likelihood is fading fast. Concentrated corporate power over our political economy and its control over peoples lives knows few boundaries.
  
  As Republican investor advocate leader Robert Monks puts it: “The United States [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 03, 2009, 10:24am EDT
  

• State House Reps. to hold food drive

  From the inbox:
  
  The New Hampshire House of Representatives will sponsor a food drive on its next session day, Wednesday, Oct. 28.
  The session known as Veto Day, the time when the House takes up the bills which have been vetoed by Gov. John Lynch, will begin at [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 01, 2009, 12:02pm EDT
  

• Ayotte continues lead ...

  I think this is the third or fourth poll in a row that has Republican Kelly Ayotte leading over Democrat Paul Hodes for the U.S. Senate seat here: ["Ayotte/Hodes 2010 US Senate Ballot"].
  Not unlike other polls, the two candidates have overwhelming support within their own parties and get [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 01, 2009, 7:31am EDT
  

• Hot tweets Wednesday

  Well, technically, Tuesday, but since it is Wednesday morning, I'll call it Wednesday ... All of these articles were on my TwitterFox when I got home last night:
  
  * Black Flag's Henry Rollins, writing for Vanity Fair, pretty much says it all here: ["In Afghanistan, Worse Is the" [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 30, 2009, 6:52am EDT
  

• Censored 2010 releases top censored stories

  From the inbox:
  
  Censored 2010: What would you expect in return if you gave someone 64 million dollars?
  
  Censored 2010: What would you expect in return if you gave someone 64 million dollars? You'll find the answer to that question and other puzzling social and political issues' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 30, 2009, 12:01am EDT
  

• Tuesday morning news briefs ...

  Here are a few things to eye this morning ...
  
  First, this kinda stuff really irks me and probably not for the reasons you imagine: ["NH Says It Can't Afford To Subsidize Day Care"].
  Well of course the state can't afford to subsidize day care - it has [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 29, 2009, 7:54am EDT
  

• Monday morning short takes ...

  Here are a few things to think about this Monday morning ...
  
  First, new tapes released from cameras around the Oklahoma City bombing tragedy apparently have been edited - removing footage of the roads leading to the Murrah Building before the detonation of the bomb: ["Attorney: Oklahoma City" [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 28, 2009, 8:50am EDT
  

• Short radio notice ...

  I've been asked back to be on the The Jim Christy Show on Roots Up Radio today at 5:30 p.m. Roots Up Radio is an online radio station and can be found here: ["Roots Up Radio"].
  Jim is having me back on to talk about the appointment of Paul' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 24, 2009, 5:00pm EDT
  

• Oh this is too funny ...

  Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 24, 2009, 8:36am EDT
  

• 'Look into my eyes, what do you see?'

  The cult of personality:
  
  
  
  This stuff is just getting a bit creepy. I mean, the music teacher couldn't show them "John Henry" or something?' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 23, 2009, 10:39pm EDT
  

• A Novel Idea

  Guest perspective by Ralph Nader
  At a little noticed meeting with Senate Democrats, Warren Buffett, the famous investors’ guru, told the lawmakers that rich people are not paying enough taxes.
  
  A tax increase for the very wealthy? Many of the Senators backed away from that recommendation, even though [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 23, 2009, 5:32am EDT
  

• Noise Top 30 chart for October

  Reporting stations: WAAF, WBRS, WCUW, WFNX, WHRB, WMBR, WMFO, WRBB, WUML, WTCC, WZBC, WZLX
  
  1. Passion Pit – Manners
  2. Magic Magic – Magic Magic
  3. The Beatings – Late Season Kids
  4. Dinosaur Jr. – Farm
  5. Drug Rug – Paint the Fence Invisible
  6. The Peppermint [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 22, 2009, 7:59am EDT
  

• Predicting the future?

  I don't know if this is the best thing to do if you're a business blogger: ["Ten Big Companies That Are Veering Toward Bankruptcy"].
  Sprint, Macy's, Hertz ... household names ... wow. I don't know why Sprint is "bleeding" customers. I use them and while they aren't perfect, they' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 22, 2009, 7:53am EDT
  

• How to end the 'birther' movement ...

  For those of you that aren't political junkies and don't know what the term means, some have nick-named anyone who challenges President Barack Obama's qualification to serve because he may not have been born in the United States, as a "birther."
  The birther movement has become an organizing tool among [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 22, 2009, 7:20am EDT
  

• The truth about the D.C. march

  This is a guest perspective by Politizine reader Benjamin Jones.
  For three days I have been struggling for words to describe my feelings about participating in the March on our nation’s Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 12, 2009. I continue to struggle with this so I will just start. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 21, 2009, 8:00am EDT
  

• Exactly what the world needed ...

  Another zombie movie!!!
  
  [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 18, 2009, 9:42pm EDT
  

• You know it's been a long day when ...

  you take off your baseball cap at 10:30 p.m. after getting home from work and your wife says, "Your hair looks like Jim Traficant's ..." Thanks dear ... Oh, and BTW, Traficant is out of jail: ["Ex-Con Jim Traficant Weighs Reelection to House"]. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 18, 2009, 8:47am EDT
  

• Note to SEA: Do what's best, take the deal!

  Today's big news: The governor is playing chicken with the state employees' union here in New Hampshire: ["Lynch: If no deal by tomorrow, layoffs"].
  I feel for the SEA, I truly do, but we're in the middle of another great depression here. Non-union, private sector workers, you know, the' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 17, 2009, 8:36am EDT
  

• Indies smitten with Ayotte

  Rasmussen Reports released a new poll today about the 2010 Senate race showing Republican Kelly Ayotte with a decent sized lead: ["Ayotte Leads Hodes 46% to 38% in 2010 New Hampshire Senate Match-Up"].
  Both Ayotte and Rep. Paul Hodes garner 81 percent each from their respective parties. But Ayotte [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 16, 2009, 10:30pm EDT
  

• Cigna, rationing care?

  Looks like it:
  
  [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 15, 2009, 10:15pm EDT
  

• Oops, I didn't call that one right ...

  A press representative of U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, a potential contender for the U.S. Senate seat, just issued the following press release:
  After thorough consideration I have decided that I will not be a candidate for the Special U.S. Senate race to succeed Edward M. Kennedy.
  
  The challenge of [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 15, 2009, 11:52am EDT
  

• Health care thoughts ...

  This is the first in a series of occasional short pieces and data about health care issues.
  
  First, according to the NYT on Sept. 6, cumulative growth in insurance premiums has gone up 120 percent between 1999 and 2008. Premiums have more than doubled in less than 10 years. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 14, 2009, 8:10am EDT
  

• Spooky, indeed ...

  One of the great things about the Internet, and getting news "free" from the Internet, is being able to read stories like this, which you wouldn't otherwise be able to see: ["Revealed: The ghost fleet of the recession"].
  I think that no matter what anyone says at this point,' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 14, 2009, 8:00am EDT
  

• A new 9-11 investigation?

  Charlie Sheen is calling for one:
  
  [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 14, 2009, 7:59am EDT
  

• R.I.P. Jim Carroll

  NYT is saying it's a heart attack at 59 ... of course, as he would probably say, he should have been dead years ago. I got to meet him once in 1987 at the book signing for "The Basketball Diaries" ... I have a picture of him somewhere but who [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 13, 2009, 8:58pm EDT
  

• Millions? Maybe not ... maybe

  Check out this timelapse video from a Web cam in DC ... Maybe there weren't two million people in D.C. but there were hundreds of thousands, if not more, for sure. The video proves it.
  
  ' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 13, 2009, 8:45pm EDT
  

• The public option is fading away ...

  according to the NYT ... that means that we will all soon be slaves to health insurance companies ... as if most of us are not already ... sigh. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 13, 2009, 2:08pm EDT
  

• Santorum for what?

  Hahahahah ... ["Santorum Admits to Pondering Run for Republican Presidential Nomination - Asks for Prayers"] ... oh we do live in a crazy world ... [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 13, 2009, 2:06pm EDT
  

• So much for "Astroturf" ...

  When was the last time more than 2 million people blew off their Saturday to march in protest? Umm, yeah, I can't think of the date either: ["Up to two million march to US Capitol to protest against Obama's spending in 'tea-party' demonstration"].
  So much for "Astroturf" ... that [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 13, 2009, 7:10am EDT
  

• R.I.P. "Axe" ....

  Our bud Chris Skafidas passed away recently: ["Christopher A. Skafidas"].
  So sad. Chris leaves two kids. We called him "Axe," because he loved heavy metal music and was a rock 'n' roller ... R.I.P. buddy. We'll miss you!
  
  Update: I posted these pictures on my facebook site on' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 12, 2009, 1:51pm EDT
  

• Sore loser Republicans (follow) sore loser Democrats

  I'm surprised that Democrats, liberals, and progressives are so shocked, shocked that Republicans booed parts of Obama's speech or that one called him a liar ... There are clips online of the Democrats doing the same thing during W's State of the Union speeches, including 2005, after Kerry lost the' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 12, 2009, 1:14pm EDT
  

• Rolling the Dice Again

  Guest perspective by Ralph Nader
  The Wall Street gang is at it again! It’s been one year since Wall Street’s collapse and bailout took trillions from taxpayers and the sinking economy. The speculative instruments that pulled down the economy were those super-risky sub-prime mortgages, credit default swaps, collaterized debt obligations—you [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 12, 2009, 12:03pm EDT
  

• Debt levels fall ...

  This is kinda good news: ["Consumers Cut Borrowing By Record Amount"] [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 12, 2009, 10:46am EDT
  

• Americans without healthcare lower than three years ago ...

  ... but the poverty rate inched up from 12.5 percent in 2006 to 13.2 percent in 2007.
  The Census Bureau reported this week that 46.3 million people were without health insurance in 2008 ... depending on how you look at that number, it could be both good or bad [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 12, 2009, 10:26am EDT
  

• On the radio Saturday ...

  On Saturday morning, I'll be doing a bit with Samantha Clemens talking about the U.S. Senate special election race. The show is heard on 1510 AM in the Boston area or online at www.revolutionBoston.com. The show airs from 10 to 11 a.m.
  Tune in and check it out. WWZN's [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 10, 2009, 5:13pm EDT
  

• Capuano in; Meehan out

  State House News Service is reporting that U.S. Rep. Mike Capuano is in the race for Senate. Chancellor and former Rep. Marty (bin) Meehan is not. Another guy, a Republican selectman from Canton, Robert Burr, is also running. It's getting interesting ... [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 08, 2009, 7:06pm EDT
  

• Shaking out the Senate tree ...

  Glenn Johnson from the Associated Press has a pretty good roundup here about who is in and who is out: ["Former Rep. Joseph Kennedy nixes Senate campaign"].
  Junkies may remember Johnson as the reporter who confronted presidential candidate Mitt Romney's fib about no lobbyists assisting his campaign when everyone' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 07, 2009, 11:04pm EDT
  

• Quick special election Senate seat roundup

  In Massachusetts, the special election Senate race to fill the seat of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy is underway and it looks like it may actually turn into a free-for-all.
  
  So far, Attorney General Martha Coakley and U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch have pulled papers.
  Others who are getting a [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 06, 2009, 8:04am EDT
  

• Capitalism: A Love Story

  Oh, this looks good: ["Capitalism: A Love Story"]. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 06, 2009, 12:21am EDT
  

• Words matter

  Guest perspective by Ralph Nader
  
  Ever wonder what’s happening to words once they fall into the hands of corporate and government propagandists? Too often reporters and editors don’t wonder enough. They ditto the words even when the result is deception or doubletalk.
  
  Here are some examples. Day [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 05, 2009, 9:23am EDT
  

• Stephen Lynch?

  Possibly.
  OK, since I already went out on a limb on Internet radio yesterday afternoon and predicted that U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch will be elected Senator from Massachusetts in the special election, I may as well explain the logic.
  Big ifs here but follow along.
  First, I don't know if' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 04, 2009, 6:12am EDT
  

• No ACs?

  Yup, I can't believe we got through the hottest months of the summer without air conditioners. Amazing. I think it's a first in many, many years.' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 03, 2009, 9:10pm EDT
  

• More Kennedy talk?

  Yes-in-dee-dee-do ... I've been asked back to be on Roots Up Radio today at 5:15 p.m. Roots Up Radio is an online radio station and can be found here: ["Roots Up Radio"].
  Jim is having me back on to talk about the story in the NYT article about the' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 03, 2009, 3:55pm EDT
  

• A big YES! to this ...

  Finally, the Dems have proposed a tax that is worthy of existence, a transaction tax on Wall Street stock trades!: ["AFL-CIO, Dems push new Wall Street tax"].
  I'm on deadline so I won't go into why this is such a brilliant idea and way past its time. But simply [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 01, 2009, 8:22am EDT
  

• C-c-c-c-c-cold ...

  Anyone else notice how cold it was this morning? Fall is already here? Yikes! [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 01, 2009, 8:21am EDT
  

• Mad as Hell Doctors

  Guest perspective by Ralph Nader
  After several weeks of protests at Senate hearings and health care events by single payer advocates (visit singlepayeraction.org), six physicians from Oregon, with 191 years of combined real-world medical experience, are crossing the country in a 27-foot Winnebago making stops in nearly 30 cities, to [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 01, 2009, 6:40am EDT
  

• Talking about the Ted succession issue ...

  I'll be talking about the Ted Kennedy succession and all the issues surrounding it on Monday night at 5:15 p.m. on Roots Up Radio, an online radio station. You can tune here to listen: ["Roots Up Radio"].' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: August 30, 2009, 11:18pm EDT
  

• Sept. 2009 Top 30 Chart

  Reporting: WAAF, WBCN, WBRS, WCUW, WFNX, WHRB, WMBR, WMFO, WRBB, WUML, WTCC, WZBC, WZLX
  
  1. The Luxury - In The Wake Of What Won't Change
  2. Dinosaur Jr. – Farm
  3. Passion Pit – Manners
  4. Taxpayer – Don’t Steal My Night Vision
  5. Wheat – White Ink, Black' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: August 26, 2009, 11:55pm EDT
  

• R.I.P. Ted K ...

  We were all kinda wondering how bad the decline was. I guess it was bad: ["Sen. Ted Kennedy dead at 77"]. Seventy-seven years is a good run. I'm glad his family was close to him at the end.
  ' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: August 26, 2009, 7:40am EDT
  

• Must see TV?

  Yup, Jon Keller moderating the Boston Mayoral debate at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 26, only on WBZ-TV 4. It should be hilarious.
  Watch Tom "Mumbles" Menino fumble through the debate, pronouncing words you've never even heard of before.
  See Sam Yoon, the darling of the Left, pontificate on how' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: August 25, 2009, 11:22pm EDT
  

• Progressives wallop Obama ...

  Two columns worth a read from the left side of the spectrum:
  
  First, there is this: ["The Worst and the Best Thing to Happen to the Democratic Party in Years"]. It's amazing, frankly, but not so, that we are reliving the debacle of the Clinton years all over [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: August 25, 2009, 6:55am EDT
  

• Late night music notes ...

  Earlier tonight, I finally put together the Noise chart for this month. And, by chance, while compiling all the airplay data, I stumbled across some interesting new music out of the New England area.
  The first is the new Casey Desmond EP, "Chilly Allston," which is very nice combination of [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: August 25, 2009, 12:14am EDT
  

• Glenn Currie nails it ...

  I forgot to mention it on Sunday but Concord poet Glenn Currie really nailed it in a My Turn column in the Monitor on Sunday. For whatever reason, it isn't online, so I can't link it, but he basically states that despite what you see on television or read in [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: August 24, 2009, 11:45pm EDT
  

• 'Save America'

  Crossposted at OurConcord.com
  A lone man was standing at the intersection of Main and Centre streets in Concord at 9:45 p.m. tonight holding a sign: "Save America" ... I would have stopped to talk to the guy, to find out what he was all about, but I was busy racing [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: August 24, 2009, 10:35pm EDT
  

• Southwest: Please don't leave Manch

  Margot Sanger-Katz has a pretty good piece in the Concord Monitor about Southwest's lease coming up in Manch and their new arrival to Logan: ["Southwest says it's committed to Manchester"].
  I don't know what the airline has planned but I can say this, as a frequent flyer and Rapid' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: August 24, 2009, 12:32pm EDT
  

• Early riser club

  There used to be a radio show on WMBR called "The Late Riser's Club" (it probably still exists today) that would play a mix of indie and hard rock, depending on the DJ. I used to listen to it on certain days because the DJs would play news stuff that [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: August 24, 2009, 7:01am EDT
  

• Early riser club

  There used to be a radio show on WMBR called "The Late Riser's Club" (it probably still exists today) that would play a mix of indie and hard rock, depending on the DJ. I used to listen to it on certain days because the DJs would play new stuff that [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: August 24, 2009, 6:46am EDT
  

• Between the Rhetoric and the Reality

  Guest perspective by Ralph Nader
  The Obama White House—full of supposedly smart political advisors led by the President of the “Change You Can Believe In” campaign movement of 2008—is in disarray. Worse, multiple, confusing varieties of disarray provoking public confusion, internal Democratic Party strife, and the slow withdrawal of belief [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: August 24, 2009, 6:20am EDT
  

• The Kennedy succession request debacle

  Everyone is abuzz about Mass. Sen. Ted Kennedy's request to have Gov. Deval Patrick appoint a successor in the wake of his passing [it is clear from the letter that the "liberal lion of the Senate" is not long for the world ...].
  The request has sparked headlines across the [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: August 21, 2009, 8:50am EDT
  

• More interesting newspaper news out of Claremont

  According to the AP, the daily could be reopening with new ownership: ["2 suitors ready to bid on NH newspaper"].
  [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: August 19, 2009, 8:43am EDT
  

• Hippo moves into Claremont

  File this under the entrepreneurial spirit section: According to a publisher's note in this week's edition of The Hippo, the parent company of the newspaper has started a new newspaper to serve Claremont and surrounding communities, in the wake of the demise of the Eagle Times: ["Newspaper adventure"].
  The [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: August 17, 2009, 7:15am EDT
  

• Moonbat-nation-New Hampshire?

  I'm beginning to wonder about my state, especially when I read things like this post: ["Swett Responds"]. It's one of the reasons I don't go to Blue New Hampshire anymore, despite the fact that I agree with a ton of public policy positions promoted by posters there.
  This is [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: August 16, 2009, 9:53pm EDT
  

• Oh this is funny ...

  I've got facts on my side and you have Glenn Beck on your side ...
  
  
  
  That's a great line. But the old lady kinda makes a good point. We shouldn't be paying for illegal aliens. And, not unlike everyone having to pay something in federal income taxes, [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: August 16, 2009, 8:31am EDT