.08 Acres (and a Donkey)

• Freudian Slip at PolitickerMA

  I got my first chuckle this morning out of this unfortunate typo in this morning's "Wake Up Call" email from PolitickerMA. Here's the screen capture from my gmail account. See if you can spot the mistake:
  
  [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2008, 8:22am EST
  

• Off to Vote for "Obaba"

  
  Future Democrat driving to the polls in a zero-emissions vehicle. [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2008, 5:57pm EST
  

• Happy Halloween

  
  Not quite ready for Batman yet, so this year he's a Bat Toddler.' [...]
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  Posted: October 31, 2008, 8:27pm EDT
  

• 29th Middlesex Unofficial Results

  Here are the unofficial results for the 29th Middlesex district election -- all write ins.
  
    Watertown Cambridge Total % Steve Corbett 298 20 318 5.8% Julia Fahey 1555 563 2118 38.8% Jon Hecht 2152 854 3006 55.1% Josh Weisbuch 9 1 10 0.2%
  Jon Hecht wins [...]
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  Posted: September 17, 2008, 7:20am EDT
  

• What Might a County Caucus Look Like?

  Now that Middlesex County Register of Probate John Buonomo has stepped down from office in the face of theft charges, it is worth spending a little time discussing what might happen if Buonomo wins the primary, but then withdraws his name from the General Election ballot. I like to [...]
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  Posted: September 09, 2008, 8:09am EDT
  

• Open Letter to my Belmont Neighbors

  Dear Belmont Neighbors,
  
  I can understand why you all rejected a Prop 2 1/2 override this month that would pay for road repairs. No one, after all, likes to pay higher taxes.
  
  That said, you quite possibly have the worst roads in the Commonwealth. Yesterday, driving to [...]
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  Posted: June 17, 2008, 10:08pm EDT
  

• Becoming an Insider

  About two years ago, David from Blue Mass Group accused me of being a poltical insider in part because I was attending that year's Democratic State Convention. To me, this was quite laughable since the reason I was even able to attend the convention was that I had' [...]
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  Posted: June 16, 2008, 6:15am EDT
  

• Happy Father's Day

  I hope all you fellow dads have a happy Father's Day today!
  Gosh, it got dusty in here!' [...]
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  Posted: June 15, 2008, 10:41am EDT
  

• Super Tuesday Today

  I just got back from casting my Super Tuesday primary ballot. There was no line, no wait at my polling place, though the poll workers said there had been a pretty steady stream of people. There was no presence for any candidate, but there was a fun moment when a [...]
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  Posted: February 05, 2008, 9:26am EST
  

• Superbowl Pregame Baby Blogging

  
  He doesn't have any Patriots gear, but he's wearing his baby football overalls as he eats his first Super Bowl crackers.
  
  Go Pats!
  
  
  Update 10:07PM: Crap. [...]
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  Posted: February 03, 2008, 5:21pm EST
  

• .08 Acres Turns Three

  Three years ago today, I made my first post to this blog, which detailed how Mitt Romney's Commonwealth PAC was dumping money into early primary states. As of now, all he has to show in the states he worked so hard in is a single win in his birth' [...]
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  Posted: February 01, 2008, 7:59am EST
  

• Last Day to Register for Presidential Primary

  Today is the last day to register to be eligible to vote in the Feburary 5th Presidential Primary. You can download the mail-in form here (it must be postmarked today!) or travel down to your city/town hall and register there. I've been told that most town clerks will be' [...]
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  Posted: January 16, 2008, 10:45am EST
  

• Mitt Takes Michigan

  It looks like our former Governor Mitt Romney has emerged victorious in the Michigan GOP primary. This was widely seen as a must-win for him given his previous losses (at great expense, I might add) in Iowa and New Hampshire, and the fact that Michigan is one of Mitt's' [...]
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  Posted: January 15, 2008, 10:59pm EST
  

• Weekend Baby Blogging

  
  Testing out his newest teeth [...]
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  Posted: January 13, 2008, 10:21pm EST
  

• Pre-Primary Thoughts

  I finally got a chance to read Governor Patrick's endorsement of Barack Obama in Saturday's Boston Globe. I know that Patrick and Obama have similar messages (and share consultants), but I feel like Deval just did a search and replace on one of his 2006 stump speeches to come [...]
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  Posted: January 07, 2008, 11:21pm EST
  

• President Younger's Inaugural Speech

  I attended Wednesday night's inauguration of town officials at the Commander's Mansion. It was a small, tasteful affair with some good food and of course all of the usual suspects one would expect to see. Returning council President Clyde Younger gave the inaugural address, which you can see on tape [...]
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  Posted: January 04, 2008, 6:47am EST
  

• Poor Mitt

  Seems like our former absentee governor had a bit of a bad night tonight. I suppose it's not too early to get him a consolation gift.
  
  It may be obvious, but the reason this hurts Mitt so much is not necessarily that he lost, but that he' [...]
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  Posted: January 03, 2008, 10:33pm EST
  

• New Years Blog Resolutions

  I'm a few days late on this, but I wanted to make sure I committed to electrons some of the blog resolutions I've made in the new year. One thing that visitors to this site will have noticed is the decline in posting frequency in the last quarter of 2007. [...]
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  Posted: January 03, 2008, 7:59am EST
  

• Question of the Evening

  If Mitt Romney is the candidate who will "stop the militant gays", then why was he unable to do so as Governor of Massachusetts? This has perplexed me for a while. Romney could not stop marriage equality here in Massachusetts. Why should those for whom banning same-sex marriage is [...]
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  Posted: January 02, 2008, 11:06pm EST
  

• Merry Christmas!

  
  So far the biggest hit of the holiday season has been a tupperware container full of synthetic wine corks. I hope you and yours have a happy holiday.
  
  Post Christmas Update: Other big hits included: a full box of tissues, an empty box of tissues, [...]
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  Posted: December 25, 2007, 5:26am EST
  

• Mihos/UMass Pollster Violated Ethics Laws

  When I first heard about the UMass-Lowell pollster Louis DiNatale having violated conflict of interest laws by conducting polls for UMass at the same time he was conducting polls on behalf of then gubernatorial candidate Christy Mihos, I immediately thought of this poll, which I noted at the [...]
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  Posted: December 19, 2007, 10:45pm EST
  

• The Mayor of Chicopee Must Really Want Casinos

  Now that I've been to a number of Democratic State Conventions, it's not uncommon for me to get all sorts of political mail. Today, when I came home, I found that between my wife and myself, we had gotten not one but four brochures from the Mayor of Chicopee, Michael [...]
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  Posted: December 18, 2007, 10:59pm EST
  

• Preview of Grove Street Condos

  Last week I trudged out in the storm to try to go to a hearing on the condo complex being proposed for the Grove St. Aggregate site by the Hanover Company. The meeting was canceled -- which was the right move given the road conditions -- but thanks to Chris [...]
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  Posted: December 18, 2007, 8:22am EST
  

• Weekend Baby Blogging

  I've seen two seperate comments to the Watertown Tab blog attributing Susan Falkoff's victory in Tuesday's Town Council election to some kind of Watertown liberal "machine". Having been involved in that campaign, I can show the world an exclusive picture of the machine most responsible for her win:
  [...]
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  Posted: November 11, 2007, 10:26pm EST
  

• Susan Falkoff Campaign Video

  [Cross posted to H2OTown]
  
  Part of the reason that I have been absent frm this blog lately is because I've been working overtime on friend-of-the-blog Susan Falkoff's campaign to return to the Watertown Town Council. It's just under a week until the election and the campaign has released' [...]
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  Posted: October 31, 2007, 11:03pm EDT
  

• Happy Halloween

  
  Dressed up as tigers for Halloween. [...]
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  Posted: October 31, 2007, 10:57pm EDT
  

• Election Day in MA-05

  I feel a bit bad that after I paid such loving attention to the Democratic primary race in Massachusetts' fifth district I've gone missing for the entire stretch of the general election. Unfortunately, the triple pressures of a baby, a full-time job, and yet another campaign have left me with [...]
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  Posted: October 16, 2007, 8:47am EDT
  

• Upcoming Watertown Events

  There are a couple of interesting events over the next couple days here in Watertown. First, on Thursday (tomorrow), Sept 27th, the Watertown Democratic Town Committee will be meeting at 8PM in the lower hearing room of the Town Hall. Senatorial candidate and former Watertown resident Ed O'Reilly is scheduled [...]
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  Posted: September 26, 2007, 8:33am EDT
  by sco

• Weekend Baby Blogging

  The Honorary Ringbearer, looking sharp. [...]
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  Posted: September 23, 2007, 9:58pm EDT
  by sco

• Tonight's Sawins Pond Community Meeting

  Tonight I went to a presentation of the results of an initial Phase II Comprehensive Site Assessment of the Sawins and Williams Pond property located at Arlington Street and Coolidge Avenue here in Watertown. Sawins Pond is privately owned and the assessment was carried out on behalf of the [...]
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  Posted: September 19, 2007, 11:00pm EDT
  by sco

• So This is How it Ends

  I've seen enough movies to know that this can't be good:
  

  Villagers in southern Peru were struck by a mysterious illness after a meteorite made a fiery crash to Earth in their area...
  
  Seven policemen who went to check on the reports also became ill and had to [...]

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  Posted: September 18, 2007, 5:41pm EDT
  by sco

• Rolling the Dice

  Yesterday, I returned from out-of-state to find that the Governor has submitted a plan to allow three casinos in Massachusetts. I'm not particularly bothered by gambling, though I will admit that if opening a casino in the Boston area ends up closing down the Keno parlors in my neighborhood, I [...]
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  Posted: September 18, 2007, 8:40am EDT
  by sco

• Middlesex, Suffolk & Essex Primary Day

  Today is the primary for the Middlesex, Suffolk & Essex Senate seat formerly held by Sen. Jarrett Barrios. The race features four Democrats competing for that position: Cambridge City Councilor Anthony Galluccio, former assistant district attorney Tim Flaherty of Cambridge, Chelsea City Councilor Paul Nowicki and Cambridge civil rights attorney [...]
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  Posted: September 11, 2007, 8:05am EDT
  by sco

• Weekend Baby Blogging

  
  Twins! [...]
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  Posted: September 09, 2007, 5:41pm EDT
  by sco

• Liveblogging the Middlesex, Suffolk & Essex Debate

  I'm at Lesley University for the last debate in the race to replace former Senator Jarrett Barrios in the Middlesex, Suffolk and Essex state Senate district. The debate is sponsored by the Cambridge Democratic City Committe, and it's about to begin. The candidates are Cambridge City Councilor Anthony Galluccio, Chelsea [...]
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  Posted: September 06, 2007, 7:24pm EDT
  by sco

• Who Won Where?

  The Boston Globe has a list of the Fifth District election results by city and town, and I thought it might be instructive to see what that looked like on a map:
  
  The results make sense. Barry Finegold won his hometown of Andover, and Jim Miceli won Tewksbury, [...]
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  Posted: September 05, 2007, 8:02am EDT
  by sco

• Niki Tsongas Wins MA-05 Dem. Primary

  The results are in and Niki Tsongas, widow of former Senator Paul Tsongas, has won the special election to replace former Congressman Marty Meehan. Tsongas managed to hold on despite a late surge from Eileen Donoghue, who closed what had been a double-digit gap in the polls to just five [...]
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  Posted: September 04, 2007, 11:18pm EDT
  by sco

• Primary Day in MA-05

  Today is primary election day for the Fifth Congressional district. There are two certainties today: one, that turnout will be very small, and two that Jim Ogonowski will win the Republican primary against challenger Tom Tierney.
  
  Regular readers of this blog (if there are any left after my unscheduled [...]
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  Posted: September 04, 2007, 9:05am EDT
  by sco

• Interview with Jeff Ross - Candidate for State Senate

  Yesterday, I had the opportunity to talk with Jeff Ross, a Cambridge human rights attorney who is running in the Sept. 11th special election to replace former Senator Jarrett Barrios in the Middlesex, Suffolk and Essex state senate district. Ross is up against Cambridge City Councilor Anthony Galluccio, Chelsea City [...]
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  Posted: August 22, 2007, 5:02am EDT
  by sco

• Another Special Election in the Cards

  It had been widely rumored, but now it's confirmed. State Senator Bob Havern (D-Arlington) is resigning to take a position with a lobbying firm. Havern represents the The Fourth Middlesex District, which includes the towns of Arlington, Billerica, Burlington, two thirds of Lexington, and all but one ward of [...]
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  Posted: August 21, 2007, 11:24pm EDT
  by sco

• ADL Recognizes Armenian Genocide (Mostly)

  One week ago today, the Watertown Town Council broke off ties with the Anti-Defamation League's No Place for Hate program due to the refusal of the ADL to call what refer to the massacre of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire as genocide and reports of the League's lobbying [...]
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  Posted: August 21, 2007, 5:21pm EDT
  by sco

• Weekend Baby Blogging

  
  I can hold the spoon all by myself! [...]
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  Posted: August 19, 2007, 7:19pm EDT
  by sco

• Globe Discovers Fifth District Race

  Yesterday, the Boston Globe had a front page article on the race to replace former Congressman Marty Meehan in the state's fifth district. The piece focused on some of the methods that the candidates are resorting to in order to get people's attention over the course of a special [...]
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  Posted: August 17, 2007, 7:26am EDT
  by sco

• SUSA Poll of MA-05

  Via Jon Keller comes the latest WBZ4/SUSA Fifth Congressional District poll. This, I believe, is the first poll done by an independant firm for the race to replace former Congressman Marty Meehan (D-Lowell). The results showed candidate Niki Tsongas as the frontrunner, as expected, while Eileen Donoghue, Barry [...]
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  Posted: August 15, 2007, 4:55pm EDT
  by sco

• Question of the Day

  How badly do you have to screw up an election cycle to not get hired as a Washington lobbyist?
  
  I guess if there's hope for Brian Dodge, the now-former director of the Mass GOP who oversaw last year's devestating losses for state Republicans, there's hope for anyone. I [...]
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  Posted: August 15, 2007, 7:29am EDT
  by sco

• I am Not a Lawyer

  If I were, I might have known this:
  

  1819. That’s the year state lawmakers last updated penalties for corporations convicted of involuntary manslaughter, the charge now facing a Big Dig epoxy supplier. Consequently, the maximum penalty is $1,000. Lawmakers want to stiffen the law, but it won’t matter in [...]

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  Posted: August 13, 2007, 7:17am EDT
  by sco

• Weekend Baby Blogging

  
  Daddy and Grandpa prove incapable of putting the Exersaucer together correctly. [...]
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  Posted: August 12, 2007, 3:20pm EDT
  by sco

• Another Blow to Fall River LNG

  Weaver's Cove Energy, the group attempting to put a liquified natural gas terminal in Fall River, has been dealt another setback. This time, it's the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, which rejected the company's request to dredge Mount Hope Bay. Weaver's Cove needs the bay dredged because it's [...]
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  Posted: August 11, 2007, 8:49am EDT
  by sco

• First Things First

  Yesterday, the Boston Phoenix's David Bernstein had this to say about the $1,000 criminal indictment faced by Big Dig epoxy supplier Powers Fasteners:
  

  [I]t was pretty clear at yesterday afternoon's press conference that AG Martha Coakley wanted to use the indictment of Powers Fasteners as an impetus to spur [...]

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  Posted: August 10, 2007, 4:50pm EDT
  by sco

• Media Coverage of Senate Debate

  While the big Boston dailies completely ignored this past Monday's State Senate debate in Charlestown between candidates looking to replace former Senator Jarrett Barrios, some of the area's weeklies came through with reports on the event.
  
  The Charlestown Patriot-Bridge has a good synopsis of the event, though [...]
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  Posted: August 09, 2007, 9:02pm EDT
  by sco

• Unsaid Word Speaks Volumes

  Guess what word is missing from the letter to the editor in yesterday's Boston Globe by Anti-Defamation League New England Regional director Andrew Tarsy and Regional chairman James Rudolph?
  
  Give up? It's "Genocide".
  
  Not to belabor a point I made earlier this month, but if I [...]
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  Posted: August 09, 2007, 7:33am EDT
  by sco

• Governor Holding Cards Close to his Chest

  Governor Patrick, you don't need to show your cards yet, but we're going to have to see your hand before you get any payoff. People already think that the process is rigged in favor of casino gambling -- and in some cases, they're probably right -- that you need [...]
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  Posted: August 08, 2007, 11:54pm EDT
  by sco

• How to Dislodge an Appointee

  Today, the Boston Globe noted that John Moscardelli, a member of the Turnpike Board, has resigned, giving Governor Deval Patrick free reign to appoint a majority of the board. Why did Moscardelli resign? He wasn't speaking to the media, but this says it all:
  

  Moscardelli, who was appointed to [...]

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  Posted: August 08, 2007, 7:02pm EDT
  by sco

• Question of the Day

  What crumbling infrastructure? [...]
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  Posted: August 08, 2007, 4:07pm EDT
  by sco

• Four Candidates Left in Race for Barrios' Seat

  Yesterday the Cambridge Chronicle reported that four candidates remain in the special election to replace former Senator Jarrett Barrios. Here is the final list of candidates, all of them Democrats:
  Cambridge attorney Tim Flaherty, the son of former House Speaker Charlie FlahertyCambridge City Councilor Anthony GalluccioChelsea City [...]
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  Posted: August 08, 2007, 7:31am EDT
  by sco

• Senate Candidates Debate in Charlestown

  Last night, I attended the state senate debate between candidates vying for former Senator Jarrett Barrios' seat in the Middlesex, Suffolk and Essex District. The debate was held in Charlestown and was sponsored by three local organizations, Friends of the Charlestown Navy Yard, Charlestown Business Association, Charlestown Waterfront Coalition. As [...]
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  Posted: August 07, 2007, 4:35pm EDT
  by sco

• Question of the Evening

  I came across this chart of 2008 candidates' positions via BoingBoing. It has a large matrix of candidates and issues with checkmarks for positions they support and X's for things they oppose. But for former Governor Mitt Romney, they had to invent a new icon -- an x'ed [...]
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  Posted: August 06, 2007, 10:10pm EDT
  by sco

• Weekend Baby Blogging

  
  Standing up (with help) [...]
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  Posted: August 05, 2007, 8:42pm EDT
  by sco

• Ten Million Daily Crossings Over Deficient Bridges

  Both the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald both have front-page reports today on the state of Massachusetts' bridges, particularly the 588 of them that the Federal Highway Administration has deemed "structurally deficient", the same designation that the I-35W bridge over the Mississippi river had before it's tragic [...]
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  Posted: August 03, 2007, 5:35pm EDT
  by sco

• GOP Candidate Starts Airing Ads

  The Herald's Casey Ross notes in his Daily Briefing blog that Republican candidate Jim Ogonowski has started airing ads in his bid for the Fifth Congressional District seat. The ad itself is well done if generic, though the images in the background flash a little two quickly. I also [...]
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  Posted: August 03, 2007, 5:50am EDT
  by sco

• Five Dems Line Up to Suceed Barrios

  The Cambridge Chronicle has the list of candidates who submitted enough signatures to get on the ballot in the race to replace former Senator Jarrett Barrios in the Middlesex, Suffolk and Essex Senate District. The final list looks to be Cambridge City Councilor Anthony Galluccio, Tim Flaherty, son of [...]
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  Posted: August 02, 2007, 9:52pm EDT
  by sco

• Last Night's Progressive Forum

  Last night, I attended the Fifth-District Congressional Debate sponsored by the Mass Alliance. While I thought that the debate was not very well attended, I talked to some DSC members afterwards who thought that turnout was in line with their expectations, particularly for a debate in Lawrence. Most of [...]
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  Posted: August 02, 2007, 6:24am EDT
  by sco

• No Place for Genocide Deniers

  What started out as one man's crusade to be able to hate gays "and not be called on [it]" has now ventured into the world of international politics and landed on the front page of the Boston Globe. At issue is Watertown's participation in the Anti-Defamation League's No [...]
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  Posted: August 01, 2007, 5:54pm EDT
  by sco

• Question of the Evening

  Didn't Andrea Silbert already do this in her run for Lieutenant Governor last year? How'd that work out for her? [...]
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  Posted: July 31, 2007, 9:40pm EDT
  by sco

• Weekend Baby Blogging

  
  Just in under the wire. [...]
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  Posted: July 29, 2007, 11:13pm EDT
  by sco

• More Tunnel Trouble

  Earlier this week, I expressed my skepticism as to whether the state could be trusted to replace the Storrow drive tunnel with a new, wider tunnel that could accommodate both directions of traffic. This Herald story detailing how state engineers knew they used the wrong epoxy in the [...]
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  Posted: July 27, 2007, 8:42am EDT
  by sco

• Second MA-05 Ad Goes Live

  Fifth District candidate Rep. Barry Finegold (D-Andover) has launched what I believe is the second television ad in the race to replace former Congressman Marty Meehan. Fellow candidate Niki Tsongas was the first to go on TV with an ad that aired a month ago. Frankly, [...]
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  Posted: July 25, 2007, 11:46pm EDT
  by sco

• Tackling Health Care Costs

  Dave Denison has an excellent article in the Summer issue of CommonWealth magazine on the lack of attention paid to controlling costs in last year's landmark health care reform law. It's becoming apparent as the state works to implement that law that it does little to address the rising [...]
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  Posted: July 24, 2007, 11:12pm EDT
  by sco

• New Tunnel or No Tunnel?

  Today's Boston Globe brings us two pieces of tunnel-related news. The first is that the Storrow Drive Tunnel may be beyond repair and need to be replaced. The Globe notes that it was not waterproofed when it was constructed over fifty years ago and it has, perhaps unsurprisingly, suffered [...]
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  Posted: July 24, 2007, 8:37am EDT
  by sco

• Weekend Baby Blogging

  This week was spent mostly tending to work-related items, rather than blog-related items and next week promises to be similar. Expect the irregular schedule to be even more irregular. Here's a picture of the baby to tide you over:
  [...]
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  Posted: July 15, 2007, 8:47pm EDT
  by sco

• How Not to Avoid Jury Duty

  "The trick is to say you're prejudiced against all races."
  --Homer Simpson's advice on how to avoid Jury Duty

  In further proof that Massachusetts, not Vermont, should be the true home of the Simpsons, a Falmouth man took that advice to heart on Monday. He's now looking at possible [...]
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  Posted: July 11, 2007, 10:26pm EDT
  by sco

• MA-05 Poll Update

  In my post Monday on the latest Fifth District poll commissioned and released by candidate Eileen Donoghue, I posted a few questions that one should keep in mind when reading any internal poll put out by someone running for office. Today, I heard from the Donoghue campaign, who wanted [...]
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  Posted: July 11, 2007, 10:04pm EDT
  by sco

• Tuesday Night Links

  I've had a busy week at work and at home, so I've once again been on a too-light posting schedule lately. Here are a couple of things that I've come across that are worth passing along, but I haven't had the chance to write a full post on.
  Congressman [...]
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  Posted: July 10, 2007, 11:17pm EDT
  by sco

• Question of the Day

  Does Senator John Kerry really think this has a chance of passing over the President's veto? I would be surprised if there are enough Republicans willing to vote for cloture to send this to Bush's desk anyway. Not only that, but every Senator looks in the mirror and sees [...]
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  Posted: July 10, 2007, 10:05pm EDT
  by sco

• Latest Fifth District Polling

  Over the weekend, the Lowell Sun reported on a Fifth District Congressional poll taken by candidate and fomer Lowell Mayor Eileen Donoghue. The poll shows Donoghue second behind Niki Tsongas, but by a smaller margin than a similar poll taken in early May. Here are the results for the [...]
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  Posted: July 09, 2007, 8:12am EDT
  by sco

• Weekend Baby Blogging

  
  First visit to Grandma and Grandpa's [...]
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  Posted: July 08, 2007, 11:58am EDT
  by sco

• Gee, Thanks

  Following up to Friday's Question of the Day, yesterday was the drawing for the lottery's Star Spangled Sweepstakes, the one with the $20 tickets. The Herald reports that eleven people became millionaires thanks to the sweepstakes, which paid out $40 million in prizes, despite not selling that much [...]
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  Posted: July 05, 2007, 8:36am EDT
  by sco

• Keller on 2006 Gubernatorial Spending

  Last week, Jon Keller had a blog post where he confessed his love for Michael Dukakis. He took issue, however, with the Duke's comment at South Shore Democrats party for former Massachusetts Democratic party chairman Phil Johnston. Keller calls Dukakis "flat wrong" when he said that then-candidate Deval [...]
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  Posted: July 04, 2007, 11:12pm EDT
  by sco

• Happy Fourth of July!

  The front page of today's Boston Globe suggested heading to a high place to watch the fireworks. So, I went up today to Mount Auburn Cemetery, and climbed Washington Tower, which is may well be the highest one can go up in Watertown (Yes, the Cemetery's street address [...]
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  Posted: July 04, 2007, 2:34pm EDT
  by sco

• MA-05 Hopefuls on Libby

  I'm not entirely sure why an aspiring Congresscritter needs to trumpet their reaction to President Bush's commutation of Scooter Libby's prison sentence, but I got statements from two of the candidates in the Fifth District race to replace the now former Congressman Marty Meehan (D-Lowell). I hate blogging-as-stenography, but I'm [...]
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  Posted: July 03, 2007, 9:30pm EDT
  by sco

• Weekend Baby Blogging

  
  "Ask not what a baby can do for you; ask what you can do for a baby." [...]
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  Posted: July 01, 2007, 12:53pm EDT
  by sco

• Question of the Day

  If the state's $20 lottery game didn't break even, why is State Treasurer Tim Cahill talking about doing it twice a year?
  
  He says it's because the game "helped boost overall sales at the lottery," but I'd like to see some evidence of that before the state continues [...]
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  Posted: June 29, 2007, 7:53am EDT
  by sco

• Good News From the North

  Via Political Wire, American Research Group released a poll today showing former New Hampshire Governor and current director of the Kennedy School's Institute of Politics Jeanne Shaheen thumping incumbent New Hampshire Senator John Sununu in a rematch of their 2002 race by a margin of 57% to 29% [...]
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  Posted: June 28, 2007, 7:22pm EDT
  by sco

• Debate Watching Party Tonight

  As mentioned elsewhere, Governor Deval Patrick will be doing the candidate introductions at tonight's Democratic Presidential Debate at Howard University on PBS. According to the forum's website, this is the first time that a panel exclusively comprised of journalists of color will be represented in primetime. It's [...]
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  Posted: June 28, 2007, 8:36am EDT
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• Gov. Mike Dukakis on Grassroots Organizing

  Below Boston has some must-see video of former Governor Michael Dukakis speaking at a South Shore Democrats party for former Massachusetts Democratic party chairman Phil Johnston. Dukakis has been talking about the need for precinct-level grassroots organizing to anyone who will listen for a long time now -- [...]
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  Posted: June 27, 2007, 9:41pm EDT
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• Mitt Romney and the Dog on the Roof

  The Phoenix's Adam Reilly is fascinated by how the Boston Globe took a story about how Mitt Romney hosed dog excrement off his station wagon into some kind of profile in courage. Here's the excerpt from the Globe profile Reilly quotes with his emphasis:
  

  As the oldest son, [...]

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  Posted: June 27, 2007, 7:28pm EDT
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• Did You Know There Was an Election Yesterday?

  Chances are, you didn't. The general election for the race to replace former Senate President Robert Travaglini was yesterday in parts of Cambridge, Everett and Boston. Turnout was limited to less than 3% of eligible voters mostly because soon-to-be-Senator Anthony Petruccelli was running unopposed. Petruccelli won last month's primary [...]
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  Posted: June 27, 2007, 7:55am EDT
  by sco

• Herald Sounding Bitter

  In a otherwise positive editorial on the new Charlestown wind technology center in today's Boston Herald, the editors could not resist inserting a little dig at Governor Deval Patrick:
  

  "Hosting a national wind technology testing center will boost the clean energy technology sector already taking root in Massachusetts," [...]

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  Posted: June 26, 2007, 9:56pm EDT
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• Mixed Signals from Romney

  I kept hearing over the weekend from former Governor Mitt Romney's spokespeople how well fundraising is going for the presidential candidate during his efforts at Fenway Park and TD Banknorth Garden. But, if his fundraising were as good as his they make it out to be, why then [...]
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  Posted: June 26, 2007, 9:11pm EDT
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• Stick Mosquito Challenges Chinese Ballots

  No matter where you come down on the issue of ballots being printed in languages other than English, you have to admit that this is hilarious:
  

  In Mandarin, for instance, [Secretary of State Bill] Galvin said, his own name could be translated either as High Prominent Noble Educated -- [...]

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  Posted: June 26, 2007, 7:42am EDT
  by sco

• ActBlue and MA-05

  Marie, in her comments to a previous thread writes:
  

  Everyone keeps mentioning who is raising on ActBlue. If you took the time to go a little bit further you would see that Finegold is the only candidate that is using a different online tool for donations on his website.
  [...]

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  Posted: June 25, 2007, 10:48pm EDT
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• Brookline Home One of 11 Most Endangered Places

  Via Metafilter, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has listed its 11 most endangered places on 2007. Making the list this year is the H. H. Richardson House, home to the 19th-century American architect Henry Hobson Richardson. Richardson designed such landmarks as the Trinity Church, Sever Hall at [...]
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  Posted: June 25, 2007, 9:56pm EDT
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• Legislature Looking to Expand Permitting Power?

  Boston Globe Business writer Steve Bailey had an ominous column in Friday's paper that I didn't notice until this morning. The piece is about House Speaker Sal DiMasi's hesitation over a bill that would essentially reverse a Supreme Judicial Court decision that found the Department of Environmental Protection does [...]
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  Posted: June 25, 2007, 5:46pm EDT
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• Does This Happen Often?

  Fifth District Candidate Rep. Barry Finegold has found himself in a bit of controversy after it was discovered that he appeared as a cosponsor of a bill that would require a 24 hour waiting period before a woman would be allowed to have an abortion in Massachusetts. That information [...]
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  Posted: June 24, 2007, 10:26pm EDT
  by sco

• Weekend Baby Blogging

  
  Don't interrupt me when I'm reading! [...]
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  Posted: June 24, 2007, 12:30pm EDT
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• Saturday Evening Links

  Another candidate has surfaced in the race to replace state Senator Jarrett Barrios (D-Cambridge) as he's slated to leave the legislature next week. The Cambridge Chronicle reports that Jeff Ross has announced his intention to run. Ross once worked with California Senator Dianne Feinstein, and founded the Brockton Civil [...]
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  Posted: June 23, 2007, 8:23pm EDT
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• Rep. Wallace Explains His Switch

  In today's Boston Herald, columnist Peter Gelzinis talks with State Rep. Brian Wallace (D-South Boston) about his vote last week to protect marriage equality in Massachusetts. Wallace was one of the nine legislators who had voted in favor of the marriage ban in January, but changed his mind and [...]
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  Posted: June 22, 2007, 8:06am EDT
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• Patrick-Murray Inaugural Committee Awards 215 Grants

  The Patrick-Murray Inaugural Committee announced that it has awarded grants to charitable organizations across Massachusetts using the leftover money raised for the inauguration of Governor Deval Patrick and Lt. Governor Tim Murray. Over 1500 organizations submitted applications, but only 215 grants of $2500 each were given out.
  
  Though I [...]
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  Posted: June 21, 2007, 7:00pm EDT
  by sco

• Governor Raises Money; Globe Raises Fuss

  The front page of today's Boston Globe has an overblown story about a Deval Patrick fundraiser, written by usual suspect Frank Phillips. Phillips admits that such fundraisers are "not uncommon during previous administrations" but they are front page news when they are held for Governor Patrick for some reason [...]
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  Posted: June 21, 2007, 7:47am EDT
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• Kerry Touts Watertown Battery-Maker

  Watertown company A123 Systems has been all over the news lately promoting their new plug-in hybrid car technology. I have heard of people converting their hybrids to take power from a wall socket for some time now but this is the most attention I've seen the idea get in [...]
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  Posted: June 20, 2007, 11:22pm EDT
  by sco