"We’ve balanced out the Senate, but now the key is to balance out Beacon Hill." -Brian Burke (R-MA)
"But anytime you can look at spending, I think that's one of the basic problems."
"More emphasis should be placed on attracting a higher class of people, who in turn would improve the commercial vitality of the City, and allow the City to leverage more private investement [sic]."I don't want to pick a fight with whoever said that, but I do want to pick a fight with the mindset that creates a quote like that and gets a lot of heads nodding in agreement. I don't deny the reality of Worcester's inner city neighborhoods. I've lived here my whole life, and volunteered as a coach for over 20 years at a little league that draws from the Piedmont area. There are a lot of reasons why it's bad and anyone who thinks that it is either society's fault or the individual's fault isn't going to solve the problem.
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"I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally.
This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but, in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy.
The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.
Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight), the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.
It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another."Why I'm not voting for Scott Brown:
“I’m not beholden to special interests. Because I don’t owe anybody anything, I’m free to tell the truth and fight for what I believe in." -Scott Brown, as told to Robert Z. NemethCandidates tell the voters and reporters many things, some true, some false, some chock full of BS. It's the job of responsible voters and reporters to do a little digging and find out if the candidate is telling the truth. It's especially important for reporters to dig a little harder- after all, their articles are read and trusted by many readers. When a reporter doesn't dig deeper, they do a disservice to their news organization and their readers.
"At a time when homeland safety is endangered due to an ultra-liberal mindset in Washington that at times appears to be more concerned about the rights of terrorists than the safety of Americans, the Senate needs a hard-liner on national security. Even before the Christmas Day attempt by an Islamic jihadist to destroy a Detroit-bound airliner with nearly 300 people aboard, Scott Brown, a lieutenant colonel with close to 30 years of service in the National Guard, expressed concern about flawed security measures and the apparent breakdown of the command structure. He said authorities should have recognized the warning signs before an officer described as a Muslim fanatic murdered 13 military personnel at a Texas Army base in November, just as they should have prevented the “underwear bomber” from boarding an airplane. "I think the same could be said for the summer of 2001 when the Cheney/Bush Administration along with the CIA, FBI and NSA missed out on the largest terror attack on U.S. soil. Eight years later we have the Department of Homeland Security, a Cheney/Bush creation that should be the focus of Mr. Nemeth's criticism, not the candidacy of Martha Coakley or the Obama Administration.
"She hardly displayed a profile-in-courage by refusing to debate her opponent one-on-one, insisting on the presence of a nonentity who has no chance of getting elected."That nonentity is a candidate who gathered enough signatures as an independent candidate to appear on the ballot for this election. Having that sort of organization and dedication should guarantee Joe Kennedy's appearance in the debates. This is a democracy where any citizen can run for office, regardless of party affiliation. I would think that Mr. Nemeth would encourage candidates like Joe Kennedy- after all, Mr. Nemeth constantly hopes for an 'independent' voice to guide us. Apparently Mr. Nemeth's has a dictionary where Independent = Republican.
"The general counsel said the investigation substantiated neither that the incident occurred nor did not occur."That's the sort of sentence I thought only Douglas Adams could write. Apparently T&G reporter Lee Hammel and General Counsel of the Worcester County Jail Jeffrey Turco are big Douglas Adams fans also.
"Noting that the sheriff’s department is a law enforcement agency, Mr. Turco said the jail has not referred the incident to any other law enforcement agency. “The matter is closed from our perspective,” he said. Worcester police are not investigating the incident, Worcester Sgt. Kerry Hazelhurst said."That sentence makes the argument for a Civilian Review Board of not only the WPD but the Sheriff's Department. The alleged-possibly-non-occurring incident occurred off of jail property and in public. If that had been anyone else in the City, charges would have been filed. But apparently everyone in local law enforcement wants the episode swept under the rug, and the T&G obliged by running the follow up to the original story in its Saturday print edition with a few short paragraphs and apparently zero tough questions asked.
“Let’s be clear: I stand with Main Street ... It should be clear to voters that I stand with them, with taxpayers — not with big CEOs looking to line their pockets.”From the T&G article:
“Scott Brown is going to stand up for Wall Street. … I am going to stand up for Main Street. I am going to stand with taxpayers when I say we want our money back.”
"Moreover, Coakley had endorsed Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid during the Massachusetts primary, defying the entire Democratic establishment in the state (including Kennedy, Senator John Kerry, and Gov. Deval Patrick) that had backed Obama."
"“I think she can pull this out,” said a Democratic Congressman who showed up in Worcester."
"Meanwhile, the city is facing a potential $600,000 liability because its budget-savings plan to purchase the streetlight system from National Grid has been delayed because of complex negotiations. This year’s municipal budget had assumed a savings of $1.2 million generated by the acquisition of the streetlight network."There's been a big push by Mike O'Brien to privatize the City's parking assets. The Research Bureau wants to privatize pretty much everything. Why would the City want to buy our streetlight system if private business is the most efficient way to deliver City services?
"For whatever reasons, the study found that fewer local stories are being published by the Sun and six other newspapers that cover the Baltimore area. The list includes other general-interest publications such as The Washington Post and the Towson Times and specialty publications such as the Baltimore Business Journal.What a waste of time and ink to borrow that propaganda piece from the AP. Perhaps the editors at the T&G should have devoted that space to actual local coverage. It's also very amusing that the study focused on The Baltimore Sun, which was taken down by former Sun reporter David Simon in the fifth season of The Wire. (If you haven't watched The Wire yet, go rent it- it's one of the best written shows in the history of television.)
The change came into sharp focus in July when Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley proposed deep cuts in the state's budget. There were 26 stories published on the subject by the Baltimore-area newspapers monitored during the weeklong study, as well as the AP and other publications around the country. The last time Maryland announced substantial budget cuts in 1991, there were 83 stories published in a comparable weeklong period, according to the study.
Jarvis contends that less original coverage doesn't necessarily translate into less information for readers, because the Web has enabled more people to post comments and links to other material that illuminate.
"Journalism today isn't just about the production of content," he said. "It's about where we can all add value."
"“The owner said there are a few interested parties for that space,” he said. “That's a positive sign. This is one of those things that happen in a tough economy. But there are those that see this as an opportunity. The city will be supportive of whoever comes next.” Mr. McGourthy said McFadden's had a rich population of professional workers and students to draw from downtown, but was not able to remain with steady business through the day. He said that the delay of $564 million mixed-use CitySquare probably did not play a role in the company's decision to pull out. “They had a population in downtown that would go out to lunch, but they were never able to really capture it,” he said of McFadden's. “We want CitySquare, but we have to have something that brings people in. We will help whoever goes in there address the issue of being able to bridge the full day.”They didn't have steady business because they wasn't a reason for people to return!
“It's time we stopped acting like lawyers and start acting like Patriots. If there is a time bomb situation and they know of a person who in fact has information, it should be up to the president to determine what tools he wants to use to gather information, ” Mr. Brown said, including waterboarding. “I believe it's not torture.”Here are two videos and articles from people who agreed with him regarding waterboarding, until they volunteered to see what it was really like.
"Tunnel vision is a disease in which perception is restricted by ignorance and distorted by vested interest. Tunnel vision is caused by an optic fungus that multiplies when the brain is less energetic than the ego. It is complicated by exposure to politics. When a good idea is run through the filters and compressors of ordinary tunnel vision, it not only comes out reduced in scale and value but in its new dogmatic configuration produces effects the opposite of those for which it originally was intended."
"I live every day like it's my last. Especially when JFK Jr. passed away and Princess Di. They're powerful, handsome, rich people, and they're dead. And they can't make a difference while I still can."
