Massachusetts Bill Will Affect Energy Use?

Headline suggests bill will have "big impact on energy use." What can affect use of energy more than individuals conserving and reducing use? As described the bill tries to stop taxpayer funding of infrastructure to deliver fuel. How does that affect use?

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/news/20160419/letter-bill-will-have-big-impact-on-future-energy-use-in-massachusetts

LETTER: Bill will have big impact on future energy use in Massachusetts
Posted Apr 19, 2016 at 3:15 AM
Updated at 1:06 PM
Cambridge Chronicle
To the editor:
— Frederick Hewett, Appleton Street

Are Researchers Scientists? Should Massachusetts Learn From Colorado's Experience?

Lynn Zimmer, was a sociologist at Queens College, New York. Dr. John P. Morgan was a physician and professor of pharmacology at CUNY Med School. Their 1997 book is a collection of articles about marijuana and legalization. They are researchers but are they, as cited, "scientists?" Holmes says, "But listening to police is no way to find out what’s going on." Then cites an advocate for legalization as if she knows. Police are in tune with the streets, even if they pretend otherwise. "I am shocked to find gambling in this establishment." Does Holmes recommend not being soft on opioids, but soft on marijuana is OK? Rep. Sannicandro, who favors legalization, says “Politicians are overly influenced by law enforcement[.]” More than the marijuana industry and contributions from George Soros? Unmentioned is removing criminals from the pot industry. But illegal pot is still sold in Colorado. Undiscussed is the preponderance of arrests of small street dealers, instead of big time traffickers. Money launderers need to explain their income.

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20160217/NEWS/160216883

Column: Fighting yesterday's war on pot
By Rick Holmes
Opinions/Mass. Political Editor
Posted Feb. 17, 2016 at 7:59 AM
CAMBRIDGE Chronicle

Newspaper Supports Public Records Reform In Massachusetts

Good editorial, an improvement over foxy State Rep. Rogers' essay. It says, "the Senate bill requires agencies that lose such cases pay the legal fees of the plaintiff, an important incentive for compliance." Taxpayers pay for the misconduct of officials, as they did for the 20-years of FBI criminal enterprises enabling Bulger's serial homicides. Where is the incentive to comply? It is unfortunately unlikely the legislature will write and pass a law that restricts their deal-making options. One area omitted is the lack of inclusion of special police e.g., Harvard University campus police in state public records law requirements. 

[From editorial]
the Senate bill requires agencies that lose such cases pay the legal fees of the plaintiff, an important incentive for compliance.

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20160202/NEWS/160209128

Editorial: Fixing the state Public Records Law
Posted Feb. 2, 2016 at 12:05 PM
CAMBRIDGE Chronicle

Limited Vision Of Massachusetts Officials On How To Improve Mass Transit

Future New York subway cars could look a lot more like the London Tube and Paris Metro, a new design released by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has revealed.

New York City (a real world class city), has adopted an idea from the far east to increase subway capacity by ten percent. NYC's system carries about 6 million each weekday. If only some MA state and local officials would read about the world, they might learn something outside of their bubble. Here's a recent report on NYC's plans.

http://nypost.com/2016/01/25/mta-to-test-open-gangway-trains-to-give-passengers-more-room/

MTA to test open-gangway trains to give passengers more room
By Danielle Furfaro
January 25, 2016 | 3:31pm
New York Post

* * *

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3416768/MTA-reveals-new-open-gangway-subway-train-design.html

New York subway cars of future: MTA unveils $52m plans for 'bendy' cars that passengers can walk through
The open gangway configuration seals the space between cars
It allows passengers to spread out and move from one to another
Design predicted to increase passenger capacity by up to 10 percent/car
MTA said it plans to spend $52m on 10 open gangway cars for two trains
By Dailymail.com Reporter and Associated Press
Published: 23:50 EST, 25 January 2016 | Updated: 07:18 EST, 26 January 2016

* * *

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20160125/NEWS/160127325

MBTA looking for ways to reduce crowding on the Red Line
By Andy Metzger
State House News Service
Posted Jan. 25, 2016 at 4:42 PM
Updated at 4:51 PM
Cambridge Chronicle

Massachusetts Public Records Law Will Be Fixed By Those Unaccountable to The Law?

Couple of teeny errors and tiny omissions by the foxy Honorable Representative. Records requests have a ten day response time. MGL Chapter 66. Municipalities ignore requests. Others deny any records exist, or delay, delay, delay. The legislature and the governor are exempt from public records law. The reason remains a mystery. Accountability? Guy asked the fox about security at the hen house. Fox replied, "Just fine. May need a few teeny, tiny tweeks but nothing major to worry about. I'm working on repairs myself." Current law allows attorneys fees at discretion of judge. Current law gives Attorney General discretion to file suit and force compliance. Seldom if ever done. Definition of public records needs to include special police departments, e.g., Harvard University campus police. See below report for more details. Contact Society of Professional Journalists, Region One. Sorry Rep. Fox, I mean Rogers, I think you missed the mark.

https://digboston.com/the-secretary-of-secrecy-a-new-column-about-public-records-reform-in-mass-and-just-in-time/

THE SECRETARY OF SECRECY: A NEW COLUMN ABOUT PUBLIC RECORDS REFORM IN MASS, AND JUST IN TIME
January 18, 2016
By ANDREW QUEMERE and MAYA SHAFFER
Dig Boston

[From article]
the governmental agency that is the record holder is obligated to fill that request within 15 days. The record holder, however, may assess fees associated with the production of that record and is unlikely to be subjected to enforcement of the law, as there are neither strong enforcement mechanisms nor the ability to recoup legal fees by way of a court order.
[. . .]
concerns from municipalities about abusive requesters who make an unreasonable number of requests
[. . .]
records access officers
[. . .]
instances in which holders request further extensions, raise objections to the request or requester, or in which requesters appeal to supervisors.
[. . .]
allows the Attorney General to proactively intervene to seek these penalties. There will now be real risk of significant consequences for avoiding compliance

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20160125/NEWS/160127352

GUEST COLUMN: Why reforming public records laws is critical
By Rep. Dave Rogers
Posted Jan. 25, 2016 at 4:19 PM
Updated at 4:55 PM
CAMBRIDGE Chronicle

Open Letter to Massachusetts Officials Regarding Organization With Reported Ties To Terrorists

Americans for Peace and Tolerance
15 Main Street, Suite 118
Watertown, MA 02472
peaceandtolerance.org

November 9, 2015

As Jews, Christians, Muslims and counter-extremism researchers, we write this only to inform you about the groups with which you may be meeting.

On November 12, lawmakers will experience ‘Muslim Day on the Hill,’ the first in a series of lobbying days for Massachusetts Muslims to advocate for issues relevant to the Muslim community.

We certainly welcome the involvement of all minority groups in the democratic process. Such participation assuredly contributes to an integrated and free society. Where we have concerns, however, is with the groups organizing the event. We believe these groups are using the language and processes of democracy to work towards an ultimately extremist and anti-democratic ideal.

The main organizing body is the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an organization so toxic in political circles that the Obama administration’s Justice Department has enforced a ban on working with CAIR in place since 2009. This was the consequence of the Holy Land Foundation terrorism trial, in which U.S. District Court Judge Jorge Solis said, in the July 1, 2009 ruling: “The government has produced ample evidence to establish the associations of CAIR…with the Islamic Association for Palestine, and with Hamas.” We have attached to this letter a communication from the FBI to Senator Kyl in 2009, confirming CAIR’s links to a terror-financing organization.

More recently, the Justice Department has censured other federal bodies for speaking with CAIR. In 2014, the UAE designated CAIR as a terrorist organization.

If you have any doubts, we suggest contacting the Department of Justice directly to confirm.

The Holy Land trial also demonstrated that CAIR is an important component of the global Muslim Brotherhood, a network that other Western governments have recognized as a catalyst for violence. British Prime Minister David Cameron has recently described the Muslim Brotherhood, and its front groups such as CAIR, as “extremists who stop just short of endorsing violence….but whose world view encourages people to pursue a course of violence.”

CAIR’s co-sponsors for the lobbying day are equally of concern. The Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), for example, is a self-described outpost of Jamaat-e-Islami, the South Asian Islamist movement responsible for the mass-killing of hundreds of thousands during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. The Investigative Project has reported that ICNA texts encourage hatred of Jews and express support for terrorism. One required reading for ICNA members, ‘Islam in Focus,’ describes Christians as “enemies of God.”

The topics for discussion as proposed by CAIR and the ICNA may well seem benign: upcoming legislation on school misconduct, the justice system and affordable housing. But radicalization is not a sudden spurt of extremist rhetoric; it is a gradual, pernicious process.

CAIR’s initial strategy is to assert itself as the political voice of Massachusetts Muslims by addressing some of the legitimate needs of the American Muslim community, but it will eventually be lobbying for the acceptance of a radical and hateful ideology, to the detriment of Massachusetts’s historically moderate, integrated Muslim population and the greater Boston community.

We applaud the civic engagement of Boston’s Muslims, but we urge you to reject the involvement of CAIR, ICNA and the other organizing groups responsible for this lobbying day. Please meet and engage with Boston’s Muslims, but not its Islamists.

Sincerely,

Dr. Charles Jacobs, President
Americans for Peace and Tolerance, Boston

Dr. Ahmed Subhy Mansour
President, The International Quranic Center (IQC), Va.

Professor Dennis Hale,
Department of Political Science, Boston College
Lay Eucharistic Minister, Episcopal Church, Diocese of Massachusetts

Sheikh Dr Muhammad Al-Hussaini
Senior Fellow in Islamic Studies, Westminster Institute

 
Dr Haider Shah
Founder, Rationalist Society of Pakistan

MA State Senate President says Immigration System Broken, Wants Feds To Fix It; MA State Rep. Rushing Agrees But Wants State To Fix It

Not everyone agrees with Rep. Rushing that encouraging illegal aliens to move to Massachusetts is what is needed.  He fails to consider the many Americans who were killed, and injured by illegal aliens. Or Americans who are unemployed because illegal aliens took their job opportunities. Rushing fails to include that immigrants arrive in the US contrary to US laws. Neither Rushing or Rosenberg discuss enforcement of current laws. It is more of the Obama-Holder doctrine, which allows elitists to ignore inconvenient laws. 

[From article]
Beacon Hill lawmakers are quietly pushing legislation that could offer sanctuary protections to illegal immigrants across the state, the Herald has learned.
The new legislation, filed by state Rep. Byron Rushing (D-Boston), would ban public agencies from giving or sharing information on illegals with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement unless forced to do so by a court or a federal order.
The bill also would ensure illegal immigrants have access to state benefits — such as welfare and driver’s licenses — and it would prohibit Bay State employees from denying “assistance, benefit, payment, service or participation in any program or activity” on the basis of immigration status, except as required by federal law.
State Rep. Shaunna O’Connell (R-Taunton) immediately decried the bill, saying, “This will make Massachusetts a sanctuary state that harbors illegal aliens and makes available to them every benefit under the sun.”
“I think this would be devastating to Massachusetts in many ways,” O’Connell said.
The sanctuary aspects of the bill mirror rules in San Francisco, where the July 4 random shooting death of Kathryn Steinle — allegedly at the hands of an illegal immigrant deported five times — brought the city’s lax practices into question.
[. . .]
But Rushing responded to the outcry over his bill, saying it doesn’t ask anyone to break federal laws and that he simply wants to encourage immigrants to move to the Bay State.
“It prohibits barring people on the basis of immigration status,” said Rushing, adding that hot-under-the-collar politicians should “calm down.”
“We want to make sure all people of Massachusetts are here legally, and we do that by helping them become legal citizens,” he said.
Rushing admitted that there is nothing in his legislation to ensure that illegal immigrants are on a path to citizenship before they receive state services, but said he’d be open to adding that language.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_politics/2015/08/beacon_hill_forces_line_up_for_fight_over_sanctuary_protections

Beacon Hill forces line up for fight over sanctuary protections for illegal immigrants
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
By: Hillary Chabot
Boston Herald

* * *

http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2015/08/senate_president_feds_need_to_fix_immigration_system

Senate president: Feds need to fix immigration system
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
By: Fiona Molloy
Boston Herald

Spending Other People's Money Campaign Demands More Taxpayer Funding

[This comment was censored by the editors of the Cambridge Chronicle. Protecting fragile politicians, doctors?] 

Ending low weight births, providing more clothing, books, food, and recreation for children only in Massachusetts? Myopic thinking. What about the poor children in Baltimore? In Ferguson MO? Gaza? Syrian and Jordanian refugee camps. Eritrea. Sudan. Imagine the economic stimulus in those areas! Surely Massachusetts taxpayers want to spread the wealth to others besides their own needy persons. Harvard University alone could provide up to $36 billion to improve the lives of extremely poor persons elsewhere. Why do greedy Harvard University administrators sit on those funds only to buy more land and build more buildings? An amendment should be proposed immediately to include the above mentioned areas where there is a need for the EITC now. As a Harvard College grad the new Governor could use his influence to get Harvard to redirect their funds to those who need it most. Rep. Decker and Dr. Sandel should set an example for all elected officials and medical professionals, and urge them to join in pledging 25 percent of their net income for the next ten years to help those needy families.

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20150430/NEWS/150439551

Guest column: Keep thousands of children out of poverty
By Rep. Marjorie Decker and Dr. Megan Sandel
Posted Apr. 30, 2015 at 2:02 PM
CAMBRIDGE Chronicle

Repeal Automatic MA Gas Tax Increase

[From article]
The biggest source of anti-Question 1 funds is something called Mass. Aggregate and Asphalt Paving. They’ve poured (get it?) $100,000 into the campaign. Mass. Aggregate’s members include Oxford Asphalt, Hudson Liquid Asphalt, NuStar Asphalt Refining, Ambrose Asphalt Equipment, Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Seacoast Asphalt Services ...
Key word: asphalt.
The unstated rationale behind this outrageous proposal couldn’t be any more cynical. An annual automatic tax hike will free the Legislature from having to take a vote on a controversial issue that might lead to the corrupt hacks on Beacon Hill actually facing a challenger in the next election.
[. . .]
As usual, the taxpayers are being outspent by the kleptocrats who’ve grown fat off their earlier ripoffs of the productive citizens they’re now trying to rob again. Tankthegastax.org has $5,000, compared to $653,000 for the Save the Hack Jobs Coalition.
You can’t say you weren’t warned. Vote Yes on Question 1.

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/columnists/howie_carr/2014/09/carr_shut_off_the_pump

Carr: Shut off the pump
Sunday, September 21, 2014
By: Howie Carr
Boston Herald

MA State Legislator Accused Of Threats

[From article]
Things had been looking up for the scandal-scarred Mass. House of Representatives. It had been two or three weeks since Speaker Bob DeLeo was named as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in a huge state scandal.
No rep had been arrested for DUI all summer, and no one had gone to jail for using his girlfriend as a punching bag in months.
But then Rep. Mannal, a moonbat’s moonbat, decided to visit the home of his Republican opponent, Adam Chaprales, two Saturday afternoons ago.
As Mannal bragged later that night on his Facebook page: “I had a face-to-face chat with him today. I told him to keep my name out of his mouth.”
[. . .]
Mannal called in to the radio station to defend himself — very incoherently. All dialogue verbatim:
“On Saturday uh there were several I, I you know, I had not had the opportunity to uh uh you know I never had Chaprales’ telephone number so I don’t have the ability um to you know did not have the ability to call him so I went to his house to get his telephone number.”
Does that sound believable? Chaprales has his phone number on his campaign website.

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/columnists/howie_carr/2014/09/carr_brian_mannal_breaks_dry_spell_in_legislature

Carr: Brian Mannal breaks dry spell in Legislature
Thursday, September 4, 2014
By: Howie Carr
Boston Herald

Misguided Proposal On Safer Cities

Posted March 26, 2014 2:59 AM ET; Updated April 4, 2014 9:45 AM ET

No one can deny that Cambridge politicians say what makes them feel good. But their proposals don't always make sense achieving their stated goal. Rep. Rogers says he is a "supporter of any sensible steps that we can take to curb gun violence in our state." But he does not mention the Second Amendment which guarantees to law abiding citizens the right to bear arms to protect themselves and others from violence. John Lott's book, More Guns, Less Crime, shows that a society with more legal guns, is a sensible step to make the community safer. 

Rogers expresses a misguided, irrational, offensive notion demonizing persons with disabilities. By suggesting they are more likely to use guns for violence he advocates "sharing of records of adjudicated commitments for mental health and substance abuse with the National Instant Check System." Does he also want to share the medical records of rape victims, persons with STDs and leukemia? Do extremely normal people abstain from using guns for violence? Why not share their medical records too?

He recommends "Strengthen[ing] the provisions of school-based mental health services." Why not remove teachers and let psychiatrists run the schools? Psychiatrists are omniscient and morally superior to lesser beings, and have had their genes cleansed of mendacity, greed and sadism, unlike flawed teachers who need a union to protect their jobs. 

Rogers wants to "Increase funding for mental health and substance abuse disorders resources in urban areas." Does the Human Services Industrial Complex (MA State Rep. Marie Parente's term) make large campaign contributions to Rep. Rogers? Taxpayer grants for human services corporations are over $2 billion per year now. Instead of state police why not hire psychiatrists. They can take freedom without Due Process protections. (Think Justina Pelletier.) The Constitution was written by dead white men, and not on an iPad. What good is it today? It is old! 

Rogers states, "Given the ability to transport firearms across state lines, the hard truth is that we need national legislation." Isn't interstate commerce a mission of the U.S. Congress? If Congress refuses to act, why doesn't the Harvard Law School graduate in the White House issue an executive order repealing the Second Amendment? Who supports that ancient paragraph? Is that the soft truth?

Rogers proclaims he wants to move "toward a safer Massachusetts." But he refuses to recognize the essential role of a law abiding armed citizenry in order to achieve that goal. 90,000 patients die each year from medical negligence. Do guns used by persons with disabilities cause those deaths too?  

* * *

About 4:15 PM Wednesday March 26, 2014, spoke by telephone with Mr. Allen, assistant to Rep. Rogers. I gave him my name and phone number. I began by noting I was calling about Rep. Rogers' essay in the Cambridge Chronicle on "gun safety" (as he called it); and that I'd like to speak with him; and that if Mr. Allen was speaking on his behalf that would be as good. He said he did not speak for Rogers and that he would relay my request. He asked for specifics, saying he was familiar with the essay. I explained who I was and what my interest is. I later said I called as a journalist about the essay about public policy, when Allen asked if I had spoken with my state rep. Marjorie Decker. I said it was not her essay. 

He expressed his views on the issues I raised and I reminded him I wanted Rogers' opinions not his. Again I asked if he spoke for Rogers. He again said he did not.

I was able to mention the first four quotes from his essay before he ended the conversation. In each, Mr. Allen began expressing his opinions. I did not stop him until he tried to shut me up claiming that the desired conclusions were issues everyone agrees with. How did he know that? I said I was interested in solving problems without an economic interest, trying to solve some of the serious problems. That the leaders were often uninformed because they do not read any books. Instead they consult experts, who cannot be relied on for truth or for impartial evidence. I again reminded him that I did not stop him from expressing his opinions but that I wanted Mr. Rogers' not his. He told me that he lives in Rep. Decker's district. I told him I was not a member of the NRA, and did not own a gun. I said I was not a member of a group that shared a community weapon. Allen asked me. “They do that?” I guess he was unaware of the clever tricks used by young people to avoid being caught with illegal weapons. 

At about 4:30 PM on Wednesday March 26, 2014, he covered his mouthpiece on the telephone and then said to me "I'm sorry I have to cut you off." He said he would tell Rep. Rogers I wanted to speak  with him. I thanked him and hung up.  I told him  I already responded to the essay with a letter but that the Chronicle seldom publishes my letters. I told him I petitioned the City Council, the state legislature, that I made videos, had a blog and did a TV show for five years. I told him I wrote bills for the legislature for four years. I also told him I've been talking with journalists, prosecutors, police and politicians for about 20 years about these issues. I said I no longer bother with some of them, but that I have had no experience with Rep. Rogers so I thought I'd try. Now I've had some experience with him too.

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20140325/NEWS/140327880

COLUMN: Move legislation forward to curb gun violence

By Rep. Dave Rogers 

Posted Mar. 25, 2014 @ 10:00 am 

CAMBRIDGE Chronicle

Boston Minister Laments Silence Of Public Officials and Alleged Victim Advocates After State Rep. is Expelled From Legislature For Attacking A Woman

Posted February 7, 2014 8:28 PM ET; Last updated February 9, 2014 5:45 AM ET

[From article]

What especially concerns me is how black leadership, most recently the NAACP, has supported Henriquez in his desperate attempt to stay in office, or has remained silent on the issue. This is as disgraceful as the violence itself. Black leaders have, with rare
exceptions, failed to raise their voices to call for Henriquez’s expulsion from the Legislature.
As a black man, I am outraged. The black political leadership of the city and the state have not displayed courage in repudiating the misbehavior of their own.
Perhaps more amazing is the silence of black female elected officials. The same must be said of the various anti-violence groups, not least those that are led by black women. Where were their voices?

Don't feel bad Rev. Scott. People in Massachusetts, see, hear and speak no evil. Cambridge city officials and Harvard University officials and their police employees, dominated by limousine liberals, "always" speak for the "most vulnerable." Meanwhile they allowed and joined in a 43-year-ongoing program of harassment, insults, provocations, humiliation, ridicule, abuse, character assassination of a 70-year-old white man who they all say is "crazy." City, state and U.S. taxpayer funded agencies whose mission is to protect such persons join in or stand by and allow it to continue. Currently it is a Harvard University campus policeman. The lesbian graduate student in psychology at Harvard University Medical School who was conducting a criminal behavior conditioning campaign trying to make me into a homosexual failed. The Harvard University campus police officer who protected her, appeared at my residence to take her place disturbing my sleep, tampering with my browser, operating system, and causing my computer to crash. In the film Five Easy Pieces, a woman asks Susan Anspach, "Don't you think that more harm has been done in the name of love than in the name of evil?" Anspach gets upset and walks out. I'm told that this policeman "loves" me. Huh? Probably loves me like the woman who told everyone I met and everyone I knew and know, "He's a retired drug dealer." She and her husband too said they loved me. With friends like these who needs enemies? How long before the President of Harvard University and the General Counsel appear on premises to do the same? Harvard and Cambridge residents love to torment people they believe are vulnerable and unable to fight back. They say they speak for them. It is a charming state and it is to be expected that they remain silent about a state rep being jailed for attacking a woman. As Hillary Clinton said, "What difference does it make?"

"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing." -- Albert Einstein

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2014/02/scott_black_leaders_support_of_carlos_henriquez_a_disgraceful

Scott: Black leaders support of Carlos Henriquez a disgraceful turn
Friday, February 7, 2014
Boston Herald
By: The Rev. Mark V. Scott

Massachusetts Judiciary As Guilty As Legislature

[From article]
The Massachusetts judiciary just couldn’t stand not controlling all those hack jobs in the Probation Department. So they decided to feign shock that the Legislature was giving out all the probation jobs to their coat-holders, while only passing out maybe a fourth or a third of the payroll-Charlie positions to the state’s extinguished jurists.
The judges wanted all the hack jobs for themselves. They were greedy, and you know the old saying. Pigs get fed, hogs get slaughtered.
[. . .]
So now it’s all out there in black and white, how the judges themselves operate, with a little help from the local criminal classes.
Too bad, because as I always say, it’s that 98 percent of judges who give such a bad name to the other 2 percent.

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/columnists/howie_carr/2014/01/carr_bay_state_s_still_out_of_order

Carr: Bay State’s still out of order!
Friday, January 24, 2014
Boston Herald
By: Howie Carr

Former MA State Rep Charged With Selling Meth

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2013/05/former_state_rep_charged_with_trafficking_methamphetamine

Former state rep charged with trafficking methamphetamine
Wednesday, May 22, 2013 PrintEmail Comments (0)
By: Richard Weir
Boston Herald

Standing Ovation For Convicted Felon MA Politician

[From article]
"Their parole officers may not know this, but the hacki di tutti hacki had a public sit-down at the State House on Wednesday. The two convicted-felon speakers and the indicted one were treated like returning war heroes. They were described from the podium as “brilliant.” They got a standing ovation."

http://bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1308235

Picture of speakers worth 1,000 words

By Howie Carr
Boston Herald
Sunday, January 9, 2011

Court Shows It Is Misguided

Is this any way to run a government? Here is the protocol revealed by Justices of the MA Supreme Judicial Court. They wait for someone to get hurt to make policy. Isn't that what the legislature was created for? Law making is for representatives elected by voters. The MA court indicates its misguided belief in what its role is.

[From article]
"The SJC decision does not say if snow and ice has to be removed during the storm or after it is over, an omission Mr. Bassett found interesting. The justices said they would wait for a case when someone is hurt during a storm to decide that issue,"

http://www.telegram.com/article/20101228/NEWS/101229802/1160/SPECIALSECTIONS04&source=rss

Court shifts liability
MOTHER NATURE NOT AT FAULT FOR FALLS
By Scott J. Croteau TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
December 29, 2010
scroteau (at) telegram.com

Legislator as Job Category

[From article]
"you’re still in the Legislature, which means you’re a loser. As for the rest of you hacks, don’t go away mad. Just go away."

http://bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view/20101217never_forget_their_years_of_sacrifice/srvc=home&position=1

Never forget their years of ‘sacrifice’

By Howie Carr
Boston Herald
Friday, December 17, 2010

MA Probation Department Used for Business

If the Boston FBI office had been cleaned up after Connolly it would be possible to begin cleaning up state government. With Obama and Holder that is wishful thinking. Boston FBI remains a cess pool with the rest of the US and state agencies in MA. Marsha thrives in this environment. She prefers to lobby Congress for more privileges for homosexuals. Government corruption thrives under Marsha. As reported by Mr. Carr, the legislature and the courts compete to use state government for business purposes.

http://bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1297474

Ware report is good read, but no surprise

By Howie Carr
Boston Herald
Friday, November 19, 2010

MA Legislature is Part Time, Gets Full-time Pay

The kind of people who run for office these days makes it questionable that anything can be changed for the better. US has a career politician class, contrary to the ideas of the founders of the nation. No citizen legislators, who have jobs to return to. Many elected officials had no job other than politician. Aides graduate from college and go to work for politicians then run for office. The Spending Other People's Money Society controls state legislatures and the US Congress.

http://bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1283009

‘Part-time’ politicians pull 2nd paycheck

By Hillary Chabot
Boston Herald
Tuesday, September 21, 2010

MA State House Quote of The Week

Is this like Nancy Pelosi promoting the idea that "We have to pass the bill in order to learn what is in it?
Or like the Cambridge MA City Council. When confronted with notice that they are violating state laws, the response of the City Council is "Will you shut up?"

WEEKLY ROUNDUP: THE POWER LINES
Recap and analysis of the week in state government

By Jim O’Sullivan
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, SEPT. 3, 2010

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

“We presume that the Legislature acts with full knowledge of existing laws.” – Justice Margot Botsford, writing for the majority in the Supreme Judicial Court ruling, a 4-2 split decision, to approve the permitting process behind Cape Wind. Whoa there, Judge. Her Honor might want to spend a little time in the House Gallery in the closing hours of formal sessions. Not only are lawmakers, most of them, acting without full knowledge of existing laws, they’re not even acting with half knowledge of the nascent laws in front of them. This is what happens when the three discrete branches of government do not sufficiently familiarize themselves with the other.