McCain Picks Karen from Will and Grace!

Or at least someone who could be a professional body double.

The good news about McCain's pick, for Democrats, is the fact that Jane Swift is more qualified to be Vice President than the Governor of Alaska. Just consider their resumes: both were governors for two years, but McCain's pick, Sarah Palin, was part-time mayor of a town of less than 7,000 people two years ago. Before that, she was a city councilor. At least Jane Swift had a legislative background to fall back on, as well as years of service as Lt. Governor.

So, yea, there goes McCain's 'experience matters' argument. It was the one thing he really had going for him. Too bad!

BTW - did I mention Palin's being investigated by Alaska's legislature for abusing her power as Governor and firing someone who pissed off her sister? It's McCain's gift that keeps on giving.

Liveblogging

Click here.

I can't even begin to describe how awesome that speech was. All I can say is that the argument is being made - and made well.

Cool Green News

This is exactly what we need happening across the whole economy.

The city's largest property owner - spurred by high energy prices and rising demand from tenants - is seeking "green" certification for all of its office buildings, marking a major milestone in Mayor Thomas M. Menino's push to make Boston the nation's most environmentally friendly city.

Equity Office Properties Trust, which owns 20 structures in and around Boston, is outfitting its buildings with features ranging from energy-saving heating and cooling units to new bike racks as part of a multimillion-dollar effort to stamp its buildings with the green label.

"We're doing this from a social responsibility perspective, but it's also become necessary to maintain tenants," said Greg Shay, president of Boston operations for Equity Office. "It's gotten to the point where not taking action is somewhat foolish."

The important thing here is the fact that going green saves money in the medium-to-long run.

The company is still tallying total savings, but executives estimate they will save $1.5 million in electricity costs by 2012 on six buildings where upgrades are underway.

Massachusetts should begin to require everyone to go green, perhaps with a ten year phase in, getting energy-star furnaces and other things that will save money and energy very quickly. The carrot stick's already on the table - 0% loans to switch to energy star gas furnaces, replace old windows and add insulation, etc. up to $10k over 7 years, along with numerous rebates on all those products - now we need the sticks. Switching to that type of furnace from an oil furnace, over just a few years, will actually save a family money - especially with the 0% loan. So there's no excuses! It's time for the stick approach - the environment can't wait because we're too lazy to make the switch or just don't have the facts.

A Decision: I'm Voting Kerry

I didn't ever really doubt that I would. I can't pretend to be thrilled with the fact that he just won't come out in favor of marriage equality. It's frustrating. Yet, I respect the work he's done on Iraq since he lost his presidential bid. He's certainly come out in favor of linking funds to withdrawal before it was popular within the Democratic Party. He also hasn't been afraid to filibuster, which is something Democrats should have been much more willing to do all these years.

Finally, I just can't discount the work he's done in electing strong democrats all over. He was one of the few who really came out strong for Ned Lamont. If there were more Democrats like him two years ago, we wouldn't be hearing about Mr. Lieberman today. I can't forget that - and won't.

So, I'm voting for John Kerry - and I hope, as I suspect, the vast majority of voters will come to the same conclusion.

Thoughts on Convention, Night 2

• Hillary's Speech: amazing. Seriously, she can't do anything more than that, so I hope the media just shuts up about this Hillary/Obama divide. Will 100% of Hillary's supporters vote for Obama? No. That's not how politics work. However, neither will 100% of Mike Huckabee's voters vote for John McCain. Where's all the media obsession on that?
• Seriously, can CNN stop digging up the one or two whacko Hillary supporters that aren't "feeling it" for Obama? Who need the "two months" to decide (and their 15 minutes). You can get anyone to go on TV and say anything. How about getting one of the vast majority of Clinton supporters in the convention to talk about how they're going to enthusiastically vote for Barack Obama for 2 minutes? Is that too much to ask?
• On MSNBC: Sorry, guys, but Luke Russert is not an expert on young voters. That guy needs way more experience before he's capable of talking on national TV about politics. K?
• I figured MSNBC would be a safe channel to watch most of the convention, mixing talk and the speeches. Oops. I completely missed Deval's speech - one of the two speeches during the night that I was actually interested in. C-SPAN tomorrow...
• That said, Rachel Maddow rocks. I'm so glad she has her own show now. It will kick ass; She'll be better than Keith.

The Problem With Wilkerson

Despite what some would suggest, the problem with Senator Wilkerson isn't that voters just don't know her record; it's that Second Suffolk District voters have had decades to become intimately aware of what the Senator's all about. The problem with Dianne Wilkerson isn't that people aren't reading past the headlines; it's that district voters know all the sordid details that Wilkerson creates for herself campaign finance report after campaign finance report. The problem with Senator Wilkerson isn't the headlines; it's that the headlines write themselves.

The problem with Senator Wilkerson is that, at some point, almost anyone will realize bad behavior can't be rewarded. The problem is that at some point voters will say "enough is enough" and vote for the better alternative. The problem for Wilkerson, it seems, is the time is at hand.
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Best Political Event Ever

Well, at least of this political season.

Hello Ryan,

In what we all hope to make one of the most forlorn of his campaign offices, John McCain is opening an office right here in the Bay State tomorrow evening.

So we're having a Push Back On Mac event at his new office to welcome them to Massachusetts.

Let's show his campaign what we really think by showing up at his new office, registering voters, and showing our support for Barack Obama, John Kerry, and all the other great Democrats up and down the ticket.

We're meeting at Park Street Station in Boston at 5 o'clock. Bring your homemade Obama signs, and be ready to grab a clipboard and help register voters.

Follow this link to RSVP for the event and let us know you're coming:


http://www.johnkerry.com/page/event/detail/volunteerjohnkerrycampaignevent/rtd

The McCain camp has been airing ads here in Massachusetts, and we should show them that this is blue country. We're tired of the GOP politics of smears, and we reject the policies of the Bush/McCain foreign policy and the disastrous economic policies.

If you've never done it, there's nothing quite like a fun activist event showing the spirit of the Democratic Party.

Hope to see you there!

Brian Young
John Kerry for Senate

Seriously, this cracks me up so much that I may even just go - and bring my camera.

Going Home, Let the Blogging Commence

I'm EXHAUSTED. Red-eye flight. Weee! My Denver convention is over as the Democratic National Convention begins (I missed the BMG crew by an hour). Some highlights:

• I sat literally 4 or 5 feet away from Senator Wilkerson at a brunch. She didn't recognize me.
• Denver's no Boston, but worth the visit. Georgeous museums, civic park (state house, city hall, public library, etc) but ugly skyline (if only they bulldozed the skyscrapers - they worked hard to ruin their backdrop) and absolutely horrid public transportation.
  
• Coors Field, though, is wicked cool. I saw Aaron Cook and Edinson Volquez, two bonafide aces on the field. 4-3 game, Rockies won.
  
• People are nicer here. I swear it.
  
• I can't freaking breath! Seriously, between my allergies and the thin air, I'm getting wicked sick. Most people have faired better, but everyone's noticed the difference.
  
• Deval Patrick gave an absolutely wonderful speech at said brunch. I hope to find it on Youtube. I'd wish him good luck for his prime time gig at the DNC, but he doesn't need it.
• Again, with the brunch. Jamie Eldridge waved me over as I came into the room, insisting I sit with him. I was going to wish him luck in his contest, but again, I don't think he needs it. He's a winner and our state needs more like him.
  
• The entire state party has shipped out to Denver; they stayed at the same hotel. John, Gloribell, Alex, Stacey... you name it. As much organizing as we all thought this thing took, it clearly takes a lot more. No one's stopped working since I've been here.
  
• I have one or two posts I've been saving for when I'm back home, I just need to type them up. Regular blogging will probably start tomorrow or Tuesday (depending how hard I crash after this weekend trip). Until then!
  

The Upside of Biden

He's not Bayh. That's pretty much all I can come up with.

Denver

Can I just say that this area is gorgeous and the weather perfect? Warm, but not humid. Dry. Liberal. My kind of place!

I haven't had an opportunity to really explore the city much - and the events I have scheduled will preclude me from getting to see near as much as I'd like - but suffice it to say, I suspect I'll find myself back in Colorado sometime soon to really catch a glimpse.

Juice and Medicine Don't Mix

A few years ago, I remember my father and step mother getting in the most peculiar argument. My step mother suggested that drinking juice was just as bad as drinking soda and that, essentially, people should really only drink milk and water. My father, who at points in his life has been paid to be in peak physical condition and takes that stuff seriously (he was a professional athlete years and years ago), bitterly resisted - saying that juice was an important part, when drinking it in moderation.

I don't know who was right, but I do know that my step mother has one more bullet point to add to her arsenal:

Drinking fruit juice dramatically reduces the effectiveness of drugs used to treat cancer, heart conditions and high blood pressure, scientists say.

Research has shown that orange, apple and grapefruit juice can also wipe out
the benefits of some antibiotics and hay-fever pills. It is thought the drinks stop drugs from entering the bloodstream and getting to work in the body - possibly rendering them useless.

The potential effects are so serious, researchers warned, that if in doubt, patients should swap fruit juices for water when on medication.

Of course, readers will note I'm a big fan of water - well, tap water anyway. Over the course of this summer, I've almost ceased drinking anything but good old h2o - and the occasional iced latte, of course.

Heading to Denver

I'm leaving tomorrow morning to go to Denver for a few days for a convention (not that convention), but I'll be back home Monday. Blogging may be a little inconsistent over that time, but for now, catch up with my most recent entries.

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More on Sonia's Poll

Mike put on his citizen journalist's hat and did the research on the poll showing that Sonia Chang-Diaz has a 17% lead on incumbent Sen. Dianne Wilkerson. Everyone who has any doubts about the poll's veracity ought to go read it.

The Chang-Díaz folk claim a combined lead on voters who lean/are probable/definitely voters for the candidates. Those are Chang-Diaz 47.2%, Wilkerson 29.7% and undecided 23%.That combines the undecided with a margin of error of 4.8%. Cohen is quick to say he wants Chang-Diaz to win but knows that four weeks before a party primary is a long time in politics. Many things could happen. "I can't say Sonia's definitely going to win, but I like the results," he adds.

So, as always, a poll is a snapshot in time, but this particular picture is not only very positive, but four weeks from when the people will mark down their choices at the booth. This is like taking a picture of a bride and groom before they say I do. They're going to say I do, it's only a formality.

Other things we learn from Mike's post:

• Even in traditional Wilkerson strongholds, Sonia's holding her own. Barring anything unforeseen happening, she won't lose big anywhere.
• The incumbent protection racket - I mean party organizations willing to ignore their constituency - don't represent the will of the people. In fact, they ignore the will of the people and their constituent base at their own peril, as well as at the cost of their integrity.
• This poll builds off previous polls. Last election, when Sonia came in a surprisingly close second, results only showed she could make it a race - never that she'd actually win. She ended up running out of time last election, but she's used the last two years well. It stands to reason that this newest poll is an extension of the last. Now that Sonia's built up her name and credibility within the district, the edge and biggest advantage that Wilkerson once had is gone.

Update: MaPoliticker has much more, including this:

In an interview with PolitickerMA.com Tuesday, Chang-Diaz's pollster, Dan Cohen at Connection Strategies, said that not only was the firm careful about who it interviewed for the survey, but it used a turnout model that would, in theory, favor Wilkerson (D-Boston).

"We used a turnout model where we expect the largest percentage of turnout coming from those neighborhoods were Wilkerson did best," Cohen said.

And more:

David Paleologos, a pollster at Suffolk University, didn't question the poll's results. Paleologos said the most important factor in these polls is determining the likelihood that the respondents are going to vote.

"You need to establish voter intensity," he said. "And you can define likely voters in two ways."

First, Paleologos said, the pollster can look at the voter history and determine if the voter cast a ballot in recent similar elections. And second, the pollster can ask the respondent the likelihood that he or she will vote.

Cohen said he used both standards. His company called voters that had voted in the last recent low turnout Democratic primaries. Then the questioner asked the respondent at the beginning of the interview how likely they were to vote in September.

More with the Casino Plans, Sheesh

Now, we don't just have one potential new site reported today, but a second in the New Bedford Standard times - an actual design for a 'revitalized waterfront' in New Bedford aka 'let's build a casino' plan.

Again, these people can propose all the designs or sites they like, but Class 3 gambling is illegal in Massachusetts. That fact's not likely to change any time soon, either. So I think I'm going to go back in my backyard and start dreaming plans for Ryan's Outdoor Paradise and all the slots I'll be able to fit in between my patio and chimenella. It's about as likely to happen as "Revere's Landing," the name of the casino these developers would like to build on historic New Bedford harbor.

Don't Count Your Eggs, Mr. Trump,

Before they hatch. (Thus endeth the Middleboro experiment.)

Milford, a working-class town off Interstate 495 where the glitziest feature may be the pink granite mined from its quarry, is being reviewed as a possible resort casino site by a developer who has worked in the past with both Donald Trump and a Massachusetts Indian tribe, local officials said.

Not even the Trump can get his way all the time. He can't bend time and space or Massachusetts state law.

Of course, the Donald is free to look for casinos wherever he'd like, as is anyone else (I think I'll go check my backyard right now), but the fact of the matter is Class 3 Gambling is illegal in Massachusetts. There can be no class 3 facilities, which are the only successful facilities for major resorts casinos. Ask Rhode Island how successful its Class 2 facility is doing.

More from the story:

The buzz around Milford is yet another indication that while the casino debate at the State House has died down this year, developers across the state are continuing to seek a site in hopes that Governor Deval Patrick will refile gambling legislation in January and that the Legislature will view it more favorably than it did in 2008, when a casino bill died in the House.

Here's hoping the Governor learned his lesson - and won't open Pandora's Box again. That dang thing was pretty damn hard to close and certainly didn't help his administration. There's been great progress made since this state got that genie back in the bottle, but progress would stall again - wasting precious months of time - while we stand around fighting over a rehashed, old story. We'd be an ex talking about our exes. No thanks.

Memo to the Casino Lobby: We're just not that interested.
~Massachusetts

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Donate or Advertise on Ryan's Take

As much as I hate to say this, it's come to the point where I can't afford to blog nearly as often as I do, under current circumstances. I've been fighting to keep it up for so long, coupled with the fact that I'd like to expand what I'm doing, that I need to make some changes one way or the other. Nothing would please me more, for example, than posting youtube clips of state hearings on this site, or interviewing candidates on youtube, or doing any number of things... that would require a digital video camera. That's just not in the bag right now, but it could be, if readers choose to help make my site better by donating to the cause.

Blogging is my passion and I think I'm pretty good at it. I certainly have a solid basis of knowledge on a whole host of issues facing Massachusetts - and the willingness to learn more. My posts and work through this blog have made impacts in this state, both medium and small. I've affected political stories, hosted official forums and helped candidates win races - all of which would have been at least somewhat different, if not for the existence of this blog. I've had the chance to meet many great people, all of whom make my blogs better and continue to make Ryan's Take a great place to read about and discuss Beacon Hill politics. All of these things motivate me to keep doing what I do best - posting across the Massachusetts blogosphere, as well as organizing in the netroots community and others to push for the issues that matter most.

I have no delusions of what putting a "Donate" button will do for me on this site. It's not going to pay for a living. However, I'd be happy enough if it was offsetting my blogging expenses - which which run in the hundreds every year I've done this. I'd be ecstatic if it gave me the resources to expand what I'm already doing. The fact that I'm no longer in college makes matters even worse, since I don't have magic money flowing from mysterious sources that I still don't quite comprehend that pay for my expenses (that, of course, I now have to pay off, making things all the worse at present).

Just as a note - I don't think most people realize the time daily bloggers put into their work. An average post takes around two hours to write - often more. This post took three, plus the time I spent creating a Paypal Account (at least another hour, because it's freaking complicated). I put 20-30 hours a week into my efforts at Ryan's Take, easy. I read and talk to sources every day, often for hours, to stay abreast of the issues and find stories to write about. I have to keep up with all of these organizations, contacts and networks, which means an endless slew of meetings, phone calls and emails - all of which I love and enjoy, don't get me wrong, but they're time consuming and never ever free (at the very least, I have to pay for gas).

I've written posts that have taken me all night to create - doing artwork, editing videos, finding links and more. Often times, those things take twice the amount of work than writing the text, which is why I don't do them as often as I like (something that would change if people donate). None of that includes the time I've spent traveling to get to events, or listening to hours and hours of hearings and forums. It also doesn't count all the behind-the-scenes organizing I do on behalf of the lefty Massachusetts blogosphere - which, by the way, will include a big BlogLeft event this fall (details to be announced later). Did I mention my weekly podcast and all the hours I spend preparing for it?

What Does This All Mean? What Am I Actually Changing? What am I Asking For?

Effectively, I'm changing nothing, except I'm adding a button to my website. All I'm saying is I can see the day in which I'll have to almost completely stop blogging, if I don't make some changes now. There aren't a lot of blogs out there like mine in this state, so I hope others will agree with me when I suggest that a quiet Ryan's Take is a bad thing. So, for those who really enjoy my posts and are in a financial position to do so, I'd appreciate some financial backing to keep my efforts up. If anyone would like to see an expanded Ryan's Take - complete with regular videos - and is willing to help me achieve that, we can make it happen.

Consider it like the Boston Globe: you can get the whole thing online for free, or pay a little extra and buy some dead trees. I don't want anyone to buy dead trees on my behalf, but I realize a donation won't come without some quid pro quos.

What I Can Do For You

While I'll never sacrifice my integrity on this website (for example, money won't ever change my positions or keep me quiet), I'm certainly not opposed to allowing people to 'sponsor' posts. If you want your appreciation recognized publicly, I'd be more than happy to put "this post is brought to you by Person X" at the end - your name could replace X, with a small donation. People could even choose to sponsor every post I write about on a particular subject. Care about GLBT issues? Sponsor my GLBT posts! Sponsors could also have a link to their website, blog or store that they own attached to their message.

Alternately, I'd be beyond thrilled to post an ad with a link on the side of my website for a small donation. Google ads has been beyond useless - and doesn't even completely work on this new blog format. If users want to advertise on Ryan's Take, though I'm no Picasso, I'll even create the artwork if necessary and do the html. I get hundreds and hundreds of readers every week - that's got to be some decent, cheap advertisement for restaurants, stores, campaigns and more. I always answer my emails if anyone has any special requests.

With very few exceptions, blogging will never make anyone a living - I've said that many times on this site, in forums and elsewhere. Even Bob, David and Charley have day jobs - and their traffic in one day amounts to what I get in a week or a month. But I do think what I have to say has some value and reverberates far beyond the html that represents this site. Many of the people who read my blogs also staff campaigns, work at the State House, at the Globe or organize at the party level. More importantly, my readers represent the most hard core progressive activists in this state - and there are hundreds of them, many of whom read daily. So a donation to Ryan's Take, by any metric, isn't charity. In the end, donations small and large will allow me to be able to put more time into blogging, make my work more consistent and better, as well as keep my efforts and activism going in a day and age when we need all the progressive activists - and bloggers - that we can get.

So, please, click the donate button to your right and help make Ryan's Take better. Alternately, contact me if you'd like to make any special requests. You won't regret it.

Thanks,

Ryan

An Open Letter to the MBTA

Dear MBTA,

Did I call it, or what? Today's story about the MIT students makes the MBTA look like a bunch of old fogies who have absolutely no understanding of this most recent generation, anything technical or even how to deal with public relations. As I said in my original blog, there wasn't a worse way possible that the MBTA could have reacted to these students, who were offering their services for free - this pitted Davids (the MIT students) versus the goliaths (the entire MBTA). The rest of the country got their popcorn and watched.

It's the second major time that a large Massachusetts agency has essentially seen an attack of the Mooninites. It's another bad-press piece among a sea of recent bad press, all amounting to the MBTA executives - the same ones getting a 9% raise - looking like a bunch of hacks. Not good, especially for MBTA employee wallets.

Clearly, the MBTA needs to make some major changes. First thing's first: hire someone under the age of 50 to do your public relations (or at least make sure they have a few teenaged kids). Don't hire a hack; hire someone who gets the new media, the internet, blogs and won't make knee-jerk reactions. Secondly, don't sue MIT students, pretty much under any circumstances. It just makes you look bad, especially to the people who actually use the MBTA (among them plenty of MIT students).

Most importantly, there are problems at the MBTA. They need to be fixed. Believe it or not - and this is why all these stories look so bad for the MBTA - these students from MIT were actually trying to help you. You should have at least paid them lip service, but it would have even been better if you took them up on their offer and investigated the problems they brought up. Furthermore, if you're worried about free rides on the MBTA, maybe you all should worry about the thousands of people who are getting free rides every week - because current policies, especially on the Green Line, don't prevent people from just walking on the trains.

The MBTA has bigger problems to worry about than Mooninites - I mean MIT students. It should focus on those problems. It should focus on staying afloat, financially. It should focus on making the best of these high gas prices and the tens of thousands of new commuters they're bringing. It should focus on how service can be expanded. Suing MIT students and sending the FBI after them is the last thing the MBTA should be doing, or focusing on. I hope the MBTA's course can be corrected soon, otherwise all the people who are starting to taking the T now will stop, whether gas prices go back down or not. Sadly, there's not much that's been done at the MBTA that inspires any confidence whatsoever that the MBTA can become a modern state agency that can cope with being in today's world.

Sonia's Beating Sen. Wilkerson in the Polls!

AKA Wilkerson's Going Down

The boys at BMG beat me to it, but Sonia Chang-Diaz has opened up a whopping double-digit lead over incumbent Sen Dianne Wilkerson. Of course, no one should be surprised. Here's part of the campaign press release:

JAMAICA PLAIN – Sonia Chang-Díaz's Campaign for State Senate released the results of an internal tracking poll today showing her ahead of Senator Dianne Wilkerson by a wide margin --17.5% -- among likely Democratic Primary voters.

Despite the fact that Wilkerson has received numerous endorsements from legislative leaders and political organizations, the poll shows that the voters of the Second Suffolk District are overwhelmingly looking for a change. Wilkerson, who recently admitted to once again breaking numerous campaign finance laws, had only 25.1% of likely primary voters say she deserves to be reelected, with 46.9% saying it is time to elect someone new.

Those results are translating into what will hopefully be a head-to-head victory lap for Team Chang-Diaz. The campaign still has to do the running and finish the race, but with any luck Wilkerson won't even be in sight at the finishing line. Here's the head-to-head numbers:

In a head-to-head contest, Chang-Díaz led 47.2% to 29.7% with 23.0% undecided.

There's a lot of undecideds, but even if just 3% of them swing Chang-Diaz's way, that means a victory for Team Sonia. In other words, something drastic is going to have to change for Wilkerson to put up what will now have to be deemed a major upset. Given her track record, I have my doubts.

The longtime incumbent is now known primarily for her lapses of judgment, including long-term abuse of the public trust (and law). While she has done a lot for the district and particularly the GLBT community, she is no longer fit for office. Let’s recap why:

Just this August, she reached a settlement with the Attorney General’s office over her latest violations of campaign finance law. She paid over $10,000 in fines and had to forgo over $30,000 in reimbursement for improper uses of campaign funds.

Two years ago, she didn’t bother to collect the trivial 300 nomination signatures, had to run a sticker campaign and was almost defeated by then newbie Sonia Chang-Diaz. We should expect more from such a long-term incumbent.

Also two years ago, she stopped paying her condo fees for many months, eventually owing over $13,000. Her unit faced foreclosure.

In 1997, she pleaded guilty to not filing or paying taxes for three years, from 1991 through 1994. Besides paying up, she was placed under house arrest for 30 days per a federal judge. Furthermore, she admitted not reporting $27,000 in political donations and could not account for $18,000 in reimbursements directly to her. For twice breaking curfew while under house arrest, she ended up at a halfway house for 30 days.

People are obviously starting to listen (even the media's catching on). Of course, the South End News clearly gets the support Sonia has in the district. They went out canvassing with her!

On the rainy Friday South End News spent canvassing the neighborhood with Chang-Díaz, nearly every person who came to the door not only knew the candidate but also said they’d likely be voting for her. Only one man was unwilling to pledge his support, saying that he needed more information before making his decision.

Mostly, though, the candidate heard encouraging words. One man, leaving his apartment to venture out into the rain, spotted Chang-Díaz on the sidewalk, smiled and offered, "You have our votes, don’t worry."

"I think this time around you’ll get my vote because we’re sick of Dianne Wilkerson," said a woman who came to the door of a garden level Concord Square apartment.

Michael Bono, a South End resident and a recently retired City Hall employee, said that Chang-Díaz would definitely have his vote and offered her an umbrella. "I think it’s time for a change, you always need a change," he said, adding that people he met through his work spoke well of Chang-Díaz. "I love Dianne [Wilkerson] and I know her, I’ve worked with Dianne. But I still think it’s time for change."

Sonia's had years to campaign in her district and clearly made the best of it. She's no longer saddled down by the fact that it's a sticker campaign - and in a sticker campaign, there's nothing better than to have institutional support. That support won't be as much help now. For starters, how many of them knew about Wilkerson's latest foray into crimes and misdemeanors before it happened? That's got to be a serious breach of trust for those organizations.

Secondly, I'd question if, with these kind of poll results, much of Wilkerson's institutional support would even want to dig their feet in on this race. Why should they? There's, of course, a lot of other competitive races for them to work on: the big Watertown race and Carl Sciortino being the big primaries that will make a difference in the progressive community. These are smart organizations filled with smart people: they're going to spend their resources wisely. Right now, that's just not in Wilkerson's campaign. There are other progressives to protect and advocate for who have never needed to plead guilty to serious crimes, never mind twice and once recently.

Lastly, here's a fun poll that sums up how the district actually feels about this race.

My Blog: Most Influential Liberal Blog in Mass!

I've got to figure out how BlogNetNews manages to score its Liberal Influence Index, but color me a little skeptical that I could beat out BMG. Perhaps BNN has some kind of metric that counts my 'influence' on BMG as well as this site? Or maybe they read my most recent column in Bay Windows - which has certainly raised some eyebrows. (I seriously can't count the emails, comments and calls I've gotten over my column, most of which were very positive and all of which have led me to believe that Sonia will win this race.)

Of course, this is a much better test of what's truly the most influencial blog in Massachusetts, but I won't mind having the glory for just one week. It's kind of like getting to be first in line in elementary school - something every kid should get a chance at - except, I get to add this to my blog resume. Ha!

Related: I'm also listed #8 in over-all influence "per post" and currently #17 out of all state blogs, any catagory. Those numbers are pretty steady week to week, while my liberal influence ranking is typically top 5 (albeit usually not #1).

In any event, thanks goes out to the awesome folks at BlogNetNews for giving me a massive ego boost coming out with such a fantastic website, loaded with fun and useful features and, unlike Leftblogs.com, can be counted on to be reliable.

No, Mr. Cahill

More about standardized school designs. I've already analyzed his plan and found it lacking (though, with some good ideas). For starters, only half of this state's construction sites would be suitable for a standardized design. Secondly, the Treasurer is a) deciding what towns can and can't afford [Note to Cahill: that's up the the towns and democracy, isn't it?] and b) mandating what towns can do with their facilities, completely violating centuries of the spirit of Massachusetts and local control.

One caveat: in terms of academics, the schools Cahill would use as models have plenty of science labs and facilities that could host lectures or be used in a number of different ways. The schools are academically sound, which would ensure that many or even most towns would want to use all or part of these designs to save costs. However, there are others that wouldn't want to use the designs at all - we shouldn't make them. Also, the idea that towns wouldn't be allowed to add to the designs is ludicrious - using any part of them would save on some of the costs, so let's try to get as many towns involved as possible.

Here's the most contemptible thing Cahill has to say:

Cahill hopes the program will eliminate one-upmanship, which at times has prompted a spate of field houses, swimming pools, and other expensive perks.

"It's not just what the state can afford for these projects but what the towns can afford," Cahill said in an interview last week. "Standardization will take the envy factor out of the process."

That just reeks of know-it-all-ism. People don't like that. Are these towns really trying to 'one up' each other? Is that the only motivating factor Cahill can possibly think of? Is it at least conceivable that a majority of people in certain communities would want a community building that would have a field house or a pool? Is it not conceivable that these facilities serve a role for the entire community - a place where kids can learn how to swim or skate?

These things are expensive - and certainly not necessary - but since when was America about doing the bare minimum? America is about Democracy - let the towns decide. It's not as if one town building a field house would cost the rest of the state anything - the state only helps to reimburse expenditures deemed necessary - academic. The extra frills aren't covered.

Furthermore, while not every town needs a pool, a field house and hockey rink, we need at least some schools in every region to have one of them. We can't ship off our kids in busses for an hour every day in the winter, just so they can get to hockey practice. Every region will need a couple of each, so if a town wants to build one or two of those "extra perks," as the Treasurer put it, it may be completely necessary for the student athletes in the school. Let's not forget that student athletes perform better in school - and many sports are what keep students active and interested in learning, or even keeps them from otherwise dropping out.

So, let's go full steam ahead with the model school plans, but for heaven's sake let towns modify them or do something else if they're willing to cough up the dough. Let's not prevent communities that are willing to expand community resources from doing so, by creating keep-everyone-down policies. That's not what America's about, that's not even what equality is about, that's more like something out of the CCCP. No thanks.

They'll Never Give Up

Brian Carmenker's at it again.

"The Legislature and the governor changed our marriage laws to please the well-connected minority and force a social experiment into other states that's very offensive to a majority of the people, at least the way the votes have been going," Camenker said, referring to recent votes in favor of gay marriage bans in other states.

Note to Brian: we aren't those other states. If they don't like it, too bad. State democracies are exactly that - the people creating laws and legislation for their state. We don't make our laws thinking of Texas; Texas doesn't have to create laws thinking of us. If Brian Carmenker doesn't like that, he can go feel free to move to one of those states. Or Nigeria.

This "ballot initiative" that will never be a ballot initiative is desperate on their parts. They can't even manage to update their blog; this most recent shenanigan is nothing but a plea for attention. Their quest is dead and they don't even realize it. It's almost sad, if not for the fact that they seek to spread hate.

I'm Saying No to Bayh

I joined up, will you? The effort to make sure Obama doesn't select Bayh seems to grow by a thousand every time I check.

Here's hoping Obama listens.

My Bay Windows Column: Wilkerson Must Go

Mike and I penned a Bay Windows column appearing in today's paper, following Tuesday's podcast, asking that Senator Wilkerson do the right thing and step down.

We were told, over and over again, that she could clean up her ways. Even just before this latest deal with the Attorney General, most of us believed it. We gave her second and third chances, only to have our trust betrayed each time, most recently by this latest scandal, one that went on for a stunning five years. Enough is enough. If the senator would like to restore our trust, she should do the right thing and step down. She’ll still have our thanks for her courageous votes, but it’s time for new leadership.

Furthermore,

Of course, the odds that Senator Wilkerson will willingly step down are slim. Obviously, our community can’t depend on her to make the right call. If she can’t manage step down on her own accord, leaders in our community and others whom we work with must stop covering for the senator’s bad behavior: it’s a detriment to the entire GLBT and progressive movements, making it appear as though we could care less about the law, so long as we get our votes.

The progressive community must stand for high ethics in this case, lest we be labelled hypocrites. We demand honest and fair government fueled by people-power. It's hard to see where repeated law-breaking public servants fits into the progressive landscape of candidate biography. Certainly, Wilkerson isn't the reformed type - her latest plea deal, for crimes that took place over five years, was only her latest in a long litany of epic misjudgments, crimes and misdemeanors. We must demand more - and, luckily, there's an alternative progressive candidate who offers that in Sonia Change-Diaz.

For Once, I Hate Being Right

Last month, I wrote a blog about how a Unitarian Universalist church in Tennessee was attacked by a loon who blamed liberal and gay people for his woes, including job loss, killing several peace-loving people. In his personal library was a copy of Michael Savage's book, "Liberalism is a Mental Health Disorder," along with Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly's 'work.' While I wouldn't suggest it's their fault that this man went unhinged, certainly their work impacted who he decided to go all looney tunes against. Except, unlike the cartoons, these people don't come back when anvils are dropped on their heads in the form of a bullet through their heart.

Well, it's happened again.

A man barged into the Arkansas Democratic headquarters and opened fire Wednesday, fatally shooting the state party chairman before speeding off in his pickup. Police later shot and killed the suspect after a 30-mile chase.

Little Rock police spokesman Lt. Terry Hastings identified the suspect as Timothy Dale, 50, of Searcy. Police said they don't know a motive. However, they said that moments after the shooting he pointed a handgun at the building manager at the nearby the Arkansas Baptist headquarters. He told the manager "I lost my job," said Dan Jordan, a Baptist convention official.

Right now, we have a lot of fanatics who are listening to the Michael Savage and Bill O'Reilly types. Many of these people are desperate, poor and unemployed. They're spurned on by a worsening economy and the buzz of an election. They're dangerous, quite frankly, especially when they're told (and believe) the hate speech that passes on the public airwaves every day as 'right-wing commentary.' They're told that liberals and gays are the cause of their problems and they're out to cleanse us.

Of course, most of the people who hear this speech and like it aren't quite so crazy as this most recent murdering scumbag. However, even in those cases there's still a major effect. It's effecting policy, it's effecting the intellectual curiosity of this country and it's effecting civil rights. The fact that the economy is going bad is only exacerbating these problems. A stronger economy will do a lot to solve these problems across the country, as will a purging of the hate speech over the public airwaves (hopefully by corporations that realize the damage they're doing to this country). However, unless we own this problem and realize that hate speech leads to hate-inspired attacks against groups of people, then these problems will get worse before they get better.

There will always be mentally unhinged people in this country, but the current policy setters aren't doing society any favors, and the current tone of this country and its corporate media owners are exacerbating the problems and feeding the hatred. Something's gotta give, or we're only going to see more examples of this Little Rock shooting - and those will only be the obvious examples.

Broadband or Slowband?

Here's a ringing endorsement of the American broadband system. Not.

A file that takes four minutes to download in South Korea would take nearly an hour and a half to download in the U.S. using the average bandwidth. Japanese users leaves U.S. users behind with an eye-popping 63.60 Mb/s download link. This means that Japanese can download an entire movie in just two minutes, as opposed to two hours or more here in the U.S. Just in case you are wondering: No, Japanese users do not pay more for their broadband connections. In fact, U.S. broadband cost is among the highest in the world.

Japan dominates international broadband speed with a median download speed of approximately 6 MB/s, more than enough to stream DVD-quality video with surround audio in real time.

Of course, there's more to this than viewing dvd-quality videos, with surround sound, in real time (as much as that appeals to me).

"This isn’t about how fast someone can download a full-length movie," said CWA president Larry Cohen. "Speed matters to our economy and our ability to remain competitive in a global marketplace. Rural development, telemedicine, and distance learning all rely on truly high-speed, universal networks."

Note to readers: it's our federal policy, mainly designed by corporate interests for the past decade or more, that's lead us to where we are today. They're designed to make us pay as much as humanly possible, with as little competition as possible, all while allowing corporations to stall on improving the networks for as barely competitive, highly profitable corporations see fit (note that dozens of towns in Massachusetts, mostly in Western Mass, are still reduced to using dial up).

There are other, better ways. For example, France opened up free access to some of their government channels - sort of like we do with our GPS satellites - allowing what were then small startup companies to create internet/cable/phone packages that were faster than what we have now. They were sold to the public at the equivalent of around $30/month - for the entire bundle - and so many of these companies became successful that it was a true economic boom for France, not to mention a serious benefit to the French people.

In America, we can't even get one of those three for $30 a month, never mind the whole kit and caboodle, and the playing field has been mainly leveled to a battle between Verizon and Comcast that's leaving the people of this country as the casualties of their profit-driven, service-lax war. Imagine what average citizens would do with another $70 a month in their pocket? That's the kind of extra discretionary spending that would put untold numbers of people in this country back to work.

One final quote:

We have been writing for quite a while about the problem of stagnating download speeds of U.S. broadband services and the potential problems that are developing out of this scenario. While providers such as Time Warner Cable, AT&T or Comcast http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comcast are trying to squeeze more customers in their antiquated networks and are more focused on topics such as speed throttling rather than improving their infrastructure, other nations are slowly but surely running away with greater bandwidths that are likely to enable new services and new business opportunities.

Today's Headlines: Police Details, Russia, Lowell and P-Town

Today's headlines from around the state:

• Governor Patrick's standing up to police unions on the costly and unnecessary police detail system. "Governor Deval Patrick is planning to release new regulations this morning that will take on powerful police unions by limiting construction details on nearly all state-owned roads, say several people who were briefed on the regulations." More specifics in the link.
• OMG straight people go to P-Town too? Seriously, this story is just lame and recycled. Besides, if people want a bohemian atmosphere, with local art and restaurants, why not go to somewhere far cooler like Northampton? No Cape traffic, larger selection, cheaper and far more authentic.
• The Russian/Georgian war stops. Hopefully. Russia humiliated Georgia. Apparently, that's mission accomplished for Russia and its newfound efforts to maintain its regional hegemony.
• DeLeo "legislator of the year." Really?
• Things look bleak at the Tsongas arena in Lowell, where the Dem State Convention was held. Big public projects often don't make their money back. In many ways, they're not supposed to. The Tsongas arena is no exception. States and cities would do well to study the pros and cons of these sorts of projects before they build them, and consider whether money that could go into a certain project could be spent elsewhere, more effectively, in an effort to create jobs and revitalize an area. The Tsongas arena is certainly beautiful and seems worth it, but at the very least it isn't attracting the type of demand it deserves.

Wilkerson Bailed on Today's LeftAhead Podcast

We were expecting Senator Wilkerson on today's LeftAhead Podcast, but she bailed on us with a don't-call-us, we'll-call-you promise of a rescheduling. Mike is a lot less cynical than I am, and is willing to give the Senator the benefit of the doubt that she was just too busy only a few days after promising to join our show. Either way, I (read: not everyone on the show) find it inexcusable.

We also chatted about the newest attack of the Mooninites: the MBTA showing that they're only the latest state agency to completely miss the boat in the age of the internet and tech savvy newer generations. Instead of swimming with the current, they tried to stop it - and were severely beaten in the process, turning this into a national story about how the T is clamping down on the freedom of speech. Suffice it to say, this is bad press and a bad mistake on the T's part.

It's a mistake that could get worse, as word gets out that the students were essentially offering the MBTA free and private consulting on how to fix their problems. Hopefully, Massachusetts state agencies will start to think about how to react to perceived problems with today's young adults and various subcultures in the Age of the Internet, because there's clearly systemic problems and the attack of the Mooninites are plaguing Massachusetts seemingly everywhere.

The Mooninites Strike Again!

Another state agency fails to comprehend how to operate in the age of the internet and technologically-savvy new generations.

On Friday, the MBTA sued MIT and three MIT students, claiming that the students planned to present a paper at the DEFCON hacker's conference explaining how to circumvent the security on the T's Charlie Cards and thus create counterfeit cards. At a hearing held on Saturday (!), Judge Douglas Woodlock of the U.S. District Court in Boston granted the T a temporary restraining order forbidding the students to provide any information that would assist someone else to circumvent the T's security system.

Here was my main comment in the thread - and I'm sticking to it.

The MBTA's Choices

In regards to the publicity of these 'security' problems.

1. MIT kids make presentation to some hacker convention no one pays attention to. Analysis: Not interesting, not covered by the media, almost know one reads the kids' report.

2. MBTA takes kids to court. Analysis: A little bit more interesting, but still not a story. More people will read report.

3. MBTA tries to prevent kids from having the freedom of speech, paints them out to be hackers who'd give free Charlie Cards to everyone, ignores the fact that these kids were actually trying to help eliminate the system's vulnerabilities - making this look like Boston's newest attack of the Mooninites. Analysis: The story's now far more interesting, with plenty of intrigue for everyone. Newspapers will cover it - potential to grow into major story. Suddenly, everyone wants to read report on how to bust a Charlie Card. The very nature of today's internet means this report will be widely available due to the MBTA's incompetence.

Good job, MBTA! Seriously, though, can we have one state agency that's prepared to deal with today's internet and younger generations in ways that actually, well, make sense? I'd be happy to host some sort of a conference to train them... my rules for success for the state's agencies will mainly be built around the primary rule in the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy: don't panic.

Note to readers: Mooninites is from now on my term for whenever a Massachusetts State Agency acts with ineptitude in dealing with either internet technology, today's youngest generations, or completely missing things that are wildly popular in various subcultures. Given the fact that these stories are happening every few months, it looks to be a growing tag.

Taxes Going in the "Right" Direction?

The Globe was on target with 90% of today's lead editorial on the fact that Massachusetts is 23rd in the country in taxes (certainly not "Taxxachusetts"), but they just lost me with this claim at the end,

The report shows the tax burden here declining steadily since 2005, when Massachusetts ranked 18th among the states....

In November, voters will be faced with a ballot question to eliminate the state income tax. The tax foundation's report shows Massachusetts moving in the right direction.

In what world is a scenario that's forcing school closures across the state and dozens of layoffs every year in municipalities big and small a good thing? The tax burden in Massachusetts is falling rapidly, but citizens across the state (if not at the Boston Globe) are quickly realizing that things aren't going in the "right" direction. There are severe repercussions when we can't even pay for the most basic of services. We're all suffering because of it.

I'm sick of the MSM continually propagating the Republican talking point that there are no good taxes. It's utterly absurd and a gross violation of the job the media is supposed to be doing.

In What World

is this not the headline story?

MOSCOW - Russia launched airstrikes yesterday deep inside Georgia and mobilized columns of tanks after Georgian forces embarked on a major offensive to reassert control over South Ossetia, a separatist province. Political leaders on both sides said that war had begun. The United States, an ally of Georgia, and other governments appealed for a cease-fire.

This threatens to be a full scale war. Russia's knocked out many of Georgia's tanks; Georgia's shot down several of Russia's planes. Thousands, it's likely, are already dead. Meanwhile, Georgia's pleading to the US to ship their 2,000ish troops out of Iraq to defend their homeland - from a war they kinda, sorta started. None of it is good, but all of it is important for people to read about.

Except, this is what's drowning the story out:

Former North Carolina senator John Edwards, a leading Democratic presidential candidate this year and in 2004 who became one of the party's most influential voices, acknowledged yesterday that he had an extramarital affair with a former campaign aide and had lied about it repeatedly.

Stop the presses!

I wish I could blame the Boston Globe on this, but it's a universal phenomenon across the media. Well, the American media. The international press seems to get it.

While a politician cheating on his or her spouse should, in reality, be a non story (so long as it wasn't illegal - a la Spitzer), at the very least the Edwards affair is the third story of the day, behind the newest war and the opening ceremony at the Olympics - one of the most ostentatious events ever (with a $300 million dollar price tag - ten times more expensive than the next most expensive opening ceremony). What is the American media's obsession with political affairs?

Obama's Latest Message

Love it! H/T Mr. Lynne.

I'm Probably Voting Kerry, but

I have to agree with Paul on this one: Kerry should have at least 1-2 tv debates with EOR. That's just a basic democracy thing. He should look to Ted Kennedy, who debated his last opponent, despite the fact that the guy had no chance. It shouldn't surprise many that Kennedy takes democracy seriously, so I hope to see the same from Senator Kerry.

My Nickname for the Spectrum Casino Report:

The BS Report.

Here's some of the more asinine claims:

• It'll create 20,000 jobs. Ha! We all know what to do with these job figures, again. Laugh hysterically!
  
• Three casinos in Massachusetts may only claim as little as 43% of our citizens' casino visits anyway - but they bill that as a positive thing. More comedy!
• A casino license is "tantamount" to a monopoly, so apparently that means we can expect casinos to work for the "public interest." Note to Spectrum Gaming: Working for the public interest and casinos just don't go together. That one's not even funny, just common sense.
  

In case anyone forgets about this study, let me give everyone a little refresher: Gaming is in the name of the freaking firm for a reason. There is no possible way that the Spectrum Gaming Group could give an 'independent' analysis on casinos in Massachusetts. Apparently, PolitickerMA didn't get the memo.

In Today's Other (Casino-Related) News...

When it rains, it pours. Today's been pretty sucky, on more than one level. On the casino-meme front, a tangently-related Suffolk poll conveniently rained down from the skies today. Ya, I'm sure that was an accident.

Let's ignore Suffolk's poor polling track record and the fact that other polls have been far more damning on casino support in Mass - including this one. Let's even pretend that Massachusetts voters would overwhelmingly support the idea of supporting a casino in Massachusetts. However, no matter what poll anyone looks at, that support dries up when voters are asked questions closer to home. Super majorities in this state have said they don't support a casino if it was located in their community, and casinos are also a loser whenever they're even near home. Yet, here's what Governor Patrick's casino plan looks like:


The circles represent where crime goes up, where local stores go down and where the rate of problem gamblers double. I'm sure casinos, under that plan, would be wildly popular in Pittsfield! Note to readers: there'd be even more circles in Massachusetts if casinos and slots were counted from out of state, or Lynn's Horizon's Edge casino boat that leaves from the harbor daily. Anyone want to take bets on how many people would support all those targeted strikes on Mass communities? that casino plan in a poll? Can I get an over/under on 25%?

Kanye West on Equality

I don't listen to that much of his music, but this is cool.



I can only begin to imagine how powerful his voice is in the rapping community when he takes this kind of platform to promote equality in an otherwise homophobic industry. It really could be the start of true change - with an audience the glbt community desperately needs on its side. Even for those rappers who aren't as forward-thinking as Kanye West, my guess is they'll see the light when they realize there's a lot of money to be made in attracting more glbt fans, instead of using homophobic lyrics in their songs. As Kanye West proves, there's plenty else to sing about.

On Student Loans: Here's an Idea

The State's going through a lot of hoops to make sure MEFA has funding available for its loans. In fact, while I appreciate the effort, Governor Patrick and others are trying so hard that I can't help but ask a few questions.

My first question is this: why have we let state colleges in Massachusetts become so prohibitively expensive that people are desperately searching for funds? Seriously, the UMASS system and other state schools are just rediculously overpriced at this point - meanwhile the state funds the system at the second worst rate in the country, per capita. The University now depends on charging students vast sums in fees just to keep the institution affloat, fees that are preventing many students from earning a college education in this Commonwealth.

Here's my second question: if MEFA is such a sound investment, why isn't the state kicking in the difference? Surely, we could have found $425 million somewhere, money we'll be able to get back with a sizable interest (6-8% annually!). By shopping these loans at Harvard and MIT, it's a very cheap way to ask them to scratch our back, while we scratch their's in much more expensive ways - funding for research at private universities over our UMASS system's, burying the bill that would tax Harvard's windfall investments that lead to profits of hundreds of millions every year (the head of their investment portfolio earns over $35 million a year at this 'public' institution alone) and other awful quid pro quos.

While MEFA is a program that thousands in Massachusetts depend on every year - I borrowed over ten thousand dollars in MEFA loans - it's not actually a program I would consider "good" in Massachusetts. We need to toss aside this rediculous notion that it's okay for students to take out upwards of $50k in debt at state schools to get an education. It should be free. It's free in many other places in the world. No student should be wondering whether or not, at this point in the summer, they'll have funding available to continue their education, yet it's a yearly conundrum for tens of thousands and it's only been exacerbated this summer.

My last question: Imagine what $425 million more in scholarships and fee wavers would do in this state, instead of going to fund MEFA? For starters, it would pay for Governor Patrick's free community college program twice or three times over. It may be enough money to extend a free public college education beyond the two years to anyone who successfully moves through the first stage. No matter how anyone looks at it, it's one of the best investments we could make in this state: not only do we need to keep our young smart and local, public investment in public colleges brings a return of over $3 for every $1 invested - $425 million would become $1.275 billion in economic activity. Not even MEFA's sound numbers bring in those dividends. It's time to rethink the way we do public higher ed in this state - and do it better.

Again, Pensions are the New 3rd Rail

Oh no! State Retirees are getting a $120 boost to their pensions - in addition to the $360 yearly addition they were getting (because, clearly, that covered the cost of inflation /sarcasm off).

My first question: Do we really need another editorial on how bad and evil pensions are for state workers?

Are they generous? At face value, yes, but consider this fact:

state workers and teachers are not eligible for Social Security.

Once you calculate for that weird quirk in Massachusetts, a typical state worker's pension isn't nearly as generous as it sounds. In fact, it's not even better than someone who collects social security, if that person also invested in a 401(k) program for most of their working life. Furthermore, people who get pensions pay into them - quite a lot every year, at that (and they aren't eligible for social security, even when they had jobs in the private sector for years of their life, paying into the S.S. system). With all that considered, pardon me if I think this constant fixation on pensions in this state is poison. Heaven forbid someone be relatively comfortable in their retirement!

But this is the real kicker:

Public employee pensions have unfortunately become a popular bete noire for limited-government types, who have seized upon some recent high-profile abuses to paint deserving retirees with the same broad brush.

Does the Globe not realize or get that it's one of the prime sources in stoking this flame? Remember the old saying, "If it bleeds, it leads?" Well, in the Boston Globe, it's basically, "If it's about a pension, give it attention." The Globe shouldn't stoop so low as to blame this poisonous problem on just the limited-government types: the Paper of Record is far more to blame than any Mass member of the CLT or their brethren. It's the Globe that's spent cheap ink for their hundreds of cheap pension headlines, usually absurd in magnitude, with no real importance to the people of this Commonwealth. Are the editors really going to blame limited-government types in the very same editorial that they're guilty as charged? Really?

"Long and Trusted Relationship." Ha!

From the State House News Report: Governor Patrick thankfully refused to support a bailout of the Wonderland Race Track - and their refusal to pay property taxes. Don't worry, though, Wonderland and Revere's Mayor have worked it all out...

In a statement, Wonderland executive Dick Dalton said, "We take full responsibility and have taken immediate action to arrange a payment plan to settle the arrears. We have spoken with Mayor [Joseph] Ambrosino and expressed our deep regrets for any inconvenience we have caused the City of Revere. The City of Revere has been a long and trusted partner and we value our continued relationship with the community.

There's a long and trusted relationship? What part of 'long and trusted' and 'relationship' is withholding more than $800,000 dollars? In long and trusted relationships, does one party take all the money and run? Or do they go years in which one party doesn't pay the legally required taxes to the other? How many layoffs did that $800,000 lead to in the city of Revere - how's that for long and trusted?

It's a relationship, all right, and certainly long - but trusted? Revere is the long and abused wife, who's just starting to work up the courage to leave. Certainly, this $800,000 fiasco will do wonders for the community - in convincing them that they don't need Wonderland Race Track and the hundred favors every year it'll need just to stay open. It's not good for the community one bit, not only are hundreds of dogs being injured there every year, but they can't even manage to pay their own taxes. It's time we put this dog industry out of its misery - and I thank the fine folks at Wonderland for making my case for me.

Today's Special Podcast: Candidate Pat McCabe

Mike and I welcomed Pat McCabe, candidate for State Rep in the 35th Middlesex District, onto our show tonight. Click here to listen. It's part three in our series of candidate interviews (here's parts 1 and 2).

Pat's a West Point grad, former Army Ranger who fought for 6 months in Kosovo. Fighting to protect minorities in Kosovo, he learned the importance of freedom and equality well, as a women's right to choose, marriage equality, universal health care and universal high-quality education are all driving factors in his race against Paul Donato, the incumbent.

Don't forget to tune in.

Wilkerson: It's Time to Go

Mike is right, it's well past time for Senator Dianne Wilkerson to either retire or be unseated. Her latest ethical lapse of judgement is perhaps her worst, and she's paying a mighty fine because of it: $10k.

State Senator Dianne Wilkerson has agreed to pay a $10,000 fine as part of a settlement with the attorney general's office in which the Boston lawmaker admitted violating campaign finance laws for five years....

The agreement stems from a Suffolk Superior Court civil lawsuit filed in 2005 alleging scores of campaign law violations, which included failure to report $26,935 in political donations and failure to explain $18,277 paid to her by her political committee. The lawsuit accused Wilkerson of using campaign funds for "personal benefits," accepting prohibited contributions, making improper reimbursements to herself and others, and failing to disclose certain contributions and expenditures in campaign filings.

As much as I love the fact that she's been a leader on glbt rights, I'm tired of the GLBT community continuing to prop her up against a very solid, glbt-friendly challenger in Sonia Chang-Diaz. Her leadership does not excuse her very obvious and self-admitted wrong doing. Enough is enough. We can do better than Senator Wilkerson. It's time for Senator Wilkerson to go.