Blue Mass Group

Fun night tonight at Doyle’s in Jamaica Plain.  Joe Heisler, host of the Tuesday night “Talk of the Neighborhoods” show, did a 90 minutes tenth anniversary show.  His first guest was former Treasurer Bob Crane and from there, the guests just kept coming.  There was one announced candidate for Governor (Deval) and one unannounced signature gatherer (Chris).  Tom Menino and Ray Flynn.  All types of councillors, state reps and senators, Sheriff Cabral, DA Conley and tons of “operatives”, old and new. Media presence was definitely “old school”, Alan Lupo, Brian Mooney, Larry Harmon (the younguns probably can’t find Doyle’s …). Thanks to Joe for his love of politics and what he does, which is unique in this most political of cities.  Tonight politicians of all ideologies and ethnicities came together and a good time was had by all. PS – look for some news re: a coming Boston City Council vacancy, lots of buzz tonight at several events about it.

So, Don Young (R-Abramoff) is still at it — Deirdre Fulton, guest-blogging for Adam Reilly, has the news that Young and AK Fossil Fuel Ted Stevens have put together a greasy little “compromise” on the sleazy amendment that would kill Cape Wind: namely, that it will only kill Cape Wind. This was so backhanded, so treacherous, that even wind farm opponent RFK Jr. washed his hands of it. And Teddy, we know you don’t like the wind farm, but come on — don’t countenance this kind of skullduggery. We’re watching. (By the way, Clean Power Now also suggests calling or faxing Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, (202) 224-5344, fax  (202) 224-1946. No, she’s not our Senator, but it is our shoreline; she can put up with it.)

Tomorrow, Wednesday 3/1, at 1pm, there will be a hearing on the MassACT ballot initiative at the State House, room A-1. Show up a little early @ 12:30 for a press conference by the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization — always well-organized, well-spoken and inspiring, those folks. The MassACT initiative is the grassroots’ leverage over the whole health care reform process. The more folks who show up, the more leaders will remember where their bread is buttered. And if you can’t make it, give your Sens and reps a call like Andy: 617-722-2000.

For those of you who have been wondering when Tom Reilly will present some substantive reasons why we should vote for him, he announced his SMART initiative today. It is the first proposal of Reilly’s “Massachusetts Action Plan,” details of which will be rolled out in the coming weeks.

The LA Times reports: “A word processor accused of stealing damaging documents about electronic voting machine manufacturer Diebold Election Systems was arraigned Tuesday on three felony counts.”

The article continues, “The charges arise from Heller’s alleged disclosure two years ago of legal papers from the Los Angeles office of international law firm Jones Day, which represented Diebold at the time. … In the memos, a Jones Day attorney opined that using uncertified voting systems violated California election law and that if Diebold had employed an uncertified system, Alameda County could sue the company for breaching its $12.7-million contract.”

Just days later,  California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley decertified Diebold. Shelley called the company’s conduct “reprehensible” and said “their performance, their behavior, is despicable,” and “if that’s the kind of deceitful behavior they’re going to engage in, they can’t do business in California,” according to Peter Soby at Huffington Post.

Soby continues, “[F]or allegedly exposing Diebold’s felonious behavior (which led directly to Diebold being de-certified in California), for allegedly helping protect the taxpayers and voters of California, for allegedly helping to keep elections clean and fair, what happens? Diebold, the true criminal in this case, and their powerful international law firm Jones Day, press the L.A. District Attorney’s office to hammer Heller, a whistleblower.”

[Crossposted at my blog, Left in Lowell]

Are you hopping mad? You should be. The health of your friends and neighbors (and maybe yourself) just got sold down the river by Senate President Travaglini and his people.

You probably read about the conference committee which was to resolve the House (the good) and Senate (the bad) version of the bill. I wanted to write about the death of decent health care reform earlier, and a lot of people beat me to it. But now I want to call on the blogs, and the people of Massachusetts who give a shit about their uninsured fellow citizens (of which I was one until last November), to tell Travaglini to step down.

of the bluest state in the country,Romney said by way of introduction to the crowd of approximately 240 people gathered at the Columbiana Hotel and Conference Center. “
  full text here

MassForFeingold.com has launched!

MassForFeingold.com is a home for Massachusetts citizens who believe Russ Feingold, Senator from Wisconsin, should be the next president of the United States. Our site, created and run entirely by volunteers, hosts a blog and suggests ways you can get involved in promoting Russ’s candidacy.

So we’ve heard about that sleazy little amendment stuck in by Rep. Don Young (R-AK) in conference committee that would crush Cape Wind. If you want to know what a complete Abramoff stooge Don Young is, head over to Josh Marshall’s crib, and he’ll tell you all about him. Hey Alliance, nice company you keep! By the way, has $440,000 been enough for a little midnight lovin’ from Rep. Young? And for the rest of us, let’s just ask ourselves one question: Why is a Congressman from Alaska deciding what we do with our shore; and more importantly, how we make our energy?

The latest: turns out Kerry Healey was in favor of stem-cell research all along!  She just never mentioned it.  From the AP article: Healey supported the bill passed last year by the House and Senate but later vetoed by Romney. The bill, which subsequently became law after the Legislature overrode the veto, allowed scientists to conduct stem cell research under regulations by the state Health Department…. Romney, in fact, credited Healey with helping him formulate his position, telling the AP in an interview for an April 2005 story that the lieutenant governor had raised concerns stem cell research could exploit women. “I have listened to her on that and have also found that compelling,” the governor said at the time. O’Brien, the Healey spokesman, said: “This was during a time when people were collecting data and learning about this issue. I think a lot of people’s opinions were being formed.” He said Healey noted a newspaper opinion piece raising concerns that women could suffer physically if they repeatedly harvested their eggs for research. O’Brien said that concern, as well as Romney’s concern about somatic transfer, were subsequently allayed in conversations with doctors and scientists. Ah, of course.  So the administration [...]