Blue Mass Group

Mitt, the candidate that keeps on giving.  Here’s Mitt with his wife by his side trying to portray his softer side during an interview with who appears to be Lisa Hughes. Mitt’s quote on abortion: So when asked will I preserve and protect a woman’s right to choose?  I make an unequivocal answer, Yes. Now for that last few seconds of the video, um, no thanks.

A great idea over at boston.com: a new blog called “Override central,” which will keep tabs on the various Prop. 2-1/2 override votes taking place around the state. Kudos to the gang at boston.com for setting this up.  It’s much needed.

From yesterday’s letters to the Globe: Sounds like some people saw through Andrea Estes’ non-story on Deval Patrick’s choice to run the Department of Industrial Accidents. Here’s Steven Salerno of Cambridge: Apparently, we are to understand that some kind of “Heckuva job, Brownie” hackery is at work, with Paul Buckley, husband of Patrick supporter Marian Walsh, weaseling his way into a cushy sinecure, commissioner of the Department of Industrial Accidents, simply to boost his state pension. … When we get to substance, Estes glides over the devious loophole Buckley plans to exploit to secure his pension boost: He has to work for it, for three full years. That lousy cheating no-good hack! They’re all the same! Neither did Richard Hale of Newton get the memo that this was more of “hacks run wild”: While it’s true that Judge Buckley’s pension will increase if he works three more years, that is the way the pension system works in Massachusetts. He is being given a job, not a “pension boost.” Look, if you left out all the insinuation of skimming, sloth and sleaze, what kind of story would you have? Oops. But hey, maybe we just need to give journalists permission to [...]

http://www.youtube.c… You have to see it to believe it!

PATRICK CONTINUES ROMNEY’S FREEZE ON  DSS CASE WORKER PAY

Gov. Deval Patrick has quietly extended a Romney administration freeze on money appropriated last year to reduce high caseloads at the overburdened Department of Social Services.

For the rest of the story:  http://ledger.southo… 

This was kept SO quiet that even Ed Malloy, the head of the Social Workers Union’s DSS Chapter did not know about it. 

This is what Ed Malloy is quoted as saying:

Ed Malloy, head of the Department of Social Services unit of Service Employees International Union Local 509, said he was shocked to find out that Patrick maintained the freeze.

Seventy percent of social workers now exceed the 15-case standard, Malloy said.

“To not spend money that’s already been allocated by the Legislature could be seen to be unconscionable,” he said. “I thought kids were our priority.”

What money am I talking about:

The Legislature appropriated money to hire an additional 160 social workers this fiscal year, which ends June 30. Romney ordered a freeze on the money and also restricted the total number of employees, Spence said.

Patrick kept the limit in place.

While I don’t live in the 5th District, I am (like many here) taking an interest in the developing discourse regarding the candidates and their nascent campaigns. There are two threads of debate which have become prevalent so far. The first thread is the “we need to elect a progressive”, the second being “we need to elect a woman”. BMG, being the left-leaning blog that it is, has no shortage of proponents of either (or even both) threads. However, it seems that some are inproperly applying the transitive property to say that because a candidate is a woman that that candidate must be a progressive. Not so.

The third in a three-part series on Hunger in Massachusetts and part of the continuing guerrilla vlogger series.

Last summer, the food pantry near where I live sent out an urgent request:

Please help, we are having the busiest summer in five years. We need help feeding all the kids that are out of school and not receiving their school lunch.

The cold winter months and school vacation are the toughest times for providers to cope with their demands.

For this part of the story I sit down with a couple of providers for a one on one discussion and get out to a food pantry to see what they do exactly. Tony Luna of Central Food Ministry in Lowell, MA allowed to tape at his facility and Janet Barsorian of the Lowell Transtitonal Living Shelter, the largest homeless shelter in Lowell, gave me a few minutes of her precious time at the MVFB to discuss the challenges she faces as a provider.

cross-posted at dailykos

Jack Hart graciously set me up under the dais so I can plug my laptop in and let BMG readers know what’s goin’ on.

AlthoughI have a unique view here I promise I won’t make any crude jokes about the view up Sen. Murray’s skirt.

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Sen. Tom McGee has a good seat on the stage. His old man would be proud

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They just sang ‘southie is my home town’. Did you know it was wriiten by a guy who had never been to southie? He served in the Army with a southie guy and wrote the song after listening to the guy’s bullshit. I have always believed the song was written in jest

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Ayla Brown’s looking good as she sings the anthem.At least from my view. Now shut up. I’m listening to the song.

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Time for whacko hurley. He usually doen’t want to leave.

Oops, first we have pledge of Allegiance.  This is fuckin’ painful – like church.

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Now the priest. IMO they should do all this holy and patriotic crap before the breakfast actually begins. Like the Academy Awards show where they give out best supporting gaffer awards and such at earlier luncheon.

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Hey, this priest ain’t half bad.

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It’s Trav time.

A deval joke to start. Janet Jackson joke fell very flat

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Ya killin me trav.

take me to Hospital.

Will ya trav?

Nooo, not a poem. Please not a poem

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Trav gets a generous 6 out of 10

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It’s Deval Time

he just asked a guy if he was drunk.

very good.

now he’s gone. that’s it?

what is this? what a jip!

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I’ll give Deval an 8. I liked the off hand drunk question.

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sal’s turn.

Is it me, or does sal make viiny babarino look like mitt romney? Sal comes off exactly how trav does not want to.

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sal’s spinning tunes now. including frank sinatra. wtf?

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Deval’s got a hit with the score card

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Now sals’ going after tim murray.

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time for the irish tenor. I’m gonna use this opportunity to go take a wizz.

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The men’s room line was too long so i went out behind the building. Cong. Lynch, Tim Murray and Deval’s advance guy were smoking a doobie. Lynchie brought it.  I took a couple of hits, so forgive me if my writing isn’t as crisp as it should be.

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Here’s Joe Biden.

Larry Rasky made sure he got there front and center.

What’s up with biden’s hair?

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Here’s cong. Lynch. I’ve never seen someone try to shine a sneaker like lynch tries to do with his persona.  What kills me about lynch is he really does think he is smarter then every other guy in southie and dorchester, and quincy, and the iron workers union.

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From my view I see Lynchy’s wearing white socks

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next up martha coakly.

I like her.

No martha, no. Not a poem.

Nice wearing of the green martha.

This poem is longer than the Illiad.

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Brian wallace is what is good about neighborhoods like southie.

He loves his job and is not full of himself.

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Here comes da mayor

he’s wearing slippers

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Tim Murray is giving it his best.

ernie’s suggestion. make it not last as long.

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Now Michael Flaherty. The boy who would be king, I mean mayor.

Kissing up to trav. He needs east boston to win.

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Is it me, or does tim cahill look like he had a skin peel?

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Time for the Jon Benet irish step dancers

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Andrea Cabral is showing us that her opinion of herself dwarfs her chassie

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Sorry i nodded off. Lynchy’s stuff was pretty good. Hey, it’s over. son of a gun. I slept thru the finale.

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se ya next year