Blue Mass Group

Moving across country and buying a new home are stressful events. Those stresses were partially eased for my wife and me because we were moving back to Massachusetts, a state that recognizes our same-sex marriage and protects residents against discrimination based on sexual orientation. Imagine how our stress levels soared when we were discriminated against as a married same-sex couple by Wells Fargo Home Mortgage (WFHM), our mortgage provider in Massachusetts. From the start, WFHM insisted on treating my wife and me as separate borrowers rather than co-borrowers. This is not something they normally do with married couples. When asked for an explanation, our mortgage consultant wasn’t shy about the reason for the discrimination: we are a married same-sex couple.

I can’t believe this happens in America to this day. Troy Davis is set to be executed on September 21st in spite of new evidence that he did not kill police officer Mark MacPhail in 1989. He was convicted on witness testimony only; there was no physical evidence. Seven out of the nine witnesses have recanted or contradicted their testimony and still, this man is going to be put to death instead of being given a new trial. What kind of country are we? http://www.naacp.org/blog/entry/a-special-message-from-kimberly-davis http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/cases/usa-troy-davis http://www.naacp.org/pages/troy-davis-a-case-for-clemency

A few weeks ago, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz suggested that we close the spigot of contributions to political candidates until our employees in the legislative and executive branches of government (“leaders” hardly seems apt at this point) get their collective act together. A few thousand years ago, Aristophanes, an early observer of democracy and community organizing, wrote a play in which Greek women organize to stop having sex with the men until the men stop fighting yet another war.  I’m sure the analogy is flawed in more ways than I’ve already imagined, but maybe it’s good enough for government work – pun intended. We merrily point our mouses and click our money away, happy to be part of the internet fund raising “miracle” pioneered by the 2006 Patrick campaign, and kicked into high gear by Obama in 2008.  I’d like to propose an experiment: we, the “grassroots”, “netroots”, or whatever roots you like to think you’re part of, shut down the ATM we have created for political candidates. Admittedly it’s a scary experiment, not because it could cost a candidate the election, but because we might not like what we have discovered if it doesn’t matter.  It’s always upsetting to [...]

Borowitz: A Letter from Rick Perry: Introducing PerryCare™ Dear American, For the last few weeks I’ve been under constant attack.  My opponents would have you believe that if I’m elected, you’ll be stripped of your Social Security benefits and will be scrounging for food in dumpsters with all the desperation of a feral cat. Of course, that’s true.  But what they don’t tell you is what I’d replace Social Security with: an amazing new program I like to call PerryCare™. Under PerryCare™, you’ll receive all the food, clothing and shelter you need, and it won’t cost a dime in taxes.  How is that possible?  Simple: you’ll be praying for all those things. In Compromise, Republicans Allow Obama to Create One Part-Time Job: Step in Right Direction, President Says WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) – In what the White House hailed as “an example of what can be accomplished when we put aside partisan differences,” congressional Republicans today responded to President Obama’s $447 billion American Jobs Act by allowing the President to create one part-time job. While details of what the job would entail remain to be determined, it was expected to be in the lawn work or handing-out-flyers industry. At the White House, the President acknowledged [...]