Blue Mass Group

Scientists Track Radioactive Iodine in New Hampshire from Japan Nuclear Reactor Meltdown http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120402112932.htm Testing in New Hampshire’s Mink Brook watershed during March through May 2011 resulted in calculating radioactive iodine deposition in the soil at a total amount around 6,000 atoms per square meter. Dartmouth research associate Joshua Landis commented that “at these levels, it is unlikely that this is going to cause measurable health consequences.” The amount in stream sediments was double the amount in soil but should be reduced by river and stream dilution. This radiactive waste from Fukushima consists of iodine-131, “highly radioactive, acutely toxic” with a half-life of about 8 days, and iodine-29, less radioactive but with a half-life of 15.7 million years. “Due to its long half-life and continued release from ongoing nuclear energy production, [iodine-129] is perpetually accumulating in the environment and poses a growing radiological risk,” the authors of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences report point out. A nuclear reactor produces 3 parts iodine-131 to one part iodine-129. “Once the iodine-131 decays, you lose your ability to track the migration of either isotope.” hat tip clamshellalliance.org http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/2012/12032905-e.html The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has created a prototype “Super-wide Angle Compton [...]

How obnoxious can U.S. Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) be? In a guest opinion published today in Bay Windows, a Massachusetts LGBT newspaper, Brown tells us that: I don’t come before you with a checklist of items promising that I will be an advocate for you on each and every one of them. My opponent has already started down that road, promising to support everyone’s pet project. That’s not the way I have ever operated. … I believe all people should be treated with dignity and respect. I recognize the liberty of every citizen to live as they choose, and it is from this diversity that we derive our strength as a nation. We are Americans first and must work together to fix our country’s real economic problems. So apparently working to pass ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act) to ensure the basic civil right to not be fired from your job because you are or are perceived to be trans or gay is just someone’s “pet project”. It’s not a “real economic problem”. Getting the federal government to repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and finally recognize same-sex civil marriages just like it recognizes every other civil marriage legally enacted under [...]

You gotta love the Massachusetts Democratic Party’s latest video.  The video released today reflects the close relationship Scott Brown and Mitt Romney have.  Their affection is obvious.  Set to the iconic father/song from the 1970’s classic, “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father”, it highlights the mentoring relationship they have.    They not only share the same values and donors, they also share Eric Fehrnstom, the puppeteer behind their campaigns. Fehrnstrom is the man who was caught tweeting as “CrazyKhazei” and got into hot water over saying campaigns were like an “etch a sketch.”  It is pretty hard to run against your mentor and political ally when you share so much of the same campaign machinery.   This is going to be a tough relationship to back away from in Massachusetts.  Given that President Obama is likely to be reelected by a large margin, a relationship to Mitt is not going to help Brown.  Even Joe Scarborough said today on “Morning Joe” that no Republicans he speaks to thinks Romney can take on Obama nationally – let alone in a deep blue state like Massachusetts.   Warren also announced today that she raised $2.5 million dollars in Massachusetts last quarter – outraising Brown’s [...]

Of course, the title of this post is just a jest – no hard feelings, Herald!  But seriously, folks, the fundraising numbers are starting to trickle in from the first quarter of 2012, and so far, they look awfully good for Elizabeth Warren.  Some highlights: Over 30,000 donors from Massachusetts Over $2.5 million raised from Massachusetts Donations from 350 of the 351 municipalities in Massachusetts (Monroe, population 121, located just east of North Adams on the Vermont border, is the lone holdout) 90% of donations were less than $200; nearly half (48%) were less than $25 I’d also like to chime in on a couple of bits of conventional wisdom that have been making the rounds lately.  In brief, they are wrong, at least in part. Conventional wisdom: The Warren campaign is a disaster and doesn’t know what it’s doing We’ve heard several variations on this theme recently, most strongly from the Springfield Republican (ironic, no?), but also from Joan Vennochi at the Globe.  But the easy and, at this stage of the game, sufficient rebuttal is the poll numbers: some weeks Brown is up a couple points and some weeks Warren is up, but basically, it’s a tie.  That is [...]

Following his vote last month to pass the Blunt amendment, which would have made women’s health insurance coverage subject to their insurers’ ideas of morality (a losing effort in the end), Scott Brown has been trying to make it up to our gender. He’s endorsing the policy that allows us to serve in combat roles in the military. He’s supporting the renewal of the Violence Against Women Act (also a losing effort so far). He’s praising our aptitude for the domestic arts — we cook, we clean, we sew! There’s one subject he could raise that might help bridge this gender gap, but so far he seems unwilling to discuss it. When he was a state legislator, he was a strong supporter of legislation to establish buffer zones at women’s health clinics. Like the Blunt amendment, the buffer zone issue also involved the First Amendment rights of abortion and contraception opponents, pitting those rights against the rights of women to have access to health clinics without interference or intimidation. Brown not only voted to establish the buffer zones at clinics in the state. He felt so strongly about the issue that he joined 81 other Representatives, making a majority of [...]

Romney – 630 delegates Santorum – 246 delegates Gingrich – 128 delegates Paul – 45 delegates Just sayin’