Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Comments

    • Being a German speaker, I generally RdOTFL whenever his name came up.

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      In German, it means “hail.”  But, as far as I could tell, he really didn’t “hail” very much.

    • Any Republican who takes the seat will, pretty much automatically, be worse than Hagel. I’ll admit to some misgivings about his elections (come on now, a guy who used to run ES&S, the company who makes Nebraska’s voting machines, wins office in an election that took everybody by surprise? Tell me that’s not in the least bit fishy), but he’s actually been a very reasonable Republican.

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      The Democrats better take the seat, because a Republican replacement couldn’t possibly be an improvement.

  2. First the congressional push to get the people recognized as an “Indian” tribe.  Some pressure on Bureau of Indian Affairs, and that gets done.  Then the “Indian”  tribe pushes for a casino in Middleborough. 

    Now, I don't care if people gamble or not.  I don't care if they open a casino, opium den, bordello or craft store.  What I'm not happy with is the prospect of having the thing funded in any part by my taxes.  I've seen enough corporate welfare.  Has anyone done a cost/benefit analysis of this?  I mean a legit one.  It's been some time since a “million” was a lot of money and that term gets thrown around a lot.  I'd like to see a real audit of the proposal. 

    Since the whole shebang has to be approved by the Commonwealth, what purpose does the “Indian” tribe serve, except as middlemen?  Why can't they be bypassed and negotiations made directly with the casino principals?  Isn't there an old adage about saving money by eliminating the middleman? 

    Not to leave the “Indians” with nothing, now that they are a Federally recognized tribe, and that the BIA leaves membership up to the “tribe”, I, and a lot of other people would be glad to pay good money to be part of the tribe.  My family ties to the Abenaki tribe are worthless as the Abenakis are not Federally recognized.  With membership in the Wampanoag, my kids qualify for EEO consideration.  “Harvard, here come my kids!”  Surely, many people would love the advantage of “Indian” tribe membership, and it has more to do with politics than DNA.  So this would be entirely legit and have the possibility of making the “tribe” lots of easy cash.

    Everybody wins. 

    • With Tom Brady setting a personal record for total yardage to one receiver (183 yds to Moss), barring injury, the battle for the AFC East is already over.  Great game!

  4. The Red Sox won today, and the magic number is down to 14.

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    If the Red Sox only go 9-9, the Yankees would need to go 15-4 to catch them. 

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    If the Red Sox maintain their current pace (0.604), they will win 98 games.  To win 98 games, the Yankees would need to go 17-2.

    • see this hilarious article in The Onion, entitled “F&#*ing Yankees, Reports Nation.”  Warning — definitely not work-safe!

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      Oh all right, I’ll give you one quote.  Get the kids out of the room, for God’s sake.

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      “You got f**king Abreu all of a sudden going 3 for 4 every night,” Boston citizen Mark Baker said of the Yankees’ recent surge. “F**king Giambi’s back. A-Rod’s hitting 500 f**king home runs a night. Posada, that bastard. You got Matsui, who’s a Red Sox killer. Then there’s Shelley Duncan, who no one even heard of till three weeks ago. Guy never hit a home run in his life, he puts on pinstripes and suddenly he’s Babe f**king Ruth.”

      • …their videos are fantastic.

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        Since David brought up The Onion, and this is an open thread, and this video is set on the floor of the US House, I’ll post it. There are a few f-bombs.

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        WARNING: If you did not laugh during the first 20 minutes of Full Metal Jacket, or your name is Peter Porcupine, you’ll likely find this clip distasteful. If you’re like me and like the occasional off-color piece of humor, then click here.

          • …but it doesn’t make it so.  I could call myself Ted Williams, but that doesn’t mean I can hit a curveball.  If he’s a Democrat, then I am Ted Williams.  Besides, once someone has confessed to being a Yankee fan, no amount of political posturing can redeem him.

              • Saying anything positive about the Yankees without qualifying it by saying how much you hate them pretty much makes you a Yankee fan to many in Red Sox Nation. Surely you knew that already?

                • Based on the initial comment, either Ernie is a Yankee fan or a troll.  I sort of gave him the benefit of the doubt.  I am the sort of person who thinks a Republican Yankee fan is more honorable than being a DINO troll.

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                  Too bad you can’t attach a poll to a comment, we could certainly test prevailing opinion on the four options.

                • Once again we are not allowed to look objectively at our opposition. Whether political or sports related.

                   

                  My god you people are so cult like it transcends every part of your life. “Everything we are for is completely good. Everything we are against is completely bad” Including food, sports, politics, friends, music, literature, art?

                   

                  The Facists show themselves again here on BMG

                • EB3 is a representative of an honorable tradition in the Democratic Party – the Conservative Democrat.

                   NOT all Democrats are Progressives, althoguh most Progressives are Democrats (some are Greens).

                  This doesn't make him a DINO – he IS a Democrat.  Just not a Progressive.

                   

                • Mostly I try and point out frauds, not policy. Like Deval, a fraud in my view.

                   These moonbats read what they want to believe.

                  show me my conservative views.

                   

                • Sorry Peter, I forgot.

                   

                  Thanks for reminding about the end of the curve nuts in my party. Just like you have in yours. Keep on keepin on. đŸ™‚

                • EB3 – on 10/15, I'll be giving a speech in an obscure venue.

                  It's a 'Jane, you ignorant slut' type of debate as to what is a Liberal and what is a Conservative.

                  Part of my opening remarks will be – thee are two major political parties, Democrats and Republicans, and two minor ones, Libertarians and Greens.   While there is overlap on issues, they form a political bell curve from left to right.

                  Likewise among polical philosophies, there are Progressives and Liberals, and Conservatives and Reactionaries forming a similar bell curve.  While a case can be made for a Green/Progressive, Democrat/Liberal, Republican/Conservative, Libertarian/Reactionary overlap, it is not accurate and many are on the cusp of their varied Parties and Philosophies.

                  But the biggest thing to keep in mind is – while 80% of the body politic occupies the top and sides f the curve, 80% of the noice and rhetoric comes from the 10% at either end.

                   

                  I may have to make pictures….Where's Mitt and his damn PowerPoints when you need him?  >:~)

                   

  6. Yankees win the wild card. Yankees beat Angels in the first round and face the Red Sox for the AL Championship. It doesn't get any better then this

  7. From The LA Times:

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    “Researchers show that liberals and conservatives approach everyday decisions differently….Based on the results…liberals could be expected to more readily accept new social, scientific or religious ideas.”

      • “There is ample data from the history of science showing that social and political liberals indeed do tend to support major revolutions in science”.

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        I’ll take that over “stay the course thinking” any day. Although, I don’t put much stock into one study.

        • Like the global cooling revolution, the global warming revolution…who knows what's next?  Drop the gimmick and just be a steward of the Earth, I say.

            • One of the things that I have noticed among modern-day conservatives (this wasn’t so much the case in the past) is that they tend to reject evidence that contradicts their–shall I say it?–Weltanschauung, their world view.  They tend to reject the evidence out of hand that contradicts their world view, even if that evidence has been massively corroborated.

        • There is ample data from the history of science showing that social and political liberals indeed do tend to support major revolutions in science”

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          but I’d put it another way. 

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          I don’t know about liberals, but scientists pay attention to evidence.  Sometimes it takes a while–Darwin, for example.  Sometimes it doesn’t take particularly long–relativity via Poincare, Lorenz and Einstein; quantum theory via Planck, Heisenberg, Schroedinger et al.

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          It is evidence that makes the case in science, not whether or not one is a liberal.

      • Doesn't the study suggest, after all, that precisely someone on your side of the political spectrum would not call that a good thing?

    • On Saturday, Bridgewater voters narrowly rejected an override that would have kept town government somewhat working.  Though the selectmen haven't yet written this year's budget, some forecasts have come out.  Among them, that the library will be open for two days per week and there will be one ambulance in operation for a town of 20,000 people and 27 square miles.
  9. Down the road in Middleboro, a friend tells me that there was no budget for copy paper this year in the schools.
  10. I will admit to becoming increasily disenchanted with Bill Richardson.  In terms of biography and platform, he's miles and miles better than any other candidate running.  However, he seems to be average one stupid statement per day, which is above my limit. Kucinich, Gravel, Clinton, and Obama all have fatal flaws in my eyes.  Dodd, Biden, and Edwards are getting a second look from me. 
  11. The Patriots look good.  All those NFL punks who said that Moss doesn't have anything left in the tank look like morons, at least till next Sunday.
  12. I can't imagine the Sox winning the division.  It's just not them.
  13. Deval's gotta man up about the casino thing, and soon.  Otherwise, just come out and say that he can't handle the job.  If he can't shit or get off the pot about an issue this predictable he's gonna spend the winter's first surprise Nor'Easter mumbling to himself as he stares out the office window.

    • Deval’s gotta man up about the casino thing…

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      …actually he doesn’t.  He could just say “it’s up to the town to decide” and leave it at that.  As far as I can tell, his inaction is certainly implying just that.

      • He does.  For the Wampanoag to open a casino here, the governor must enter into a compact with them.  Sitting there and letting the towns settle it isn't an option.  He's either for or against.

        • …but from what little I have read, the states have little authority over casinos run by Amerinds.  Or is that only true over casinos run by Amerinds on reservation lands?

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          I’ll presume in the interim that the Wampanoags have no reservation lands.

          • For those who were in the bathroom for the last coupla months.  To open a casino, a Native American tribe must:

             

            1. Be federally recognized as such.  The Wampanoag recently won that.
          • Receive land in trust from the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs.  This is essentially the granting of “sovereignty” over those lands which gives Native Americans the rights to open casnios.  Tribes only get one shot at this. 
          • Enter into a compact with the governor of the state.

            • Finally, in the Bay State, Class III gambling — blackjack, poker, other games that attract thehigh rollers — would have to be legalized by the state Legislature.

             

            You'll notice the town has no formal role in this.  They can make things a problem, but that's about it. 

  14. Convicted murderer Charles Chaples, out on parole and wanted for allegedly beating his girlfriend, was captured while walking down route 105 in Marion.  On the lame for a few days he was tired and hungry.  It seems he had no more of a plan to solve his problems than does President Bush.

      • To the tune of “Knock Three Times”*

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        Hey boy what ya doin’ over there
        Dancin’ alone every flight while I’m high right beside you
        I can hear your toes a tappin’
        I can feel your morals lapsin’
        One stall away from me you don’t even know me
        I love you

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        Oh, my darling,
        Knock 3 times on the ceiling if you’ll blow me.
        Twice on the pipe, if I can be be your ho.
        Oh my sweetness,
        (knock! knock! knock!) means you’ll meet me in the stallway
        Twice on the pipe (clink, clink) means you’re wife won’t ever know.

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        If you look through the stall crack tonight
        Pull on the string with the note that’s attached to my “heart”
        Read how many times I saw you
        How in my silence I adored you
        Only in cops’ dreams did that wall between us not come apart

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        Oh, my sweetness,
        Knock 3 times on the ceiling if you’ll blow me.
        Twice on the pipe, if I can be be your ho.
        Oh my sweetness,
        (knock! knock! knock!) means you’ll meet me in the stallway
        Twice on the pipe (clink, clink) means you’re wife won’t ever know.

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        *

  16. While listening to the live “testimony” in Congress yesterday I was able to flip through the Globe to find the day's best non-hard (no pun intended) news item. It seems they arrested a man, a carpenter, for doing his carpentry in the nude. It further seems that he worked this way “because it is more comfortable and it helps him keep his clothes clean.” What could be better than that? He was, of course, acquitted.

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