Too much stuff in the news today to write up separate posts. So here goes.
- For a fascinating perspective on the ongoing (and highly relevant to Boston) debate over charter schools, don’t miss NPR’s interview with Diane Ravitch. Ravitch served in George H.W. Bush’s administration and has long been a vocal proponent of charter schools and the whole “education reform” movement. She has now done a 180, recently publishing a book called “Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools.” Very interesting stuff. Here’s the interview:
- The dust-up over whether the Boston mayoral candidates should enter into a “People’s Pledge” to limit third-party independent expenditures is unfortunate, unseemly, and unnecessary. I frankly don’t understand Marty Walsh’s reluctance. Presumably, he’s worried that a pledge will make it harder for some of his strongest supporters – unions – to help him. But I can’t see why that would be so. First, even with a “People’s Pledge” agreement in place, unions can still make very large donations directly to campaigns (a union can donate $15,500 directly to a campaign; pretty much everyone else is limited to $500). And since the total amount of direct contributions plus independent expenditures that a union can make in a year can’t exceed $15,000 without subjecting the union to PAC limits and reporting requirements, I can’t see why limiting independent expenditures would hamper Walsh’s local union supporters – they can just give the money directly to Walsh. Beyond the direct contributions, of course, there are lots of outside groups that would prefer to see either Walsh or Connolly win – but it’s not obvious to me which of those groups is better funded. Certainly, there are well-funded groups out there who’d like to see Connolly win, and who seem likely to jump in with big ad buys against Walsh. (It’s possible that I’m wrong about the rules governing political spending by unions – if I am, I hope someone will correct me.)The People’s Pledge worked astonishingly well in the Elizabeth Warren-Scott Brown race. There was very little cheating, and the people of Massachusetts got to hear directly from the candidates while not being bombarded with sleazy third-party attack ads. I can’t think of a good reason why the people of Boston deserve anything less. So I hope Walsh reconsiders, though his rhetoric so far on this issue makes that seem unlikely.
- Isn’t it an amazing coincidence that every politician with me on their mailing list is, at this very moment, just a few bucks short of their absolutely critical third-quarter fundraising goal?
- There’s something faintly hilarious about Scot Lehigh bemoaning the lack of “grown-ups” in the Republican party. Lehigh, to refresh your recollection, has long been one of those bipartisanship fetishists who thinks pretty much any policy that is backed by only one party is by definition bad, and that seeking support from the other side of the aisle is by definition good, even if it makes the policy worse. Yet, the entirely predictable result of trying to compromise with extremists is that emboldens them. And that is precisely what has brought us to the unfortunate situation we now find ourselves in, where lunatics like Ted Cruz are prepared to shut down the government and crash the economy – indeed, I’d venture to say that that’s precisely what they want – as a protest over Obamacare (and if it weren’t Obamacare, it would be something else). The depths of irresponsibility to which the GOP has fallen are, indeed, something to bewail. But the people like Lehigh who have enabled and emboldened the GOP by demanding compromise with them for the sake of nothing more than “bipartisanship” are, in part, at fault.
- I already liked Celtics forward Brandon Bass a lot. Now I like him even more.
- There are a lot of black bears in Massachusetts, and sometimes they wander into populated areas. The unfortunate bear who did so in Athol the other day lost its life, not because it was injured or was any sort of threat to humans, but because of what strikes me as an immensely stupid state policy.
The animal, which the officer said weighed about 250 pounds, was breathing comfortably as it was loaded into a truck [after it was successfully tranquilized]. But because it is active hunting season in New Hampshire and Vermont, the bear had to be euthanized.
The Massachusetts Environmental Police and the Division of Fish and Wildlife have a joint memorandum that calls for any animal that has been chemically immobilized within 45 days of hunting season to be put down, according to a statement from Environmental Police.
Immobilization drugs in an animal’s system are potentially lethal to humans if the animal is shot and consumed. Black bear hunting season is open again in Massachusetts on Nov. 4, the statement said.
I’m sorry, but that seems idiotic. First, who eats bears? [UPDATE: the BMG hive mind has corrected my ignorance on this point: people do, sometimes, eat bears.] Second, if you are really that worried that someone might become sick by eating a previously-tranquilized bear, just put a big bright red tag on the bear after you tranquilize it that says “don’t eat me.” Scientists tag animals in the wild all the time for a variety of purposes; no reason the same thing couldn’t be done in a case like this, it seems to me. Wouldn’t that be better than euthanizing a healthy, non-threatening bear? The state “Environmental Police” already screwed up badly in a bear incident earlier this year, and they were roundly criticized for it. They need to get much, much better at this.
What’d I miss?
Savenor’s has been known to sell bear steaks.
The larger point still stands, though.
for years much the same thing about Scot Lehigh…he also has a bad habit of projecting his bipartisan hallucinations on almost any passing Republican. Witness his pathetic columns in the summer of 2005 insisting that Mitt Romney was On the Job & Engaged in the Job…this when the former Governor had both feet and one cheek out the door and on the way to the NH Primary. Scot is already in full delusion mode about Charlie Baker…not that should surprise anyone. Elias N.
I would hope that anyone actually hunting bear plans to eat it. Otherwise, they’re kind of a jerk.
For the record, bear is good. Chewy as all get out, but good.
At least the one time I tried it from Savenor’s. I’m not a hunter myself.
You missed the obvious loophole that if you make red “Don’t eat me” tags available, non-tranquilized bears are all going to make sure they get one, and wear it. They’ll counterfeit them, if they have to. Then where will we be? With edible bears apparently not available, hunters will stop buying hunting licenses, and state revenues will take a nosedive. Is that really what you want?
Now, I posted about Connolly and the 500,000 donation, so unlike Erine’s toilets, I’m not in the middle of a wet dream on any candidate. Connolly rejected 500,000, which is HUGE in this kind of race. HUGE.
Walsh thinks everyone is an idiot.
You city boys gotta get back to nature out here in the West.
The number of hunters may be dropping with the amount of huntable land, but there are plenty of people out here who hunt and eat what they kill. I know guys that get a deer every year. My neighbor has a “shop” where he butchers deer and turns it into venison steaks and even venison kielbasa. I was hiking one day last fall and came across a guy who had killed and field-dressed a 10 point buck that was field-dressed and still weighed close to 200 pounds. I know a few people who raise their own steers and slaughter them for meat.
I don’t hunt anymore, but the best poultry I ever tasted was a pheasant shot, cleaned and stuffed with fallen apples, roasted and eaten over an impromptu fire.
When the Harvest was more innovative than it is today, I ordered bear from the menu. It seems that a friend of the chef had killed a bear while hunting, and the chef thought it would make an innovative special.
I found it delicious, accompanied by a full-bodied dry red.
used to serve all kinds of wild game, including, if I remember correctly, rattlesnake.
Number of comments on this post so far (not counting this one): 8
Number of those comments that are about bears: 6
LOL
Not that it has any bearing on what anyone else will do, but I just can’t bear to read any more comments on this thread.
(groan)
Education is a public good, like clean, safe drinking water.
Everyone who turns on the tap should get safe water, and they should not have to shop around to do it.
Every child should have a good school in their neighborhood. It’s been a terrible waste of time for parents to go shopping for elementary and high schools.
Gabriel Gomez changes view on assault weapons ban, shows interest in joining Charlie Baker ticket
Charlie must be so relieved.
Deranged gunman wipes out a class full of school children. Whelp that’s just the price of freedom.
Deranged gunman wipes out 12 or so people at a Naval base. Ban these things now!
The best part of being a Massachusetts Republican has to be that once you run for one statewide office, you can assume the press will always be interested in your future campaigns, no matter how badly you lost the first time.
Tell me again why Hillary should be President.
CNN’s Hillary Clinton film scrapped as director blames lack of co-operation