Paul McDevitt was among the rarest of the rare. A half century ago he was a raging drunk who could alternately charm and scare people. Thirty-eight years ago he got sober and his charming, funny sweet self permanently emerged until he died … [Read more...]

My first union card was with the Retail Clerks, now UFCW. I was inclined to being a union guy, a young smart-ass who never liked authority. My father came to organized labor later in life and became a bit of a hell-raiser who took over his … [Read more...]

I am a cynic who stands in awe today for my President. I am old but I still know how to cry about both horror and love. I listened to Obama's speech in El Teatro in Havana, a place I often visit, and I remembered why I voted for him. Sure, … [Read more...]

I missed the last GOP debate and the dynamics have changed over the past two weeks but I have been struck by a few things tonight: the ferocity of the anti-Obama SCOTUS opening minutes; Trump in full melt down; the strength of … [Read more...]

This is totally off topic for BMG, but since I just mentioned NPR on a different post, I feel obliged to note that NPR star Ari Shapiro, who is also a great singer, is live-hosting at 10pm tonight the mind-blowing annual New Year's … [Read more...]

After a decade long building boom, UMass is deeply in debt, to the tune of $3 billion on its capital side. The building projects pass muster with all examinations I know, no hackerama stuff like we discovered with the MBM scandal that gave … [Read more...]

Rep. Jim McGovern is the most recent member of Congress and the first in the Massachusetts delegation to announce that he will not attend the circus that Speaker Boehner and Israeli PM Netnayahu have concocted to bring Netanyahu in front of … [Read more...]

There has been a lot of talk here on BMG about where to get details on state transportation finances. Transportation for Massachusetts (www.t4ma.org) is a fairly new affiliate in the T4America family. They issued today a new report on the T … [Read more...]

I am a Democrat, not because I love the party but because it is the one that better represents my interests. In election season I usually work for/root for the Democrats. When I think of governance, I want to kick the stuffing out of a … [Read more...]