MassOpenBooks.com is an indispensable online tool that uses public information to drive transparency and accountability in state government. Click the box below for our latest version, which provides access to important data and … [Read more...]
Introducing young people to power, civic engagement and voting through Pre-registration
Cross-posted at ONE Massachusetts By: Rachael V. Cobb, Associate Professor and Chair Government Department, Suffolk University During a recent hearing before the Joint Committee on Election Laws, Rachael V. Cobb, Associate Professor … [Read more...]
On “La Dolce Vita”, Or, The Real Life Of A State Worker
Good morrow to the day so fair; Good morning, Sir, to you: Good morrow to mine own torn hair Bedabbled with the dew --From "The Mad Maid's Song", a selection from "The Hesperides & Noble Numbers", by Robert Herrick So as … [Read more...]
“Actors take your positions, please!”
This month is one of those times when our duly elected must show their true colors. Progressive Patrick Leahy of Vermont has introduced legislation to continue the Patriot Act. Yes, the same guy that's yammering about freedom in Egypt … [Read more...]
Has the GOP become the party of Cain?
Today's GOP would have us believe that someone somewhere will volunteer to feed the hungry, care for the sick, and ensure jobs for our children and their future. This is magical thinking, and in fact the reason for the decline of … [Read more...]
On Rugged Individualism, Or, Meet The Ghost Of Government Past
There is an unalterable rightness about the best Florentine paintings of the period. It is wholly lacking from the late works of Tintoretto. In the schoolmasterly phase, even his greatest pictures could be improved. Only it would need … [Read more...]
Mimsy were the bureaucrats.*
The parent agency of TSA, Department of Homeland Security, is now partner with WalMart. Fear mongering has reached a new high (low?) in this country as "suspicious" people are to be fingered by WalMart customers. Shoppers … [Read more...]
The Collateral Damage of the Circus of the Right
Can anyone breathe right now? It's a concern because the Tea Partiers and anti-Muslim bigots are using up all the air. The media can only collectively pay attention to so much apparently and the cost of these people's fighting … [Read more...]
Seeing through the water
< 10px" class="Apple-style-span">And we often don't notice our public systems and structures until they malfunction. A busted traffic signal gets more attention than a functioning one, in the same way we notice potholes more than … [Read more...]
We have our work cut out for us
I once heard Barney Frank quip something like this, "In all my years of public service, I've never gotten one complaint along the lines of 'Please don't plow my roads every day!' or 'The ambulance got here too fast!'" People seem to get … [Read more...]