In mid-May my beloved wife began a dizzying series of medical tests that last Friday determined she was suffering from cancer. Because of this, I no longer desire to blog. 
From today's Globe:
First bowling gutter-balls with honkies in Indiana.
The Globe reports that UMass and Beacon Hill are tripping over each other in a rush to revoke the honorary degree given to Robert Mugabe in 1986. UMass President Jack Wilson yesterday recommended that the degree be rescinded. Said State Rep Kevin J. Murphy:
"I'm'" [...]
A Globe front page story today headlined “The politics of commencement” notes that Catholic universities in the US are awarding far fewer honorary degrees to politicians. In classic Globe fashion, the story far underplays the important role of the US Catholic bishops, who have urged [...]
Just got back in town yesterday at 5:30PM and a few minutes later I walked through the new Terminal A at Boston’s Logan airport. I had to record these 2 pictures for posterity. They show just one tiny bit of the cost we pay each day [...] 
Blogger Bill Schaeffer notes that this Boston Globe sob story about SUVs and high fuel prices features a very atypical driver as its poster child. Says Bill:Susan Milligan reports in today’s Globe:
Deep racial divisions emerged in yesterday's critical Democratic primaries, with African-American voters overwhelmingly supporting Senator Barack Obama and whites casting their votes solidly with Senator Hillary Clinton in both North Carolina and Indiana, according to exit polls.
Apparently Sunday morning isn’t the only' [...]
I'm away this week visiting a Red State so posting will be irregular.The impotent state of the Massachusetts GOP gets plenty of ink on the front page of today’s Boston Globe. But the story by Matt Viser seems contented with 1-party rule. Only in the 17th paragraph of the story does Viser write:
This news today from the Globe’s Campaign Notebook:Hillary Clinton's campaign apparently believes that poet Maya Angelou can help her make inroads among African-Americans and the liberal intelligentsia - two groups in which rival Barack Obama dominates. Clinton's camp released an open letter from Angelou [...]
Only today, now that suitable reactive statements have been issued by the Obama campaign, the Boston Globe actually reports yesterday’s news to readers; the propositions at the core of the controversy surrounding Rev. Jeremiah Wright: Answering questions submitted by reporters on Monday, Wright praised Nation [...]
Jeremiah Wright’s speeches in Detroit Sunday night and at the National Press Club Monday morning are unquestionably the most explosive story so far in the 2008 presidential campaign. You would never guess that from reading today’s Boston Globe.
On the Globe’s front page Wright get’s only [...]
Globe columnist Yvonne Abraham writes of her experience being sworn in as a citizen of the United States at Boston's Faneuil Hall. When it comes time to take our oath of citizenship, the sea of raised right hands - high and low, smooth and lined,' [...]
Ever wonder how Globe reporters get in touch with the dodgy folks who often end up as sad sack poster children for Globe stories? For example last month, the Globe ran a “tough economy” story that featured a family who had moved to Maine and were [...]
Poynter has posted a memo from Globe Managing Editor Marty baron indicating that 23 Globe newsroom staffers have accepted the most recent buyout offer.
My own former employer was a firm that repeatedly offered employee buyouts, and each offer was less generous than the previous ones, as people needed [...]
“Leave me alone. Do you know who the f--k I am? I’ll have a news crew down here in minutes and you will lose your f---ing jobs, f-------s. I’m a bigshot in Boston and I’ll have your f---ing jobs. You think your[sic] a f---ing tough guy, you just watch and [...]
In Commentary John Podhoretz reflects on the recently opened $475M “Newseum” in Washington DC, calling it “The News Mausoleum”. Podhoretz connects both the failing business model, and the arrogance of mainstream media to their former status as regional monopolists. This blogger has made similar observations, but not as [...]
Globe columnist Alex Beam today describes the state of Earth Day as an event that was once historic has become farce.You know the slick green tide is coming in each year when Vanity Fair publishes its Armani-scented "green" issue, which celebrates the eco-worthiness of [...]
Derrick Jackson recalls his son’s teacher Patrick Cunningham, and reflects on the cultural losses that result from the ever-increasing rarity of male schoolteachers:
That is a good argument to coax more men into the profession. "The problem is, for both men and women," Cunningham said, "is that this is" [...]Today in the Globe James Carroll meditates on the passing of one of his mentors, Lutheran Bishop of Sweden Krister Stendahl. Excuse Jim for overstating:
Krister Stendahl argued that Christians - at least since Martin Luther, if not since St. Augustine - had misread the testimony of that early [...]
Boston Globe political columnist Scott Lehigh writes a deeply sarcastic column today criticizing the media managers of Wednesday’s Democratic debate, Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos of ABC TV news for focusing their questions on non-issues and trivia. Lehigh is so peeved he concludes:
…no doubt [...]
And speaking about squandering opportunities, here is a excerpt from a Goldman Sachs report on the New York Times Corporation issued yesterday :
NYT reported weak first quarter results that were well below expectations?The negative advertising revenue trends seen in January (down 9.8% y-o-y) and February (down 8.3%) continued, as [...]
I skipped the 21st Democratic presidential debate, but from reading the reviews it sounds like the program lifted the spirits of Republicans. Peter Canellos writes in the Globe:
The first half of last night's debate in the august National Constitution Center in Philadelphia was a tawdry affair, as ABC [...]
I rankled at the description of Obamas bitter-small-town-guns-and-God comment as elitist. It was smug; it was self-righteous; it was blinkered, bigoted, emotionally impoverished, and otherwise odious; it but it was not in any normal sense of the word elitist. I do not live in Pennsylvania. But I [...]
Forget global warming, there may be a hyphen shortage coming. I hope the linotype machines at the Boston Globe are ready for it.
Here is the first of what might be a trend. A Sunday Boston Globe article on perverts unwelcome touchers riding the MBTA began with the [...]
Every 4 years it seems that leading Democratic presidential candidates come down with a short-lived empathy for pro-life voters. That empathy goes along with similarly periodic ploys towards gun owners, advocates of controlled borders and (this year) embittered Midwestern religionists:
Boston Globe, July 5 2004:
INDEPENDENCE, Iowa -- Amid [...]
Obamas condescending remarks on small town Pennsylvanians get 2nd billing (and of course no links to the original story ) in todays Boston Globe Campaign Notebook, which carries the headline Bill Clinton remark renews controversy.
One must wonder if the rule at the Globe is the more damaging [...]
The headline of the Boston Globes Campaign Notebook today informs readers that: Out of the campaign trail limelight, Romeny still on the political hunt
Maybe the Globe should assign a full-time reporter to this Romeny guy, or at least a proofreader part-time.
[...]
From Globe campaign reporter Foon Rhee today, a story headlined Husband's legacy poses a dilemma for Clinton begins:
It is one of the central challenges of Hillary Clinton's campaign: How to take credit for the accomplishments of her husband's presidency and profit from his popularity while distancing herself from [...]
The text of an AP story today begins like this:
NAHAL OZ, Israel - Militants from the Gaza Strip slipped across the border and opened fire at a fuel depot in southern Israel yesterday, killing two Israeli civilians in a brazen daylight raid that threatened to set off heavy combat [...]
Yesterday 22 years late the player who nearly was the MVP of the 1986 World Series, Bill Buckner, received forgiveness from Boston Red Sox fans at Fenway Park. Forgiveness coming so late and amid such riches is still a good thing for all, but [...] 
Our leaders on Beacon Hill continue to show an astounding lack of creativity, especially with regard to raising taxes. From todays Globe: The proposals would tighten corporate tax laws - bringing in $204 million next year - and would raise $152 million by increasing the [...]
A front page headline in todays Globe reports House in fatal blaze had history of violence.
Odd. Every house Ive seen just sits there.
[...] Its a boring day for the Globe, so lets have a tasty leftover. On April 1 Alex Beam and Mark Feeney penned a well aimed parody of Deval Patricks book that appeared in the paper. Snippet:
Furthermore, I understand that, from a strictly business-as-usual, get-elected political standpoint, serving on [...]
Stretching to make a point, Joan Vennochi today ventures into nutroot absurdity:
Kerry - the Democratic presidential nominee still haunted by how the votes were counted in Ohio in 2004...
This is pure buncombe, unless Joan means that Kerry is haunted by the fact that he received fewer votes than Bush. [...]
Former Hillary supporter and new Obama convert Tripp Jones:
Twenty years ago, as a staffer of Governor Michael Dukakis's presidential campaign, I observed the use of the now-famous "Willie Horton" ad to undermine a good man's character, fan the flames of racial division and distract voters from the most [...]
Deval Patricks book deal gives another gift today:
Governor Deval Patrick said in his book proposal that he was able to "fill the Boston Common recently with ten thousand people," a boast intended to prove to publishers that his message of hope and optimism generates enthusiasm and will translate [...]
Todays lead Globe story begins with a dishonest choice of words under the headline Democrats shift strategy on Iraq debate:
Lacking the votes to end the war, Democratic leaders said yesterday they will try to make the US troop surge in Iraq "irrelevant" by shifting the war debate away from [...]
Im still smiling at this quote from yesterdays Boston Globe:
"Among Millennial students, whether it's race, gender, or nationality, the borders are coming down," said James Baumann of the Association of College and University Housing Officers. "The lines just aren't there anymore."
Paging Mr. Frost:
IT IS ALMOST [...]
Joan Vennochi broaches the subject in her Globe column today, and does well with it except that Joan seems to believe that Hillary was still deceived by Bill after the scandal broke (as Hillary said in her biography).
I doubt it. Most everybody suspected Bill was lying. What [...]
I understand why the Globe did not run this story yesterday. Just below I wrote about six mainly silly tidbits from todays Globe, but forgot the silliest of all, the Globe cover story. Today it is of colleges reaching the Final Frontier in equality and [...]
Last night I attended a blogger party graciously hosted by Miss Kelly (thanks much, lady). Two different people I met told me right away that blogging about silliness in the Boston Globe was the easiest job in the world.
The Boston Globe should change the name of its Ideas section to Conventional Wisdom or better yet Clichs. Last Sundays section featured a remarkably foolish piece by one Professor Richard Florida, who is (drum roll, please!) "director of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University [...] From todays Boston Globe lead Editorial:
The proposal's defeat was a foregone conclusion, but many of Patrick's hard-working allies felt abandoned by his retreat. "It's hard to imagine a more inept act," said one of Patrick's State House supportersIt is true that former governor Weld spent the last six [...]
Senator Joe Lieberman:
"It's not the Bill Clinton-Al Gore party, which was strong internationalists, strong on defense, pro-trade, pro-reform in our domestic governmentIt's been effectively taken over by a small group on the left of the party that is protectionist, isolationist, and very, very hyperpartisan. So it pains me."
[...]Here is a loyal, honest Democrat writing on Deval Patricks week:
AFTER 15 MONTHS in office, Governor Deval Patrick is ready to write a new chapter in his political life. From "Together we can," it's "Me, me, me."A trip on that day for that purpose proves one thing: politically [...]
Do you suppose that if Mitt Romney, rather than Deval Patrick, had traveled to New York to pursue a personal book deal for his autobiography on the same day that a major piece of his program was being decided on Beacon Hill...do you suppose it is [...] On Wednesday, the reporters on the tour received a detailed schedule for the [...]
Globe columnist Joan Vennochi laments the misspeaking of presidential candidates. In this era when so many Internet eyes are watching and comparing, its much harder for candidates to get away with misspeaking. Of Hillary, Joan writes: As a candidate, Clinton carries the weight of her [...]
Todays Globe carries an article on the Democrats dilemma, which some Dems still refuse to acknowledge. Tennessee Governor Bredesen is worried and proposes a mini-convention of superdelegates to prevent a brokered convention.
Bredesen said he remains open to other suggestions, however, "Most of the other suggestions seem to [...]
Redmen traditionalists say the name is part of town history and refers to red athletic jerseys, not the Native Americans who settled in this Boston suburb in the [...]
Tuesdays Boston Globe has a wannabe sob story about how the hard economic times are driving New Englanders to channel their inner Yankee. The sad foolishness of what passes for journalism at the Boston Globe is epitomized in this simply dreadful story. It is on [...]
There remains at least one scenario where Mrs. Clinton could win. It is an increasingly unlikely one and one that could traumatize the Democratic Party. Still, it gives succor to her supporters, and presumably Mrs. [...]
Are leading Democrats so narcissistic that they would create bitter stagnation even if they were granted one-party rule?David, have you never heard of Massachusetts? [...]
In today's Globe Harvard Professor Harry Lewis smells hypocrisy in that the university now forbids men from using a gym during certain hours in order to accommodate extreme Muslim norms of female modesty, while the same university administration refuses to offer the slightest accommodation for ROTC, ostensibly because the [...]
Criticizing the Chinese government for its plans to control Tibetan institutions of the Buddhist religion, a Globe editorial writes: Somebody should tell the current Chinese rulers of the Middle Kingdom that their imperial mandate of heaven does not extend to the pure mountain air of [...]
Sally Lehrman of Scientific American writes in another sorry Globe Op Ed piece: It's true that racial harassment has reached levels never before documented in the workplace, according to government data.
I doubt it. Though this certainly implies that government did not document racial harassment [...]
The Clintons? Stretch the truth? Only stretch it?Whadayah think uh that new man out your way?
Oh, I dunno.
Whadayah mean you dont know? Would you call him an honest man [...]
Deval Patricks casino bill was predictably defeated yesterday. The Globes headline (above) is delightful. However, unlike casino customers, casino developers leave the (legislative) table immediately when they win. They keep coming back only when they lose. A more substantial loss yesterday was the death of [...]
Jeff Jacoby had a fine critique in yesterday's Globe of Obama's speech.Mikhail [...]
Its only a poll, but the Globes Foon Rhee reports: The latest national poll offers some more good news for presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain and more worrisome numbers for Democrats.
While Josh Green at the Atlantic says the Democrat Superdelgates should end [...]
On my way to a Boston trade show in April, I stopped for a visit at the Morrissey [...]
And, the Democrats are also giving up the political high ground. The battle between Obama and Clinton is mean and petty, not high-minded or inspirational. No one's debating issues, and forget about vision...Karl Rove couldn't have planned a more divisive contest.
Are you sure, Joan?
I [...]
It is news when good news from Iraq, which is so rarely reported on the front page these days, appears there. This is due to the occasions of the 5th anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq war and the 1st anniversary of the surge. Sundays [...]
On page one of todays Globe Susan Milligan reports that Hillary Clinton exaggerated her role during the Clinton administration in supporting the SCHIP programwhich after all is for the children!
We are shocked, shocked.
The Globe front page photo (above) shows the junior Senator from [...]
An article on gasoline pricing in my local newspaper illustrates the different perspectives of law and economics:State law prohibits businesses from adding a surcharge to transactions when consumers pay with a credit card. But the same law does allow businesses to offer a [...]
Governor Deval Patrick launched an initiative yesterday to crack down on unscrupulous business owners who dodge taxes and other costs by paying workers in [...] 
Now make it 6 Democratic gaffes in 6 days (in the Kinsleyan sense of gaffe). The first 5 are listed in the post below. The 6th and best so far is again from Geraldine Ferarro, who just wont shut up: In a follow-up interview [...]
Today brings yet another superb Kinsleyan gaffe to the Democratic campaign, this time by Democrat (and Hillary Clinton supporter) Geraldine Ferraro. Ferraro is a former House member from NY and was Walter Mondales running mate in 1984. She says: "If Obama was a white [...]
Am I the only person old enough to remember the Uncle Remus story of Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, and Tar-baby? Or am I just the only person foolish enough to note that the Clintons' arrogant public dangling of the VP slot on their ticket [...]
From a Reuters story in todays Boston Globe with the gaffe headline Clintons push Obama as a running mate("Clintons" are indeed running for president): Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, who has endorsed Obama, derided the Clintons' suggestion.
"The first threshold question about a vice [...]
Democrat and former Colorado Senator Gary Hart on Hillary Clinton:
By saying that only she and John McCain are qualified to lead the country, particularly in times of crisis, Hillary Clinton has broken that rule, severely damaged the Democratic candidate who may well be the party's nominee, and, perhaps [...]
Isnt change going to be wonderful? In todays Boston Globe the front page points to a pair of stories about the politics of personal destruction and the politics of concealment. But unbelievably, not a single Republican is involved.
First, the story of an interview taken [...]
March 5: Globe columnist Scott Lehigh cheers up the Dems:
They should take a deep breath.
March 7: Globe columnist Ellen Goodman cheers up the Dems:
take a deep breath
[...]
Hillary Clinton quoted in today's Boston Globe story "Trench warfare for a party's soul":Sounding newly confident, Clinton even hinted at the possibility of Obama as her running mate. Asked on CBS's "The Early Show" whether she and Obama should form the [...]
From the lead story in Thursday's WSJ on Obama and Clinton (subscription required):Their battle is now certain to go on at least to the next big-state showdown April 22 in Pennsylvania, leaving Democratic leaders worried it will drain the party of cash and unity [...]
I'm riding the red-eye tonight so I'll miss Thursday's Boston Globe.
The Republicans are indeed lucky in their political opponents. After last night the prospect for the Democrats is to have their nomination decided by the preferences of their Super delegates and/or a convention credentials fight over the disenfranchised Michigan and Florida delegations. It appears quite likely [...] 
You wont find any reference to this AP story on the Globes front page. The Globes shameful half-truth of a headline is 3 luxury homes burn near Seattle. The story begins like this:WOODINVILLE, Wash. - Fires gutted three multimillion-dollar model homes in a Seattle [...]
The Clinton's ability to spin their press coverage remains astounding. If Obama had lost 10 consecutive primary/caucuses to Hillary Clinton (as she now has to him), can you image the front page headline of the Boston Globe reading "Urgency growing for Obama"?
MassPIRG (wouldnt MassPRIG be a more accurate name?) has issued a report lambasting the new more competitive market for auto insurance. The Globe dutifully ran an echo-like story on the same day, not written by Bruce Mohl (who seems to know something about the [...] 
5 year trend of New York Times stock price vs. the S&P 500 IndexThe Boston Globe is offering employee buyouts again, and seeking a reduction in force of 60. The Worcester Telegram & Gazettes quota of heads is 20 while the flagship New [...]
The story about the Comcast-paid seat-warmers at the recent FCC hearing was broken by the Save the Internet blog on Tuesday, as far as I can tell. Check it out. They really have the scoop.
Comcast packed this weeks FCC hearing on Comcast network management practices with Comcast employees, and held the seats with paid seat-warmers so that the Comcast employees wouldnt have to sit there all morning. It seems to me that Comcast has borrowed a sheet from [...]
Massachusetts convicted murderer Michelle Kosilek (formerly known as Robert), who is suing the Commonwealth for a state-funded sex-change operation claims that she has not been allowed to have court-approved hair-removal treatment or access to a specialist to discuss her testosterone levels while her case is being ejudicated.
Carole Berotte Joseph, president of MassBay Community College (unaffectionately known on campus as the Queen from Duchess County) has made the news in the Boston Globe once again today. Joseph spent $90,000 of school funds on her own presidential inauguration. Last July the MBCC nursing [...]
Two people were shot and wounded and a policeman was injured early Monday morning inside the Aria Boston nightclub during a melee that involved dozens of patrons. The gunman, one Damion Jamaal-Anthony Haley, was arrested at the scene and already had 6 outstanding warrants.
James Carroll pens an astoundingly obtuse Boston Globe column today, even by Globe standards (The ghost story). But Carroll does articulate his amazing assumptions about our nations defense. He declares that the concept of national security is bogus is that our military expenditures are a [...]
