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The crowd chanted "They say cut back, We say fight back" before the speakers came to the podium.

Congressman Ed Markey addressed the crowd to remind them what caused the financial crisis (and it wasn't public public sector workers.) Next, Congressman Mike Capuano announced, "I am a cheesehead" to communicate his solidarity with the working people of Wisconsin fighting for the right to bargain collectively for wages, benefits and work conditions. Mike foretold of similar attacks on worker rights by Republicans soon to come in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania. He said it was a fight for the middle class.

To the editor:

What a relief to see our elected officials finally getting tough on the aid recipients who spent 0.002% of last year’s welfare funds on underwear ("Pol gets tough on welfare abuse", Feb. 15).

How dare these women buy high-quality, inexpensive undergarments from Victoria’s Secret? Wal-Mart should be perfectly fine for poor people. Or maybe they should make do without underwear; if beggars wandering the streets half-naked in rags was good enough for our ancestors, it should be good enough for us.

It’s even more outrageous that some of these women are shopping at outlet stores. If they’re going to use taxpayer money on underwear, the least they could do is pay full price.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Kamens

(Simulblogged.)

(Simulblogged.)

February 1, 2011

Mayor Thomas M. Menino
1 City Hall Square, Suite 500
Boston, MA 02201-2013

(617) 635-4500

Dear Mayor Menino,

On the brink of yet another major snowstorm, I am writing to complain about how incredibly bad the city's handling of the snow has been this winter.

1. Neighborhood streets all over the city are overwhelmed with snow. There's no place for residents to put new snow even if they want to do the right thing while shoveling. There's no place for people to park their cars. Other cities in the area, such as Waltham, have recognized the problem and are removing snow from neighborhood streets, not just main arteries. Why isn't Boston? (examples: Foster Street in Brighton between Surrey and Washington Streets; and Leamington Road in Brighton)

Literally.

Rick Santorum to speak to Catholic Citizenship Tuesday Feb 1, 2011 at Hotel Indigo, 399 Grove Street in Newton MA on the topic "Faith, Conservatism & Politics in the 21st Century."  The brochure promotes his talk this way:

Verbatim from BPDnews.com

WHEN TOLD TO GET OUT OF THE STREET … WHY NOT DO IT???

Posted by MediaRelations on January 29, 2011

.

20 shoveling violations in a 0.4-mile stretch of Brighton Center, many of them on or abutting city-owned property.

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6reSAg6U_Cc

I've emailed the mayor a link to the video. Think he'll do anything about it?

Timothy Robertson at the Dedham Patch takes the stenography:

"A downside of Rush’s deployment: no vote will be cast for the district he represents..."

Downside indeed. Is it too much to ask the reporter to pose the obvious question: Might citizens reasonably expect to have a voting Senator represent their interests? After all, a revolution was fought for that right on the premise, no taxation without representation.

A leader would put the interest of his constituents ahead of his own.

A friend of mine who is a conductor for MBCR told me at breakfast this morning that over the weekend a southbound train struck a person who was inside a bag on the tracks at Norwood Central.

No really, and it got used twice in the first day.

It comes with a stretcher that can lift 850 lbs and has it's own 1/2 ton hydraulic lift.

Via

NSFW profane language

Is it more important to fill the air waves with filler about Gifford's trip to Rome or to ask how and why a man suffering from mental illness could get a gun and kill five people, including a judge? The journalists are a bunch of wimps and their editors' collective decision to not repeat the statements of gun control groups cast doubts on the editors objectivity and ability to see beyond the babble.

Follow USRep_Keating Bill Keating on twitter here.

Follow USRep_Keating Bill Keating on twitter here.

Power finally back on at about 8:15. Has been off since we returned home just before 4:00. Not sure how long it was off prior to that.

Beech Street in the vicinity of the Mozart School.

Jessica's Question

I made a mistake recently. Actually, I don't know if it was a mistake or not.

I hooked up with a friend of mine. But I do not regret what we did.

I have known him for a couple of years and really love him as a friend. I don't really know why we ended up getting together, but it just happened. And now it's kind of awkward between the two of us. Whenever we used to hang out we would cuddle and tell each other that we love each other and cute shit because we are pretty close friends and both people who cuddle a lot I guess. But now when we hang out I am afraid to act like I used to because I do not want him to interpret that as me being interested in him in a romantic way. I don't think I want to be with him in any way other than friends but while I am unsure of my emotions I am pretty sure he wants to be just friends with me.

We haven't talked about what happened or asked each other how we felt about it at all. I don't know if I want to ask to talk to him about it or not because I don't know if that would make it less awkward or more awkward.
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Dear Jessica,

CAN ANYONE EXPLAIN WHY A TWENTY PERCENT RISE IN ROBBERIES IS SOMETHING TO BRAG ABOUT!
MEMO TO GM DAVIE YOU ARE GOING TO BE JUDGED ON HOW SAFE THE SYSTEM IS AND A TWENTY PERCENT RISE IN SUBWAY ROBBERIES IS A CRIME WAVE NOT A SUCCESS STORY AS THE HERALD STORY WOULD LEAD YOU TO BELIEVE.

Is is true that the people applying for the Old Stag's liquor license are bringing back Hot and Sexy Tuesdays?

Why did they tell community members that they weren't having live entertainment, and now are moving to take over the entertainment license?

Why did the Public Services Committee pass their application through to the Alcohol Licensing Board without any letters of support from community organizations?

Why can't anyone get a hold of the lien holder of the Old Stag? Are there really no other bidders for The liquor license of a bar in foreclosure?

Where is the information, people!?

Julian Assange is just Woodward and Bernstein by another name. All these people who are supporting what the US Government is doing to him and Wikileaks need to ask themselves if they would like to have had Watergate swept under the rug. Watergate started as a bunch of dirty tricks on the campaign trail and snowballed from there." - Mafdet

Other apt comparisons might include Julian Assange to the publisher of the New York Times, who published the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam war.

Is this a good thing? - Boston Dawna, celebrated crime stopper, is bringing her act home

Ask for the more complete stenographic machine record of the public meeting of Boston City Council.

The Phelps Family Hate Train is pulling into East Arlington this Saturday, to "protest" a children's theater project. As a parent of an Arlington Center for the Arts camp counselor, need I say that I'm not too enthusiastic?

The good news is that some folks have come up with a truly great idea for turning the hate into money to fight hate. It's called the Phelps-a-Thon!

The Phelps clan will be protesting at the Arlington Center for the Arts for 45 minutes, from 1:15 PM to 2:00 PM on December 4th.

You can pledge any amount you chose for every minute they protest, or pledge a flat rate for the entire time the group will be demonstrating. Funds raised will benefit The Matthew Shepard Foundation.

That's right - for every minute they spend holding their lovely family-friendly signs and beaming hatred at the kids, the money keeps accumulating.

To pledge for this event go to http://phelpsathon.wufoo.com/forms/arlington-phelpsathon/

Hundreds of business professionals are gathered this morning for the second day of the Gilbane Boston conference at the Westin Copley. Pasted below is the live blog I wrote about a content strategy session at the conference this morning.

EMERGENCY PETITION TO FCC CHAIR JULIUS GENACHOWSKI:

"Don't let Comcast block Netflix or other online innovators for their own profit! Support the strongest Net Neutrality protections possible -- and keep Obama's promise."

SIGN THE PETITION

Gutting Social Security will not reduce the budget deficit. Social Security is funded separately, from employee contributions. It is entirely self-sufficient—even at today’s retirement age and funding levels—until 2037.

Social Security helps to bridge the chasm