Boston Herald

Fitzgerald's maudlin Christmas column today (about some woman who hasn't talked to her daughter in years) got me to thinking: Hey, waitaminnit, what about his annual The Jew Who Loves Christmas column? Why, his column about a Jew fighting the War on Christmas is as much a part of Christmas in Boston as the Enchanted Village the tree at the Prudential Center Santas in Speedos. Turns out I was just remiss in my Herald reading: Joe dredged up another Christmas-loving Jew earlier this month. Phew. Eggnog, anyone?

Really? We need a gallery of Bradyhair? And crack investigative reporters hounding Dr. Leonard to get the truth?

Wonder what Youk's beard thinks of all this.

Carr kvetches the Ware report on the corrupt probation department didn't come out before the election. The Massachusetts Liberal, who notes Carr's 'plaint shares the front page with Bristol Palin, also notes the politically aware in Massachusetts knew about the probation problems because they read about it in the Globe, which broke the story and then kept following it:

We know Herald Editor Joe Scaccia has declared the understaffed newspaper is now in the business of doing exclusive content you can't get anywhere else. So I am truly gratified to know that a cyclist can get to Park Street faster than the Green Line C train. Wait a minute, I knew that too, because I actually use public transportation in this city.

Gabrielle Gurley interviews Herald Editor-in-chief Joe Sciacca on everything from the paper's leanings ("populist," he insists, not conservative) to the future of online to the new columnist brought in to make the paper a bit hipper.

The cable news network today suspended Keith Olbermann for making campaign donations to three Democratic candidates last month.

This contrasts with the Herald's Howie Carr. In addition to speaking at and hosting Republican fundraisers this year, the columnist last month gave $100 to Wellesley state Rep. candidate Royall Switzler, according to records on file at the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance.

Mike Ball considers the case of the now convicted city councilor, concludes Chuck Turner fell victim to his own myth:

He has long been great on bluster as well as leveraging his race, age, class and whatever tools he finds lying around. Unfortunately the 70-year-old Harvard grad has often done so without those messy facts or provable details.

Turner will appeal the verdict, even as people in the 7th district start talking about potential replacement candidates.

Meanwhile, John Carroll ponders the oddity that is today's Herald front page: Rather than leading with Turner's downfall, the front page of what's become the Baker house organ is plastered with the shocking news that a member of the Kennedy family opposes Cape Wind. Shocking, that is, to somebody who has paid absolutely no attention whatsoever to Cape Wind and/or the Kennedy family over the past decade.

[A]pparently the editors would rather whack Patrick than yuck about Chuck.

No, not Matt Amorello. A local blogger. Christine Koh reports a Herald reporter called her yesterday to ask about that court ruling on maternity leave. By itself, no big deal, since she's pretty well known in local mommy-blogger circles. Except the reporter called her on her home phone number. The one she doesn't give out and which isn't even under her name, since it's under her husband's name, which is different from hers:

John Carroll calls unnecessary roughing.

The Herald is apologizing for writing Puerto Rican parade marred by shooting when the Sunday shooting took place a mile away from the parade through JP.

Ed. note: The Herald has changed the story, but you can still see the original headline by looking at the URL (same as you can here when I change a headline).

Kevin Convey to take over at New York Daily News. Convey replaced another editor who fled to New York; started with the Herald back in 1981 as a business writer.

The not-yet-one-term at-large city councilor is already fundraising for next year's election, with a little help from the Herald. In a fundraising e-mail today, the Arroyo campaign dourly warns:

... Now he is under attack from the right wing media for keeping his promise to us. Their goal is obvious: stop Felix's momentum right now so that he does not win re-election in 2011. ...

The message doesn't specify which rightwing media are attacking him for what, but since Fox News has yet to take notice of Felix Sr.'s son, we're forced to conclude the missive refers to disdainful Herald coverage of his effort to get Boston to boycott businesses in Arizona (in the early edition, the Herald Photoshopped him onto the side of a milk carton because he wouldn't call them back).

Back in the day, newspapers had employees who would check for "adjacencies" like this, because they knew the advertisers would refuse to pay for their ads. Looks like Pat Purcell owes Aer Lingus a do-over.

Tip o' the scally cap to the actual Herald reader who forwarded this.

The Herald reports today that Geoffrey's, which started out in the Back Bay and South End and then moved to Roslindale, is planning a second outlet, back in the Back Bay. Or as the Herald proclaims:

Geoffrey's Cafe preps for return to Hub

Got your attention, no?

The Boston Herald is rolling out a new feature on its website, this Friday.

The Friday Throwdown will be a unique, weekly event taking place in our Herald Square community. Each week, Boston Herald editors will select a topic for discussion on the Friday Throwdown. The topic will be posted on the web for readers to debate in a live chat, Fridays between 12 and 1. And we don't expect to host a bow-tie ironing party. We want to see sparks fly!

And, what are they suggesting as topics?

* Pension reform
* Boston firefighters' contract
* Immigration reform

In their words: "You get the idea."

Herald editors will moderate to keep the discussion on-topic, and to filter out profanity and personal attacks -- otherwise, they want you to let it rip.

If you're interested, sign up as a commenter on the Herald's website and also send an email to with Friday Throwdown in the subject line.

Disclosure: I write a real estate blog for the Boston Herald. Also, I find many (most?) comments on the Herald's website to be repugnant.

Earlier this week, you may recall, Boston Police asked newspaper distributors to remove their boxes from areas where hopped-up Celtics revelers/mourners might be tempted to use them to put holes in plate-glass windows. The Phoenix reports the Boston DPW apparently thinks plastic boxes for free papers are more of a risk, because it sent crews out to remove them while leaving the potentially more lethal metal Globe and Herald boxes alone:

Can't people throw them through windows, as well? In fact, aren't their metal boxes more fun to throw through windows than our plastic ones?

I wish I could figure out why the Boston Herald prints letters to the editor which are so mind-numbingly stupid that they leave the reader agape, his jaw dropped so far that it spills his morning coffee.

This morning's chestnut was Harry Shuris of Winchester, who derided the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission for, um, doing its job by recalling a novelty chair decorated with lead paint. He offered the following "proof" of why this shouldn't matter:

Pencils contain "excessive amounts of lead." I would venture to say that at any given time there are more kids chewing on pencils than on basketball-shaped chairs.

Except, of course, that "lead pencils" don't actually contain any lead.

I sent the Herald a response, although God only knows if they'll print it. It may be that they don't want to soil their precious letters page by printing letters that contain nothing stupid or false.

Both the big local dailies wrote about an IRS processing center in Andover over the weekend. See if you can guess which paper wrote which story:

• Tax center just humming: IRS deadline busies Andover, but without the returns
• Tax Mahal: IRS gets lift with stimulus cash, no creation of jobs

The Herald finds a way.

A member of the band, that is, not the city, over Inside Track coverage of Brad Delp's suicide. Dan Kennedy rounds up the coverage.

The Herald takes a dim view of everything the Boston City Council has ever proposed, or something. Yeah, Steve Murphy's idea to stop roofies with sippy-cup lids was completely nuts, but that was three years ago, not this "season," as the Herald implies. How dare Rob Consalvo "take inspiration from Governing magazine." What a maroon! And Michael Flaherty's idea for buying snow-melting machines sure was "offbeat." Just ask Baltimore (and never mind Flaherty couldn't have proposed it this "season," given that he's no longer on the council).

At least they're trying. When's the last time a Herald reporter actually showed up at a Council meeting?

The Herald didn't get invited to a press conference at which Northeastern announced the end of football, so the Herald is retaliating by refusing to cover Huskies sports, including the successful basketball team.

Adam Reilly surveys reaction to the Herald's shocking revelation that Amy Bishop played Dungeons and Dragons as a teen, just like Mucko McDermott and, um, Curt Schilling. He awaits the Herald's discovery of a third murderous D&D player, because as any ink-stained wretch knows, it's not officially a trend without three examples.

Adam Reilly provides the proof.

Give Marjorie Eagan credit for honesty.

The Herald and Channel 5 both had stories on their Web sites this morning claming that a Milton man found dead in a Quincy snowbank yesterday was a Southie boyo who ratted out Bulger when Bulger turned his back on the guy's family after he was sent to the stir. The stories (the Herald broke it, Channel 5 reported on it) were complete with loving quotes from a fellow convict (former state Sen. and fraudster Joe Timilty) about what a great guy he was.

Both have now taken out all Bulger references (and Timilty quotes) from their stories. The Herald also turned comments off on its story.