Posted on 07/22/2012 6:05:13 AM PDT by raccoonradio
Howie thread for the week starting with his Sunday Boston Herald column
Sunday Herald column ping, see below. First I’ll mention that late today or early tomorrow Clear Channel takes over WFNX FM 101.7 from the Boston Phoenix. The only thing we know for sure is that they hope to have the call letters WHBA. The current rumor is a “variety hits” format like the old Mike 93.7 or maybe adult contemporary but there’s also the possibility it could simulcast WXKS 1200 conservative talk.
I’ll let you know, especially if THAT happens. Also of interest: Chad Finn mentions in the Globe that Entercom might put full time ESPN on either 680 or 850. 680? Yes, the possibility does exist that if Howie SHOULD be able to leave (not easy) the station might consider just putting a national sports network on instead. The talk radio “demo” is attractive in some ways but people are aging and they may want slightly younger listeners. This is why WODS changed from 60s-80s hits to the current stuff.
Anyway, “stay tuned”. Howie’s contract is up in Sept or maybe Nov. If he leaves RKO may make a change but again nothing is solid. Yet. (He might be able to go to WTKK 96.9 or WXKS 1200. Probably not WBZ 1030. If he does leave Howie says he will make deals with the other stations that currently carry him to continue to do so...again, we’re getting ahead of ourselves here though.)
Another case of impaired judgment
By Howie Carr | Sunday, July 22, 2012 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Columnists
Photo by Nancy Lane
If I ever get in a jam and can’t figure out a way to get the royal treatment afforded to illegal aliens, my second choice would be to get the same VIP treatment as a state cop.
I refer of course to MSP Capt. Thomas McCarthy, whose OUI case was broomed this week, and why not? He was in his cruiser, reeking of booze, an open container in the front seat as he was chased down Route 1 by the Saugus cops.
“Insufficient evidence,” the clerk-magistrate ruled.
Most likely he’ll soon be back on the job, stopping his fellow tosspots and chuckling as they try to survive the sidewalk Olympics. Because guess what -— the judge continued his case without a finding, which means that if he can somehow stay sober for six months, McCarthy’s record will be wiped clean.
We can all agree the statie was lucky he wasn’t charged with impersonating a Kennedy. And at least he didn’t try to employ the latest defense of loaded liberal Democrats — a “seizure.” Right, Kerry Kennedy?
The judge you can thank for this latest Solomonic decision is Albert Conlon, age 64, of the Lynn District Court. When judges do these favors for their fellow hacks, I like to give them a chance to say something in their own defense. His spokesman said he “declines to comment, because the matter is a pending case.”
Conlon was appointed in November 2002 by acting Gov. Jane Swift. Oh, she was on a real lame-duck judicial roll back then — Zip Connolly’s good pal Kenny Fishman, uber-hack Jim Julian’s mini-hack brother John Julian ...
And Albert Conlon, picked off the waiver wire from the Lynn Water & Sewer Commission. This is a guy who spent four years at the U.S. Naval Academy, then went immediately into the Navy and was discharged two years later as a seaman first class — an enlisted man. I don’t get it, but the judge isn’t talking.
Anyway, Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett had wanted a guilty finding on Capt. McCarthy, or so his spokesman said. But you know, Blodgett and the judge are thick as thieves. Before he became a judge, in 2001, Conlon gave the future DA $500. In 2002, ditto.
And wouldn’t you know it, when it was time for the would-be judge’s hearing before the Governor’s Council, DA-elect Blodgett testified in Conlon’s behalf. Also testifying were the GOP sheriff of Essex, Frank Cousins, and Lynn mayor Chip Clancy, to whom Conlon had donated $350 over the previous two years. Conlon also took good care of Rep. (and about to become Sen.) Tommy McGee. Yes, it was a veritable Essex County hackerama marching in lockstep behind the Oliver Wendell Holmes of the Water & Sewer Commission.
Once again, the Massachusetts judiciary proves the truth of the old saying.
In the halls of justice, the only justice is in the halls.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1061147551
Related Articles:
When I went to Lynn Classical, 1977-1980, we had an Albert S. Conlon as principal. A quick search showed _that_ Albert Conlon died in 2001...maybe this is his son?
>>Albert S. Conlon, retired principal of Lynn Classical High School, died Monday in the Pilgrim Rehabilitation facility in Peabody. He was 84. Mr. Conlon was principal of Lynn Classical from 1971 to 1980. He previously was a teacher, guidance counselor, and vice principal of the school.
Globe 4/25/01 http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8650940.html
Ah, search is my friend. Obit of Albert S Conlon Sr.’s wife:
>>(Oct 2010) Mrs. Kathryn E. “Kay” (Flaherty) Conlon, age 93, of Lynn, Dennisport and Sarasota, Florida, died Friday in Union Hospital after a brief illness. She was the wife of the late Albert S. Conlon, retired Principal of Lynn Classical High School.
She leaves two sons, the Honorable Albert S. Conlon and his wife Gail of Lynn
http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Kathryn-Conlon&lc=7209&pid=146167424&mid=4418705
No sign yet of a new format for 101.7—apparently the sale hasn’t officially closed yet. Again a VERY slight chance they could be simulcasting Talk 1200 format on there. What is more likely is “The Harbor”, variety hits like what Mike 93.7 used to have. I’ll let everyone know. It would be nice if talk hit 101.7 to get a second FM talk station, but not sure Clear
Channel (buying WFNX by the Boston Phoenix) will do that or not.
Wed column ping
WFNX did indeed change format yesterday, just after 4 pm and it is not a simulcast of Talk 1200. As rumored it is now The Harbor 101.7 (owned by Clear Channel) with “adult hits” and no DJs. No ads till Labor Day. Kind of like Mike 93.7 was:
Red Hot Chili Peppers, Aerosmith, Eagles, Gin Blossoms, Prince, Madonna, etc. Mike 93.7 made money for Entercom but they had to put WEEI on FM, so they killed off “Mike”. But Clear Channel has brought back something similar and it should make money.
At this point if Howie wants to jump to an FM talk station in Boston his only choice is WTKK 96.9. WXKS 1200 is still with us, but apparently confined to AM (unless you have an HD radio: on FM-HD 107.9-2)
anyway
Four wheels good, two wheels better!
By Howie Carr | Wednesday, July 25, 2012 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Columnists
Don’t get me wrong, I love bicycles.
It’s the people who ride them I’m not so crazy about.
So the fact that there are going to be even more bicycles snarling traffic in the city is not exactly happy news for anyone who has drive an automobile here.
But Mumbles feels differently. He loves bicycles almost as much as he dislikes Chick-fil-A. He wants to make Boston “one of the most bike-friendly places in the country.”
Spoken exactly like somebody who hasn’t had to drive himself in, what, 19 years now?
I know, it’s only troglodytes without armed, city-paid chauffeurs who are concerned about all the vanishing parking spaces, not to mention the vanishing lanes. A while back, on a Sunday morning, I was driving on Comm. Ave from Kenmore Square toward the Public Garden. I went under that bridge, I think it’s under Mass. Ave., and suddenly I noticed that something that had always been there was missing.
One of the two traffic lanes had been replaced by a bicycle lane, which by the way, Mumbles, your dear friends, the new Bostonians, seldom use.
They’d rather drive in our lanes, and if we motorists (also known as taxpayers) get too close to them, they bang on the side of our cars.
Apparently they never heard the old saying: Never bring a bike to a car fight.
This plague isn’t just slowing traffic to a gridlock pace in Boston. How much money have they spent on all those bicycle paths down on Cape Cod? Yet Route 6-A is still clogged with clods on two wheels, attired in that hideous form-fitting Spandex with all the labels on them.
Who do these people think they are, John Kerry?
Last night, I had to go to a wake in Brookline. I was driving on North Beacon Street in Allston when suddenly a blond girl attempted to commit suicide — by swerving directly in front of my SUV on her bike. I know she saw me because she gave me the finger.
I continued down Brighton Avenue, turned right on Harvard Street and got behind an overweight woman on a bike in a print dress with a lot of tattoos. I passed her and then got caught at a red light on Beacon Street. She blew through the red light.
I had to pass her once more, just in time to arrive at another light, which she ran. Same thing happened a third time.
It’s amazing. These bicyclists are full-fledged motorists, demanding an entire lane of traffic, until they reach a red light. Then they all morph into pedestrians, crossing against the light, I might add.
You could change my mind about this whole bicycle thing, Mumbles. Just lend me your cop driver and your car — for the next five years or so.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1061148291
Fri column ping
Menino’s feathers are showing
By Howie Carr | Friday, July 27, 2012 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Columnists
Photo by Patrick Whittemore
Mumbles chickened out.
This whole Chick-fil-A fiasco turned into, as he would say, an Alcatraz around his neck. Amazing, this guy who goes to Mass every Sunday — does he know he’s supportin’, to use his terminology, a group that is probably more opposed to gay marriage than Dan Cathy?
And if Boston College gets invited to the Chick-fil-A bowl, will you allow the Eagles’ plane to take off from Logan airport?
Usually, Mumbles takes his cues in PC idiocy from Mayor Bloomberg. This time, he was driving the lead clown car. And you know the old saying: Monkey see, monkey do.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago instantly jumped on the bandwagon. He took time out from cozying up to well-known gay-marriage supporter Louis Farrakhan to denounce Dan Cathy. Amazing how similar Chicago and Boston have become — both cities celebrate diversity by hating Chick-fil-A and looking the other way at Muslim homophobia.
Oh yeah, and one other thing Boston and Chicago have in common.
Rotten baseball teams.
The problem here for Mumbles is, this was a glimpse into the way he runs Boston — “my city,” he calls it when he’s splinkin’, as he says, in private. Usually, though, the stories about his heavy-handed tactics don’t make it out of the business sections. After all, it’s hard to feel sorry for a real-estate developer.
Mumbles has become a punchline — he calls Home Depot “Home Deep-co” and blasts AT&T because they don’t do “diddly-dunk.” This is a guy who sounds like he could use an “aconomic lesson,” as he once said. But this week the whole country sees that he can play plenty rough — like a mayor in a ’50s black-and-white movie.
Mumbles’ muscle is the ISD — Inspectional Services. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the beat-down of a businessman. Remember Halftime Pizza on Causeway Street during the Democratic convention of 2004? The owner put up a “GO BUSH” sign and got hit with multiple citations.
Even by Mumbles’ standards, he was particularly tongue-tied yesterday. Asked if he’d gone overboard he replied:
“No I don’t I (three seconds of totally unintelligible gibberish) as mayah of the city of Boston, I have an opinion, I’m expressin’ my opinion.”
Or, as he put it later, “I made an opinion.”
“A Menino-ism,” he called his temper tantrum.
This week the mask slipped. Mumbles is not just a dolt, he’s a vindictive, power-mad tyrant. And the fact that everyone has seen it first-hand — that must really fry his nose, as Mumbles is wont to say.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1061148849
current Herald poll
Herald Pulse
Was is it appropriate for Mayor Menino to express his views on Chick-fil-A?
10% - Yes, other pols should be as outspoken
78% - No, he exceeded his authority
12% - Don’t care, just more hot air
Total Votes: 2,106
He illustrates perfectly what happens when "Lofty Left Wing Principles" trickle down to the uneducated, and the just plain dumb. Think Dr. Timothy Leary and Owsley selling LSD to your local body and fender man ... which is what happened. Hells Angels adopting hippie garb, members of what by rights ought to have been the sturdy yeomanry screaming for gay marriage...."organic" food ...global warming. Really stupid fat people covering themselves with tattoos ... which they then un-cover... as they lecture you about the environment Drop out of school ...get obese ...get tattooed ... get pierced ...vote Democrat.
Married Dykes on Bikes should have traffic lanes of their own and never have to heed a traffic light or stop sign. Don't have to believe me. Ask Anderson Cooper. Oya maya Mnino.
Great rant there, raccoon...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.