Free Republic

The problem that readers are having with this sentence:

“A former Holyoke police officer has been sentenced to 12 to 15 years in prison for shooting her estranged wife’s boyfriend”

Is that it creates such a dissonance in our basic understanding of our world’s foundation. As a resident of Massachusetts, I cannot say only that I am married, I must now qualify the statement with that I am married to a woman.

People have a short memory, or choose to “forget” about recent economic history. Today’s Boston Globe ran a story on the high rate of foreclosures in Massachusetts in 2007, compared of course to the last real estate boom year of 2006. If you looked hard enough, a link was provided to a graph of Massachusetts foreclosures since 1990. In 1992, there were 9,101 foreclosures, and 7,563 in 2007.

I had a house built in 1992 (after selling a house) amid much RE activity. There was not the level of hand-wringing that you are seeing today. I don’t know if the Clintons coming into office had any effect on the economic press going quiet, but the situation in 1992 was worse than today, only there is not so much hype about it.

My advice would be to remain ready to take advantage of a major market upswing in late 2008 and running into 2009.

Wow, PJ Top Ten!

Holy Cow! Top 10.

Wow, top ten!

Good grief, top 10!

Here in Massachusetts in a prior election, approximately 40% of voters voted to raise the personal income tax rate. Though the measure did not pass, the interest in this led to the addition of an option in the state tax form that one could check and pay at the old rate of 5.85% instead of the voter-approved rate of 5.3%. Needless to say, out of millions of returns filed, only several hundred opted to pay the higher amount “for the chiiiiiiillllllddddrrren”. This exercise proved that the 40% who voted for higher taxes were in fact not taxpayers themselves.

If Hillary (or any other Democrat) reaches the point where they control 51% of voters dependent on government handouts, the game is over. In Massachusetts, we are perilously close to that point.

Deval received $3 million from Arlene Isaacson of the Mass Teacher’s Union, but that money is used only for influence by the homosexual lobby and not for education. When Arlene calls, deval had damn well better take the call.

And of course the Boston Globe has to make sure that everyone is aware of Mitt Romney’s affiliation with the Mormon church, as he did not receive a mention. Right in the opening sentance:

“Imagine a four-hour documentary on the Mormon church that skips its most prominent member in the country today, Mitt Romney.
“The Mormons,” a collaboration between PBS powerhouse series “ Frontline “ and “ American Experience, “ is that show. Yet its mere airing may finally force the former governor to explain publicly his faith and its influence on him as a politician, much as John Kennedy did with his Catholicism in 1960. What it will surely do is complicate his run for the White House.
The Romney candidacy notwithstanding, it’s high time that Americans separate fact from fiction about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as it is officially called. The timing is excellent for veteran documentarian Helen Whitney, whose fascinating look at the Mormons airs Monday and Tuesday on WGBH.”

The Boston Globe will hound Romney throughout his candidacy for the crime of being a popular Republican governor who would not regurgitate the Globe’s leftist propaganda.

I can't believe that McAuliffe is so blind as to not understand why Kerry can NEVER push back against valid criticism of his contrived military record. Kerry and his staff knew that to fight back would invite the opposition to "go nuclear". This involves the release of Kerry's Less Than Honorable Discharge from the Navy for attempting to broker the surrender of the United States with the enemy North Vietnamese. It is out there.

I can only surmise that McAuliffe's repeated bleatings about not fighting back are designed to "condition" the public that there was actually something to fight back against. There is not and Kerry knows it.

When Sandy Berger was arrested for stealing from the National Archives before the 2004 election, I originally thought he was on an errand for Kerry to remove his original Navy discharge papers. Berger's reward was to be appointed Secretary of State if Kerry won. It turned out that he was on an errand for Clinton to remove embarrassing 9/11 attack documents that displayed their willful inaction.

As Massachusetts closes in on the loss of a quarter of a million residents (i.e. taxpayers) since 2000 and the drop in federal tax inflows from $1.10 per dollar paid in the early 1990s to $0.70 per dollar paid in 2004, the loony left does not know when to stop. Their hatred of the Bush administration is so strong that it blinds them to the damage they do to their own home.

Massachusetts has more than its share of trustafarians, but I cannot accept that half of the population is not concerned about the local economy and will continue to insult the administration and hurt the interests of the citizens of Massachusetts (at least those that work for a living).

The esteemed Massachusetts congressional delegation will put their self-interest ahead of those they allegedly represent for the next two years. The sad part is that the left will be cheering them on as the state further deteriorates.

"What it did for Michael Kennedy was far more than "basic necessities". When he died playing catch with a 2 litre soda bottle on the ski slope it became known that he was lifting a $600,000 salary for himself."

Citizens Energy is a non-profit organization and Joe Kennedy is lifting upwards of a million dollars a year (between salary, vehicles and "expenses") from it. If an evil Republican were to do this, you would not hear the end of it from the liberal press. It annoys the libs to no end that Governor Romney and Lt. Governor Healey do not accept their salaries, denying the libs the opportunity to villanize them for taking money while "cutting" programs for the "poor".

"The study blames the workforce decline in part on the widely discussed exodus of college-educated young people who are leaving the state because they cannot afford housing here."

The only reason I know of that the many people I knew who left the state did so because of the lack of a job. The cost of housing is a secondary consideration if one is not employed. The state has lost almost a quarter of a million residents over the last five years and the Massachusetts' unemployment rate is higher than the national rate. What does that tell you?

The voters have a short memory. Wait until Deval Patrick begins viewing Massachusetts' business community as a source of revenue to be distributed to the growing cadre of dependents. Dukakis did the same and it took years to recover from the downturn.

It is amusing to read the theories why Massachusetts has received a declining share of federal research funds since 2000. I never see mentioned that our Senators and congressional delagation have been a continuous insult to the Administration from the start. Gee, why would that make a difference?

"That's sad. Senator Kerry's always had such class. Can you picture Kerry telling another Democrat to get out of the shot because HE wanted a photo op? NEVER in a MILLION YEARS. Whatever the circumstances or what the exact words were, this showed poor manners and a lack of common decency. I like Kerry because he's never been about himself, but for his "mission" in the cause of Democracy. He simply doesn't play these silly, political games."

I'm from Massachusetts where the self-serving Speaker of the House, Billy Bulger, referred to JFK (John Kerry) as "Just For Kerry". And this came from a particularly selfish and greedy state legislator, appalled at Kerry's lack of empathy for his fellow politicians.

The enmity between Kerry and Schumer may result in trying to hog network camera time. Don't get between either of those reprobates and a news crew.

Holy cow, top 10

The Massachusetts economy has been stagnant for the past two years (at least). After 14 months of unemployment (B.S. Chemistry, MBA) I will be starting a new job next week. Employers were reluctant to hire, though they were actively looking. Examine a job description and it would seem as if the job was previously done by two (or three) people with very different skill sets. Strong product development and technical skills would be primary requirements, but an unspoken requirement to lead sales was also desired. Not finding the ideal candidate, they would "reevaluate the position".

With Kerry and Kennedy as a constant affront to the administration, Massachusetts has certainly not received any special favors to bolster the economy. Our pinhead Reps (i.e. Meehan and Markey to name but two) are not much better. However, Mass residents don't see how they are voting against their interests by continually supporting these reprobates.

Every day, 100 people like me (taxpayers) leave the state. I'm glad I was able to hold on, I'll leave on my own terms in the future.

a 48-word law that had "sat on the shelf unused for decades"

Not true. Massachusetts will not allow 14-year-old first cousins from Tennessee to marry because the marriage is not valid in their home state.

The Mass SJC is beginning to feel the heat from their last judicial fiat (gay marriage) and is waiting for things to settle down, which they will not. The Massachusetts judicial elite do not fully comprehend that the citizens are getting their news from sources other than the Boston Globe, and the heat is only going to be turned up.

I would like to see Andy come back to Massachusetts to run against Ted Kennedy in November for the U.S. Senate. It is a crime that the Swimmer is running unopposed. At the least, he should be made to debate in public so his debilitated condition is exposed to the public.

Good Grief! Top Five!

"And who was behind that idea? "

Four state legislators that are owned by the gay lobby sponsored the change in the bestiality law, but in Mass it is difficult to determine who actually initiated the action.