Left In Lowell

The great news is, we’ve seen the steepest drop in the unemployment rate since 1976:

The state’s unemployment rate was 8.8 percent in August. The 0.4-percent drop is the steepest one-month change since January 1976, said the state’s Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.

Nationally, the rate is 9.6%, so we’re significantly under that and dropping. Boston.com reports that “the preliminary September job estimates show 3,175,900 jobs in Massachusetts, a decrease of 20,900 jobs…”

The question I have for Charlie “I’ll gut state discretionary spending” Baker is, since WBUR is reporting that a significant number of jobs lost were in the “education and health” fields, how is laying off more teachers, firefighters, police, and other crucial services going to help our unemployment numbers? Just, you know, askin’.

Everyone’s not favorite radio station, WRKO (really? Tom Finneran?) is having a nice little contest (found via facebook and the Phoenix’s David Bernstein) to find the best conservative and best liberal bloggers and give them a job. That last part, I can respect at least. Mmm. Pay!

I’m not interested at all in entering, but they’re asking for bloggers to enter their best original post to be judged. I thought it’d be a fun thing to remember best blog posts by local bloggers. I don’t know if Dick has yet put his pre-WP-crash archives (I don’t see a link), but I remember distinctly a post by him during the first MA-05 special election for the seat Meehan vacated, where he infuriated (it’s easy to do) Mr. Campanini of the Lowell Sun by quoting many editorials the Sun had published in which a wrong impression about the race had been made. I wish I could link to the post, it was spectacular. So spectacular, I remember watching a confrontation that said “editor” had with Dick at a Tsongas-Oganowski debate at UMass Lowell south campus. (Note to all: I might be pretty easy to piss off, but you are crazy if you go far enough to get Dick angry. Seriously, you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry!)

What posts do you remember from your favorite blogs, or even this one (links or not)?

The problem with blog archives (even when you have ‘em) is that combing through it is hard. Sometimes you can remember the approximate date, but usually not. Searching makes it easier, but still, you have to remember what category it might have used or keywords in the article, and there might be lots of other posts with those keywords. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had to spend an inordinate amount of time using the advanced features of Google to search through my own archives for a specific old post. There has just got to be a better way!

New video from the Mayor on culture and art in Lowell. The reason? “The Massachusetts Cultural Council challenged the state’s mayors to send us their videos on what arts and culture means to their cities. The clip with the most ‘thumbs up’ on this channel by October 29 wins the challenge.”

Let’s beat all those other lame cities and towns and go to the link, watch the video (it’s cute!) and click the YouTube Like button! And make the video go viral. Someone worked hard to put that together! (Trust me, good video editing is really difficult!)

Via Charley (BMG) on Facebook (heavens, do we have to source Facebook now?), this link to a Boston Herald article on Patrick’s visit to the paper’s editorial board (bold mine):

There is a kind of unflappable reasonableness about Deval Patrick. The insurgent liberal who ran a brilliant grassroots campaign four years ago is now the incumbent who’s come to understand that the “merit” and “logic” of an issue is very often not enough to push it through the legislative meat grinder.

What Deval Patrick has come to learn in his first four years on Beacon Hill is that slogans and promises inevitably give way to building coalitions and seeking compromises.

I really can’t put it much better than that description of “unflappable reasonableness” written by Peter Gelzinis. It’s that unflappable reasonableness that lead me to support him in 2006, and that I continue to support. I find it ironic that in an age where partisans overuse the tired meme that “government is too partisan” and state that the people are tired of the bickering, here we have a reasoned, smart, quiet person just simply governing, but no one notices. Certainly, not the media, who would rather the strife. And so people don’t really get to have a sense of that reasonableness, unless they attend an event and get a chance to actually hear Deval Patrick in person.

The article mentions that Patrick isn’t much in the way of tooting his own horn, an essential part of politics. (Generally, it’s avoid taking responsibility for bad things and take responsibility for the good ones.) With this Governor, you just get a guy who wants things done. He’ll take the fanfare if you offer it, but generally, just wants to see that the state is better off when he leaves it, than when he went in.

And it is. Despite the downturn not of his making, this state is poised to lead the country on several economic and social fronts. We’re in the process of ending homelessness due to his support of the Housing First initiative. We’re educating our kids in the best schools in the country. And we’re bringing back jobs faster than any but one state in the union. Folks, that’s our choice in November. To go forward with the trends started under Patrick-Murray, or go backward to the old tired Republican playbooks (you know, the ones that slashed school funding, lost us some population, and reduced our economic might).

It’s time to give credit where it’s due - and, to guard the change.

This has got to be one of the coolest ways to get your kid into engineering and science. Props.

Homemade Spacecraft from Luke Geissbuhler on Vimeo.

[Via a friend’s facebook link to Unreasonable Faith.]

EDIT: Facebook page.
EDIT II: this is in response to the article referenced by Dick Howe, and then my own post below.

It’s been unofficial for years now, and you all know it - that I’ve been hoping to see Jim Campanini fired from the Lowell Sun. He has run that paper into the ground. He has plagued its pages with completely ideological coverage (starkly demonstrated in 2007, when he suppressed the context, history, and even the rhetoric that his buds used, when the Kazanjian/Lenzi/Cox crowd was running - information crucial to the electorate and the choice they had in front of them). He consistently fails in every test of logic or presentation of facts (his reporters do just fine, when they are not overridden). I have heard horror stories about the working environment at the Sun itself. And he literally has no shred of decency whatsoever that I can see. There are no redeeming qualities I can think of that make this man qualified to be the day to day leader at the Lowell Sun. It appears, to me, that this man has managed to constantly fail upwards until he obtained the position of editor.

I am officially calling on the Sun to fire Campanini. There can be no doubt that the Sun would fare better - as a product, and financially - if he were gone. I am officially calling on all people - organizations and businesses - of good conscience to boycott advertising in the Lowell Sun. I would like to ask - do you want to be seen side by side with an article smearing a good soldier just because he had the audacity to support a political candidate that the Sun editor hates?

I am asking all decent and good folk to write to the MediaNews Group and call for the firing of Jim Campanini. I’m tired of pussyfooting around. I want a good strong local paper and he is standing in the way. You can contact the MediaNews Corp here. You should also send a letter to or call the publisher, chairman, and CFO:

MARK O’NEIL
President & Publisher 978-970-4807
moneil@mediaonene.com

KENDALL WALLACE
Chairman of The Board 978-970-4801
kwallace@lowellsun.com

JOHN HABBE
CFO 978-970-4808
jhabbe@lowellsun.com

If you have a subscription - either electronic, or the dead tree version - cancel it, and tell them why. If you visit the website daily to check news, see if you can live without, or at least frequent it less. (As someone who has no subscription and who never visits the website, I can assure you, you will breath a sigh of relief for the most part.)

I hate to do this to the great reporters that are at the Sun, or at least those who are left anyway, but enough is enough. I want to want to subscribe to my city paper. I want be able to get timely news, information, and even opinion. However, I am not willing to see innocent people smeared and ridiculed by a paper run by someone with few morals and even fewer writing skills. It is time to make it official. Boycott the Lowell Sun. At least, those of you still reading the stupid thing.

In other words, it’s the suckiest paper ever. Sorry to the reporters I like there, but that rag is sheer crap. I wouldn’t use it to line a birdcage - it’d be an insult to the bird shit.

Dick Howe outlines the disgusting, pathetic, and useless attack (in other words, employing completely made up outrage) on a veteran in order to score political points against Niki Tsongas.

Essentially, it is a made up scandal, based on the fact that a vet supporting Niki who praised her work on the GI bill is the son of famous-y (sort of) people. So, you know, he might not really have needed the GI bill to get ahead. WTF?? In what universe is it OK to attack a vet for coming home and using what he earned in combat (two wars, and a Bronze Star for valor) to make sure that his future isn’t grim? I’ll follow Dick’s lead and not even link to the ugly thing.

(Also, has the mental midget editor of the Lowell Sun looked at the cost of college lately? Frigging moron. I didn’t think it was possible for you to sink much lower, but I am big enough to admit when I am wrong.)

Go read Dick Howe’s post - it’s a lot more coherent than mine, I am just in outrage here. As should any patriotic American be.

I will ask one question however…Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?

With every general election, voters are faced with a series of ballot question. This year we have 3 of them. You should have received in the mail the booklet from the Secretary of States’ office (with Galvin’s name prominently printed on the front) Information for Voters summarizing the three proposed Initiative Petitions. The information is also available on line at the Secretary of State web site. You may also want to check out the Ballotpedia page on the Massachusetts 2010 ballot measures.

Question #1 removes taxes on purchase of alcohol and Question #3 reduces the sales tax percentage. I think Question #2 is the more interesting and complex one; the proponent of this ballot question want to repeal what is popularly known as “40B.”

Chapter 40B is a state statute, which enables local Zoning Boards of Appeals to approve affordable housing developments under flexible rules if at least 20-25% of the units have long-term affordability restrictions.

I had pretty much decided to vote no on this question but yesterday I met the individual who is the driving force of this initiative, John Belskis, chairman of the Coalition to Repeal 40B. Belskis was on the Warren Shaw show on WCAP to discuss his efforts to repeal this law. He informed me that he has been trying for 9 years to reform the law and after seeing forty bills in the State Legislature never leave committee, he decided to take this route.

There is an active group of individuals and organizations, opposing the repeal of this law, Protect Affordable Housing.

Every election cycle, I am always amazed how much money is spent on the campaign to pass or repeal a particular ballot questions. What was black and white yesterday is grey today. But we do have 5 weeks to better inform myself and try to make the right decision.

If you are looking for something cool to do tonight or tomorrow, or indeed until the show ends Oct 24th, you should come out and see the Brush’s great exhibit, Children’s Book Illustrators. I’ve peeked at the show, and it’s a lot of fun. It’s curated by local artist Will Winslow, who also painted this image for the show.

The show features award-winning illustrators Christopher Bing, David Macauly, Kelly Murphy, Matt Tavares, Chris VanAllsburg, and David Wiesner, as well as artwork from third grade students “influenced by these artists” from right here in Lowell.

As for the weekend’s events, tonight the Brush is holding a fundraiser, 6-8pm, with Christopher Bing, David Macauly, and Matt Tavares attending - a great place to meet these artists. Tickets are $10 (at the door or at www.thebrush.org/tickets. I know it’s short notice but it’s a great, affordable fundraiser event!

Tomorrow, Oct 2 from 1-5 pm, is the artist talk, book signing, and the official reception with all the artists. As I said, this is a great show and I plan to be there!