I Wish I Could Say This Surprised Me...

Wow. Just... Wow.

Obama nominates ex-MBTA boss Beverly Scott to NTSB

The former head of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's Beverly Scott has been nominated by President Obama for a position with the National Transportation Safety Board.

Scott resigned her position as general manager at the MBTA in February after record-setting snowfall resulted in widespread, long-term delays and cancellations across the aging system.

Hmm. Beverly Scott. Why does that name sound familiar? Oh, that's right. I've covered her "performance" before.

Folks, let's get one thing perfectly straight. Massachusetts is 90% controlled by Democrats. That a double minority would resign from a public job means one of two things: Either she was so grossly incompetent that her complete and utter lack of ability was going to get a bunch of people killed, or she was robbing the place blind and left a trail. No one leaves the public sector voluntarily.

Especially with perks like this:

During her tenure at the MBTA, Scott spent 106 days traveling out of state while at the helm of the MBTA, taking 30 trips in 24 months.

Thirty trips in two years. 15 trips a year. More than one a month. As head of the MBTA. We can only assume that her trips were to other large cities to study how they handled emergencies, large events and crowds in their public transportation, right?

Seriously, stop laughing. It's undignified.

But she's moving up to the national level, now, thanks to our glorious excuse of a President. A woman so horrifically incompetent she was forced to resign in Massachusetts is somehow qualified to weigh in on national transportation issues. This is like someone fired from a hospital for gross incompetence getting nominated for Surgeon General. Think about this: SHe couldn't hack it (pun intended) in Massachusetts - where, I remind you, the past three Speakers of the House have gone to jail and the former governor was embezzling money.

I'll bet Barack doesn't call her "Sweetie", though.

That is all.

That is all.

Makes Sense, Now...

Ah. Now we see why Cadillac Deval declined to run for re-election...

Hidden junket funds: How Deval Patrick secretly diverted millions to off-budget accounts

Former Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration secretly diverted nearly $27 million in public money to off-budget accounts that paid for a $1.35 million trade junket tab, bloated advertising contracts, and a deal with a federally subsidized tourism venture backed by U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, a Herald investigation has found.

The maneuver to fatten the hidden “trust” 

accounts with millions from state quasi-public agencies allowed Patrick to skirt the state Legislature and evade state budget cutbacks during the recession, the Herald found.

$27 million of our tax dollars improperly transferred to Patrick's "travel" budget. He didn't have to worry about budget cuts affecting his lavish lifestyle (remember, this is "Cadillac" Deval we're talking about), because he'd been secretly diverting public funds into accounts he could tap for his own use. Because, you know, Cadillac don't fly coach...

What do I expect to happen from this revelation? Close your eyes. What do you see? That's right, a big, fat nothing. Patrick is smart enough not to have diverted any of these funds into private accounts; he merely diverted funds into a secret account that didn't have the oversight ordinary travel funds are subject to. I'd wager he might get a small fine (to be paid out of his hidden account, of course), but actual prosecution is quite doubtful.

I mean, it's not like Patrick bought a boat or anything...

That is all.

So, This Happened...

Brad_in_MA sends in a story from my old hometown...

Bomb Squad detonates old railway construction explosives

Groveland Police Chief Robert J. Kirmelewicz reports that the Massachusetts State Police Bomb Squad successfully detonated several explosives discovered in a Groveland home today.

Early this morning, a woman from a residence on Garrison Street called police at approximately 9 a.m. to report that she located a box with old dynamite inside. Groveland Police responded and confirmed the contents without touching or disturbing the box.

This was, literally, right down the street from where I used to live. My former town had a big dose of excitement last week - apparently, someone came across a box of old stuff that they thought might be explosives, so they did the prudent thing and called the local police. The locals turned to the state cops, who sent a bomb squad guy, who confirmed that the items in question were not explosives.

I really don't fault anyone up until this point. What I do have to wonder about, though, was this:

They determined the items consisted of an old railroad flare and audible warning devices that sounded when trains were approaching. While the items were not high explosives, Police decided that safely detonating the items was the best course of action.

A flare and some warning devices warranted detonation for removal? I dunno; I guess with the age of everything involved (50 - 70 years old or possibly older, from folks in the know in town), maybe they were working on the premise of "better safe than sorry."  Part of me can't help wonder if this wasn't a case of "well, we have all this shiny equipment here *anyways*, so..." I guess there are worse ways to squander tax dollars...

Although, he writes with a sly grin, they aren't *my* tax dollars any more...

That is all.

Paying the Danegeld...

I'm sorry. This is the stupidest f**king thing I think I've ever heard. Naturally, it's from MA.

Pay criminals not to commit crimes? Tito Jackson would pay violent offenders to change ways

The gunplay in City Councilor Tito Jackson’s Roxbury neighborhood has kept him up nights searching for an answer to stop the violence. He found one, he says, in Richmond, Calif.

The small San Francisco Bay Area city pays violent young adults a stipend of between $300 and $1,000 per month for up to nine months to abandon a life of crime. It’s working, he says. Crime is down in Richmond.

Jackson says he wants to see if a similar pay-to-behave program can take root on the Hub’s 300 most violent troublemakers. He’s pitching his “disruptive” plan to the City Council. Something needs to be done, he told the Herald’s Joe Dwinell, to protect city kids:

Up to $1,000 a month simply for not committing crimes. Yeah, what could POSSIBLY go wrong with the plan to REWARD hoodlums for not acting like hoodlums? Has anyone thought this through, even in the least? Do the hoods have to give the money back if they revert?

They point to the cost of incarceration and police overtime as justification for this program, claiming that the cost of paying one of these hoodlums is far less than the cost of keeping them in jail. $12K (one year at $1,000 a month) is far less than the $53K it costs to keep a person in jail, that's the logic.

Except that presumes that no one will step up to commit the crimes that these hoodlums are allegedly no longer committing. It flies in the face of human nature that Hood B will see [former] Hood A out of jail, getting a fat grand a month for not committing crimes, and think anything other than "How can I get in on that sweet deal?"

Reward criminals for temporarily refraining from committing crimes. That's what passes for "leadership" in Massachusetts, folks. I guess it's a step up - I mean, he didn't call for gun control at the same time. I'm sure all those hoodlums are committing their crimes with legally-owned firearms all from the Approved Firearms Roster have their unrestricted Class A LTCs, right?

So, what's next on the Stupid Idea Express? 

That is all.

Snowdenfraude...

Unintended consequences: Borepatch, Lissa and I are sitting back watching the absolute screaming debacle in MA re: snow unfold...

Boston-area transit system head resigns after snow delays

The head of the Boston-area public transit system resigned Wednesday amid commuter frustration over service disruptions during a spate of recent snowstorms that have pounded the region.

Beverly Scott gave no specific reason for her surprise decision to step down effective April 11, seven months before her contract with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority was to expire. She announced her resignation in a letter to John Jenkins, chairman of the board that oversees the MBTA, sent just hours after the board gave her a unanimous vote of confidence.

This is Massachusetts, where public trough hacks are typically taken out of office in chains or on a stretcher. There's more than meets the eye here. While the MBTA didn't exactly cover itself in glory here, it's also not like there's protocol for dealing with the amount of snow that has fallen. Right now, there's more snow on the ground than feel during the week-long Blizzard of '78, and it seems like every couple of days there's another storm.

For the director to just up and quit makes me wonder what else is going on - or whatever other shoe is going to drop.

(story courtesy of the BBLN)

Sorry, Boston: Two More Major Storms On the Way

New England is locked in to a weather pattern for the ages. Don’t expect it to change anytime soon.

Shovelers mourned the latest onslaught of wintry misery on Monday, as nearly 2 feet of additional snow fell in Boston since Saturday. The city has recorded its snowiest 30-day stretch in history in just 17 days, breaking the record by more than a foot. A full Gronk of snow (6 feet, 6 inches) is now in sight for Boston, and will likely be exceeded by the end of the week.

Things have gotten so bad that they're just straight out dumping snow into Boston Harbor. They've tried to avoid doing this, because of the chemicals used to treat the roads, but there's simply so much snow on the ground and coming that they cannot get rid of it fast enough. The storms have been so frequent, and the weather so cold that no melting has occurred, that it's just too much snow to do anything with except dump it in the ocean.

(story courtesy of Stretch)

I've got friends and family back in the northeast, so I am watching this with more than a touch of concern (along with a healthy dose of schadenfreude). I'm still part of a Facebook page that centers on my old town, and people I've known for years are struggling - not to mention that my folks, sister, and in-laws are all still up there and trying to dig out as best they can. I survived more than a couple hellacious winters, and I remember what it's like to just not be able to keep up.

There's a couple of larger points, though. Here Boston is, poised to host the Olympics in under a decade, and a handful of snowstorms has brought the city to its knees. Public transportation has been kneecapped, the DPW is working overtime and barely keeping above water, the system is overwhelmed and sinking.

Now imagine another half a million plus visitors added to this mess. That's approximately how many people attended the 2012 Olympics in London. Add in several thousand athletes, trainers, etc. - plus all the gear and transportation needed - and I'm glad that I'm going to be 500+ miles away from Massachusetts when this all goes down.

Massachusetts is a great place to visit... or be from.

That is all.

Government Knows Best

I'm so glad Massachusetts elected a Republican governor. I mean, another Democrat surely would have expanded the Nanny state, right?

Crippling blizzard closes highways, schools in Massachusetts

Gov. Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency and implemented a travel ban Monday as a crippling blizzard began to bring the state to a standstill and ravage the state's shorelines.

Forecasters are calling it a "potentially historic" storm that could bury communities with 2 feet or more of snow. National Grid warned that fully one-third of its 1.2 million customers could lose power.

(emphasis mine) Because government is responsible for telling you when it is and isn't safe to drive, right? I mean, telling folks that if they're out on the road they'll be ticketed and potentially arrested, why, that's nothing like an overreaching police state, right? I mean, this is public safety, right? Too many people out on the roads means the plows have a hard time clearing the road, so this is clearly a case of public safety.

Right?

I mean, it's not like the last time the State of Massachusetts declared a lockdown, they were allowing Dunkin Donuts to be open. Because it's all about safety, right? It has nothing to do with exercising petty authority over subjects or anything like that, right? I mean, capriciously allowing one business - one that is heavily trafficked by police and emergency workers - to remain open when others are forced at gunpoint to close (and if the police can confiscate your car for being on the road, the ban is literally enforced at gunpoint) is totally not tyranny.

Right?

Look, I will be the very first to admit that if you don't want to drive in the snow, don't. If you get nervous, tense up, drive irrationally, etc. don't. Call in sick. Call in scared. Make other arrangements with someone that doesn't mind driving in the snow. But for the love of everything that's good and wholesome, don't cheer on the nanny state when it forces businesses to close out of some nebulous "public safety" campaign.

I mean, think about how many lives could be saved every year if we banned driving all the time, right?

That is all.

Let Us Know How That Works...

Sweet merciful Vishnu. Stupid really should be painful.

Massachusetts town weighs nation's 1st tobacco ban

The cartons of Marlboros, cans of Skoal and packs of Swisher Sweets are hard to miss stacked near the entrance of Vincent's Country Store, but maybe not for much longer: All tobacco products could become contraband if local health officials get their way.

This sleepy central Massachusetts town of 7,700 has become an improbable battleground in America's tobacco wars. On Wednesday, the Board of Health will hear public comment on a proposed regulation that could make Westminster the first municipality in the United States to ban sales of all tobacco products within town lines.

Because, you know, this is really going to stamp out smoking in a town of 7,700 residents. Now, I'm going to go out on a limb here. The town of Westminster is all of 37 square miles, about the same size as the small city next to the town I grew up in. You can drive across town in a half-hour, if there's a lot of traffic, and you traverse the long way. So, from the very center of the town you're no more than 15 minutes away from a town that *doesn't* have its head squarely inserted in its own rectum.

Any bets whether the geniuses behind this measure support marijuana legalization?

It's an awful lot like the town that banned bottled water. It's not going to stop anything. Heck, it's not going to even slow it down. Heck, the town isn't that far from New Hampshire where there's no sales tax and cigarette taxes are lower, anyways... Folks are still going to smoke. They're still going to buy their cigarettes from somewhere, only now it won't be in that town. It'll send smokers beyond the borders, decreasing revenue. Great plan, there, Westminster.

Did you stop alcohol sales, too? Because while we can debate whether or not secondhand smoke is real, dangerous, etc., there's no question that alcohol contributes to traffic fatalities and domestic abuse. Great job picking and choosing which sin to outlaw, you sanctimonious nitwits. You see, few people smoke. LOTS more drink. By banning cigarettes, you inconvenience a small number, risking nothing. By banning alcohol, you tick off most people, which is far riskier.

And make no mistake, fans of Budweiser: the nanny state has you squarely in their sights...

That is all.

Another dispatch from...

(image courtesy of Robb Allen)

Reason 216,692 I'm Glad Left...

...is this lovely little bit of socialist agit-prop from Moscow-on-the-Fort-River, courtesy of #1 blogdaughter.

Mass. district’s new curriculum shifts balance ‘away from the individual and towards the social whole’

While many school districts slyly implement far-left social justice reforms behind closed doors, others are flying the red flag proudly.

The Amherst-Pelham Regional School District, which recently subjected middle school students to a social justice assembly that left children sobbing and traumatized, penned a 63 page document in 2008 detailing their intent to socially transform America, via your children.

Can't you just envision the teachers, sitting around in the teacher's lounge, congratulating each other over their Che T-shirts, thinking they're the most multi-culti district in the Commonwealth? I'm sure they all went to a lumberyard and cried about trees later, then retired to a trendy coffee shop, where they complained bitterly about the baristas making "a living wage", yet left no tip.

I'm sure they try their level-best to ensure that all sorts of diversity is taught in their classrooms - except diversity of thought, no doubt. I'll bet if you asked them, each one thinks - no, is certain - they are doing a Great Social Good. I wonder if anyone ever asks them how the children do compared to the national average.

Then again, who cares about education when there's social indoctrination to be had?

That is all.

I Wish This Shocked Me...

But given that it's MA, it doesn't.

Hopkinton School Bus Driver Arrested For OUI With Students On Board

A school bus driver has been charged with operating under the influence — his third offense — while driving a bus full of high school students, police say.

On Saturday, 25 Hopkinton High School cross country athletes were returning from a meet at about 10:30 p.m., when the coach on the bus called police and reported concerns that the bus driver might be intoxicated, according to a Hopkinton police statement. Police met the bus as it turned into the high school’s parking lot and let students off safely.

I honestly don't know which upsets me more: On the one hand, we have a guy tasked with driving high school kids to and from an athletic meet that decided to tie one on to the point where other adults on the bus had to call the police. That's bad. However, is it as bad as the fact that he had twice previously been found under the influence while behind the wheel and was still not only driving on a valid license but driving a school bus?

I mean, still having your driver's license is bad enough, but being eligible to drive a school bus? *TWO* previous OUI convictions isn't enough to permanently bar you from driving a school bus? Are we really that hard up for drivers that we let the worst of the worst drive?

So, how many months before he gets his fourth offense?

That is all.

A Good Soldier In The War on Women...

Life's good when you're not running for re-election, isn't it Cadillac?

Advocates livid about rape ruling on Gov. Deval Patrick's brother-in-law

Gov. Deval Patrick’s brother-in-law did not have to register as a sex offender because his hearing officer ruled that spousal rape is not considered rape in Massachusetts — a decision that has outraged victims’ advocates calling on the governor to disavow the claim and apologize.

“It’s insulting to all women,” said victims’ lawyer Wendy Murphy. “Gov. Deval Patrick knew this man was fighting to give his brother-in-law a discount for violence against women. You don’t get a discount from rape to a pat on the rear end because the victim was your wife.”

Here's the best part:

Patrick said he fired Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB) Chairwoman Saundra Edwards and put executive director Jeanne L. Holmes on leave last week in part because they pressured a hearing officer to keep the governor’s brother-in-law, Bernard Sigh, on the registry. The hearing officer, Attilio “A.J.” Paglia, refused, quit and filed a lawsuit against the state in 2008.

Got that? The Sex Offender Registry board chair and executive director were s**t-canned by Patrick because they wouldn't take his brother-in-law off the sex offender registry. IMAGINE if this had been a Republican governor. ***IMAGINE*** if it had been Rick Perry or Sarah Palin who did this...

No, wait, I'm sorry, that's not the best part:

Sigh was convicted in California in 1993 of raping his wife, the governor’s sister, then served four months in jail and was put on five years’ probation.

{emphasis mine} This wasn't Patrick's wife's brother, where he might not know the victim all that well. The victim was Patrick's own sister. I'm sorry, folks, that's a new level of scummy. Deval Patrick, the progressive governor of Massachusetts and one of the "rising stars" in the Democratic party, fired one person (a woman, no less) and put another (also a woman) on leave because they WOULDN'T take the man who raped the governor's own sister off the sex offender registry.

Now, I ask you... Where, exactly, is Massachusetts's Senator Warren on all this? This champion of the little person, defender of the defenseless, and champion of the downtrodden is eerily silent on the governor's actions. It's pretty telling, especially since she rode into office on the stupid comments about rape uttered by SC Rep. Todd Akin's. Yet she has nothing to say about the governor of the state she represents actively working to get a rapist OFF the sex offender list.

Note to feminists: THIS is what a war on women looks like, not refusing to pay for abortion-on-demand...

That is all.

Gee, Doesn't this Sound Familiar?

More great news from the land I escaped...

Boston Puts Brakes On Haystack Parking App

A new app that allows people to find parking spaces in Boston is being shut down in response to a vote by the city council.

A new ordinance outlaws services that allow people to sell or save public parking spaces.

Got that? The app helped people find parking spaces, so what was the response from Boston? BAN IT. Smell that? It smells like Massachusetts. It gets better, though:

“They are dealing in hypotheticals. We’ve had no reported issues. We’ve heard this rhetoric, ‘There’s going to be blood in the streets,’ and that hasn’t happened. We’ve had over 1,000 successful transactions, and we haven’t seen any of that.”

Ah, yes, blood in the streets. We've never heard that prediction before. Ever. And even if we had, it certainly came true, right?

It's pretty interesting, really. Parking in Boston has a long, storied history of defying the powers-that-be in MA in that the market rules. "Saving" spaces, parking spaces near Fenway being sold for $50 - $100, and now this app. It's rather humorous that the Boston City Council felt so strongly about Boston drivers being able to pay money to get a parking spot that they declared it illegal.

I mean, go figure. Parking sucks ass. Folks have figured out that they can make a buck "selling" their space through this app. Obviously there's a market for it, as the app works. Naturally, this being the Volksrepublik of Massachusetts, the response from the city of Boston was to... ban the app. Because in MA, whatever isn't mandatory is prohibited.

Blood in the streets over parking spaces. Glad to see that little chestnut hasn't gone away despite being completely unproven...

That is all.

Lovely...

Stay classy, MA...

Cops: Woman found drunk, asleep, with two kids in the car

An East Wareham woman was found drunk and asleep at the wheel with her engine running, her headlights on, and two kids asleep in the back seat, Carver police said.

Around 9:10 Saturday night, Carver police were called to Tremont Street where they said the woman, identified as Jennifer Bangs, 40, of east Wareham, had been seen driving her 2002 Mercury Sable in and out of a residential driveway in Carver.

If you are so drunk that you can't negotiate a driveway, maybe it's time to admit you have a problem. What's infuriating is that this woman thought nothing of drinking to the point of passing out behind the wheel - with her kids in the car. She got so stinking drunk that she lost consciousness with the engine running, while her kids were still in the car.

Mother of the year right there, folks.

I don't understand that mentality, I really don't. My kids are the most important thing in the world to me. The idea that I would deliberately put them in unnecessary danger is so foreign to me. I'm also trying to figure out what happened - I'm sure she didn't take the kids to a bar, and I would like to think that a restaurant wouldn't serve a woman with two kids in tow enough alcohol to make her pass out in her car.

In any case, it will be interesting to see how light a slap on the wrist she gets - this is MA, after all...

That is all.

Tenacious R

Brad_in_MA, who is going to give me grief for posting this but not e-mailing him back (sorry!), sends in this interesting news out of MA.

GOP challenger Tisei leading Tierney in new House race poll

Republican challenger Richard Tisei leads incumbent John Tierney by five points in a newly released poll on the heated 6th district race — a jump from two months ago when the two were in a dead heat.

The poll, conducted by the Emerson College Polling Society, shows the former state Senate minority leader holding a 45 to 40 percent edge over Tierney, a Salem Democrat who is also facing a primary challenge.

This ought to scare the living bejeezus out of the Democrats. Now, granted, Tierney is immensely unpopular - remember, this is the guy whose wife was laundering money for her brother out of their home and his defense was he didn't know anything about it...Tierney beat Tisei in 2012 - by a single point. He was battling an uphill fight, but in the end pulled out a squeaker.

Of course, that was before the ever-popular Obamacare came on the scene. Tierney has been a reliable cog in the rubber-stamp Dem machine, nodding his bobblehead at anything the left rolls down the pike. And why not? The man got re-elected after his wife pled guilty to felony tax evasion - and sentenced to 30 days. Tierney probably figured that he was bulletproof after winning in 2012.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I'm fairly confident that the Globe will manage to prop Tierney back up and see him eke out another win. Something tells me that no one in the media or on the left (but I repeat myself) wants to see a gay Republican win in Massachusetts, especially as the left fights to hold onto their slim majority in the Senate. That they have to even think about a seat in MASSACHUSETTS gives me a glimmer of hope in November.

If Tierney (who, BTW, was my congresscritter when I lived in MA) loses, I will risk a gout attack and crack open a frosty one...

That is all.

Reason #54,217 I'm Glad I Left...

I'm glad to see the state of Massachusetts has done nothing to stem the absolute hemorrhage of taxpayer dollars since I fled...

Trucks Getting Police Escorts To Winthrop Beach

It is 10:30 in the morning and police from multiple departments are shutting down Bell Circle in Revere. It is not a motorcade for a visiting dignitary but rather dozens and dozens of huge trucks filled with sand.

The trucks are being escorted from Saugus through Revere and eventually onto narrow Winthrop roads where they dump tons of sand on Winthrop beach. It is all part of $21.5 million project to rebuild a mile and half of beach which has been decimated by decades of winter storms. But viewers want to know why so many police cruisers are needed.

$2.6 million just for the police details. Not for the sand being used as fill. Not for the trucks to haul the sand. Not for the truck drivers driving the trucks that haul the sand. But $2.6 million to pay for a police escort - lights and sirens and all - to escort dump trucks to dump sand onto a beach. The project itself is $21 million. That means the police detail alone is more than a tenth of the cost.

Now, several things jump out immediately. First off, watching the video, why the bloody hell do the cruisers have lights and sirens going? I would have understood if if the trucks were running a red light, but just driving along? Secondly, look at the video in the linked story. There's a section at the end of the video where you see the 18-wheelers turning onto a road. A deserted road. They need $2.6 million for a police detail for that?

And lastly, they're friggin' dumping sand on a beach to help stave off erosion from, and I quote, "decades of winter storms." Why the bloody hell didn't they do this project three months ago before the start of beach weather and traffic??? If there's one thing I know, it's that a beach town in New England is deeeeeserted all but June, July, and August. Why the hell not dump the sand in late March?

Or would that not have bought as much support as $2.6 million in police overtime will buy in the upcoming elections?

That is all.

Smells Like Massachusetts...

People think I'm crazy for riding a motorcycle on the DC Beltway. I will remind them of stories like this one as to where I came from...

I-Team Source: Witnesses Saw MBTA Bus Driver On Phone Before Mass Pike Overpass Crash

The MBTA driver that crashed into a guardrail over the Massachusetts Turnpike in Newton, has been charged with obstruction of justice.

The driver, identified as Shanna Shaw, is expected to be arraigned in Newton District Court on May 27. MBTA Transit Police have also cited Shaw for driving to endanger, speeding and impeded operation.

She was on the phone and rummaging through her purse while she was supposed to be driving a municipal bus. Given that we've recently seen an MBTA driver fired for texting his girlfriend when he was supposed to be driving the train, you'd think that city employees would be a bit more careful.

But then again, being a union thug means never having to learn from past mistakes...

This one, though, is a big one. Eight people were injured. A bus was left dangling over I-90 (the Mass Pike). You want to hear the best part?

The case remains sealed and there have been no citations issued yet in the investigation.

Right. Because if I had a single-car crash that left the Dodge Earthf**ker dangling over a major highway, the cops wouldn't charge me with anything, right? It's pretty amazing just how brazen this is - OBVIOUSLY the driver did something wrong. Buses don't just jump curbs on overpasses because they feel like it.

And yet this person is going to get away with gross negligence, because union - that's the Massachusetts way!

That is all.

Haven't Done One Of These In A While...

Oh, Massachusetts. You never fail to disappoint...

Mass. woman arrested on 7th DUI charge

A Massachusetts woman has been arrested on a seventh drunk driving charge, accused of handing over her liquor store receipt instead of her license.

Sixty-year-old Brenda Drinkwater was pulled over by Arlington Police while driving on the wrong side of the road.

When asked for her license, Drinkwater allegedly gave a credit card and receipt for a bottle of vodka.

Yep. Seventh charge. Now, I suppose, perhaps she was found innocent all other six times. Maybe she just has really bad luck and only gets pulled over when she appears to have been drinking, but has been exonerated on six other occasions.

Given that she handed over a receipt for the bottle she'd been drinking out of when pulled over, I suspect it's far more likely this was her seventh time getting arrested for it. I would be willing to wager that she has simply fallen through the cracks in the justice system like so many others have in MA.

And it will continue until she kills someone...

That is all.

I'll Take "Things That Don't Surprise Me" for $500, Alex...

Brad_in_MA sends in another story out of my former state that completely does not surprise me...

Mass. man charged with 6th OUI due in court

A Massachusetts man charged with drunk driving for the sixth time will face a judge Monday.

John Sweezey of Pembroke will appear in court Monday for an arraignment.

You know how I know this story is false? Easy. In Massachusetts, after the fifth OUI offense, you lose your license to drive permanently. Therefore, this man did not have a valid permit, so he could not possibly have been driving that car.

That's how they think gun control works, so...

I know MA isn't the only place, just the most visible for me at least. I do not understand why we give so many chances to drunk drivers, I really don't. They get four chances before the license to drive - which is a privilege, remember - gets revoked for good. Four chances to kill, injury and maim before they finally pull your ticket for good - and people still drive despite that, anyways.

Funny how they're not constantly calling for "common sense car control" after these incidents...

That is all.

Reasons I Left MA, Part ???

Joseph in IL has been scanning MA papers looking for news from my old state. He found this wonderful story...

Doughnut shop in Mass. YMCA won't sell doughnuts

QUINCY, Mass. (AP) — A doughnut shop chain won't be selling doughnuts at a new Massachusetts location.

Quincy's licensing board this week approved a plan for Honey Dew Donuts to open a shop inside the city's new $30 million YMCA.

Yes. The donut shop that's going into the local Y isn't going to be allowed to sell donuts. That makes perfect sense - in Massachusetts maybe. Why on earth did they approve a Honey Dew Donuts if they weren't going to allow them to sell the food product that's in their damn name??? (Note for clarification: The YMCA isn't going to allow the donut shop to sell donuts, not the licensing board).

And of course, in the ultimate display of style over substance, there are other items on the Honey Dew menu that are perfectly fine to sell - but are higher in calories and fat than some of the donuts. Great planning there, Quincy YMCA! Donuts Bad! Muffins Good! The real question I'd like to know is if the YMCA told Honey Dew they couldn't sell donuts before or after Honey Dew went through the permitting process...

Ah, Massachusetts - you continue to provide me with blogfodder!

That is all.

Oh, This Is Gonna Be GOOOOOOD...

#1 Blogdaughter sends in another story illustrating why I'm glad to be from Massachusetts, rather than in Massachusetts. This is going to get ugly, and it's going to get ugly for the enemies of freedom.

Incoming Boston mayor, police clash over AR-15 proposal

Boston police are clashing with the city's incoming mayor over a proposal to arm some officers with AR-15 rifles.

Mayor-elect Martin Walsh came out against the plan over the weekend. The Boston Police Department had been pushing for a limited number of officers to carry the high-powered rifles, in light of recent mass shootings as well as the Boston Marathon bombing earlier this year.

Please, please, PLEASE, Mayor Walsh, please pick this hill to die on. Please make this a rock-solid cornerstone of your administration, that Boston PD not be allowed to carry AR-15 style rifles. Please, make the stance that the police are no longer special, protected classes. Please. I beg you. AR-15 style rifles are so dangerous that not even police should have them, yes. So are magazines with capacities of more than 10 rounds, now that you're thinking about it...

You see, I want law enforcement on board with the forces for freedom. For too long, they've been getting exemptions from the onerous gun laws passed, from being allowed access to new machine guns to carrying magazines in excess of 10 rounds during the Clinton ban, to using AR-15 pattern rifles when many want to ban them completely. It's time that being a law enforcement officer NOT exempt one from the laws that govern us all.

Because once the rank-and-file start feeling the effects of the various gun control efforts, it won't take long for all those FOP endorsements to dry up...

That is all.

What I Left Behind, Part III

Formynder sends in another instance of "Why Jay is glad he left MA"...

Fingerprint ID urged for all new guns sold in the state

BOSTON — In what is the latest wrinkle in gun control controversies expected to emerge among three Democrats running for attorney general, former state Sen. Warren E. Tolman has called for use of fingerprint technology on all newly manufactured guns sold in the state, as a way of preventing use of stolen guns by criminals.

Mr. Tolman is facing Maura Healey, a former state prosecutor and special assistant district attorney in Middlesex County with extensive experience with gun crime; and state Rep. Harold P. Naughton, D-Clinton, who, as chairman of the House Public Safety Committee, is drafting a broad new gun control measure expected to be unveiled next month.

Ah, yes. Massachusetts politicians doing what they do best: Proposing bulls**t legislation that won't do a damned thing to ameliorate the crime problem but will hurt the law-abiding. All that requiring "smart gun" technology in MA is going to do is to stop all new gun sales in the state of Massachusetts. No major manufacturer offers a firearm with fingerprint technology, and they're not going to wave a magic wand to make them available next year.

This isn't the worst part of the article. The very next line is:

Fingerprint-locked guns, also called smart guns, are already available.

No. No. No. They are NOT available. They are science-freakin'-fiction. They exist only in Hollywood. Just because you saw James Bond use one doesn't mean that it actually exists. So-called "smart guns" do not exist; they have never been able to make one that works; and it is highly unlikely that they ever will exist in any large number.

I'll give Tolman the benefit of the doubt here. I'm willing to believe that he honestly thinks that this will help, and he's not just a raging fascist hell-bent on depriving all citizens of Massachusetts from exercising their Second Amendment rights. Of course, that means he's an intellectual lightweight incapable of critical thinking or even the good sense to spend ten minutes on Google.

Every day I am more and more glad that I escaped...

That is all.