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20 Aug 2009 22:21

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U.S.: Mitt Romney pulled off health care in Massachusetts, no prob

  • And he did it without the public option. Three years ago, former Republican Massachusetts governor and likely 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney pushed health care reform through his state. It requires people to have health care, but gives help to the poor. And it’s popular – 7 in 10 really like it. It’s food for thought for sure, and a perfect arguing point for Romney. Watch him go: “You don’t have to have a public option. You don’t have to have the government getting into the insurance business to make it work.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

07 Aug 2009 16:15

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U.S.: A Kennedy and Shriver family matriarch is on her deathbed

  • She’s Ted’s sister. She’s Ahnold’s mother-in-law. 88-year-old Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the founder of the Special Olympics and a woman who’s probably had a more interesting and indirectly influential life that the rest of us, is currently in critical but stable condition in a Cape Cod, Mass. hospital. Her entire family is at her side, including California’s first family (which includes her daughter Maria). More details as we get them. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Aug 2009 21:07

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U.S.: A drag racer wrecks, injuring his cousin. Who does the cousin sue?

  • Basically, under Massachusetts law I’m trying to get compensation for my client anywhere I can.
  • Roland Hughes • Lawyer for the father of Brandon Pereira, who was involved in an accident with his cousin Timothy. Timothy Pereira was drag-racing on the wrong side of the road at 81 mph in a 30 mph zone, and hit another car at high speed, injuring both passengers of that vehicle along with Brandon. Despite the fact that Timothy is in jail facing multiple charges for causing the accident, Hughes filed a lawsuit against the people in the other vehicle. Which is just disgusting. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Jul 2009 00:36

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U.S.: Eight-months-pregnant Darlene Haynes killed for her (living) fetus

  • She had her problems, you know, but nobody deserves to go (through) what she went through.
  • Roberto Rodriguez • The father of the baby found in a horrific murder/baby-kidnapping story in Worcester, Mass. Rodriguez’ girlfriend, Darlene Haynes, was found murdered on Monday and on Tuesday, it was discovered that the fetus of the eight-months-pregnant woman was missing. After a search, the baby was found – alive – with Julie Corey, a woman who had claimed to have recently given birth. Corey and another man were arrested today. One more sad angle of this story – Haynes and Rodriguez were on the outs, and Rodriguez had recently moved from their home. Sad times all around. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Jul 2009 09:15

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U.S.: When not discussing health care, Obama jumped head-first into race

  • … the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home …
  • President Barack Obama • Discussing last week’s arrest of Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. during last night’s prime-time press conference. (BTW, in case you’re wondering – we’d quote the whole sentence, but the sentence was particularly massive, and this was the important part.) Obama’s stance on the Gates issue stands out because it may be the furthest he’s stuck his neck out on any one race issue since going into office. It was the moment – even beyond all of the health care gobbledygook – which will stand out from this press conference. Last week, his statement on role models also stood out for similar reasons. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Jul 2009 14:32

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U.S.: Cambridge police will forget about the Harvard professor arrest

  • I think both parties were wrong. I think that’s fair to say. It wasn’t Professor Gates’ best moment. and it was not the Cambridge Police Department’s best moment.
  • Cambridge Police Department Spokeswoman Kelly Downes • Regarding the drama that both the police department and Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. went through after Gates was arrested last week for disorderly conduct. While Downes says there was “probable cause” to arrest the professor, both the police department and Gates are looking to get the drama behind them. Gates’ arrest stirred up lots of criticism due to the fact that he’s black and the circumstances appeared to be racial profiling. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 3 Comments • Permalink

09 May 2009 21:50

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Politics, U.S.: How did New England become a mecca of gay marriage?

  • Clearly, attitudes about gay people have changed in New England. I mean, they must have, right? Or was the region always more accepting in general despite my personal experiences?
  • PlanetOut columnist Carter Todd • Discussing what, to him, is a bizarre evolution of the gay marriage debate. Todd grew up in New England and did not believe the region to be particularly gay-friendly nor particularly open about its sexuality, and in fact found Boston to be not gay-friendly at all. So he raised the question to his readers: Why New England? • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

09 May 2009 16:08

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U.S.: Five years of Massachusetts gay marriage, by the numbers

  • 12,167 gay marriages in Massachusetts through September 2008 – 64% of them women source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 May 2009 16:01

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U.S.: Five years later, legalized gay marriage is a success in Mass.

  • I was out of work for eight weeks, spent a week in the hospital. That was the first time I really felt thankful for the sense of the security we had, with Rich there, talking with the physicians, helping make decisions. … It really made a difference.
  • Gary Chalmers • On how, during a bout with pneumonia, being married to his partner, Richard Linnell, significantly helped him. Chalmers and Linnell were amongst the first married gay couples in Massachusetts, which legalized gay marriage in 2004 via court decision. Despite continued vocal opposition from conservative and church groups, gay marriage has strong political support and the debate has faded into the background. Now, other states have recently legalized it. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Apr 2009 09:26

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Offbeat: “Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg” mispelled

You would think to quadruple-check this lake’s name, but it was apparently misspelled on this sign. *forehead slap* source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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