Posted on 12/11/2011 2:27:44 AM PST by raccoonradio
Howie thread for the week starting with his Sunday Boston Herald column, "Hasta la Vista, Freeloaders!"
"Good riddance. Better late than never. How could we miss them when they wouldn’t go away? I’d have preferred a final Armaggedon-like confrontation featuring a 21st century reincarnation of the Tactical Patrol Force swinging billy clubs and letting loose the German shepherds on the filthy, drug-addled, obscenity-spewing trust-funders...."
Sunday column ping
Hasta la vista freeloaders!
By Howie Carr | Sunday, December 11, 2011 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Columnists
Photo
Photo by Christopher Evans
Good riddance. Better late than never. How could we miss them when they wouldn’t go away? I’d have preferred a final Armaggedon-like confrontation featuring a 21st century reincarnation of the Tactical Patrol Force swinging billy clubs and letting loose the German shepherds on the filthy, drug-addled, obscenity-spewing trust-funders.
But you can’t always get what you want.
The good news is, the hippies are back in their moms’ basements, nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of beer-bongs dance in their heads. Is Starbucks hiring?
But even after finally busting up their squalid encampment yesterday, Mumbles was still kowtowing to the layabouts. He thanked them for their “restraint”?
What restraint? They did whatever they damn well pleased for more than two months. They thumbed their noses at the laws the rest of us have to obey. The hippies got more free passes than illegal aliens — well, almost as many anyway.
When the word came down late last week that the judge had reversed herself and would allow the cops to break up the local Obamaville, some of the hardcore freaks started yelling, “Where’s the justice?”
Children, justice was the last thing you wanted. Justice would have been having to play by the same rules as, say, the Tea Party. You know, having to post a bond, paying for electricity and getting permits for the silly temper tantrums that you called marches.
You didn’t want justice, you wanted a free ride, and that’s what you got. The rest of us are left to deal with a $1 million bill for police overtime, and the nearby merchants with a ruined fourth quarter.
We’ll miss the tents with the four-letter words painted on them, and the Palestinian Authority flags, and the crack dealers, and the endless police calls to break up drunken fights. Of course at least half of the “occupiers” scattered yesterday are indigenous South Station bums. They’ll drift back, and will soon be running their old scams on the commuters instead of on the mama’s boys and assorted losers.
I’m sure the hippies will be bragging forever about how they’ve started a “national dialogue.” They have, but it’s not the one they imagined. What people are talking about is how astonishingly ignorant these brats are. Here, they marched to Burger King, but not to Barney Frank’s office. Who had more to do with the collapse of this economy — the Whopper or Mr. Hot Bottom?
But Barney’s a liberal Democrat. Nothing to see here folks, let’s defecate in the sinks at South Station and then move along to BOA Chairman Brian Moynihan’s office.
In the end, at 5 a.m. yesterday morning, the hippies learned their final lesson, the lesson of last call.
You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1387548
From the news reports, the only thing the judge said wasn't protected by the First Amendment was the tent aspect, not the sanitation or public safety or interference with commerce. I'd love to see a test case claiming that requirements for permits, bonds, etc. are unconstitutional infringements. I'd also love to see the merchants affected sue the City, but they're probably not in a position to hire lawyers.
From what I've heard, the question of a permit wasn't mentioned in the court papers. Maybe the City couldn't bring it up -- there was a guy interviewed on Fox 25 who said they went for a permit but were told they didn't need one(!). OK, the guy seemed to be pretty "mellowed out," so maybe he's not the most reliable witness, but has any intrepid investigative reporter pursued this?
FR is familiar with the Craig's List want ad for protesters for OWS in NYC at $350-$650 a week -- is there a similar arrangement for Boston?
So many questions -- and all that seems to be reported is how cute, how idealistic, how determined (in a cute way) these idiots are.
OWS is hiring? Jeez, I guess the economy is great if you need to put an ad on Craig’s List for protesters. I do havea question for the OWSers, do you have a 401(k) plan, health insurance, overtime and a stock option for your employees?
That's funny, I don't care who you are.
“Make $350-650 a week “protesting” on Wall Street"
Searching for it, I found a couple of other of interest:
Here's the thread on a Seattle ad:
Want to Occupy an Activist Occupation!? (Seattle) [Craigslist job listing]
Here's an ad for videograpers:
And now... the latest Occupy Wall Street Craigslist ads
Craig's List also helps those who seek, um, non-financial rewards:
How To Occupy HER Wall Street: A Guide To Getting Laid By The 99%
Except for the NYC one, I missed them when they were posted. There may be others, both on FR and -- especially -- on Craig's List!
You forgot to answer my other question: do they give out benefits like a 401(k), medical insurance, and overtme?
You forgot to answer my other question: do they give out benefits like a 401(k), medical insurance, and overtme?
LOL! The links list the benefits!
Wed column ping
Hey, Governor, I’m still available!
By Howie Carr | Wednesday, December 14, 2011 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Columnists
As you might expect, I’m deeply disappointed to have been passed over for the $150,000-a-year chairmanship of the Mass. Gambling — er, Gaming Commission.
It’s understandable that Gov. Deval Patrick wanted to move quickly — after all, he had a big fundraiser last night, and he wanted to preserve the, ahem, appearance of propriety.
And I am still available to fill one of the four $112,500-a-year associate slots (get it?) on the commission.
Because let’s face it, the commission still needs a real leader. This guy Stephen Crosby — Deval snatched him off the payroll patriot waiver wire. He is a sheep in sheep’s clothing. He’s worked for every local statesman from Kevin White to Jane Swift, and the next time you’re driving through the Big Dig and a big drop of dirty water splashes on your car from a leaking ceiling, thank Crosby.
Chip off the old block? Crosby is a sliver off the old chip.
And I don’t just say this because in 2002 this lifetime layabout said: “The Howie Carrs of the world in my view should go to jail.”
Did I mention that he also used to raise money for the Dukakis for President Committee?
Poor L. Scott Harshbarger. The chairman’s job was his to lose, and he lost it, thanks to Mikey McLaughlin. You lie down with dogs, Luther. ...
But that’s OK, I’m warming up in the bullpen. I was born to be a gaming commissioner.
As a matter of fact, the first motion I plan to make as a member of the commission is to move the location of our meetings — to a swimming pool.
That way, we can have full and frank discussions about the rackets, I mean, the gaming industry, without worrying about our words being surreptitiously recorded by the G-men.
The second motion will be to take all the minutes of the meetings in pencil. Not that there will be a lot of minutes. You know the old saying: Never write when you can speak, never speak when you can nod, and never nod when you can wink.
I do have a few minor requests. I’d like my new State House office debugged once a month. Do I really need to explain why?
Another thing: I’ll be needing two aides, to handle pick-ups, if you know what I mean. Sorry, no cops need apply. As Sonny McDonough used to say, “I hate it when a cop hands me $300. I never know if he’s stolen $200 from me or $700.”
And don’t worry, Steve, if I’m on the commission with you, I’ll never mention your silly little business, Smart Routes.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1388304
Who’s Mikey McLaughlin? And what’s the story there?
Hard-line Indonesian police shave punkers' mohawks
I doubt BPD has an exchange program, for all the "diversity" and "welcoming" Mumbles professes.
Fri column ping
Don’t Crash your own party, Tim Murray
By Howie Carr | Friday, December 16, 2011 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Columnists
Photo
Photo by Patrick Whittemore
Come clean, Crash.
That’s what they now call Lt. Gov. Tim Murray — Crash. He used to be the Pillsbury Dough Boy, for his girth, or Tiny Tim, for his height, or Lefty, for the fact that when future felon Sal DiMasi was swearing him in four years ago and told Murray to raise his right hand, up went the southpaw.
Bet Murray would gladly take any of those monikers now over Crash.
Murray’s auto accident is the great unsolved State House mystery of 2011. And Crash seems determined to make it last well into 2012. How many festive green-clad hacks will show up at the St. Patrick’s Day breakfast carrying a hubcap?
Crash crashed his Crown Vic last month on I-190 in Sterling about 5:20 a.m. He has said he’s an “early riser,” that he was checking out storm damage, that he was on the prowl for a Herald (thanks Crash!) and a cup of coffee. He lives in Worcester, which means he had miles to go before he slept.
Ever since, the state police have been stonewalling on releasing the black-box data, which would such pertinent questions as: How fast was Crash going?
The staties say it is an “unnecessary step.”
In other words, nothing to see here, folks. Move along.
OK, so if it’s unnecessary and wouldn’t prove wrongdoing, why not release the data and exonerate Crash once and for all, the way the Breathalyzer test cleared him of OUI?
Crash’s crashed car remains at MSP headquarters in Framingham, and is “intact ... and will remain so,” according to the flack. It damn well better remain intact, in case this case heads to court and a Superior Court judge orders release of the “unnecessary” records.
More likely, though, the attorney general, Marsha Coakley, will get involved.
So the recurring question is, why not release them now? Save everybody a lot of time and money. My understanding is that downloading the data would take maybe five or 10 minutes.
The whole cover-up is Mickey Mouse ... kind of like the lieutenant governor himself, come to think of it.
Calls were placed to Crash’s flack, asking if he wanted to take another swing at clearing up the mystery. The calls were not returned. It’s perplexing, his reluctance to answer questions. Maybe, if he came clean, he’d be more popular than ever, at least among the future delegates he’ll be needing at the 2014 Democratic state convention when — or is it “if” now? — he runs for governor.
Maybe the Globe would even write an editorial saluting Crash’s courage.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1388829
Yesterday, Howie asked who in Ohio spells “labor” with a “u”. (Chrissy Hynde’s restaurant topic). I was going to call in to remind him of Dennis the Menace’s wife, but she probably doesn’t spend much time in Ohio.
ha—yes some Americans use the British spelling to be pretentious. Maybe it comes from having a baby with Ray
Davies of the Kinks, then marrying Jim Kerr of Simple
Minds and having a daughter—the fact the men were both
British. Forget where I read it but of the former someone
asked “is that baby half a Kink and half a Pretender?”
Wikipedia:
>>Restaurant venture
Hynde opened The VegiTerranean, a vegan restaurant in Akron, Ohio in November 2007. The restaurant served fusion Italian-Mediterranean food by head chef James Scot Jones. Prior to the restaurant’s soft opening, on September 15, 2007, Hynde performed three songs at the restaurant with an acoustic guitarist, Adam Seymour, a former lead guitarist of The Pretenders. The restaurant was voted among the top five vegan restaurants in the U.S. It closed on October 2, 2011, due to the economic climate, according to Hynde.
no death pool—Hitchins wasn’t in last one
special Sat column ping
Hacks behaving badly? Shocking!
By Howie Carr | Saturday, December 17, 2011 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Columnists
Photo
Just another day in the hackerama ... with so many scandals that it’s hard to keep them all straight.
A 27-year state cop was arrested after allegedly almost running down a Lynn cop in his unmarked police vehicle. According to the police report, the cop saw a 23-year-old woman performing an “unnatural act” on the statie.
First time I heard this story, I was confused. I thought it was an old story. But then I realized I was getting it confused with a Boston firefighter being charged with threatening a Boston police officer.
Or maybe I was getting it mixed up with the other statie in Essex County, Capt. Thomas McCarthy, who last month allegedly refused to get out of his car when cops smelled beer on his breath. He said, “You’ve got to be kidding me,” and made a run for it down Route 1. Even though they found beer cans in his car, the Saugus cops didn’t give him a Breathalyzer test. Capt. McCarthy made $213,474 last year.
But no, this was a different state cop behind the eight ball. This one’s name was Efrain Montanez. He made $117,866 last year.
Next, I heard that a Boston Municipal Court officer would be arraigned on charges of sexual misconduct with female prisoners. The guy’s name was Michael Rubino, 35, and they had to move the case to Woburn District Court from the BMC because he “has a relative in court system there.” Rubino made $52,317 last year.
You don’t say!
Then I heard about another judicial embarrassment this week. It seems that John S. Ferrara, a Springfield lawyer, is up for a Superior Court judgeship. Here’s something from Ferrara’s website: “John S. Ferrara has been defending drinking drivers in Massachusetts for over 25 years.” Notice: not drunken drivers, but drinking drivers. “If you have been charged with OUI in Western Massachusetts, contact John S. Ferrara.”
Sounds like he knows a lot about drunken drivers, er drinking drivers.
So Ferrara goes to his confirmation hearing, and Governor’s Councilor Mary-Ellen Manning asks him if he’s ever committed any crimes. He hems and haws and then admits ... he was convicted of drunken driving in 1973. Oh, yeah, and in 1980 he was charged with driving without a license.
A prediction: Despite all the recent ink about drunk-driving judges and the wrist slaps they hand out to their fellow tosspots, John Ferrara will be confirmed as a judge.
This state needs an enema.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1389071
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