Free Republic

Taxpayers who have already suffered through waste, fraud, delays and even a tragic accident from the budget-busting Big Dig are now getting a new kick in the pants: a bill as high as $333 million that has even Gov. Deval Patrick "fed up." In financial documents to be released today, the Patrick administration will formally disclose that costs have ballooned to at least $14.798 billion and may increase by another $160 million, pending the outcome of negotiations with contractors, sources confirmed. The cost correction comes as Patrick tries to exert more control over the project and the Turnpike Authority, whose...

--But popularity high despite his missteps-- Governor Deval Patrick remains a highly popular figure in Massachusetts, but his constituents are concerned about his performance as the state's new chief executive after several stumbles during his first months in office, according to a Boston Globe poll. Sixty-three percent of the 500 adults surveyed last week view the new Democratic governor favorably, which is comparable to his standing just before his landslide victory in November, when he received a 60 percent favorable rating in a Globe poll. But despite Patrick's continued popularity, only 48 percent approved of the way he is handling...

MEDFORD -- Nine months after Lawrence H. Summers left the presidency of Harvard University, his very name is enough to stir controversy at nearby Tufts University, where he spoke last night about "rethinking undergraduate education." Some professors boycotted his appearance, arguing that the former leader -- who has earned condemnation in past years for comments on women in science and for his dealings with African-American professors -- doesn't represent Tufts's values. While the auditorium was only about 80 percent full, a polite audience of mostly students gave Summers a friendly reception and kept questions to the subject of his talk,...

The moonbats are in mourning. In meltdown. In the muck, the mire. De-mooned. De-pressed. De-swooned. Ma-rooned. Pass the Xanax, please! What happened to Divine Deval, man of hope, the man who was to restore holier-than-thou progressives - dare I say liberals - to disinfect the Corner Office after 16 years of nasty, greedy, let-them-eat-cake-crumbs-and-like-it Republicans? "It started with the (inaugural) parties," says The Uber Moonbat of Roslindale, Erik Gehring. I first met him last fall, on his Trek 700 bike, Centre Street, Jamaica Plain, the belly of the moonbat beast by the Blissful Monkey Yoga Studio, the Wonder Spice Cafe,...

Not even one for the Gipper? The new icon of Massachusetts Democrats has rebuffed efforts to commemorate a day for Ronald Reagan, the last Republican to win the Commonwealth in a presidential election. And Reaganites are not happy. Governor Deval Patrick decided not to sign a proclamation recognizing Feb. 6 as "Ronald Reagan Day." A month into his term as governor, snubbing the Gipper's birthday has left Patrick open to partisan sniping. A prominent conservative said Democratic New York Governor Eliot Spitzer declared the holiday.

Bay State Republicans are circling like vultures around a politically weakened John Kerry, vowing to field a strong challenger that may be able to capitalize on his fractured image and snatch his coveted U.S. Senate seat. One potential GOP challenger, state Sen. Scott Brown, said last night that he "would consider" a run against Kerry in 2008 and that the senator is ripe for the picking. "I think he'll get a challenge this time. I don't think he'll get a free ride," Brown (R-Wrentham) said. "His handling of himself during this Iraq situation has been outrageous. He needs to be...

YOU CAN ALWAYS tell when a public figure has written an indefensible book: when he refuses to debate it in the court of public opinion. And you can always tell when he's a hypocrite to boot: when he says he wrote a book in order to stimulate a debate, and then he refuses to participate in any such debate. I'm talking about former president Jimmy Carter and his new book "Palestine Peace Not Apartheid." Carter's book has been condemned as "moronic" (Slate), "anti-historical" (The Washington Post), "laughable" (San Francisco Chronicle), and riddled with errors and bias in reviews across the...

WRKO Radio talk show host John DePetro has been fired after he made a derogatory remark Thursday about the sexual orientation and the weight of Green-Rainbow party gubernatorial candidate Grace Ross. George Regan, a spokesman Entercom Communications, the owner of WRKO, said this morning that DePetro had been let go. A full statement from the company would be released shortly, Regan said. DePetro apologized on the air Thursday after making the remark about Ross, who describes herself on her campaign website as "a white lesbian living in Worcester" and life-long activist for gay/lesbian civil rights and other "progressive causes." DePetro...

South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon has been unanimously chosen to lead the United Nations for the next five years and accepted the position saying the world body needs to promise less and deliver more. The 62-year-old career diplomat will take over from Ghanaian chief Kofi Annan in January and will becomes the world body's eighth secretary general and the first Asian UN chief since U Thant of Burma led the organisation from 1961 to 1971. "I am deeply honoured to become the second Asian to lead the organisation," Ban told the General Assembly after his nomination Friday. "The true...

Democrat Deval Patrick yesterday accused Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey of planting a story about his rapist brother-in-law - an allegation hotly refuted by the lieutenant governor in an escalating war of words between the campaigns. Patrick angrily responded yesterday to a Herald report that state officials have ordered Patrick’s brother-in-law, Bernard Sigh, to register as a sex offender, accusing Healey of “dirty politics.” “This is the politics of Kerry Healey,” Patrick said angrily at a Cambridge press conference. “It disgusts me and it must be stopped.” Sigh, 54, is married to Patrick’s sister and was convicted of raping her in...

Speculation in the blogs that Fidel has croaked. From The Guardian...click the link.

Prosecute The New York Times and censure Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.)? I have a better idea: Sit back and watch them self-destruct. Murtha and The New York Times have done more to aid the fight for Republicans to retain their House and Senate majorities in the last couple of days than Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman could possibly do all year. But no one, not even the guys who are so devoted to the GOP that they wear elephants on their ties, should be cheering. What has been lost by Murtha’s rantings and the Times’ irresponsibility can never be...

--House panel backs budget reductions-- WASHINGTON -- House Republicans yesterday revived their efforts to slash funding for public broadcasting, as a key committee approved a $115 million reduction in the budget for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that could force the elimination of some popular PBS and NPR programs. On a party-line vote, the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees health and education funding approved the cut to the budget for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which distributes money to the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio. It would reduce the corporation's budget by 23 percent next year, to $380...

--But he earns a spot on primary ballot-- HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- New York Republican delegates designated John Faso yesterday as their candidate for governor, but the race that has divided party leaders will go to a September primary because former Massachusetts governor William F. Weld landed enough support to earn a spot on the ballot. Faso received 61.2 percent of the weighted vote to become the party's state convention designee after attempts to avoid a primary and unite the ticket failed. The talks, which included outgoing Governor George Pataki, lasted into early yesterday, state Republican leaders said. Former Massachusetts governor...

Tense calm prevailed in the capital of East Timor as Australian troops took control of security to stop a bloodbath between the Timorese military and rebel soldiers. After a day that saw at least 15 people killed as houses were torched and unarmed men gunned down, Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta said Friday that his own Timorese forces were being ordered back to their barracks. He said Australian troops that landed on Thursday would take over security in Dili, the capital of East Timor -- which has been independent only since 2002. "Now the Australian troops are the ones holding the...

Don't try this at home--not if you want to have a working computer. Search for "Free Screensavers," we're told, and 64% of the sites you'll find are the kinds that can gum up your machine with spyware or a computer virus. A team of researchers, let by Ben Edelman and Hannah Rosenbaum of a British firm called Site Advisor, tried entering 1,394 popular search terms into the web's most popular search engines--Google, Yahoo!, MSN, AOL and Ask.com. They came up with a chart you may find both amusing and sobering. Even if you search for something as harmless as "I...

WASHINGTON -- Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska yesterday denied cutting a special deal with Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts to block a proposed wind farm off Cape Cod. Stevens cast his opposition to the Cape Wind proposal as an issue of states' rights. In a speech on the Senate floor, Stevens said Kennedy went along with his proposal to hand Governor Mitt Romney, a Cape Wind opponent, the power to veto the project. Environmental groups have accused Kennedy of reaching a backroom deal with Stevens to block Cape Wind, but Stevens said he wants all states to have the...

A judge has begun delivering the verdict in the trial of ex-deputy president Jacob Zuma as supporters rallied outside the court to hear whether the man they see as South Africa's next president will be found guilty of rape. Once the frontrunner to succeed President Thabo Mbeki, Zuma is accused of raping an HIV-positive woman at his Johannesburg home six months ago, a charge he denies, testifying that he had unprotected, consensual sex with the woman. AFP photo A guilty verdict could see Zuma spend between five and 15 years in jail, and bury the career of one of South...

Julia Thorne, an author, activist, and former wife of US Senator John F. Kerry, died yesterday in Concord. She was 61. The cause of death was transitional-cell carcinoma, a form of cancer, according to her daughter Vanessa Kerry. In a telephone interview, John Kerry called Ms. Thorne "a great friend to a lot of people" and spoke with emotion of her accomplishments as a parent. "She was the best mom two daughters could want," he said. "She was completely committed to the kids and their future." Her daughter echoed that view. "She was a phenomenal mother," said Vanessa Kerry, of...

WASHINGTON -- Senator Edward M. Kennedy said yesterday that if fellow Massachusetts Democrat John F. Kerry makes another bid for the presidency in 2008, he would again back him. "If he runs, I'm supporting him," Kennedy said in an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press." With Kennedy's help, Kerry won the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004, but lost the race to President Bush. Kerry said last week he was taking a hard look at making another run for the White House in 2008 and intended to make a decision near the end of the year.