Sox Sweep Series: World Champs!!!
A long strange perilous journey
The Red Sox won the World Series again. Front-runners from April to the end of October the Sox shut all doubters mouths by never faltering enough to let the hellounds (New York Yankees) catch up to them and by narrowly escaping getting their scalps handed to them by the Indians (Cleveland).
All the people were waiting for Crazy Face . . .
The victory parade began at noon today and rolled through the streets of Boston. A special flatbed truck carried Jonathon Papelon so that he could do his riverdance to the music of the DropKick Murpheys.
Superstar!
Four Game Sweep
The four game sweep of the rockies was a team effort from top to bottom with clutch contributions from the manager, a pinch hitter, defensive replacements, rookies, the bullpen, the starting pitchers and every position player. What a satisfying victory!
Pedy makes a play -- Dustin Pedroia - Rookie Extraordinarie
Again, Oki Doki and Paps came in to save the game despite being tired and worn from almost overuse in the playoffs. But they had just enough gas left to get us to the finish line. Paps gave us a scare in the ninth with a mistake that was washed away by rookie Jacoby Ellsbury's great leaping catch at the wall.
Jacoby Ellsbury defensive replacement for Manny in left field catches penultimate out in game four.
Mike Lowell won the World Series MVP award, and it was well deserved and it was wonderful to see him get the recognition he deserves after flying beneath the radar all season and being nearly overlooked. What a classy player.
MVP Mike Lowell connects for a home run in game four.
But this is not the time for a review of the Sox season but a time for celebration and for bathing in the excitement that sweeps New England.
Some must reading for Red Sox fans, Jackie McMullen's Measure this teams worth in sox & bonds.
Also of interest, Stan Grossfeld's Team on cloud nine, but flight is low-key
Bob Ryan gives tribute to the much maligned Tito Francona, who has never lost a World Series game being now 8 and 0, in his, In post season Francona was impeccable
For a real treat check out the fan blog The Soxaholic for their unique take on the post-modern angst of the Boston fandom and their relationship to the New York fandom using a clever take on the comic strip.
Congratulations, Boston Red Sox!
Posted at 02:59 PM | Community | Comments (0)
Sox Win Pennant - World Series Tonight
Fan's celebration tells the story
Las Vegas odds makers have the Red Sox at 2 to 1 favorites over the Colorado Rockies to win the World Series which begins tonight at 8:30. Too bad it's on Fox TV, whose coverage has been atrocious. Boy, they really know how to suck the blood out a baseball game. Five minutes of ads each half inning and during each time out or pitching change: flashbacks to two games ago or two years ago or ten years ago during someone's at bat, completely destroying the rhythm of the game.
After watching Fox you realize how good we have it with NESN and Jerry Remy and Don Orsillio. the Red Sox have got to have the best local coverage in the nation. At least NESN still has the pre-game hour and the post-game show, both a pleasure to watch.
Bubbly Papi
Papelbon tries on shirt
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The Rookie -- Dustin Pedroia, a hero of game 7
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Posted at 12:12 PM | | Comments (0)
Interested Resident Speaks
I have been looking for a community outlet to Mt. Hope and am extremely excited to have coincidentally stumbled on to this. I too am so disappointed in the lack of addressing the real concerns in the neighborhood as to the lack of workshops that should be available to the youth as well as young adults in the neighborhood.
I would never consider myself an Uncle Tom but an African American man who takes pride in home ownership and a man who wants to take care of his family. The men in the neighborhood must make a stand and stick to their morals to make a change in the neighborhood.
Let our actions speak louder than the words that so happen to fall on deaf ears. We can never expect to make any changes unless we make them first. So I say this to say this; Is there anyone willing to make this change?????
Although One person can make a change but I feel strongly that this MUST be a unified effort in order to make any inroads in our great melting pot we call Mount Hope.
Interested Resident
Posted at 12:50 PM | Community | Comments (2)
Sox Stay Solvent: Beckett Seals Solid Sale 7:1
Sox stay alive in one of the most entertaining outings of the season given Beckett's performance and the pre-game and post-game comments by Manny and Beckett.
In a games-man-ship ploy that may have backfired, the Indians trotted out an ex-girlfriend of Beckett's, an aspiring country singer, to sing the national anthem. When a reporter asked Beckett how he felt about the Indians doing that, in a live post-game interview, Beckett said, without a moments hesitation,
I don't have any fucking control over what they do, I just go out there to pitch my game. I think it's great that they gave a friend of mine a free ticket to see the game.
Yesterday Manny created some controversy by saying:
We play with confidence every game. Hey, If it doesn't happen, so who cares? It's not like it's the end of the world. We'll be back next year to try again."
Beckett: Not Waiting for Godot (or Lofton)
This was a great team victory, but all you really have to know about it is that Beckett dominated in one of the all time great Red Sox clutch pitching performances of all time. He gave up one lousy run and that run should not have scored. Did I say all time" That includes Beckett's post-game comment. I thought I mis-heard until Tom Carron came out with the disclaimer, "Of course NESN is not responsible for what is said in post-game interviews."
Way to go Josh! Oh say can you see.
Posted at 12:34 AM | Community | Comments (0)
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A Cri de Coeur Against the Forces of Self-sabotage
Someone sent me a link to New York Times op-ep columnist Bob Herbert's recent column, so thank you, good catch, I think it will fit quite nicely as a follow up to the Cosby post a few days ago. You can read it on line by clicking this link
Tough, Sad and Smart or just continue reading.
Bob Herbert
Tough, Sad and Smart
By BOB HERBERT
They are a longtime odd couple, Bill Cosby and Harvard’s Dr. Alvin Poussaint, and their latest campaign is nothing less than an effort to save the soul of black America.
Mr. Cosby, of course, is the boisterous veteran comedian who has spent the last few years hammering home some brutal truths about self-destructive behavior within the African-American community.
“A word to the wise ain’t necessary,” Mr. Cosby likes to say. “It’s the stupid ones who need the advice.”
Dr. Poussaint is a quiet, elegant professor of psychiatry who, in public at least, is in no way funny. He teaches at the Harvard Medical School and is a staff member at the Judge Baker Children’s Center in Boston, where he sees kids struggling in some of the toughest circumstances imaginable.
I always wonder, whenever I talk to Dr. Poussaint, why he isn’t better known. He’s one of the smartest individuals in the country on issues of race, class and justice.
For three years, Mr. Cosby and Dr. Poussaint have been traveling the country, meeting with as many people as possible to explore the problems facing the black community.
There is a sense of deep sadness and loss — grief — evident in both men over the tragedy that has befallen so many blacks in America. They were on “Meet the Press” for the entire hour Sunday, talking about their new book, a cri de coeur against the forces of self-sabotage titled, “Come On, People: On the Path From Victims to Victors.”
There weren’t many laughs over the course of the hour. Speaking about the epidemic of fatherlessness in black families, Mr. Cosby imagined a young fatherless child thinking: “Somewhere in my life a person called my father has not shown up, and I feel very sad about this because I don’t know if I’m ugly — I don’t know what the reason is.”
Dr. Poussaint, referring to boys who get into trouble, added: “I think a lot of these males kind of have a father hunger and actually grieve that they don’t have a father. And I think later a lot of that turns into anger. ‘Why aren’t you with me? Why don’t you care about me?’ ”
The absence of fathers, and the resultant feelings of abandonment felt by boys and girls, inevitably affect the children’s sense of self-worth, he said.
The book lays out the difficult route black people will have to take to free the many who are still trapped in prisons of extreme violence, poverty, degradation and depression.
It’s a work with a palpable undercurrent of love throughout. And yet it pulls no punches. In a chapter titled “What’s Going on With Black Men?,” the authors (in a voice that sounds remarkably like Mr. Cosby’s) note:
“You can’t land a plane in Rome saying, ‘Whassup?’ to the control tower. You can’t be a doctor telling your nurse, ‘Dat tumor be nasty.’ ”
Racism is still a plague and neither Mr. Cosby nor Dr. Poussaint give it short shrift. But they also note that in past years blacks were able to progress despite the most malignant forms of racism and that many are succeeding today.
“Blaming white people,” they write, “can be a way for some black people to feel better about themselves, but it doesn’t pay the electric bills. There are more doors of opportunity open for black people today than ever before in the history of America.”
I couldn’t agree more. Racism disgusts me, and I think it should be fought with much greater ferocity than we see today. But that’s no reason to drop out of school, or take drugs, or refuse to care for one’s children, or shoot somebody.
The most important step toward ending the tragic cycles of violence and poverty among African-Americans also happens to be the heaviest lift — reconnecting black fathers to their children.
In an interview yesterday, Dr. Poussaint said: “You go into whole neighborhoods and there are no fathers there. What you find is apathy in a lot of the males who don’t even know that they are supposed to be a father.”
The book covers a great deal that has been talked about incessantly — the importance of family and education and hard work and mentoring and civic participation. But hand in hand with its practical advice and the undercurrent of deep love for one’s community is a stress on the absolute importance of maintaining one’s personal dignity and self-respect.
It’s a tough book. Victimhood is cast as the enemy. Defeat, failure and hopelessness are not to be tolerated.
Hard times and rough circumstances are not excuses for degrading others or allowing oneself to be degraded. In fact, they’re not excuses for anything, except to try harder.
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October 16, 2007
Op-Ed Columnist
New York Times
Posted at 11:42 AM | Community | Comments (0)
Tribe Tattoos & Traumitizes our Troubled Team
The Red Sox face elimination Friday in a do or die game in which two aces will face off again, Becket and Sabathitia.
The indians took a commanding 3 to 1 lead in the series.
It all unraveled in the 5th last night, a dropped pop foul, a mis-played shot up the middle, in a game of inches these two flukes sent Tim Wakefield to an early shower despite the fact he had pitched well and had been in command. Dorchester's own Manny Delcarmen came in in relief and served up a juicy fastball to shortstop Johnny Peralta that ended up in the right rield stands for a 3 run homer. That was all she wrote.
The Sox bats, except for Papi & Mannny for the most part, have been useless. The big lugs can't win it all by themselves.
Hang down your head Delarmen
A Sox win on Friday will keep their hopes alive and bring the series back to Boston.
Posted at 11:30 AM | Community | Comments (0)
Bill Cosby's Speech to the NAACP
Comedian and Black Activist Bill Cosby was in the news again promoting his new book, COME ON, PEOPLE! ON THE PATH FROM VICTIMS TO VICTOR of which you can read a review by clicking on the link to the BlackVoices Blog.
Cosby has been excoriated by some in the black community for truth telling and for the so called "airing of dirty laundry" in front of white people. Much of this comes from his speech delivered to the NAACP in 2004, a speech which sounds to me like an unscripted, off the cuff speech by someone who just grew tired of the same old rhetoric of victimhood.
Bill Cosby delivering his speech to the NAACP
If you'd like to hear this controversial speech you can hear it by clicking on this link Bill Cosby: 2004 NAACP Speech/ American Rhetoric or you can read it here. It is one freaking incredible speech!
Bill Cosby Speaking to the 2004 NAACP Convention
Ladies and gentlemen, I really have to ask you to seriously consider what you’ve heard, and now this is the end of the evening so to speak. I heard a prize fight manager say to his fellow who was losing badly, “David, listen to me. It’s not what’s he’s doing to you. It’s what you’re not doing."
Ladies and gentlemen, these people set -- they opened the doors, they gave us the right, and today, ladies and gentlemen, in our cities and public schools we have 50% drop out. In our own neighborhood, we have men in prison. No longer is a person embarrassed because they’re pregnant without a husband. No longer is a boy considered an embarrassment if he tries to run away from being the father of the unmarried child.
Ladies and gentlemen, the lower economic and lower middle economic people are not holding their end in this deal. In the neighborhood that most of us grew up in, parenting is not going on. In the old days, you couldn’t hooky school because every drawn shade was an eye. And before your mother got off the bus and to the house, she knew exactly where you had gone, who had gone into the house, and where you got on whatever you had one and where you got it from. Parents don’t know that today.
I’m talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit. Where were you when he was two? Where were you when he was twelve? Where were you when he was eighteen, and how come you don’t know he had a pistol? And where is his father, and why don’t you know where he is? And why doesn’t the father show up to talk to this boy?
The church is only open on Sunday. And you can’t keep asking Jesus to ask doing things for you. You can’t keep asking that God will find a way. God is tired of you . God was there when they won all those cases. 50 in a row. That’s where God was because these people were doing something. And God said, “I’m going to find a way.” I wasn’t there when God said it -- I’m making this up. But it sounds like what God would do.
We cannot blame white people. White people -- white people don’t live over there. They close up the shop early. The Korean ones still don’t know us as well -- they stay open 24 hours.
I’m looking and I see a man named Kenneth Clark, he and his wife Mamie. Kenneth’s still alive. I have to apologize to him for these people because Kenneth said it straight. He said you have to strengthen yourselves, and we’ve got to have that black doll. And everybody said it. Julian Bond said it. Dick Gregory said it. All these lawyers said it. And you wouldn’t know that anybody had done a damned thing.
50 percent drop out rate, I’m telling you, and people in jail, and women having children by five, six different men. Under what excuse? I want somebody to love me. And as soon as you have it, you forget to parent. Grandmother, mother, and great grandmother in the same room, raising children, and the child knows nothing about love or respect of any one of the three of them. All this child knows is “gimme, gimme, gimme.” These people want to buy the friendship of a child, and the child couldn’t care less. Those of us sitting out here who have gone on to some college or whatever we’ve done, we still fear our parents. And these people are not parenting. They’re buying things for the kid -- $500 sneakers -- for what? They won’t buy or spend $250 on Hooked on Phonics.
Kenneth Clark, somewhere in his home in upstate New York -- just looking ahead. Thank God he doesn’t know what’s going on. Thank God. But these people -- the ones up here in the balcony fought so hard. Looking at the incarcerated, these are not political criminals. These are people going around stealing Coca Cola. People getting shot in the back of the head over a piece of pound cake! Then we all run out and are outraged: “The cops shouldn’t have shot him.” What the hell was he doing with the pound cake in his hand? I wanted a piece of pound cake just as bad as anybody else. And I looked at it and I had no money. And something called parenting said if you get caught with it you’re going to embarrass your mother." Not, "You’re going to get your butt kicked." No. "You’re going to embarrass your mother." "You’re going to embarrass your family." If you knock that girl up, you’re going to have to run away because it’s going to be too embarrassing for your family. In the old days, a girl getting pregnant had to go down South, and then her mother would go down to get her. But the mother had the baby. I said the mother had the baby. The girl didn’t have a baby. The mother had the baby in two weeks. We are not parenting.
Ladies and gentlemen, listen to these people. They are showing you what’s wrong. People putting their clothes on backwards. Isn’t that a sign of something going on wrong? Are you not paying attention? People with their hat on backwards, pants down around the crack. Isn’t that a sign of something or are you waiting for Jesus to pull his pants up? Isn’t it a sign of something when she’s got her dress all the way up to the crack -- and got all kinds of needles and things going through her body. What part of Africa did this come from? We are not Africans. Those people are not Africans; they don’t know a damned thing about Africa. With names like Shaniqua, Shaligua, Mohammed and all that crap and all of them are in jail. (When we give these kinds names to our children, we give them the strength and inspiration in the meaning of those names. What’s the point of giving them strong names if there is not parenting and values backing it up).
Brown versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person’s problem. We’ve got to take the neighborhood back. We’ve got to go in there. Just forget telling your child to go to the Peace Corps. It’s right around the corner. It’s standing on the corner. It can’t speak English. It doesn’t want to speak English. I can’t even talk the way these people talk. “Why you ain’t where you is go, ra.” I don’t know who these people are. And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. Then I heard the father talk. This is all in the house. You used to talk a certain way on the corner and you got into the house and switched to English. Everybody knows it’s important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can’t land a plane with, “Why you ain’t…” You can’t be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth. There is no Bible that has that kind of language. Where did these people get the idea that they’re moving ahead on this. Well, they know they’re not; they’re just hanging out in the same place, five or six generations sitting in the projects when you’re just supposed to stay there long enough to get a job and move out.
Now, look, I’m telling you. It’s not what they’re doing to us. It’s what we’re not doing. 50 percent drop out. Look, we’re raising our own ingrown immigrants. These people are fighting hard to be ignorant. There’s no English being spoken, and they’re walking and they’re angry. Oh God, they’re angry and they have pistols and they shoot and they do stupid things. And after they kill somebody, they don’t have a plan. Just murder somebody. Boom. Over what? A pizza? And then run to the poor cousin’s house.
They sit there and the cousin says, “What are you doing here?”
“I just killed somebody, man.”
“What?”
“I just killed somebody; I’ve got to stay here.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Well, give me some money, I’ll go….”
“Where are you going?”
“North Carolina.”
Everybody wanted to go to North Carolina. But the police know where you’re going because your cousin has a record.
Five or six different children -- same woman, eight, ten different husbands or whatever. Pretty soon you’re going to have to have DNA cards so you can tell who you’re making love to. You don’t who this is. It might be your grandmother. I’m telling you, they’re young enough. Hey, you have a baby when you’re twelve. Your baby turns thirteen and has a baby, how old are you? Huh? Grandmother. By the time you’re twelve, you could have sex with your grandmother, you keep those numbers coming. I’m just predicting.
I’m saying Brown versus the Board of Education. We’ve got to hit the streets, ladies and gentlemen. I’m winding up, now -- no more applause. I’m saying, look at the Black Muslims. There are Black Muslims standing on the street corners and they say so forth and so on, and we’re laughing at them because they have bean pies and all that, but you don’t read, “Black Muslim gunned down while chastising drug dealer.” You don’t read that. They don’t shoot down Black Muslims. You understand me. Muslims tell you to get out of the neighborhood. When you want to clear your neighborhood out, first thing you do is go get the Black Muslims, bean pies and all. And your neighborhood is then clear. The police can’t do it.
I’m telling you Christians, what’s wrong with you? Why can’t you hit the streets? Why can’t you clean it out yourselves? It’s our time now, ladies and gentlemen. It is our time. And I’ve got good news for you. It’s not about money. It’s about you doing something ordinarily that we do -- get in somebody else’s business. It’s time for you to not accept the language that these people are speaking, which will take them nowhere. What the hell good is Brown V. Board of Education if nobody wants it?
What is it with young girls getting after some girl who wants to still remain a virgin. Who are these sick black people and where did they come from and why haven’t they been parented to shut up? To go up to girls and try to get a club where “you are nobody....” This is a sickness, ladies and gentlemen, and we are not paying attention to these children. These are children. They don’t know anything. They don’t have anything. They’re homeless people. All they know how to do is beg. And you give it to them, trying to win their friendship. And what are they good for? And then they stand there in an orange suit and you drop to your knees: “He didn’t do anything. He didn’t do anything.” Yes, he did do it. And you need to have an orange suit on, too.
So, ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank you for the award -- and giving me an opportunity to speak because, I mean, this is the future, and all of these people who lined up and done -- they’ve got to be wondering what the hell happened. Brown V. Board of Education -- these people who marched and were hit in the face with rocks and punched in the face to get an education and we got these knuckleheads walking around who don’t want to learn English. I know that you all know it. I just want to get you as angry that you ought to be. When you walk around the neighborhood and you see this stuff, that stuff’s not funny. These people are not funny anymore. And that‘s not my brother. And that’s not my sister. They’re faking and they’re dragging me way down because the state, the city, and all these people have to pick up the tab on them because they don’t want to accept that they have to study to get an education.
We have to begin to build in the neighborhood, have restaurants, have cleaners, have pharmacies, have real estate, have medical buildings instead of trying to rob them all. And so, ladies and gentlemen, please, Dorothy Height, where ever she’s sitting, she didn’t do all that stuff so that she could hear somebody say “I can’t stand algebra, I can’t stand…" and “what you is.” It’s horrible.
Basketball players -- multimillionaires can’t write a paragraph. Football players, multimillionaires, can’t read. Yes. Multimillionaires. Well, Brown v. Board of Education, where are we today? It’s there. They paved the way. What did we do with it? The White Man, he’s laughing -- got to be laughing. 50 percent drop out -- rest of them in prison.
You got to tell me that if there was parenting -- help me -- if there was parenting, he wouldn’t have picked up the Coca Cola bottle and walked out with it to get shot in the back of the head. He wouldn’t have. Not if he loved his parents. And not if they were parenting! Not if the father would come home. Not if the boy hadn’t dropped the sperm cell inside of the girl and the girl had said, “No, you have to come back here and be the father of this child.” Not ..“I don’t have to.”
Therefore, you have the pile up of these sweet beautiful things born by nature -- raised by no one. Give them presents. You’re raising pimps. That’s what a pimp is. A pimp will act nasty to you so you have to go out and get them something. And then you bring it back and maybe he or she hugs you. And that’s why pimp is so famous. They’ve got a drink called the “Pimp-something.” You all wonder what that’s about, don’t you? Well, you’re probably going to let Jesus figure it out for you. Well, I’ve got something to tell you about Jesus. When you go to the church, look at the stained glass things of Jesus. Look at them. Is Jesus smiling? Not in one picture. So, tell your friends. Let’s try to do something. Let’s try to make Jesus smile. Let’s start parenting. Thank you, thank you.
Bill Cosby, to the NAACP, 2004
Posted at 11:42 PM | Community | Comments (0)
Sox Tied 1 - 1 in ALCS
After a handy victory in Game 1 the Sox lost a brutal game 2, extra inning battle that wasn't over till after 1 am Sunday morning. The deadly dagger that did 'em in was delivered by old friend Trot Nixon with a pinch hit game winning single that drove in the decisive run.
I told them not to let Trot go. And the guy who replaced him hasn't won a game for us all season.
Trot Delivers
Trot's Instant Replay
The Sox and the Tribe go at again tonight in Jacobs Field in Cleveland. Dice-k on the mound for the Red Sox.
Posted at 06:38 PM | Community | Comments (0)
Racists in Mt. Hope
Several times in the last week, I have been called a "cracker" as I walked through or drove by the Crossroads (Camp & Cypress) by groups of young thugs.
This overt racism is intolerable. Do I go around yelling the N word? Of course not. Why do I have to put up with being called a "cracker" by young black men who likely don't even know the etymology of the term?
There is overt racism in Mt. Hope. The next time I'm called a "cracker" I am going to confront the thugs and likely risk being harmed.
I know the real estate market is tough right now, but I'm going to sell and get the f*** out of this open sewer of a neighborhood while I still can. Any white person who continues to live here with these racists is nuts.
Peter Cassels
Posted at 11:09 PM | Community | Comments (1)
Book Review
I came across an interesting book review last week that touched on some relevant topics, especially coming into an election year. The book is The Bluest State: How Democrats Created the Massachusetts Blueprint for American Political Disaster, by John Keller and it was reviewed by Chuck Leddy for the Boston Globe.
Keller raised an interesting premises about how liberalism has been hijacked and used against the democratic party and about Massachusetts' role in this:
Keller's contention is that Massachusetts politics is both disproportionately influential within the national Democratic Party and also uniquely dysfunctional, leading the national party into the proverbial ditch.
Leddy then references some of Keller's colorful quotes:
He refers to the Bay State's brand of liberalism as "impotent snake oil that doesn't deliver relief for the working-class people it purports to help the most."
Keller accuses liberals, especially Kerry ("a prototype of the spoiled boomer, free to indulge his narcissism at every turn") and the Kennedy clan, of an elitism that antagonizes working-class folks both locally and nationally. Keller says the soaring cost of housing is pushing working families out of Massachusetts, as are growing crime and tax rates.And while Keller feels pocketbook and safety issues go woefully unaddressed, he points to gay marriage and abortion as central items on the state's political agenda, triggering ferocious, scorched-earth battles over issues that rarely affect working-class voters directly.
Is Keller on to something here? Democrats have been losing party membership and voters for years allowing the Republican party to set the agenda for the nation. Liberalism and political correctness run amok?
Click the link to read the Globe review: Taking some swipes at Massachusetts Democrats
or continue reading below.
Taking some swipes at Massachusetts Democrats
By Chuck Leddy | October 6, 2007
The 1991 comedy "Naked Gun 2 1/2" contains one of the funniest visual jokes in recent film history. A despondent Lieutenant Frank Drebin (played with bumbling genius by Leslie Nielsen) visits a depressing bar called The Blue Note to get drunk alone. The camera pans across the bar's bleak walls, where framed photographs show the burning Hindenburg, the sinking "Titanic," and finally a portrait of failed presidential candidate and former Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis.
In Jon Keller's "The Bluest State," the liberal politicians of Massachusetts, especially losers at the national level like Dukakis (1988) and John Kerry (2004), remain a running joke. Keller's contention is that Massachusetts politics is both disproportionately influential within the national Democratic Party and also uniquely dysfunctional, leading the national party into the proverbial ditch. A television and radio commentator on local politics, Keller isn't one to pull his punches. He refers to the Bay State's brand of liberalism as "impotent snake oil that doesn't deliver relief for the working-class people it purports to help the most."
Keller accuses liberals, especially Kerry ("a prototype of the spoiled boomer, free to indulge his narcissism at every turn") and the Kennedy clan, of an elitism that antagonizes working-class folks both locally and nationally. Keller says the soaring cost of housing is pushing working families out of Massachusetts, as are growing crime and tax rates.
And while Keller feels pocketbook and safety issues go woefully unaddressed, he points to gay marriage and abortion as central items on the state's political agenda, triggering ferocious, scorched-earth battles over issues that rarely affect working-class voters directly.
Keller argues that Shannon O'Brien's loss to Mitt Romney in the 2002 gubernatorial race was due to O'Brien's kowtowing to prochoice advocates, thus conceding the large political center on abortion to Romney. Keller also highlights the Rev. Eugene Rivers and his faith-based initiatives to quell gang violence in Boston. While Rivers's efforts have won plaudits nationally, their religious nature has "alarmed" many local liberals, notes Keller.
Keller collects all the usual suspects for his assault on the state's liberal political establishment, including the corrupt, mismanaged Big Dig, political correctness, rampant identity politics, and the hypocrisy of those who advocate loudly for fair housing and equal educational opportunity while living in affluent, lily-white suburbs with overwhelmingly white, well-financed school systems. Keller approvingly cites Boston Mayor Thomas Menino's humble salary, modest rhetorical skills, and willingness to put his home number in the phone book. Most shockingly, notes Keller, Menino refuses to view his current job as a stepping-stone to national political stardom.
Some of Keller's contentions seem over the top, as when he depicts Romney as some beleaguered Don Quixote fighting for the average Joe against the entrenched powers of Beacon Hill. But most of his barbs are well directed. Keller exposes the gaping hypocrisy between soaring, Kennedy-esque political ideals and the state's harsher realities, which are far removed from Camelot. Referring to himself as "a liberal who's been mugged," Keller calls for an end to "the silly, arrogant affectation that PC represents," and suggests that liberals drop into a Dunkin' Donuts or "hang out on the subway" on occasion to see how working-class people actually live.
"The Bluest State" argues that there is a growing alienation between the Democratic Party and working-class voters, a rift the Republicans have exploited for years. Keller hopes that Massachusetts Democrats will choose to look in the mirror and attend to the state's squeezed working-class families.
Posted at 05:09 PM | The Arts | Comments (0)
Former Dist. 8 Lt. Elected President of FOB
Congratulation are in order to former District 8 commander Lt. Kenneth Cohen who recently won election to the Presidency of the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge No. 3, of the Providence police union.
In a ProJo article, Patrol commander elected to head Providence FOP Cohen is quoted stating:
“I’m hoping to be less contentious,” Cohen said of the FOP’s future stance toward the administration of Police Chief Dean M. Esserman. “I think we have to open up a line of communication. But it doesn’t mean that I’m not going to fight for my people.”
Some important contract issues face the police union which has been without a collective-bargaining agreement sine July of 2005.
Lt. Cohen always struck me as very intelligent, almost scholarly, and a man of high integrity. I think the union made a good choice. Congratulations, Lt. Cohen, from Mt. Hope.
To read the entire article click the proJo link above or continue reading below.
Patrol commander elected to head Providence FOP
01:00 AM EDT on Friday, October 12, 2007
By Gregory Smith
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Lt. Kenneth Cohen, the Police Department patrol commander on the 3-to-11 p.m. work shift, has been elected president of the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge No. 3.
In a historically large turnout, the membership of the Providence police union picked Cohen by a wide margin over three rivals, incumbent Robert Paniccia, a retired sergeant; Capt. David Lapatin, 7 a.m.-to-3 p.m. patrol commander; and Detective John J. Coughlin Jr.
“I’m hoping to be less contentious,” Cohen said of the FOP’s future stance toward the administration of Police Chief Dean M. Esserman. “I think we have to open up a line of communication. But it doesn’t mean that I’m not going to fight for my people.”
There is an array of litigation and grievances pending between the union and the city, but no issue looms larger than the lack of a collective-bargaining agreement from July 1, 2005 through the present. The union and the city are enmeshed in arbitration for the terms of an agreement for 2005-2006 and that will not change, Cohen said yesterday.
One of the major issues in the election, according to Paniccia and Cohen, was Paniccia’s status as a retiree from the police force. Paniccia, who has served two two-year terms as president, retired from the force in September 2006.
“I guess some people thought a new direction was needed,” Paniccia said. “A lot of the younger guys bought into” the idea that a retiree could not properly represent the interests of active-duty members.
On the other hand, Paniccia said, he sought to underscore his independence from the police administration and the practical consideration that, as a retiree, he could not be influenced or intimidated.
Cohen said the retiree issue was the biggest of the campaign. As for himself, he said he is known as a union stalwart and a fair-minded person and that that reputation helped him. Other union members said Cohen enjoyed especially widespread support among uniformed officers.
Cohen, 55, is in his 30th year of service on the force. He formerly was commander of the Traffic Bureau, before the bureau was downgraded to a unit, director of human resources, director of two training academies, and, briefly, a detective.
When Patrolman James Bruno retired from the force, he resigned as FOP treasurer, and Paniccia appointed Cohen treasurer midterm. Although they wound up as election opponents, members say there is no animosity between them.
More than 600 members participated in the daylong election Tuesday, casting paper ballots at the FOP office on Sheridan Street. Paniccia said the turnout — more than 200 retirees also voted — was the largest in the history of the local.
Cohen attributed the turnout to the energy of new members and a push for involvement by union trustees.
“They also wanted to send a message that the membership does have concerns …,” he said.
In other contested elections,
• Patrolman Clarence Gough, who is assigned to the Special Victims Unit in the Detective Bureau, was elected first vice president. He outpolled the incumbent, retired Sgt. John Carnevale, and Sergeants Brendan McGrath and John Kaya.
•Sgt. Roger Aspinall was elected second vice president, defeating Detective Harold H. Zacks.
•Detective Paul Romano, treasurer, defeated Patrolman Francisco Furtado and Detective David Marchant.
•Patrolman Michael Imondi, financial secretary, beat Detective Robert Washburn.
•Patrolman Taft Manzotti was reelected unopposed as recording secretary, and Cohen said he intends to keep Manzotti as grievance officer to maintain continuity because of the turnover in the leadership ranks.
Under the collective-bargaining terms in effect between the city and the union, the FOP may designate two people to step aside from active duty and to work full time for the union while continuing to draw full salaries from the Police Department. They have been the president and grievance officer.
So Cohen will continue to draw his lieutenant’s salary — base pay plus longevity and night-shift differential — while serving as president. In addition, the six top officers also are compensated by the FOP. The president is paid one-third of a patrolman’s salary and the other officers are paid one-sixth of a patrolman’s salary.
Cohen is scheduled to be installed as president on Monday, when the election is certified.
Said Lapatin, “As soon as the vote was over, everybody threw their support behind Kenny 100 percent.”
Posted at 02:31 PM | Politics | Comments (0)
Big Daddy, Big Papi & Manny bien Manny!
After sweeping the Angels 3 straight the Sox are resting up for the ALCS against the Cleveland Indians. The winner takes home the American League Pennant.
Curt Schilling, dubbed "Big Daddy" by Jon Papelbon, came through in dramatic fashion against an injury weakened Angels lineup with 7 strong innings, and Papi and Manny provided the fireworks with back-to-back homers.
Big Daddy
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Big Papi
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Manny bien Manny
Again the champagne flowed freely after clinching the first round playoff, and Jackie MacMullan, of the Boston Globe, wrote a nice article on the frat-boy like celebration, They're soaking it all in which you can read by clicking the title link or continue reading below the fold.
They're soaking it all in
By Jackie MacMullan, Globe Columnist | October 8, 2007
ANAHEIM, Calif. - It was a frat party run amok, a band of delirious baseball brothers who raucously celebrated as if they had won the World Series.
The Boston Red Sox haven't done that - yet. But they unabashedly partied like it was 2004 yesterday afternoon after thrashing the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 9-1, to complete a thoroughly humiliating sweep of the best the West had to offer.
As the smell of sweat and champagne wafted throughout Boston's clubhouse, the Red Sox let loose, hugging and shouting and dancing to the heavy beat of their victory tunes. Kevin Youkilis, clad in royal blue swim goggles, screamed with delight as he doused Mike Lowell with a champagne and Budweiser cocktail. Jonathan Papelbon screeched like a little kid with a liquor license, tormenting anyone and everyone in his path with a bath of liquid refreshments.
David Ortiz, who knocked yet another ball out of the park yesterday, traded some elbow high-fives, then quickly donned a rain poncho and retreated to the back of the room. Manny Delcarmen, the pride of Hyde Park, grabbed his own bottle of bubbly and promptly poured it down Papelbon's pants.
General manager Theo Epstein, who on this day did not have to answer questions about J.D. Drew's production or Eric Gagné's price tag, smiled broadly and proclaimed, "This is fun. The guys have worked so hard . . . "
Slugger Manny Ramírez interrupted Epstein's victory speech by drenching the young GM with a bucket full of ice water. With no Gatorade readily available, it was the next-best thing to the well-known postgame tradition.
With the Angels safely eliminated, the Red Sox happily put the playoff button on pause for a moment to enjoy their accomplishments. The beauty of these celebrations is it doesn't matter whether you were a playoff hero or a playoff scrub. Kyle Snyder and Curt Schilling were indistinguishable in the madness that unfolded late yesterday. Both were soaked in alcohol, and mobbed by teammates.
The question was raised whether such a spirited celebration was premature - and, perhaps, a bit overdone. After all, winning a Division Series was hardly the established goal when this team trucked its gear down to Fort Myers, Fla., in February. No one in the clubhouse is supposed to be truly satisfied until the Red Sox win another championship.
"We understand that," said manager Terry Francona. "We haven't accomplished all that we've wanted to yet. But I don't mind this. The emotion you see in here is real."
Who could help but notice Jon Lester quietly taking it all in, knowing one year ago at this time his life - never mind his baseball future - was so cloudy because of a shocking cancer diagnosis? And there was Delcarmen, who grew up idolizing the team of his native city, who shuttled back and forth to Pawtucket wondering if he would ever get his chance to prove he belonged in the big leagues.
"I'm living my dream right now," he said. "All I ever wanted was to play for the Boston Red Sox, to have a chance to be in a playoff series. It's even sweeter, too, because I'm here with Pap [Papelbon] and [Dustin] Pedroia. We were in the minors together, hoping for the day something like this would happen to us."
Red Sox owner John Henry visited the clubhouse and offered his congratulations to his ball club, upon which he, too, was subjected to a victory bath of Bud and bubbly. Asked to characterize his team, the owner answered, "Relentless. That's the word that came up today. The lineup we had out there was so perfect. When you drop Manny back into that four spot, behind Ortiz and ahead of Mike Lowell, I can't imagine anything better. And Schilling - every pitch sequence was so crisp. It was a joy to watch.
"This group totally reminded me of the teams from 2003 and 2004. But even those teams didn't have this kind of bullpen."
The stars appear to be aligned for the Old Towne Team. Schilling fired seven shutout innings, aided in the third inning when catcher Jason Varitek chased down a tricky pop fly, dived for it, bobbled it, then hung on for the third out to end a bases-loaded situation.
As they have done so many times before, Boston's batters gave their pitcher some subsequent breathing room. Ortiz led off the fourth with a towering home run to right field, then Ramírez followed with a shot to center field.
"Manny and I are the heart of this team," proclaimed Big Papi afterward. "This was our short series. We didn't want to waste any time. We wanted to win this one and get going. When Manny and I are swinging the bat like this, we are very tough to beat."
He is right. With timely hitting, timely pitching, and consistent defense, the Red Sox are peaking at the right time. There are a number of alumni from the 2004 championship team - Ortiz, Ramírez, Varitek, Schilling, Tim Wakefield, Youkilis, Mike Timlin, and Doug Mirabelli - but there are also a collection of kids who have heard all about the World Series wins, but were itching to create their own memories.
"It's a beautiful scene," said Papelbon, in between ripping open beers with his teeth. "It is what all of us have been working toward. And now we're here, and for a little while, at least, we're going to have some fun."
The fun is officially over this morning. The Angels must be relegated to the past, along with the champagne and the Budweiser and the buckets of ice.
If the frat boys want another party, they better be ready to get back to work.
Posted at 03:46 PM | Community | Comments (0)
Manny Being Walk Off Manny: 6 - 3 Sox
In the bottom of the ninth with the game tied 3 to 3, with a man on, the Angles walk Big Papi to pitch to Manny -- lights out!
Did he know it was gone!
Manny Rameriez hit his first walk off home run of his career and it could not have come at a more clutch time: bottom of the ninth, 2 outs, and men in scoring position. They walked Big Papi to pitch to Manny, and Manny made them pay.
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Manny knew, the catcher knew
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Manny dives into the scrum at home
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Papi: "They walk me to get to you!"
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The Fan stole the ball! The fan stole the ball!
This youjng man may have made the play of the game by keeping Manny's foul ball from being caught. After Manny drew a walk, loading the bases, and Lowell followed with a sacrifice fly to score the man from third tying the game 3 all.
Sox up 2 games to none: Big Schill up next in LA.
Posted at 03:12 AM | Community | Comments (0)
Playoff Pandemonium
Jerry Remy is officially the President of Red Sox Nation and will be the dignitary throwing out the first ball. The Sox are Eastern division Champions. Playoff Pandemonium begins now.
Tito Francona
This ALDS should be a great match up for the Sox. We've the better record head to head. But it can be interesting in the playoffs where pitching and defense usually wins. The Angles play small ball and do it in classic manner: they hit and run, they bunt to move a runner over, they go from first to third on a single and score from first, and they steal a lot of bases.
Old friend Orlando Cabrarea put together a great year and he will be dancing off base trying to distract our pitchers and taunt our catchers. Josh Beckett's main job tonight, keep those speedy Angles off the base paths.
Posted at 06:22 PM | Community | Comments (0)
The New Mural in Billy Taylor Park / Joseph I. Hector Victims of Crime Day
A new mural appeared in Billy Taylor Park courtesy of a $4500 grant orchestrated by Rep. Gordon Fox on September 22, during the event Joseph I. Hector Victims of Crime Day.
ProJo covered the event in a fine article by Philip Marcelo, titled, Mount Hope neighbors remember Joe.
Marcelo’s report:
Hector’s death, a case of mistaken identity in a long-running feud between East Side and South Side gangs, has come to symbolize for many the senselessness of the street violence that still plagues the city.
contradicts the conventional wisdom on the streets of Mt. Hope that the young Hector’s death was not a case of mistaken identity but a case of his being targeted by a rival drug dealing organization albeit from the south side.
The fact that you can still drive by the vicinity of his home near the corner of Camp and Evergreen and still see young African American teenagers selling drugs right in front of his house testifies to the fact that the profit motive of these kingpin drug dealers in Mt. Hope knows no bounds; when it comes to financing expensive cars and expensive habits, there is too much money to be made to let the deaths of a few young people get in the way.
At any rate, the event in BTP this year, unlike last year, went off without any violence or any overt vandalism. Kudos to the Hector family and everyone involved for keeping a lid on it. They put forth a great deal of effort to do so and the entire neighborhood appreciated their effort. Of course the City made sure they had an adequate police detail at the event and that the proper permits were pulled: at least an entertainment license was pulled for the music, which still by far exceeded the legal limits set by the Providence noise ordinance.
Unfortunately the event was capped off by a drive by shooting at the Crossroads, the corner of Camp & Cypress at around 10:45 pm that night.
The mural pictures are dedicated to Dennis and to his girlfriend down at the Park’s Department. Some improvement.
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Posted at 12:40 AM | Community | Comments (0)
