Posted in April 2008 …

Apr 29 2008
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Powah!

Wondering what to do with all that free money the government is tossing at you? Keep your coinage away from Sears (no, seriously, stay the f away from that place). Instead, stimulate the economy of your nearest newsstand and grab yourself a copy of the newest Boston magazine. It features a wicked comprehensive look at how power in Boston functions, including up-close looks at Mayor Tom Menino’s fearsome machine, power-schmoozers Jan Saragoni and Michael Goldman, and the university-slaying Beacon Hill Civic Association, along with some other stories by some other people. You also get a shakily-democratic approach to ranking the comparative powerfulness of Boston’s many power mongers. Pale journalists everywhere are absolutely in love with the thing. Maybe that’s because it’s an awesome read and way cheaper than this awful shirt. Get yours today!

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Apr 21 2008
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April Housekeeping Notes

A few changes of note around the old Rancho de TK TK. First off, this blog’s face has undergone minor reconstructive surgery, and unlike some people, I think we came out the other side looking better.

I’ve dumped Chris Pearson‘s PressRow for his Cutline theme, and am really happy with the results. I think the new design feels more unified and less distracting than the old one. It also accommodates image headers on individual posts much better than the old one, which should really allow me to break up the look and feel of all those Hill and the Hall cross-posts.

If everything proves sufficiently usable and easy on the eyes, the next step will be getting paulmcmorrow.com hosted, and hauling this show from WordPress.com over to WordPress.org. The endgame here is, obviously, a heavy paper stock business card with a halfway professional-looking URL on it. And maybe a two-tone picture of the Golden Dome. We’ll see.

I’ve also been able to sprinkle some new content throughout the clip archives. Old stories about Mitt Romney being a bastard, kids on bicycles, art museum security guards and state IT policy join a wicked awesome new interview with Mikkel Borg Bjergsø, the homebrewing superstar behind Denmark’s Mikkeller brewing company.

Unrelated but noteworthy: The new Daytrotter session from Ezra Furman and the Harpoons? Awesome stuff.

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Apr 18 2008
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The Hill and the Hall Week in Review

(Cross-posted from the mighty mighty Boston Daily)

It’s budget season on Beacon Hill again. And it’s apt that it should coincide, roughly, with the run-up to area colleges’ final exams. After a semester of lying around and drinking, the legislature now has to pull a week of harried all-nighters before it can knock off work for the summer.

In broad strokes, this year’s House budget is big but not unduly wicked big, is unkind to out of state corporations, hates smokers, and offers, in Speaker Sal DiMasi’s own estimation, “nothing spectacular about any new initiative.” But you already knew that already.

So, in the interest of wrapping up the week with some semi-original reporting, here’s a few of the more interesting budget skirmishes to keep an eye on in the upcoming weeks. Continue reading →

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Apr 18 2008
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Throw the Bums in Jail!

Or, barring that, at least have the bums pay for shenanigans out of their own pockets. We’re inching closer to the latter, as the legislature advanced a bill yesterday that would make politicians and other public board members personally culpable for violations of the state’s Open Meeting Law. As things stand now, pols break the law, and when the get caught and fined, taxpayers foot the bill.

How eager is government to reform government? I first wrote about this bill way back in June, 2007. (See for yourself!) It had had a hearing the previous week, and was originally filed back in January of last year. And then it sat and sat some more. Most bills had to either be reported out of committee by the first week of April or die until next session; this one got a three-week extension, and beat out its new deadline for action by a whole day.

By comparison, Therese Murray’s health care reform-reform bill was filed six weeks ago, and it’s already cleared the Senate.

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Apr 17 2008
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Shorter, But Not Much Better…

Deval Patrick’s second Times appearance in a month is shorter than his first (an A1 job in which the nation’s paper of record wondered how the F things on Beacon Hill could’ve gone so bad so quickly, and in which the governor allowed himself to be quoted as labeling Sal DiMasi as “part of what we ran against” on the morning of this hug-tastic press conference), but it’s got to be no easier to swallow.

The paper notes, quickly and glibly enough, that the state’s universal health care law is rapidly flying off the budgetary rails. The Times rode shotgun during the state’s first car wreck, and from the looks of things, it appears to be preparing for the eventuality of an encore.

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Apr 14 2008
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The Hill and the Hall Week in Review

(Cross-posted, belatedly, from Boston Daily)

Let’s start by picking on Hizzoner. Nothing gets the natives riled up like parking tickets, so Mayor Tom Menino’s $2.42 billion FY09 budget, which includes $13 million in new parking fines, is sure to be the only thing anybody in Boston ever talks about for the rest of time. Let the schools close; we demand parking amnesty now!

But seriously, the notion that the mayor is sewing great harm by balancing Boston’s budget on the backs of people who can’t manage to avoid parking in front of fire hydrants, rather than slogging through a nasty override fight, is about as dumb as the notion that kids wouldn’t be killing each other if it weren’t for these infernal T-shirts and video games. Gotta love this town.

In other City Hall news, the people who work inside City Hall still suck, just like they always have. Continue reading →

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Apr 08 2008
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Nick Denton Rides to the Rescue!

The milk spilled during yesterday’s big Pulitzer announcements has barely dried, the celebratory cookie crumbs have scarcely been swept up by some migrant worker, and already, the newspaper industry’s contact high has vanished. That’s because we’re still all gonna die. And not only are newspapers disintegrating before our very eyes, but the act of committing original, important journalism is furthering papers’ downfall. So says the savior of all media, Nick Denton. Continue reading →

Apr 04 2008
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We’re All Gonna Die…

…but, if you’ve tried to either land or hold on to a job in news any time this century, you already knew that. But what about the details! They’re pouring in all the time. So here’s a few slightly belated thoughts on Eric Alterman’s recent news business obituary, before it disappears forever from the New Yorker‘s front page for all eternity.

Reilly’s already hit this first bit, but it bears repeating: Damn, this is one restrained bit of reporting. For anyone, really, but especially for Alterman, who’s… yeah, you know. The fact that Alterman didn’t heap even a bit of blame for the newspaper industry’s current woes on right-wing vampires is, well, jaw dropping. Kid should get an award for this fact alone.

Still, while the reporting is solid and nuanced and restrained and all, the conclusions Alterman draws from his reporting are terrifying. Continue reading →

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Apr 04 2008
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Tim Murray Shoots, Scores?

Here’s a hot awesome gift shop item for you: The Tim Murray bobblehead.

Worcester’s dreadfully bad minor league hockey team will be honoring the city’s former Boy Mayor made good by handing these things later this month. The gesture is supposed to thank fans for, you know, caring about AHL hockey.

Irregardless of whether or not this stunning piece of desktop sculpture manages to put asses in Centrum seats, this promotion will surely lend some much-needed gravitas to an administration that is absolutely dying to be taken seriously. Three cheers to all involved.

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Apr 04 2008
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The Hill and the Hall Week in Review

(Cross-posted, per usual, from Boston Daily)

We hear that Governor Deval Patrick’s budget priorities are in trouble. That’s not any great surprise. The House and Senate took most of the governor’s recommendations and tossed them in the trash last year, too.

But here’s where things get interesting. The budget crunch is about to get a lot worse in the next few years, and when it does, it’ll put Patrick’s broad promises on public safety, education, parks, and property taxes in big, big trouble. Which, of course, will put Patrick in big, big trouble.

As previously discussed, because of the significant price tag that comes along with the myriad campaign promises Patrick made, his administration must look at fiscal troubles though a political lens. It’s one thing for the legislature to delay investing in new cops or early education for a few years; it’s quite another for the governor, who’s going to have a reelection fight on his hands well before the economy’s caviar and champagne days return.

And here’s what hurts extra-hard Continue reading →

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