Tag Archives: #mapoli

04.01.14
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New City Manager: A Real Mill City Cinderella Story

 

New Lowell City Manager Kevin Murphy (Center), with Chief Meehan and some unknown guy on the left. Photo stolen from Jennifer Myers.

I understand this is the new Lowell City Manager Kevin Murphy (Center), with Chief Meehan and some unknown guy on the left celebrating Double Chin Day in 2013. Photo stolen from Jennifer Myers.

March Madness ended with a bang last night in the chambers of City Hall.  The field…nothing short of exceptional. As far as we know, at least 5 of the 30 candidates had most of their mental faculties.  The battle was fierce, the carnage was epic, and  in the end, one man was left standing.  But not just any man.  Not the man that 172 of 174 ESPN analysts had as their “locks.”  No, no!  What we got here is a bonafide Cinderella story.

A man named Murph.

Murph’s resume may not have been as prestigious as the Subway Sandwich Artist or as tailor made as the Columbian guy that failed to attend a Chilean flag raising.  But he lists his hometown as this place called “The Highlands”…which has yielded some of the greatest leaders this earth has ever seen…William Wallace, Robert the Bruce, Robin of Locksley, Pat Donovan of Van Greenby, to name a few.  That’s good enough for me.   I look forward to getting to know this guy a little better over the coming years…and as you can probably tell, “the pleasure is all on this side of the table.”

03.17.14
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Mayor Elliott Absolutely Destroys the St Paddy’s Day Breakfast

ElliottCarrotTop

Shades of Richard Pryor and Sam Kinison in their prime.  Just eviscerating the room with comedic nukes.  At a certain point, the laughter was so uproarious that it kept knocking WCAP off the air between every masterful line.  Panos and Fontanella have some splain’n to do because those of us on the radio end just got awkward silences.  You’re better than that fellas.

…and how about this Coakley bird trying to big league our mayor?   She’s a day removed from “SHEMA” and all of a sudden she’s a Last Coming Standing judge?  I wonder what she said about Willie Lantigua during all those Lawrence St Paddy’s day breakfasts? 

03.14.14
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What We’ve Learned: Lowell Politics March Madness Edition

Brackett

Lowell Sun

LOWELL — Three city councilors had all five of the applicants they selected to receive interviews chosen as finalists for the city manager’s position, according to the interview lists provided to The Sun Friday morning.

Here is whom each councilor selected as finalists:

Corey Belanger: Balukonis, Graczykowski, Keyes, Murphy, Ramirez

Mayor Rodney Elliott: Graczykowski, Keyes, Murphy, Ramirez

Ed Kennedy: Balukonis, Keyes, Murphy, Ramirez

John Leahy: Ramirez

Bill Martin: Graczykowski, Keyes, Murphy, Ramirez

James Milinazzo: Balukonis, Bruner, Keyes, Murphy, Ramirez

Rita Mercier: Balukonis, Keyes, Murphy, Ramirez

Dan Rourke: Keyes, Murphy, Ramirez

William Samaras: Balukonis, Bruner, Keyes, Murphy, Ramirez

What did we learn? We learned that you want to be in any March Madness pool that John Leahy’s in. I’m told by sources that he also had Boston College and Worcester State making it to the Sweet Sixteen, which would be impressive because I’m pretty sure Worcester State is in Division 3.

In fairness to Leahy though, at least he filled out his own bracket.

UPDATE: Who’s more butthurt than the Lowell Sun right now?

02.25.14
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Legislative Breakfast Caption Contest

“These opening bands are shit. Can we get to Dick Howe Jr. already.”

12.04.13
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Meet Courtney

Courtney Stodden 2013.jpg

This is recently single Courtney Stodden.  She’s 19, and just filed for divorce from her 53-year-old husband actor Doug Hutcherson.  I also want to call attention to the Erin Cox saga in North Andover, which she finally admitted she was lying and was actually drinking at the party.  Also the waitress who “wasn’t tipped because she’s a lesbian.”  Which leads me to Lunenburg and the Phillips-Brazier family “racist graffiti” hoax, that also led to the Lunenburg football team canceling the rest of their season.  In each case (besides the divorce) the “media” reported it and each “incident” was met with public outrage and some form of backlash.  In each incident we found out much later they were all lies.  Our media is so quick to report anything now that they are either too lazy or refuse to dig a little deeper that in a quest to be first to report anything they finish last in credibilty and accuracy.  What do all these stories have in common?  they are all just as fake as Courtney Stodden’s boobs.

09.05.13
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Sons of Franky Cabot PSA: Don’t do Molly…. M’Kay?

It has been used as a popular drug at raves and electronic-music festivals for years, but recently deadly overdoses and a spike in pop-culture references have law enforcement, colleges and concerned parents talking about the drug known as Molly.

Called a pure form of ecstasy, the psychedelic drug MDMA gives a sense of euphoria, eases anxiety and increases a bonding feeling toward others, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

In the last week alone, overdoses of Molly, slang for MDMA, are believed to have killed Brittany Flannigan, a 19-year-old Derry, N.H., resident, at the House of Blues in Boston and Olivia Rotondo, 20, a University of New Hampshire student at a music festival in New York.

Jeffrey Russ, 23, of Rochester, N.Y., died at the New York event, the Electric Zoo Music Festival. Two others also seriously overdosed at the House of Blues, and four others at the New York festival.

Three other concert-goers also suffered drug overdoses at the Bank of America Pavilion in Boston on Saturday, with police believing two were related to an ecstasy-type drug. And in Brockton, three Maine men reportedly were arrested on charges they had in their possession about 16 grams of MDMA.

Read the rest of the story from the Sun here.

Look, Mr. Mackey is right. Drugs are bad…. M’Kay. This isn’t news. Continue reading →

09.03.13
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Perfect Attendance and why it matters…or doesn’t.

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Lowell Sun

THE HOUSE AND SENATE. There were no roll call votes in the House or Senate last week. Beacon Hill Roll Call reports local senators’ roll call attendance record for the 2013 session through August 30.

The Senate has held 183 roll call votes so far in 2013. Beacon Hill Roll Call tabulates the number of roll calls on which each senator was present and voting and then calculates that number as a percentage of the total roll call votes held. That percentage is the number referred to as the roll call attendance record.

Only 17 of the Senate’s 40 members have 100 percent roll call attendance records.

Sen. Michael Barrett 100 percent (0), Sen. Kenneth Donnelly 96.7 percent (6), Sen. Eileen Donoghue 100 percent (0), Sen. James Eldridge 99.5 percent (1), Sen. Barry Finegold 99.5 percent (1), Sen. Jennifer Flanagan 97.3 percent (5), Sen. Bruce Tarr 100 percent (0).

Let’s be honest, the importance of perfect attendance totally depends on where you are in life.

Grade School/Middle School? Well, that one is on your parents. If you had perfect attendance in grade school, someone needs to pull your parents aside and tell them to quit hot-dog’n it. It takes me 45 precious morning minutes to convince my 3 year old that it’s a good move to give the potty a try. And we’re just talking pre-school here.

HighSchool? There’s no reason for it. If there wasn’t a test, project, or fist fight that was worth ducking, then you obviously weren’t trying hard enough. Plain and simple.
(*)Also, this blog will not recognize any claims of perfect attendance during Coach Nelson’s tenure at LHS. That’s like the steroid of era for perfect attendance.

Continue reading →

08.22.13
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Boston City Councilor Stephen Murphy is a “jackass” Union Shill

BOSTON – Dana White is no stranger to political battles, but the latest efforts from Boston City Council President Steve Murphy – a man White refers to as a “jackass” – have left the UFC president incensed.

“The ball-kicking continues, even once we get here,” White told MMAjunkie.com. “This Murphy guy. You elect a politician to hopefully go out and bring in jobs, create revenue in your city, bring in events that bring revenue to your city. This guy comes out and he’s saying all this (bleeping) stuff like ’18 and under’ (not allowed at the event) and all this other stuff they’re doing to us.

“Then sure enough, this hearing, 25 of the Culinary Union members are there. And this guy busts out a video of Chael Sonnen talking about Anderson Silva in Brazil. First of all, this is the fight business. This isn’t the nice business. This is the fight business.

“And when people ask me about it, I’m like, ‘Wait a minute. We’re in Boston, aren’t we? Don’t the Patriots play here? (Bleeping) Aaron Hernandez just murdered somebody and possibly murdered two other people. Are the Patriots going to get chased out of town now? Are they going to do 18 and under?'”

More from the USA Today article here.

After a public hearing this week Murphy sorta relented and said OK no one under 16 can go to MMA events in Boston.  So Dana White’s question still stands in light of Aaron Hernandez should we not allow kids under 16 to go to Pats games?  I’ve asked Murphy on twitter if he realizes that Kids younger than 16 actually TRAIN in mixed martial arts.  I see them at my school on Mondays and Wednesdays.  I’ve grappled with some of them.  They hear things worse than Chael Sonnen selling a fight on any hip hop album.  Are we going to say they can’t listen to that too?  Where does it end Councilor Murphy you Union Shill?  So next time when the UFC is coming to Massachusetts I hope they do an outdoor show in Foxboro so Dana can stick it up your ass and the city of Boston loses out on all that revenue.  Providence must be pumped at that idea.  All that money from hotels, bars, and restaurants going to them instead of Boston.  If you don’t think Dana White and the Fertita brothers wouldn’t do something like that to prove a point you obviously don’t know who they are at all.

07.30.13
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Angst in Centralville!?!

CENTRALVILLE

(lifted from the Lowell Sun)

According to last weeks Column Jack Mitchell may be rubbing people the wrong way. My response- And? How’s that news?!? People who fancy themselves as city politicos of all stripes rub each other the wrong way all the time. If Jack Mitchell likened some of the neighborhood activists to the Taliban, so what? Are we really that thinly skinned? As a society, we really are becoming softer than baby shit.

During a recent appearance on WCAP, I referred to one neighborhood leader as a “petty tyrant.” Well, SHE IS! When your actions are intended to suppress an issue from an agenda because you don’t like it, you’re using what little power you have in a tyrannical manner. It’s my right to call her that. It’s her right to go on thinking people should bow to her whims. It’s also your right to make up your own mind and set her straight. Or not. Choice is yours. That’s not for me to decide.

Continue reading →