Massachusetts

The Supreme Court bared its Republican fangs today in a stirring endorsement of the power of the gun lobby over democracy, and an affirmation of the slow crumbling of our communities, to be replaced by tiny single-family islands bristling with armaments, GOP/Confederate flags, and a “devil take the hindmost” approach to the American Dream.

OK, a polemic, but we’re here to fulminate, right Personally, I agree citizens should be able to own rifles, which can be useful to protect liberty, but I support tight restrictions on handguns, which are easily concealed.

From the NYT:

The Supreme Court declared for the first time on Thursday that the Constitution protects an individual’s right to have a gun, not just the right of the states to maintain militias.

(Read the full post about ‘Guns for Everyone! The More the Better!’…)

(No, this is not about the dog racing ban Thanks for the update, Dan! - promoted by Bob)

Please have a look at The Phoenix’s annual Muzzle Awards, a Fourth of July roundup of local anti-constitutionalism that I’ve been writing since 1998. You’ll see why Nat Hentoff likes to say that the human sex drive is exceeded only by the urge to censor.

Among those who get singled out are Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, whose agencies have banned a respected academic, Adam Habib, from the United States. Habib is scheduled to appear at an academic conference in Boston on Aug. 1, but that’s not going to happen unless the ban is lifted.

(Read the full post about ‘Muzzling freedom of speech’…)

Well, how about this: Turns out doctors and med students happen to agree that gifts from pharma companies distort the practice of administering medicine.

(Read the full post about ‘Docs and med students support gift ban’…)

(Interesting stuff! - promoted by David)

While we wait for the details of Governor Patrick’s “Readiness Project,” I’d like to take a minute to introduce many of you to the company Measured Progress, a corporation of over 400 people based in New Hampshire that calls the shots in public education here in Massachusetts.

Imagine that Big Pharma could tell your doctor how much of its medication you should take.  That’s what Measured Progress, Inc. does in education.  Unsurprisingly, Measured Progress prescribes a lot of its product; Massachusetts kids need a lot of help, and the best way to obtain said help is by shipping more money up to…Measured Progress, Inc.

(Read the full post about ‘Meet Measured Progress, Incorporated’…)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) ― Former “American Idol” Ruben Studdard is getting ready for a weekend wedding in his home state of Alabama.

Studdard, nicknamed the “Velvet Teddy Bear” on “Idol” for his big frame and sonorous voice, will marry Surata Zuri McCants, his girlfriend of two years, at the Canterbury United Methodist Church in Mountain Brook on Saturday.

He met his bride-to-be during a CD-signing at a Wal-Mart store in Atlanta in October 2006. The 29-year-old singer says he was struck by McCants’ beauty and later tracked her down in the toy department and asked for her telephone number.

Studdard is set to release a new album later this year.

(© 2008 The Associated Press.

(Read the full post about ‘Ruben Studdard Prepares For Weekend Wedding’…)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Paris Hilton is making good on her promise to become a better person.

The 27-year-old socialite made an “extremely generous” donation toward the construction of a medical building at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, hospital officials said Thursday, although they did not specify the amount.

“The children I have met through my involvement with Childrens Hospital have truly touched my heart,” Hilton said in a statement. “I am proud to make a donation and lend my name to the fundraising effort to help children who are facing terribly serious illnesses.”

The 460,000-square-foot Childrens Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases is expected to open in 2010.

After spending about 23 days in jail last year for violating probation on alcohol-related reckless driving charges, Hilton told CNN’s Larry King the experience caused her to re-evaluate the role partying played in her life.

(Read the full post about ‘Paris Hilton Donates To LA’s Childrens Hospital’…)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― The buzz over Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker in “The Dark Knight” for the last several months was justified. With his final full film role, Ledger delivers what may be remembered as the finest performance of his career.

A press screening of the “Batman Begins” sequel Thursday night had the audience cackling along with Ledger’s Joker, a depraved creature utterly without conscience whom the late actor played with gleeful anarchy.

At times sounding like a cross between tough guy James Cagney in a gangster flick and Philip Seymour Hoffman’s fastidious Truman Capote, Ledger elevates Batman’s No. (Read the full post about ‘Heath Ledger Delivers Brilliantly As The Joker’…)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― George Clooney just wants actors to get along instead of choosing between sparring unions.

In a two-page letter released Thursday, Clooney adopted a neutral stance in the dispute between the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Screen Actors Guild.

“What we can’t do is pit artist against artist,” he wrote.

AFTRA has already reached a tentative agreement with Hollywood studios. (Read the full post about ‘George Clooney Calls For Unity Among Actors’…)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― The Emmy nominations could mark a breakthrough for shows as varied as “The Wire,” “Mad Men” and “Family Guy.” The programs are among the 10 drama series and 10 comedies that emerged as the semifinalists in balloting by Academy of Television Arts & Sciences members, the academy said Thursday.

The final five nominees in each category will be determined with the help of blue-ribbon panels that are to screen submitted episodes for the top vote-getters this weekend. (Read the full post about ‘‘The Wire’ Among Emmy Award Semifinalist Nominees’…)

BOSTON (AP) ― The U.S. secretary of commerce has decided a Massachusetts agency acted correctly when it objected to plans to build a liquefied natural gas terminal in Fall River.

In a decision Thursday, U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez ruled that the project’s potential benefit to the nation would not outweigh the possible effects on the coastline.

Gutierrez also said that while the project would increase New England’s access to LNG, Coast Guard officials are not convinced LNG tankers could safely navigate a nearby bridge.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, who’s against the project, called the developers’ appeal an attempt to circumvent the state. (Read the full post about ‘US Won’t Back Fall River LNG Terminal’…)