A blunderbuss for Breault and Babs

Recently I’ve been critical of the kid gloves writers the T&G have used to handle William Breault, Barbara Haller and the (nonexistent) Main South Alliance for Public Safety, hopefully todays commentary by Robert Nemeth is a sign those gloves are coming off.

The latest display of astonishing callousness in the face of a public health emergency came from City Councilor Barbara Haller and William Breault, a self-appointed community activist who uses demagoguery and intimidation to get his way. Under the pretext of protecting public safety, they have led opposition to measures designed to help people endangered by drug addiction, mental illness, homelessness and related problems, causing considerable harm over the years. But this time they went too far.

Excellent.

link

July 13, 2008 | Filed Under Team Batshitinsane, The Big Woo, massachusetts, politics, telegram | 1 Comment 

William Breault: Stupidest man in Worcester, Part 4

Worcesters favorite mustachioed super hero has taken his side show on the road. First stop The Berkshires! Ellen G. Lahr, reporter for the Berkshire Eagle, was kind enough to sit in as Breaults away team straight man for this interview and did she shine. But, as we must do in a day and age when newspapers lack funding for fact checkers, let’s pull out the red pen together and clean up Bills mistakes for the Eagle staff.

He said the decriminalization effort is at sharp odds with evidence that marijuana use, particularly among teens, carries more health risks than it did years ago, when the drug had less concentrations of THC, the main psychoactive component of pot.

What Billy means to say is, according to US Government research THC toxicity in humans would require consumption of 1500 pounds in under 15 minutes. In other words, the artificial sweetener you used in your coffee this morning still poses much greater health risks than Marijuana.

Breault said that in his Worcester neighborhood, he’s seen people robbed, injured and killed over marijuana, and with decriminalization, those problems could escalate.

What Billy means here is, he’s full of shit. He’s trying the best he can to make sense of a world that is simply far too confusing for him. What Billy sees in his neighborhood is people robbed, injured, and killed over money. Marijuana is a mostly worthless plant. It can be grown pretty much anywhere on earth with even the poorest of soil conditions. You could throw seeds into just about any urban alleyway and see successful germination. It’s really quite amazing and should make marijuana no more valuable than heirloom tomatoes. Because prohibition has led to increased risk in trafficking, marijuana has increased in value artificially as a commodity. Its value is determined by availability. We’re not just talking about price here. Prices of marijuana are actually relatively low. Its overall risk (imprisonment, loss of employment and asset forfeiture) that raises value as a commodity when prohibition is figured in. If criminal penalties for marijuana are removed for simple possession of under an once, Billy looses one of his best lies to throw around; that drugs and violence are forever married, when history has shown us it is prohibition and violence which can’t be separated.

Marijuana use cited in emergency room admissions is on the rise nationally, Breault said.

This is where Bills ignorance shines. If you go to an ER with an overdose, you’re asked what drugs you use and are using. Since marijuana use is so prevalent, of course more people report using it. But it’s not the reason they’re in the ER. This is one of those lines of reasoning you have to be a total douchbag to fall into. There are no marijuana overdoses, or even medical emergencies, period.

And contrary to what the Boston group states, he claimed that few, if any, inmates in the state’s jails are sent there for minor marijuana possession alone; in local courts, it’s not uncommon for first-time possession offenders to receive an eventual dismissal of the charges, with no criminal record resulting.

This red herring is either evidence that Bill may not be a complete moron, or he’s such a moron he can’t follow his own bull shit anymore. If we do in-fact have a system where simple possession results in dismissal, why wouldn’t that be cause enough for decriminalization? Do we simply enjoy wasting money on arrests and court proceedings?

The National Institute on Drug Abuse states that THC increases the heart rate.

I just finished my second cup of coffee and can actually see my heart beating against my chest wall. Can’t remember a single time where smoking weed has resulted in a rapid heart rate, your millage may vary. If this is a sign of the desperation the prohibition crowd is feeling, the Committee for a Sensible Marijuana Policy should be proud.

A recent Yale University study also showed that THC administered to 150 health volunteers led to psychotic symptoms in 50 percent of them.

Sort of. First of all, this study is over a year old. Maybe news just travels slowly to the Berkshires. The important factor of this research is the involvement of schizophrenics. The Yale folks were trying to judge the effects of marijuana on schizophrenics whose symptoms were controlled. The “psychotic symptoms” reported were hallucinations and paranoia. This is where medicine and the real world start the diverge briefly. For a sober person to experience hallucinations and unprovoked paranoia you have “psychotic symptoms”. If a marijuana smoker experiences hallucinations and paranoia, you simply have a person who should be smoking indicas as opposed to sativas or at the very least an indica dominate hybrid. So parents, don’t worry about your kids going psychotic, they already know this.

Capeless said his overriding concern is that the ballot measure “sends the wrong message to kids,” who in general have been reporting less marijuana use in recent years.

Berkshire County District Attorney David Capeless is a dick. You know what really sends the wrong message to kids, Dave? Asset forfeiture and using them as tools to snitch on their parents. Fuck you.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Big thank you to a certain Taxi Guy for bringing this Eagle story to our attention.

July 12, 2008 | Filed Under Team Batshitinsane, The Big Woo, massachusetts, newspapers, politics | Leave a Comment 

Traffic cameras are about money, not safety. Fact.

Today, Clive McFarlane jumped into the T&G private/public PR partnership with the city of Worcester and boy, does he sound silly. Here’s the thing, when the keystone to your premise is a quote from some guy which just happens to be a logical fallacy, the argument starts to look a little shaky.

As Blackstone Police Chief Ross A. Atstupenas said, “If people are abiding by the law, then you don’t have to worry about it.”

See Clive, the problem with that line of reasoning is People like Ross are in a position to constantly be changing the definition of what is and is not legal. Clearly Blackstone Police Chief Ross Atstupenas is not concerned with the rule of law, he himself has been found in violation of Massachusetts ethics code in his role as Chief. Is this really the guy we want deciding what we should and shouldn’t be worried about?

http://www.mass.gov/ethics/DA_Atstupenas.pdf

More to the point, the legal system in the US is not a series of either/or choices. This line of reasoning as presented by Ross assumes either you are guilty of something and therefore should be exposed or you are innocent and therefore have nothing to fear, simple logic demands we have at least a third component which is an expectation of privacy. This is when the Chiefs jump in and yell ‘but you’re in public and have no expectation of privacy’ and they’re mostly correct, however reasonable people agree that constant scrutiny is in fact an invasion of privacy. Would Chief Atstupenas or Worcester Police Chief Geme send one of their officers out to constantly follow a single resident, without cause, wait for that individual to do something illegal and haul them in? Would any of us put up with that sort of scrutiny? Would either Chief be comfortable with a resident following every action of one of their officers? How is this any different? The rule of law, in this country any way, demands all burden be placed on the accuser, not the accused. Any sort of constant surveillance without cause violates the spirit of our expectation of privacy, which is also the expectation to be free of constant scrutiny.

The simple fact is Law Enforcement is viewed by most municipalities as a viable source of revenue generation. There is no safety component to these minor motor vehicle violations. There is however a huge problem with the lack of engineering that goes into both the timing of lights and layouts of all Worcesters major intersections, but fixing that problem costs more and saves nothing. The sad thing is, even in the face of solid research showing traffic signals and signs cause more problems then they solve, Worcester is moving forward with this camera system on the false premise they make us safer. You’ve got nothing to hide, Worcester, so just OBEY. K?

July 9, 2008 | Filed Under The Big Woo, massachusetts, politics, telegram, transit | 2 Comments 

William Breault: Stupidest man in Worcester, part 3

In today’s T&G a story about the apparent success of the cities new Yellow Boxes for needle disposal. Billy, what do you have to say on the matter?

“I haven’t found an environmentally or socially conscious drug addict”

link
He’s making it too easy folks.

I tried finding people with either an environmental or social component to their fame, I’ll happily entertain criticisms or make adjustments to the list via comments. Why the T&G keeps printing his crap is beyond me but it really makes them appear lazy to anyone who made it through second grade.

Part 1
Part 2

July 8, 2008 | Filed Under Team Batshitinsane, The Big Woo, entertainment, massachusetts, politics | 6 Comments 

Massachusetts still the most tech savvy state

Congratulations, Massachusetts.

Massachusetts remains the “gold standard” for other states thanks to its institutions, cutting-edge firms, and ability to retain a skilled work force.

1. Massachusetts
2. Maryland
3. Colorado
4. California
5. Washington
6. Virginia
7. Connecticut
8. Utah
9. New Hampshire
10. Rhode Island

link

June 29, 2008 | Filed Under massachusetts, politics, redevelopment, tech | Leave a Comment 

A stupid week of stupid

Wow. This was a hell of a week for those of us who enjoy a good laugh at the expense of local elected officials and other public figures. At last count Worcester took exactly 32 baby steps backward this week, leaving us approximately in 1957. Good work Worcester!
Here’s the highlight reel:

Billy and Babs Up in Smoke
The Wheeler & Woolsey of the Worcester Temperance Movement, Billy Breault and Barbara Haller saw by far the most action this week. Not ones to settle with forcing a private business to pay police to patrol public ways the pair found the time to draft a letter to a whole bunch of local officials regarding the use of Narcan to keep people alive. The letter is ultimately an exercise in patience. If you could imagine an early alchemist attempting to debate a modern day theoretical physicist in the basic principals of the universe; thats essentially what this letter is. Two people so completely ignorant of the world they live in you almost have to begin questioning their sanity. Heres the letter for those interested parties.

Street meat forced to beat feet
The city council is working on some cockamamie plan to ban/limit food venders around the city. This may go down as both the silliest and eventually most anti-buisness decision to roll out of council chambers this year. The city is fortunate to have Councilors Rosen and Rushton challenging this matter, but the reality is they’re alone in their fight. The plan is nothing more than a way to get rid of a few problem entities without engaging in creative thought; something the administration seems to be finding difficult these days. The most interesting part of this plan is the way its being justified as protectionist, favoring established brick and mortar business. That really speaks volumes to the way our local leaders view our local restaurants. If Councilor Palmieri believes someone could be about to walk into the Chop House on Shrewsbury St only to divert to a water-dog cart and end up canceling their reservations… Well maybe local restauranteurs might want to ask Phil to stop doing them any favors, it doesn’t say much for your fillet. Mayor Lukes is even more illogical saying if we don’t do something we’ll end up with empty store fronts. Maybe Konnie is hanging out in different parts of town than me… BUT THE STOREFRONTS HAVE BEEN EMPTY FOR 20 FUCKING YEARS! And she thinks a fucking Super Pretzel is going to send everyone packing? Way to stay in touch with the city.

New recycling vendor will save the city money! Sweet!
No word on whether I’ll still be buying the most expensive trash bags on the planet based on the cost of the old vendor! Booo!

When is a band actually a band?
Although it was reported nowhere, I have it on good authority that the License Commission decided this past week that at least in the case of the Emerald Isle, an acoustic act that is run through an amplifier is no longer acoustic. No really, they said that.

The most expensive Mercedes in town
We’ll let poet laureate Billy Breault sum this debacle up.

“I hope you close him. I hope you keep him to two officers. I hope he goes out of business.”

Thanks Billy, keep it classy.

Stop having sex on my lawn
The Q. Never heard of it? Well, it’s a really neat little coffee shop where young people hang out. For us old kids in the room, think the Coffee Kingdom in the early ’90’s. Well the neighbors on chandler street don’t think it’s fun at all. We’re guessing they’re AARP members. If the license commission wanted to take a logical approach they would ask the police in attendance why there have been no arrests for public sex at the Q instead of just taking a neighbors word that it happened. The police claim “more than 50″ complaints. Well thats great, but how many arrests? These are old people, all they do is complain.

Papers please
Running a livery in Worcester just became an exercise in civil liberties. According to Worcester Magazine liveries now have a dress code: no swimwear, bathing suits, jogging shorts, or torn or ripped shorts. They can’t have external markings that would distinguish them from private vehicle (which is simply silly and to prove it I’m going hang a livery magnet on the door of my private vehicle and just not pick anyone up). They can only take payment by check, credit card or U.S. mail billing. Which is a direct attack at the poor in the city and before you call me on that name for me the bank anywhere in the Main South or Beacon Brightly districts issuing these credit cards and checks? I have three banks within a 5min walk of my house in tatnuck, there are no financial institutions in the areas serviced by these liveries. And the kicker…

All taxis and livery vehicles are subject to random spot checks at any time or location and taxi and livery drivers must all keep a daily log of all pickups; livery drivers only are required to note the name and number of all passengers. All logs must be kept for two years, and must be made available to any police officer upon request.

Thats the best excuse I’ve seen in years to get a professional set of fake papers. I think I’m going to go out this week and get me a nice Brazilian passport just for kicks.

Well. There’s a week in Worcester for you. A a semi related note. CVS has a sale this week on 4 packs of D-cell alkaline Batteries. Nothing tells a local official how you really feel, like throwing D-cell’s through the windows of City Hall while council is in session. Now I would never suggest that is the right thing to do… but we certainly are running out of things we CAN do, so don’t write it off just yet.

June 22, 2008 | Filed Under The Big Woo, entertainment, fashion, food, humor, massachusetts, newspapers, night life, politics, transit | 4 Comments 

William Breault: Stupidest man in Worcester, part 2

I remember when working as an EMT, a conversation that would spring up often was the potential of narcan for non-professional administration. If you’ve never seen the drug used it’s really an amazing thing. Watching someone who has overdosed on opiates on the nod and on the way out the door, essentially go into withdrawal and ready to OD again, all in seconds. Very neat stuff. Since an opiate overdose will obviously kill you and narcan is relatively safe drug with a short half life, it stands to reason packaging the product for self administration the same way we have epi-pens for allergic reactions, would be a no brainer.

Enter Billy Breault, the one man band known as the Main South Alliance for Public Safety, with an opinion on the grant money Worcester is getting to train opiate users on the self administration of narcan.

“We’ve had private conversations with those involved,” Mr. Breault said. “This funding is under the guise of drug prevention, but this is more about assisting than preventing.”

Yes, you disgusting fraud, it’s about assisting people in staying alive while reducing the burden on public services. How is that a bad thing? The problem with douche bags like Billy, they really believe there is a war on drugs. They thought Nixon had a real plan, believed all that Nancy Reagan bull shit, they still think D.A.R.E. is a successful program and they believe in some puritanical pipe dream that one day people will stop putting the things in their bodies that make life fun. Fear these people as they are not very bright.

This grant Worcester is receiving is an extension of a program currently running in Boston, San Francisco, New Mexico, Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, Los Angeles and Chicago; modeled after successful programs in Europe. The reality of these narcan emergency kits is they save lives and arguably more importantly they save resources. They allow a user, friends or family to administer a narcan nasal spray at the first sign of overdose, which contrary to popular opinion is an anomaly for a seasoned user. So while it’s fair to be critical of the OD itself and the addiction leading to it, it’s undeniable this self administration removes an ambulance, engine company, police response and obligatory emergency room evaluation from the equation. Since the only logical argument against drug use and its affects on society is the burden it places on public resources, this sort of program is an obvious step in the right direction.

Our biggest problem with drugs in Worcester isn’t the drugs themselves. It’s pretending they don’t touch every race, economic class and political affiliation. Which is why in Worcester we’re decades behind other large cities in treatment and prevention. Until we’re honest with that fact, annoyances like Billy will continue spouting off and ignorant fools will continue to listen.

link to T&G article on the subject.
And lest we forget…

June 14, 2008 | Filed Under Team Batshitinsane, The Big Woo, massachusetts | 12 Comments 

It is our issue

Last thursday a post went up over at the WoMag blog following the License Commission meeting that seemed too bizarre to be true. Following the latest shooting in the area of Alta Cafe, on Main St which admittedly is one of the biggest train wrecks of a business the city has going, the Worcester License Commission has some new rules in play for the club. Namely two paid police details the days they are open and the club is not allowed to open until those details arrive and is not to open if they are not able to secure detail officers. Money quote provided by chair of the Worcester License Commission, Kevin O’Sullivan

“If you can’t get an officer, I’m sorry. That’s not our issue,”

Actually, Kevin, it is our issue. Taking the current size of the M.G.L. into account it’s inconceivable that we don’t already have the laws in place that would shutter the Alta as a public nuisance. The club owner is being asked to hire details for problems that occur mainly outside his doors. That means the city is asking Alta owner Ben Mercedes to pay privately for police to patrol public ways. I was always under the impression WPD salaries covered this sort of thing. And it’s still not clear what if anything this move is expected to change. Since any reasonable person would realize the problem is not with the club, but the douche-bags who go there and hang around outside after the club is closed. If Alta closes, the douche-bags simply go somewhere else. One has to wonder if the average idiot who thinks Benefit St is a swell place to stand for hours at 2AM even realizes the city is having relatively public conversations about their presence; probably not. So if you have a hundred people blocking a public way, loitering and generally being a nuisance, why are the police not making arrests, nightly? The WoMag piece on the issue has the Alta owner admitting that parking for the club blocks the adjacent side street, so why is there not a fleet of tow trucks waiting to haul every car as soon as the engine is killed? Is there even a no-parking sign at the location?

Why are we allowing career politicians to pretend publicly that we don’t already have the tools for this particular job in the form of the M.G.L. and local ordinance or that we haven’t figured out all these problems in the past, simply to close a business they don’t like? That’s lazy and a classic example of just how unfriendly to business the city of Worcester can be when the people involved are simply unwilling to do the jobs we pay them to do.

June 9, 2008 | Filed Under The Big Woo, massachusetts, politics | 3 Comments 

Is Charter Communications violating MA state law?

Over the last few weeks on 508, Mike Benedetti and I have been discussing Charter Communications plans to begin monitoring customer web traffic to better target advertising. And examining the process used by the company they’ve contracted with on this, NebuAd, has raised more questions than it’s answered. After reading Ryan Singels take on the opt-out process over at WIREDs Threat Level, another question seems to be floating out there. Is any of this even legal? Now, Singel is talking about federal wiretap law, but for those of you who have been following this story on a local level here’s the language in the MGL regarding wire taps. I’d love to hear people’s thoughts as to how Charters plan would or would not be a violation of MGL Chapter 272: Section 99 which reads in part:

D. Exemptions.
1. Permitted interception of wire or oral communications.
It shall not be a violation of this section—
a. for an operator of a switchboard, or an officer, employee, or agent of any communication common carrier, whose facilities are used in the transmission of a wire communication, to intercept, disclose, or use that communication in the normal course of his employment while engaged in any activity which is a necessary incident to the rendition of service or to the protection of the rights or property of the carrier of such communication, or which is necessary to prevent the use of such facilities in violation of section fourteen A of chapter two hundred and sixty-nine of the general laws; provided, that said communication common carriers shall not utilize service observing or random monitoring except for mechanical or service quality control checks.

What am I missing here? Can an opt-out system that you can’t really opt out of satisfy that final clause? And can anyone recommend a solid high speed internet provider? I think it’s time for me to cut loose from Charter.

For those of you who haven’t been following this story (like the entirety of the Worcester media) and have no idea what I’m talking about, here’s a nice overview from the NYT.
link

May 29, 2008 | Filed Under 508, The Big Woo, economy, entertainment, massachusetts, media, tech | 2 Comments 

A whole county of Athols

Not too long ago I mentioned the WPS program involving drug dogs and some sort of space time continuum in which the 4th amendment was no longer valid. Seems as though the Athol Public Schools have a program of their own but it immediately became less than popular with the Athol teachers when the dogs involved targeted their cars and not the students.

In the lot, the dogs showed strong interest in two staff members’ vehicles, one of which was a rental car.
Chief Anderson said the dogs detected drugs inside the locked vehicle while sniffing around the perimeter.

What’s interesting here isn’t teachers doing drugs and teaching kids about double standards through example, that’s to be expected; somehow this search involved the Worcester County Sheriffs Dept 8 dog K9 unit. The unit most people probably think we pay for to keep drugs out of the jail and find missing people but seem to be more commonly found at the post office making mystery coke busts and now small towns where teaching kids to fear authority is considered a healthy coming of age exercise. Somehow this manages to fit in with the Sheriffs July 2007 statement to Worcester Magazine that his dept was not increasing their role in local law enforcement.

While Guy Glodis was on the phone, we couldn’t help but ask him about the widespread buzz that he was working behind the scenes legislatively to get his deputies added police powers. It’s something that (hypothetically) would set off the local police unions, especially in light of their protective nature over territory. Glodis calls the rumor pure baloney, and puts an utter kibosh on any idea like that. Saying there is no push to increase sheriffs’ powers, he quickly faxed over a fact sheet demonstrating the reduced role of the sheriffs. Says Glodis, “[We're] less involved in law enforcement than I was three years ago.”

May 28, 2008 | Filed Under massachusetts, politics | Leave a Comment 

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