I was riding the Red Line and I came across two guys dancing on the T. They were gettin' their funk on to a few Michael Jackson beats, I believe it was Black or White.
This was shot between the Red Line stations of Central & Kendall Square.
The MBTA needs more of this on the trains and in the stations!
Friday, January 9, 2009
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Got my radio scanner back up!
My Radio Shack Weather Alert Scanner is up and running again...I think I just turned it on in the middle of a shooting or stabbing of some sort...somewhere on Mass Ave...
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Rob Willington Out as Executive Director
From Rob Willington's twitter feed...
Packed up my office at MassGOP, 3 quick years there.
5 minutes ago from twitterrific
Rob Willington has confirmed, via email to RMG, that he is leaving the Massachusetts Republican Party. In a statement, copied below, Rob reflects on his time with the party and addresses RMG readers directly.
garrett3000 :: Willington out as executive director - twitter
Hello RMG readers, yes I'll be moving on, and not a problem for Garrett posting my tweeter feed - isn't modern communication amazing?
As my @willington account stated on twitter, I just packed up my office at the MassGOP HQ on this cold, snowy, December evening.
As I packed up my belongings, I couldn't help but remember what it was like when I first started 3 years ago at the MassGOP.
It's a little embarrassing that these were the questions that I had, but it shows how far we have come.
Who runs our website, how do I update it?
What is our mass email system, can we start sending out mass emails?
How are we currently collecting email addresses?
How can we collect names and emails of future activists and potential candidates?
How can we bypass the mainstream media and speak directly to the base and let them know what is going on at the MassGOP and around the state?
How do we personalize the party and show the faces and voices of those involved including interns and volunteers?
How do we flip this thing upside down so that people can not only see, but actively participate in the building and feel welcome to join?
How do we take all of the election results data (by precinct, and THANK YOU INTERNS) and get it out of the office and into the hands of our activists so they don't have to compile it themselves?
How do we stop the phone calls of activists asking "who are the Republicans Town Committee members in my neighboring town, I want to invite them to our GOP BBQ?" and let them have complete access to every Republican GOP committee member in the state?
How do we create incentives for people to join our social networks?'
Voter Vault? How come I have never heard of that and have been working on campaigns? How do we take this software which has traditionally been reserved for US Senate and US congressional campaigns and give it state senate, state representative, and more importantly - selectman, school committee members, mayors etc.. ?
How do we transform Voter Vault from a campaign tool, into a party building tool?
How do we get Republican Town Committees online (thank you interns!!!) ?
Instead of having MassGOP staff/interns working on updating the emails and phone numbers for Republican Town Committee members across the state, how do we create one central database where ALL Republican Town Committee members can access and update the list "many hands make light work."?
Why do we do 1 training every 2 years, can't we put a laptop and projector in my trunk and travel around the state conducting trainings for everyone interested (not just candidates)?
Now, the MassGOP has answers for every question.
We hit 50 videos on YouTube and were very, very quick to respond to certain situations which would cause us to drop what we were doing and focus on the news. For instance, this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... came out a few hours after the news broke.
In the end, we lost 3 seats. Not good, not good at all. One area where I would like to see an improvement is with messaging and issues, and I'm confident that there will be progress on this front.
Thanks to RMG - this was another great resource coinciding with the growth of MassRootsGOP.com.
You will here more of me soon RMG, I promise.
www.BlogsForJoy.com (don't forget to DO something this holiday season)
www.KeepThatFaith.com (creativity for the American conservative movement)
ps stop calling Republicans "Ron Paul People" ..... Republican will do.
Packed up my office at MassGOP, 3 quick years there.
5 minutes ago from twitterrific
Rob Willington has confirmed, via email to RMG, that he is leaving the Massachusetts Republican Party. In a statement, copied below, Rob reflects on his time with the party and addresses RMG readers directly.
garrett3000 :: Willington out as executive director - twitter
Hello RMG readers, yes I'll be moving on, and not a problem for Garrett posting my tweeter feed - isn't modern communication amazing?
As my @willington account stated on twitter, I just packed up my office at the MassGOP HQ on this cold, snowy, December evening.
As I packed up my belongings, I couldn't help but remember what it was like when I first started 3 years ago at the MassGOP.
It's a little embarrassing that these were the questions that I had, but it shows how far we have come.
Who runs our website, how do I update it?
What is our mass email system, can we start sending out mass emails?
How are we currently collecting email addresses?
How can we collect names and emails of future activists and potential candidates?
How can we bypass the mainstream media and speak directly to the base and let them know what is going on at the MassGOP and around the state?
How do we personalize the party and show the faces and voices of those involved including interns and volunteers?
How do we flip this thing upside down so that people can not only see, but actively participate in the building and feel welcome to join?
How do we take all of the election results data (by precinct, and THANK YOU INTERNS) and get it out of the office and into the hands of our activists so they don't have to compile it themselves?
How do we stop the phone calls of activists asking "who are the Republicans Town Committee members in my neighboring town, I want to invite them to our GOP BBQ?" and let them have complete access to every Republican GOP committee member in the state?
How do we create incentives for people to join our social networks?'
Voter Vault? How come I have never heard of that and have been working on campaigns? How do we take this software which has traditionally been reserved for US Senate and US congressional campaigns and give it state senate, state representative, and more importantly - selectman, school committee members, mayors etc.. ?
How do we transform Voter Vault from a campaign tool, into a party building tool?
How do we get Republican Town Committees online (thank you interns!!!) ?
Instead of having MassGOP staff/interns working on updating the emails and phone numbers for Republican Town Committee members across the state, how do we create one central database where ALL Republican Town Committee members can access and update the list "many hands make light work."?
Why do we do 1 training every 2 years, can't we put a laptop and projector in my trunk and travel around the state conducting trainings for everyone interested (not just candidates)?
Now, the MassGOP has answers for every question.
We hit 50 videos on YouTube and were very, very quick to respond to certain situations which would cause us to drop what we were doing and focus on the news. For instance, this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... came out a few hours after the news broke.
In the end, we lost 3 seats. Not good, not good at all. One area where I would like to see an improvement is with messaging and issues, and I'm confident that there will be progress on this front.
Thanks to RMG - this was another great resource coinciding with the growth of MassRootsGOP.com.
You will here more of me soon RMG, I promise.
www.BlogsForJoy.com (don't forget to DO something this holiday season)
www.KeepThatFaith.com (creativity for the American conservative movement)
ps stop calling Republicans "Ron Paul People" ..... Republican will do.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Question One Never Had a Chance
Main Text:
The campaign to end the state income tax was dealt a crushing defeat on Election Day when it was rejected by over 70% of the electorate. It was a kamikaze mission from the start and it was shot down before establishing visual contact with the target. As soon as serious opposition appeared in the form of the Coalition for Our Communities it was over.
The left-wing political networks in this state mobilized in an astounding fashion raising millions of dollars and hundreds, perhaps thousands, of volunteers. Leftist activist groups like ACORN and Neighbor-to-Neighbor conducted a massive outreach campaign to urban communities. Government employee unions were calling thousands of voters. Community groups were organizing meetings and lining up to oppose Question One.
The lefties were quickly joined by the state establishment. Although more hacky than lefty, the poorly named Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation published a report that predicted “devastating consequences.” Almost every major newspaper in the Commonwealth opposed Question One and every major political figure cried that it was reckless.
The Coalition for Our Communities saturated the airwaves with terrifying ads depicting a world without government services and rising property taxes. They could have relied on media ads alone but they went even further: phone banking, canvassing, stand outs, regional directors, and several direct mailings. The Coalition didn’t want to just defeat Question One they wanted to blow it out of the water.
The Committee for Small Government challenged the entire state establishment and lost. The devastating loss can be attributed to an inferior organization, economic trouble, one serious political ally, and a lack of funds but. (The OBAMA! effect did not help either.) There was simply no way for CSG to seriously compete with the massive operation that the unions created.
Timing is very important, too. The financial melt down probably hurt Question One more than it helped and the Dianne Wilkerson scandal broke too late. Concerns about graft and scandal were replaced by concerns about emergency budget cuts.
Even the best campaign would not have been able to compete with their organization, an excited Democrat base, and a financial meltdown. It just wasn’t our year.
But hey it was fun, right?
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