Published August 2, 2010

(DDOT, DC)

The light turns green. You hesitate for a half-second and watch as two or three drivers make the death-defying left turn in front of you.

News writer Jesse Logan — a mom with an infant daughter — watched this grisly scenario unfold in Hyde Park over the weekend.

An SUV slammed into the passenger side of an older model Toyota Camry in the middle of a four-way intersection where Truman Highway meets River Street. While both cars had the green light, it was the smaller car that proceeded to make a left turn ahead of the SUV. Thankfully, there was an ambulance in queue at the light before the crash, so emergency response was quick. The driver of the Camry had to be pulled from the car by at least three people. The passenger of the SUV, also in shock, had passed out and she, too, was pulled out of the car and onto a stretcher — her head anchored by a neck brace.

There were no fatalities, she says.

Jesse sent me some research that more or less confirms what we all suspect of Boston drivers. The latest annual survey by GMAC Insurance ranks Massachusetts near the bottom when it comes to drivers’ knowledge about basic road rules.

In 2008, Boston ranked No. 2 in a list of cities with the most discourteous drivers, according to a survey commissioned by the national auto club AutoVantage. Last year, Boston fell (rose?) to No. 9.

WBUR’s Dave Shaw puts it this way: “I realized when I moved here I wouldn’t be a Boston driver until I was willing to make a left in front of traffic.”

I find the left-on-green problem is particularly bad on Memorial Drive at Western Avenue. Everyone heading to the Pike needs to get there now.

Update: It happens to be National Stop On Red Week. But I would hope that’s more of a year-round concept.

Published August 2, 2010

We know the Army is focusing its WikiLeaks investigation case on an enlisted man, Pfc. Bradley Manning.

We know that Manning might have had help from his friends in the Boston area, including friends at MIT and Boston University.

We know that an MIT grad and exchanged e-mails with Manning but has denied any role in the massive leak.

Our reporters are trying to get to the bottom of this story. People don’t want to talk. Can you, readers, shed any light on the case? Do you know anything about Boston’s possible role in WikiLeaks case? If you don’t feel comfortable responding in the comments, you can e-mail me.

Published August 2, 2010

"You there, the fair and balanced one!" (AP)

Effective today, Fox News gets a front-row seat in the White House press room. The AP got Helen Thomas’ old seat, which left a vacancy. As I wrote Friday, NPR wanted it.

From the White House Correspondents Association website:

It was a very difficult decision. The board received requests from Bloomberg and NPR in addition to Fox for relocation to the front row and felt all three made compelling cases. But the board ultimately was persuaded by Fox’s length of service and commitment to the White House television pool.

“Length of service and commitment?” NPR has covered the White House since 1970. Much longer than Fox, I believe.

NPR moves up to the second row, to take the seat now vacated by Fox.

Published July 31, 2010

The FBI file on BU professor Howard Zinn reveals that someone within the upper ranks of the university was "highly disturbed" by Zinn's anti-police statements in 1970.

In 1970, an FBI informant in the upper ranks of Boston University tried to oust Howard Zinn, the late political science professor and rabble-rouser.

The FBI on Friday released its 423-page file on Zinn, a sort of time capsule of BU’s tumultuous political past. The news blog TPMMuckraker has done a great job combing through the file and reporting on the interesting bits.

The FBI file was released in three parts, but I combined them into one document. You can read through the file on Scribd.

Continue reading →

Published July 30, 2010

David Rawlings and Gillian Welch belt it out at last year's Newport Folk Festival. (DarwinsPlatypus/Flickr)

We’re making the leap into August, otherwise known as The Last Month Of Summer, but don’t pack away your beach towels and and coolers just yet. Folk music has its big moment, Woods Hole and Roxbury make big use of their big screens, and Nantucket welcomes some side-splitting entertainers. So go ahead and laugh in the face of fall — summer is still very much on.

Continue reading →

Published July 30, 2010

I won’t call it a battle of good versus evil. No, I’ll leave that up to pundits. But I will call it a battle of fair-and-balanced news versus entertainment news.

"You there, the fair and balanced one..." (AP)

It appears NPR is up against Fox (and Bloomberg) for a front-row seat in the White House press room. You know, the seat vacated rather dishonorably by Helen Thomas, who sat there for, like, 60 years.

I won’t tell you who I’m rooting for.

Dylan Stableford, a columnist for a Hollywood news site called The Wrap, reports the White House Correspondents Association will take a vote on Sunday. The mere possibility of a seat for Fox has caused a small outcry on the Web.

One group called CREDO Action has petitioned the association to give it to NPR – and not, under any circumstances, Fox.

“FOX News is not a legitimate news organization,” CREDO political director Becky Bond wrote in a letter sent to WHCA board members. “It produces conservative propaganda under the guise of news, and has been instrumental in the organization of the Tea Party movement. If we look at recent weeks alone, FOX has been involved in race-baiting smear campaigns targeting Shirley Sherrod and the Department of Justice that were planted by right-wing operatives. This is not the work of a news organization. This is right-wing propaganda.”

She continued: “NPR has been providing public interest coverage of the presidency and the White House for almost four decades. NPR clearly deserves to sit in the front row of the White House press briefing room. FOX does not.”

Does it matter who gets the front row, though? Is it just symbolic, or does a reporter’s location in the press room afford some kind of advantage? Update: Twitter Kevin Gilnack (@kgilnack) says:

According to @AAUW, it does “…Gibbs only occasionally farms out questions as deep as the fourth row” http://bit.ly/dyNffx

More:

• This isn’t the first time that Fox-NPR-White House trio has been in the news.
• Talk Of The Nation had on the NYT’s David Carr to ask, Should the White House take on Fox News?

Published July 30, 2010

Slippery sidewalks, veterans, girls on a boat and Catholics round out the list of the week’s most popular stories on wbur.org.

1. Icy Sidewalks Ruling Could Be A Slippery Slope
   There could be quite an increase in slip-and-fall lawsuits in Massachusetts, come winter. The state Supreme Judicial Court has reversed a centuries-old understanding about when property owners can be held liable for someone getting hurt on ice or snow.
2. Brown’s Mixed Attendance Record Disappoints Some Vets
   Sen. Scott Brown’s voting behavior has been scrutinized as he’s become a critical vote for both parties. But how has he done on one of the issues he cares most about — veterans? Not all vets are happy with his performance.
3. Looking Out: Pre-Teens Set Sail In Outward Bound
   Boston Harbor is many things to many people, but to a group of pre-teen girls, sailing the harbor is a way to develop leadership, team-building skills and a strong sense of self.
4. What Do You Call A Lapsed, Er, Former Catholic?
   What do you call a Catholic who stops going to church? The Catholic church calls them “lapsed Catholics,” a term that offends some of our readers.
5. Veterans Groups Struggle To Attract Young Soldiers
   What comes to mind when you think of a VFW post or an American Legion hall? Perhaps an old-fashioned basement bar, smelling of cigarettes and filled with aging white men. With thousands of young men and women returning home to Massachusetts from Iraq and Afghanistan, we looked at these long-standing veterans groups and how they work — or don’t — for the newest generation of soldiers.

This list includes only WBUR (not NPR) news stories, Radio Boston shows and Hubbub posts published since Friday, July 23. WBUR’s other programs and blogs are not included because they are not (yet) part of wbur.org.

Published July 30, 2010

Google autosuggest speaks truth.

Sen. John Kerry does not have a history of explaining things well.

Kerry probably did nothing wrong when he bought a yacht, tax-free, in Rhode Island, but he allowed the story to spiral out of control. The Boston Herald led with the “sails tax” story for five days.

Kerry sat down with the Globe for 45 minutes to set the record straight. But still his story makes no sense to me. Here’s the (condensed) timeline as I understand it:

1. Kerry buys a boat and moors her in Rhode Island, avoiding taxes.
2. The Herald breaks the story.
3. Kerry flees reporters. “Can I get out of here?” Oops.
4. Kerry’s office makes a non-statement: “He will absolutely pay any and all taxes that he is found to owe.”
5. Kerry voluntarily cuts a check to the the commonwealth for about $500,000, “whether owed or not.”
6. Kerry says he’d planned to pay taxes all along, once he took possession of the boat.

As Media Nation blogger Dan Kennedy (@dankennedy_nu) noted earlier this week: “The Herald broke the story last Friday, but give Kerry credit: it is he who has figured out how to keep it alive.”

Today on Morning Edition, Tufts poli sci professor Jeff Berry said the damage is done.

“He seems to have gone out of his way to prove that his reputation of being aloof and disconnected from ordinary citizens is actually true, and emphatically so. It’s not just the tax. … but that he bought a yacht worth $7 million at a time when Massachusetts residents are really suffering.”