Walls

Wall of the Twig Painter in Springfield.

Sharp objects and a wrench on the wall of the Haymarket this morning.

At last night's Cannabis Colloquium longtime Valley libertarian leader Terry Franklin spoke on the history of marijuana activism in the Pioneer Valley.

Today with the full legalization of marijuana in America a virtual certainty within the next few years, it is important to recall the heavy dues paid by the Valley's earliest weed warriors during the years when simple possession of a small amount of pot could bring a jail term. Franklin's talk made one wish he would write a book about the history of stoner activism in our Valley, which is a colorful tale that is thus far poorly documented and preserved.

Here is a video I made of the UMass Cannabis Coalition headquarters in 2007.

Former TV40 investigative reporter Jim Polito, who has been a talk radio host in Worcester for the past several years, is now moving on to work for Fox in Boston:

Jim Polito will be leaving his morning radio show on WTAG in Worcester to take an on-air position with FOX 25 in Boston, GoLocalWorcester has learned.

Polito will be offering up political commentary for the 6p.m. and 10p.m. newscasts, according to friends of his radio program. He is set to start in the new position on Monday, December 10. Friday will be Polito's last day on air in Worcester.

Congratulations Jim for breaking into Massachusetts' biggest media market! Read more here.

Lately the Obama Administration has been pointing to the higher tax rates of the Clinton Presidency to justify raising rates today. But it seems they're suffering from a very selective memory:

Why should we limit ourselves to just replicating one tiny fragment of Clinton-era governance—higher tax rates on a fairly small number of earners? Why not replicate other aspects of Clinton’s policy mix as well?

Probably because that would entail mentioning something that Obama’s frequent invocations of the Clinton years always ignore: that Clinton’s spending levels were far, far lower than they have been for the last four years—or than President Obama has called for them to be in the years to come.

That’s true no matter how you measure it.

Government spending as a percentage of the economy fell during the Clinton presidency, starting at 21.4 percent and finishing up at about 18.2 percent of GDP in both 2000 and 2001. In 1993, Clinton’s first budget spent $1.4 trillion. The last budget he helped create spent $1.8 trillion. So far, President Obama has spent about $3.5 trillion every year, averaging more than 24 percent of GDP.

Read more here.