Results tagged “globe”

Just after lamenting the dangers of (jay)walking, the Globe puts together an article that may encourage it: 10 Boston subway rides to skip. Some are obvious, like Park to Boylston or Park to Downtown Crossing, but a few are helpful—we've done the walk from Copley to Back Bay to save time on the Orange and Green lines a few times ourselves, and a commenter notes that many E line and Orange line stops are moments apart.

Remember when the Secretary of State ordered Menino aide Michael Kineavy's computer seized so that a computer forensic expert could pore over his hard drive and recover his supposedly deleted emails? And then the city released 5018 "lost" emails and claimed that it couldn't provide any emails Kineavy sent to people outside of City Hall because recovering them would be too expensive?

Fred the Baker is not happy with his corporate overlords. According to the Globe, Dunkin' Donuts is embroiled in "more than 350 lawsuits" with its franchisees, a situation that caused one lawyer to speculate that "the coffee chain has turned its loss prevention department into a 'profit center'" and that "By far and away, Dunkin’ is the most litigious brand out there." Dunkin', for its part, defends its many lawsuits, saying "any legal action it takes is intended to protect all shop owners and ensure that customers have a consistently outstanding experience." [Globe]

The Globe tries to make up for systematically ignoring his campaign by running a lengthy profile of novelty candidate for mayor Kevin McCrea that describes how McCrea went from being "the Motorcycle Guy" who lost a city council race in 2005 to the suit-wearing crusader-gadfly who, he says, has a serious chance at winning the mayor's seat. It's a pretty puffy article that teaches you, among other things, that McCrea claims to have been a competitive ice sculptor (?) and a chess prodigy. [Globe]

Sooo, imagine you're a single dude. You go out on some dates occasionally, but you just haven't met the right lady for you yet. Gee, don't you wish one of your friends would create a website to help you meet women? If you're some dude named Jason, that's exactly what happened to you. And you reacted, appropriately, with "terror" and mortification. But your friend didn't stop at that website. He also got you on Glamour and even into the Globe. All of this, so far, doesn't seem to have gotten you a date.

As if the labradoodle threat weren't enough, Boston-area residents have a new danger to combat: bicyclists (and not even just fixie riders!). The Globe conducted a highly scientific study that involved standing around and counting bikers that committed infractions. Shockingly, a lot of bikers ran a lot of red lights, and some of them even went up on the sidewalk. This is breaking news!

Congressmen John Tierney and Barney Frank like to travel and love that we pay for it.[Boston Herald]

--O'Ryan Johnson, a Boston Herald crime reporter, faces up to 10 years in prison for allegedly kicking a man in the chest. Johnson asked for help at a laundromat in Groveland and the 74-year old man who responded got yelled at then kicked. Johnson was reportedly with a young girl. [Lawrence Eagle Tribune]

--The 89-yar old woman who hit a 4-year old and killed her in Stoughton on Saturday charged with motor vehicle homicide and had her license revoked by the Registry. [Globe]

According to Boston.com, the Boston Newspaper Guild rejected $10 million in wage and benefit cuts, mandated by The New York Times Co. to keep operating the paper, by a vote of 277-265. WCVB also reported the vote. The Globe reported a high turnout for the vote.

• Governor Deval Patrick has called out MBTA "driver" Aiden Quinn and says he should talk to investigators about last week's crash he allegedly caused. [Boston Herald]

The Boston Globe breathlessly reports that a Marshfield man was miraculously healed by a Catholic cardinal who died 100 years ago, once again making the case that journalistic standards will not stand in the way of their printing a completely idiotic story.

The Boston Globe reports that police sources have revealed that police found the underwear of robbery victims during the search of accused Craigslist killer Phillip Markoff's home. The paper does not report on the methods police used to determine that the underwear came from crime victims. Markoff, a BU medical student, also allegedly stored a handgun in his copy of Grey's Anatomy. [Globe]

Do people squeal when they see your pet, or comment "zomg 2 cute" on pictures you upload to Catbook or Dogbook? Then you may want to enter the Globe's Cutest Pets Photo Contest, running now through April 20. Just upload a picture of your precious pooch for the chance to win a DVD of Marley and Me (that quality film!), a FURminator deShedding tool, some squeaky toys, or spot remover—always handy for pets. Start snapping for your chance to win.

A few weeks ago, the Boston Globe quietly ditched its weekly Health/Science section, choosing to save some cash by farming out those stories to other departments while keeping more important sections, like the funny pages and horoscopes. The move was a troubling one for those who are concerned about how science news is reported, since even the former Globe science editor admits, "this can't help but dim the overall breadth and scope of coverage when you're fighting for space every day and defining what you do in a more narrowly focused way."

Did you know that bringing lunch to work "used to be for the picky eaters and penny pinchers"? It says so in the Globe; it must be true. With the economic crisis looming large these days, though, "everybody's doing it" (bringing lunch, that is). Sadly, with the new lunch-bringing trend comes the end of the storied PBJ and potato chips duo. Nowadays, everybody's packin' quinoa, mesclun, (braised?) fennel cubes, carrot ribbons, crystallized ginger, quinoa—even rice cake sandwiches. And you certainly cannot haz any cheeseburgers, you food heathen you. Someone could hear the consequences!

Much as we mock the Globe, it has always seemed to sometimes aim a little higher than its tabloid counterpart. So it was interesting to see the Globe at #5 on a list of the top ten newspapers most likely to fold or go online-only (also at Time). Number 1 on the list, the Philadelphia Daily News, is already nothin' but an edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer and #2, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, has filed for bankruptcy. Time notes that the Globe suffers from being part of the troubled New York Times' New England Media Group, dead weight the NYT might have to shed to survive (UHub commenters point out a Boston Business Journal article that pegs the Globe as worth about $192.8 million, down from $1.1 billion when the NYT purchased it in 1993). So what does this bode for Boston? Will the Metro (also partly owned by NYT and subject to its woes) and Herald be our only daily print options? Will Boston.com save the day? Is it all up to citizen journalists?

Joan Venocchi's column appears on the Opinion/Editorial page in today's Globe. Why does it read, in parts, like a favorable book review for the book that Governor Deval Patrick hasn't even written yet? Deval Patrick comes across as a hero facing a horde of villains, most of them Republican.

Here's an interesting story: as the economy plunges into a recession and people panic over the prospect of lost jobs and money, psychics continue to make big money. Well, okay - it was a mildly interesting story when NPR's Day to Day covered it in November of last year. When a CBS affiliate did it in January it was somewhat less fresh. By the time CNN wrote about it back in February, let's face it, much of the appeal was gone. Yesterday, when Boston Globe writer Brian MacQuarrie found it in the back of the fridge, sniffed it, and tossed it the microwave for 90 seconds, it was probably time to throw it out.

It turns out that Boston's new school zoning proposal was even crappier than previously reported, so it's back to the drawing board, reports the Globe. How crappy? One of the zones, the one that would have included the North End and parts of Roxbury, didn't have enough seats for 616 middle schoolers, an entire school's worth of kids. Meanwhile, the zone that would have stretched from East Boston to Charlestown would have had a middle school that was completely empty. No word on remedial arithmetic classes for school administrators. [Globe]

The Globe has more on this shocking development.

Well, it was only a matter of time. The beloved and old-fashioned Vermont Country Store has started selling sex aids. If you can get past the use of the term "sex aids" (which makes us think of hearing aids, which in turn makes us think "Hold on, honey! I can't sex you so good! Let me get my aid on!" which in turn makes us laugh), there's the matter of just what these "sex aids" are. They're not Arab straps nor nipple clamps; nothing so racy would get by Lyman Orton, store owner. No, these "intimate solutions" (a much better phrase than "sex aids") are nothing you haven't seen on Sex and the City. Consisting largely of vibrators (mostly called "intimate massagers"), the line also features natural treatments for yeast infections and herpes, as well as several assorted gels and a special DVD to help get you in the mood (if you're over 40). There's even a Color Down Under kit to help you brighten up that gray carpet. And this scintillating square-neck camisole isn't even in the Intimate Solutions section. Pretty racy, VCS! We say the Vermont Country Store patrons should loosen up. Old people deserve to do it in the morning (or at other times) too.

This morning, the Globe redeemed its week of snow coverage with a story about the perils of renting a foreclosed property. Apparently, banks, which spent so much time earlier in the decade making lousy mortgage loans, can't be trusted to fix the plumbing. This, despite a city P.R. campaign that reminds lenders, in rhyming municipal speak, to "Clean it or Lien it." [Globe]

The Globe alerted us to the terror of snow last week. Now, the paper has discovered yet another way in which snow threatens us all: sledding.

Whether it's a front page story about how it makes us cranky or a notebook piece about how it has covered verdant Fenway in a blanket of alien white, the Globe won't stop puzzling until it has figured out this strange new entity that it calls "snow."

The Globe has finally confirmed something we've long suspected: the city makes you stupid. Researchers like Marc Berman of the University of Michigan (whose page we encourage you to visit for a special surprise) have verified that the metropolis mangles minds:

Fark has given the "amusing" (arguably preferable to "dumbass") label to a recent Globe story that uses Detroit as a model for same-sex public schools. Pontificating that "when one thinks of success, one thinks of Detroit," Farkers cleverly point to the undefeated completely defeated Detroit Lions and the city's beautiful scenery as reasons not to follow in Detroit's footsteps. Some even go so far as to say that Boston itself is not exactly a model of success (using the Big Dig as an example), though others toss out the Bruins' remarkable success (not to mention wins over the Red Wings) as a reason to admire our fair city. According to the Globe piece, Boston is considering modifying a 1971 law prohibiting gender-based admission to schools in order to establish some same-sex educational institutions in the city. Advocates of single-sex education argue that it allows students to concentrate on academics instead of each other. As one Detroit International Academy student notes, "All boys do is get you in trouble as far as with babies." So maybe Gloucester is the district that should be pushing for single-sex schools?

   

Good morning, class. Unfortunately your regular Bostonist couldn’t make it to the IFC Media Project’s town hall at MIT yesterday, so you’ll have to make do with a substitute teacher. One word out of any of you and it’s straight to the principal’s office!