In a real shocker, the Boston Globe has endorsed Barack Obama for president "with great enthusiasm." He's called "charismatic" but also credited with "the temperament and the nerves to shepherd Americans through what promises to be a grueling period — and who has the vision to restore this country to its place of leadership in the world." Here's hoping the Globe staffers are right. Whether you agree or disagree, you have two days left to......

This piece by local artist Chaz Maviyane-Davies helped launch the countdown on 30reasons.org, which presents a new reason every day to vote in the upcoming election. So far, Maviyane-Davies' is our favorite, standing out as beautiful, dramatic, and not overtly political. Sign up for daily email updates of new posters--maybe it will help motivate you to register to vote.......

Each week Bostonist brings you the best of Boston-based viral videos the internet has to offer. Bostonist viral video takes a little break from hilarity to encourage you to dance--and to vote. You have until October 15 to register to vote in November 4's presidential election if you haven't already done so. Get on it! If you're already registered, join the danceoff at ibeatyou.com.......

jeromeleslie captures who to call when you need a squall We're bailed out! [NYT, Everyone] Despite Lynch and Delahunt. [Politicker] The meltdown, on stage. [Marketplace] For the first time ever, union members use intimidation to get what they want--in this case, more police details. [Herald O'bama is so I'rish! [Austinist] Boston drivers are obedient to signs. "Not!" [JimmyMorse] Our cranberry harvest is going to be huge! [WBZTV] Mosquitos are not only annoying, but also......

Image tagged Bostonist by jeromeleslie So, how long will it take before we hear claims that Barack Obama's Jewish? Maybe a New Yorker cover with him wearing a tallit? [Globe] McCain can't Google, but he can create a BlackBerry. By which we mean he can hire people to create a BlackBerry for him. Impressive. [Globe] Forget sexism, what about white privilege? [Third Decade] Blah blah police details blah blah. [Herald] Only "kooks" want lower......

You know how much we love the Globe's fluffy articles about summer homes and houseguests. The concerns of the rich are always amusing. However, it gets even more grating when the Globe turns an unilluminating upper-class lens on issues that actually matter to those of us without millions of dollars. The latest "Globular" travesty is a take on Election 2008 that focuses on that all-important issue: food. Featuring such hard-hitting insights as the fact that......

iMatthew caught a nice reflection of this Obama pin, creating an interesting double sunrise effect.......

[Allston water gun fight photos tagged Bostonist by cden4] Hillary unleashes the hounds. Or delegates. Or something. Whatever, it's for Obama. [Globe] Harvard-Gawker-Phoenix-Hub racist police officer controversy exPLODES! [Gawker, Phoenix, Universal Hub] You'll have to go to Nashville for nice bathrooms; the one at Smith College didn't make the cut. [Boston Daily] U.S. to adopt international accounting standards. [NYT] Spain swims in tomatoes. [Globe] New Orleans is wary of Gustav. [CNN]......

Senator Kennedy defied reports that he would not speak at the DNC last night, almost upstaging Michelle Obama with his calls to action and achievement. Below are some excerpts from his speech. I have come here tonight to stand with you to change America, to restore its future, to rise to our best ideals, and to elect Barack Obama president of the United States. Barack Obama will be a commander in chief who understands that......

Senator Edward Kennedy has arrived in Denver and is scheduled to attend the Democratic National Convention tonight, but probably will not speak to the crowd. However, a video tribute to Teddy's career will air.......

DCist is in Denver for the Democratic National Convention, which kicks off tomorrow. DCist was too wiped out to attend last night's big Media Welcome Party at Elitch Gardens (though there's some evidence may not have gotten in anyway), but they can tell you that the city of Denver set off an impressive fireworks display over the big bash at around 9:30 p.m. Apart from the actual work of adopting a platform and officially......

The instant analysis of Senator Barack Obama's vice-presidential pick is that it's at least partially a defense against the perception that Obama is weak on foreign policy. Does newly newsworthy Senator Biden agree? Boston journalist Seth Gitell--who was Mayor Menino's press secretary from 2003 to 2006--unveiled some year-old but previously unpublished comments from the notoriously long-winded Biden when he was running against Obama for the Democrats' presidential nomination: I watched several presidents come in......

Barack Obama has chosen Joe Biden as his running mate. More importantly, he notified supporters by text message. Why aren't we on that list? Barack, why won't you text us? We weep. As David Brooks says "I told you so." We don't think Obama-Biden has a great ring to it (too many b's?), but if nothing else, let's hope Biden sets the message straight about non-Confederate Delaware soon.......

A money-crush, at least. The Herald reports that Bay Staters gave the most money per capita to Obama's campaign of any state, at $1.583 each. Vermont and Illinois were close, with $1.580 and $1.558 per capita respectively, but nobody ponied up as much dough as we did. The Herald points out that this is a little odd, considering Obama didn't even win the primary here. But apparently we've got enough rich-folks-getting-richer who don't want a......

Image of lobsters on the Cape by Chris Seufert from photos tagged "Bostonist" on Flickr. The First Baptist Church of Lynn was struck by lightning yesterday, which can only perpetuate the saying, "Lynn, Lynn, city of sin..." [Boston Herald] Although the incredibly buff (yet disabled) jake, Albert Arroyo, surmised he could avoid termination by not showing up to work; the Boston Fire Department is still kicking his gluteus maximus to the curb. [Boston Channel]......

Sources say Mitt Romney is near the top of John McCain's vice presidential running mate list. If Obama picked Patrick (not looking at all likely), we'd have quite the Massachusetts Governor showdown in the elections. Some say businessman Romney would provide the economic knowledge McCain seems to lack; others point out that Romney's not been nearly as successful in business as someone like Michael Bloomberg (even though Bloomberg was once targeted as a possible Obama......

Paul Revere photo tagged Bostonist by rsplatpc Construction equipment attack near Obama's hotel injures five people in Jerusalem; police kill driver. [CNN] The Globe dissects InBev's purchase of Anheuser-Busch, calling Stella Artois the "Budweiser of Belgium." [Globe] Radovan Karadzic arrested for massacring innocents, among other charges. [CNN] Richmond is the new Vineyard. [Herald] Somerville band member still being detained without bond by the government. [Somerville News] Former Walpole High School field hockey player is......

Rumors are swirling about Deval Patrick being named to the Supreme Court. His lawyerly background certainly qualifies him, and it'd be nice to get a non-conservative named to the court sometime soon. Patrick himself has said he's running for reelection and uninterested in the higher offices.......

George Lakoff had a nice op-ed in the Globe on Independence Day. The piece summarized many of the points in his his new book, The Political Mind: Why You Can't Understand 21st-Century American Politics with an 18th-Century Brain. A linguist and founder of the Rockridge Institute, Lakoff uses the book to argue that our worldviews are based largely on different frames that provide us with structure for our thinking. Because conservatives have framed political debate......

Now that the major political parties have (pretty much) settled on their presidential nominees, Bostonist has decided to take a look at a vital aspect of election strategy: t-shirts. We really wanted to be fair and balanced in our assessment, and not in a Fox News way, but having perused both candidates official stores and the many user-generated slogans at CafePress, we have to say: Barack Obama is the clear winner of the design......

While Young Hillary Clinton fights on with tenacity, the real Hillary Clinton waffles (mmm... waffles). Several reports this morning indicated that she would concede the Democratic presidential nomination to presumed winner Barack Obama tonight. The AP started the dropout rumors, and the Herald picked it up. Now Clinton's campaign says it ain't so, and the Globe reports on the limbo-like situation. The campaign is now clearly saying it "absolutely" won't concede anything until Obama reaches......

The Boston Herald today--in sadly predictable fashion--posted online an article of theirs about a local Youtube star without anywhere linking to the Youtube video in question. (They do have their own embedded version of the video, but this Bostonist couldn't get it to load, and the whole premise of the piece is the unlikely Youtube stardom of a Natick toddler.) Anyway, if you missed it, here's the adorable footage: The Herald reports that the Bay......

Last week Governor Deval Patrick took "personal days" as the casino plan he had been pitching for six months was going down in flames. Today the Associated Press reveals that during that time Patrick was out of state pitching an autobiography to New York publishers. This is another public relations blunder for the governor, whose political problems were laid out on the front page of the New York Times yesterday. Though the debate over......

Bennifer version 2.0 was in town this weekend stumping for Barack Obama. Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner hosted a sold out party at Rumor’s night club on Sunday night. Affleck, who first met Senator Obama in 2004 when Boston hosted the Democratic National Convention, has become a fan of the Senator’s and feels he’s the right man for the job. While Ben seemed to have done most of the talking and schmoozing for the......

Congrats goes out to Matt Damon, who announced that his wife Luciana is expecting the couple's third child . With this announcement, maybe Damon should talk Robert Ludlum into writing another installment in the Bourne series so he can feed all his offspring. Cambridge's other favorite son is coming home this weekend. Ben Affleck, who's taking a break from his relationship with Jimmy Kimmel, and his wife, Jennifer Garner, will be hosting a Generation......

Harvard University Kennedy School of Government professor and Obama adviser Samantha Power, whose events have popped up on Bostonist many times and who has a rep as an extremely smart person, lost some brain cells and called Hillary Clinton a "monster" while a reporter's tape recorder was running. She didn't do Obama any favors. Boston Daily quotes elements of the interview with a Scottish newspaper. The offending lines were mind-boggling: "She is a monster, too......

--The state owes snow plow operators $69 million for their work. Now that's a way to thank them for keeping our roads clean. The state has already--ahem--plowed through its snow-plow budget due to the abundance of snow this year. Sorry. Couldn't resist. [Boston Globe] --Two fires broke out at the same building in Fitchburg on Thursday, 12 hours apart. [WCVB] --An author from Dudley, Misha Defonseca, has admitted that she made up a best-selling memoir......

Whatever your thoughts on presidential candidate/political rock star Barack Obama borrowing a few points of Deval Patrick's rhetoric, you have to think it's good for the Governor. He's getting nation-wide press and it's not his fault that his speeches are so catchy and profound that Obama can't help copying them. Meanwhile, even a new gubernatorial haircut can lead to a stretch of publicity. In more substantial news, the House and Senate passed Patrick's plan to......

Presidential candidate Barack Obama used lines that Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick used during his campaign for governor while Obama campaigned in Wisconsin over the weekend. Here's what Obama told Clinton: “Don’t tell me words don’t matter,” Mr. Obama said, to applause. “ ‘I have a dream’ — just words? ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal’ — just words? ‘We have nothing to fear but fear itself’ — just......

Photo by Phillyist's Matt Johnson, SkyscraperSunset.com, December 19, 2007. Phillyist explored an impending implosion and lived to tell the tale.Gothamist marveled at the city's new NYC-branded condom campaign - especially the use of a Toronto landmark in the advertising. (Also, fun fact: Gothamist turned five years old yesterday.)Tired of the worldwide Scientology protests? Torontoist totally isn't: they covered the big downtown protest the day it happened, and followed up with an examination of all......