Chris Oates

We’re responding to the war with Iran by underfunding highway repairs?

I’ve enjoyed this Tottenham season because it makes everything else seem better

Yet when you say it five times in a row at increasing volume while they’re colouring on the walls they don’t tend to listen

This is pretty much why the political risk industry exists

Oh it’s a present day setup. I thought it was a historical document of a man who wishes he were in Omaha

Is that college World Series on the TVs?

And as always, here's the #mapoli Bluesky wordcloud of the week.

The PROTECT Act and will gas go to $8/gallon? Statewide issues while a war builds

This week I'm looking at two big developments: the hearing on the PROTECT Act, with moving testimony from many residents of the Commonwealth, and the impact of the Iran War on energy prices here in Massachusetts.

open.substack.com/pub/massachu...

I know that F1 expanded to 11 teams, but did it?

Such a shame that a war is disrupting rich people’s tax schemes

I’ve been to an amusement park and did bumper cars in Iraqi Kurdistan

Also what parents have the time to participate like this? People working at that time?

We can't replace Big Sam, but we can recreate him in the aggregate

The indignity of having to watch them on a Saturday on Paramount Plus

Been a busy week catching up from the blizzard, but here’s the latest MA digest and #mapoli wordcloud.

massachusettsdigest.substack.com/p/post-blizz...

Not a good sign when I see on social media a screenshot in orange text

I think I just heard Lewis Hamilton do a podcast ad read for IBM but didn’t introduce himself as IBM. Did they save money hiring a Lewis Hamilton impersonator or assume everyone who would buy IBM can instantly recognize him?

It’s a real shame our civic education doesn’t include what really matters - late 19th century slang

It must be very difficult living your life being this wrong.

Has this man never played GoldenEye?

I *was* feeling just fine

With #mapoli indoors today, it’s the perfect time to launch campaigns for ideas that don’t get attention normally.

Mine is to finally correct the fact that Suffolk County is north of Norfolk

There are some sports that have moments of insanity in them that they treat as normal, like cutting weight for boxers or open wounds on hands for rowers.

Though hard to say that there’s anything more out there than the Isle of Man motorcycle race

Rally car videos make me terrified to open my eyes. They’re doing 60mph between trees and sound like they’re in the drive thru at dunkin

A Substack about a Substack Thinking about the Senate's new publication

Slow week on Beacon Hill so we have an ourobouros of Substacks instead, thinking about what it means when a legislative body becomes a media entity.

massachusettsdigest.substack.com/p/a-substack...

Primary dates for states should be selected by drawing balls out of a bag like the FA Cup

Of all the kids books I read to my son, Richard Scarry’s Busytown definitely has the highest level of economic complexity

The article makes sense (the company also makes ceramics for semiconductors), but hats off to the editors whose photo choice and headline made it inevitable I would click

I see this sentiment a lot in Massachusetts. But let’s be clear - it’s still bad that our friends, neighbors, family are choosing to leave our state. The fact that international migration meant it wasn’t worse is not a reason not to have worried about it.

I’m supporting the APP question mainly because I think the real campaign should be in Oct and Nov when people are paying attention, but good to know there’s another reason for it.

Could the party change that at this year’s convention?