Daily Feed: Massachusetts Commute Among Longest in U.S.

What We’re Pretty Sure We Already Knew … Confirmed As Fact: Massachusetts commuters spend more time on the state’s highways to hell than pretty much everywhere else in the U.S., with an average commute of 27.3 minutes which, most days, is more of a warm-up than the real deal. Damn you, 495. [Patriot Ledger]

You Can Now Buy Booze on December 26. Deval Patrick signed the bill, which essentially fixes the lingering blue law that prohibited liquor stores from opening their doors on December 26 if Christmas falls on Sunday, a waning gibbous moon is in the sky, and the wind is blowing eastward at 10 miles per hour. Or something. [Herald]

Tarek Mehanna Guilty in Controversial Terrorism Lawsuit. Plus, waiting on Obama’s desk is a defense bill that would allow the military to arrest American citizens anywhere in the world at the whim of the executive branch — moves that one Salon reporter says shred the Constitution to pieces. “They both came out the same week, but they are part of a pattern of putting to one side the fundamental freedoms we’ve taken for granted. We’re into a whole new legal terrain,” says Nancy Murray, of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. [Salon]

The ‘What Is Wrong With People?’ Dog-Fighting Ring Edition. Eleven dogs were rescued — albeit in “very bad shape” — and are now in the care of the Animal Rescue League. [Dorchester Reporter]

Very Little Holly Jolly Over Lowell Sun‘s Chaz Bono Christmas Carol. Did they expect the rewrite of “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer” to include the line “… you might say there’s no such thing as Santa / Till you see what Chaz got ‘neath his tree” to be a hit? [Huffington Post]