Tag: news

I thank God for our city council

The Cambridge City Council has voted in a policy order to make known that they are opposed to the 2024 Boston Olympic bid.   I get the impression that no one in the group to bring the 2024 Olympics to Boston thought to discuss their plan with surrounding communities to feel the waters, so to speak.

I cannot believe that any serious person would think that hosting the 2024 Olympics here in Boston is a good idea.  And with such a relatively small window to prepare, it is quite unrealistic.  In fact, it is hands down one of the dumbest ideas I have heard put forth in a long time.

Where would we put it all?

Yes, I know Kelly has talked about this already, but I have to throw in my own two cents worth, because this is something that has actually gotten me quite a bit fired up and angry.  It is yet another case of the privileged few dictating to everyone else.

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#BlackLivesMatter & #NoBoston2024 – The intersection of money, race & power

Anyone who isn’t a moneyed plutocrat in the very tiny ruling elite here in Boston – Marty Walsh, John Fish, Charlie Baker, and Shirley Leung, I’m looking at you – likely understands that yesterday’s announcement that Boston “won” the USOC nomination for the 2024 olympics is a Very Bad Thing.  The Boston 2024 group has existed for about a year and, chaired by Fish, has been trying to essentially shame the populace into believing that if we do not do this thing, invite the world to come here for a 3 week-long party 9 years from now, we’re provincial losers and that Boston isn’t fit for the world stage.

To put it bluntly, the people at Boston2024 are liars.

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Protests, First Night and Boston Getting it Wrong

I’ll tell you right up front as I start this that I’m as much of a fan of First Night here in Boston as I am of the 4th of July.  Actually, it’s probably more accurate to say that I hate the crowds and accompanying stupidity for both just as much, but what the 4th stands for matters more to me.  And, I’ve never been able to figure out why they call the celebration of the last night of the year First Night.

Anyway, New Year’s Eve here in Boston is celebrated with a giant city-wide party.  You can buy a button that will get you into all kinds of things for free.  There are concerts, ice sculptures, fireworks, skating, dancing, face painting, puppet shows, museums, all sorts of things.  The list is almost endless and it is entirely impossible to do it all in one evening.  This has been happening as long as I’ve been living here and, though it nearly went bankrupt and stopped happening a year or so ago, it is back with a vengeance now.

Enter politicians and police to screw it all up.

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When good causes go awry

Good people make mistakes.  It happens.  No one is perfect.  How we acknowledge those mistakes, and how we try to make amends, that is what’s critical to getting along with everyone, especially those who are harmed by our mistakes.  It makes a world of difference whether we recognize the harm we sometimes do as individuals, as organizations, and even as nations.

And that is why it truly pains me to see groups that I believe in make bad, even horrible mistakes, and then fail to do the right thing afterward.  It is just heartbreaking.  And lately it seems like it is one after another.

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Requiem for a Bookstore

Anyone who’s been paying attention knows that independent bookstores are a bit hard to come by these days.  We’re lucky here in the People’s Republic, because we still have a lot of them.  But on Friday one of them went the way of the Dodo and the world is a little less fun for it.  So long, Lorem Ipsum.

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Plan your November, Boston! Start here.

There are all sorts of amazing things happening in November this year.  I just happen to be involved in one of them each weekend leading up to Thanksgiving.  Are you looking to plan your activities and maybe get a jump on some handmade Christmas shopping?  Look no further.

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Municipal broadband for Cambridge?

Oh, please please please let it happen.  We did notice a question about our internet service on our last resident survey so it got us thinking about it again.

As some of you may have noticed, Kelly and I have had repeated issues with the quality of our Internet service here in Cambridge over the years.  It is something that both of us care deeply about as both of us have worked in IT and both of us are everyday users of the Internet for personal and business purposes.  But considering that we live in what I would consider the technology capital of the East Coast, the quality and quantity of Internet service providers is terrible, frankly. Cambridge considers itself a major center for innovation and it certainly is, but it is also somewhat ridiculous that for many people Internet connectivity is both expensive and unreliable.

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Congratulations, #AlisonBechdel !

One of my favorite cartoonists (whom Kelly and I had the privilege of meeting a few years ago) has won a MacArthur “Genius Grant“.  ThinkProgress also has this interview with her.

I am so excited for her.   I literally cheered when I read the news.

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So… Scotland… I hear you might be single soon…

Wow.  Just, wow.

I am amazed, truly amazed, that this movement for Scotland to gain independence may actually succeed after all.  The referendum is set to take place this Thursday.

And it is an extremely complicated issue, one that I would imagine the overwhelming majority of Americans (including myself) understand very little, outside of having seen the superb (but historically inaccurate) movie Braveheart.

Continue reading “So… Scotland… I hear you might be single soon…”