Ted Kennedy has often been a punching bag for national Republicans -- a symbol of bloated government and tax-and-spend liberalism -- but there are many, myself included, who revere him as a dedicated public servant and a stalwart defender of progressive values.
News coverage of the Massachusetts senator's legacy has been widespread since word of his diagnosis with brain cancer became public. Some of the themes often-repeated are: the huge amount of legislation that Kennedy has his fingerprints on; the reputation among GOP senators that Kennedy has as a deal maker; and the multitude of average citizens who have seen their individual problems solved and their particular causes taken up by Kennedy.
No one is sure right now what the senator's illness means in terms of his getting back to work in Washington, but the outlook for more than the immediate future is not good, and the void that would remain in his absence may be forever unfillable.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Legacy of 'Liberal Lion' unmatched
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Ain't that America
The Boston Globe today has a pair of stories that highlight the different worlds that many in the United States live in.
First, there is a piece on the falling life expectancy of women in eastern Maine. While Americans extended their average lifespan in the past few decades to around 80, there was a significant decrease in 3% of counties nationwide. Only one of those -- Washington County, Maine -- is in the northeast. Here is one woman's story:
Dolly Jordan matter-of-factly described a lifetime of poverty -- swiping her former husband's pocket change to buy food for her five children; making macaroni-and-ketchup suppers when tomato sauce cost too much. These days, the 61-year-old is obese, with high blood pressure and diabetes. Badly hurt when her car was hit by a drunk driver 16 years ago, she said, she is dependent on a wheelchair and in chronic pain.Jordan sees her doctor less often than she should, because it's hard for her to get out, she said, and she doesn't exercise because she can barely stand. With $97 in monthly food stamps, she stocks up on hot dogs, hamburger, and chicken, hunting through the freezers for the cheapest packages.
Meanwhile, another article in the Globe tells us that Red Sox owner John Henry is going to tear down a mansion that he just bought for $16 million, even after the previous owner renovated the structure in the 1990s. The problem with the existing building?
The larger house, a red brick Colonial revival with ivy-covered walls, contains seven bedrooms, eight bathrooms, and two half-bathrooms. A separate wing houses the pool, a media room, a playroom, and staff quarters...Henry, who I'm sure owns other houses as well, seems like a nice enough guy, but it is depressing -- even vulgar -- that he gets to play with houses as though it's a game of Monopoly while so many others struggle to get through each day. Our system of capitalism is unjust to the point of criminality.
It made more sense to build a new house rather than to try to add one to the site of either of the existing houses, both of which sit on either side of a ridge. Henry wanted his house atop the hillside.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Councilor Flaherty at 303 Cafe
City Councilor Michael Flaherty is meeting with East Boston residents who stop by this evening at 303 Cafe from 5 pm to 7:30. Flaherty is a councilor-at-large from South Boston who has been mentioned as a possible candidate for the mayor's office in 2009.
303 is usually closed Mondays, but they are putting out light food for the event. They are located at 303 Sumner Street, not far from the Maverick T stop.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
A warm greeting
Eastie recently hosted five Inuit -- who used to be called Eskimo -- high school students as part of an exchange program. In March five teens from East Boston High School spent a week in the Great White North of Nunavut, Canada, where they found out what it really means to be cold.
One stop on the tour of Eastie was, of course, pizza at Santarpio's, though I'm sure the visitors were disappointed to find out that seal meat was not one of the available toppings.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Suffolk Downs dumps into local creek
Suffolk Downs is in violation of the Clean Water Act, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The track has apparently been dumping polluted water into a small tributary called Sales Creek -- a discharge that has included animal waste and other contaminated runoff.
Looking at the map, I believe that Sales is the tidal creek that forms part of the border between East Boston and Revere (at Bennington Street) as well as Eastie and Winthrop (at Saratoga Street). The small waterway also appears to run through culverts on the racetrack's infield.
When Sales Creek exits Suffolk -- carrying its animal manure and other waste -- it runs into the Belle Isle salt marsh, protected state reservation land, and then the creek turns and dumps out into the small harbor inlet that separates Logan Airport from Constitution Beach. Does this mean that Suffolk Downs has been polluting the water we've been swimming in for decades?
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Choosing profit over human rights
Far be it for some to allow the distractions of genocide to get in the way of making money. Shareholders for several mutual funds managed by Boston-based Fidelity Investments voted down proposals that would have prohibited investment in companies linked to genocide or human rights violations.
Fidelity's rationale is that the company is "obligated to achieve the best returns for shareholders." Wait a second -- How about your obligations as human beings?
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Car crime down across the city
A small area of East Boston is the second most dangerous place in the city to park your car, according to the Boston Herald. The area starts at the intersection of Meridian and Maverick Streets at Maverick Square and then moves toward the waterfront and up Meridian through Shore Plaza. In the past few years, the story says, 116 incidents of car theft and vandalism have been reported.
The big picture shows, according to police figures, that car crimes dropped 38% citywide between 2004 and 2007, though you'd never be able to tell that by scanning the Herald's excited headlines. Overall Eastie is not in the top three of neighborhoods with the most car crime, but the story doesn't have a comprehensive list. Roxbury is first, then the area comprising the Back Bay, the Fenway and the South End, with Dorchester rounding out the leaderboard.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Star struck
Some of your tax dollars, you may have heard, have been spent on a secret domestic propaganda program with the goal of convincing you that the tax dollars you are spending in Iraq -- and the blood that our soldiers are sacrificing -- is a good idea.
A columnist for Salon.com writes about the Pentagon documents that outline the program that has retired generals who appear on TV and radio spouting the Bush Administration's official line, or in the words of military memos, "carry our water...because we are their bread and butter." Some of that "bread and butter" is in the form of military contracts awarded to giant corporations, many of which have those same generals on their boards of directors. Oh, and guess whose tax dollars are paying those corporations?
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Pike tightens up discount program
The Globe reports that the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority is cracking down on scofflaws who illegally use discounted transponders to get through the Sumner Tunnel, paying 40 cents instead of $3.50, despite not living in East Boston or other sectors of the city that qualify for the discount.
In addition, A&M Limousine of East Boston reached a settlement with the Pike after it was discovered that employees were using personal transponders while driving limos for the company. A&M has to pony up $65,000.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
The unfriendly skies
Several area residents are suing the FAA over increased noise levels from aircraft since Runway 14/32 went into operation at Logan Airport in 2006.
The suit, filed by residents from Chelsea, East Boston, Medford and Charlestown, contends that "the increased activity constitutes a change in runway use that warrants a public environmental review process that the FAA failed to initiate," according to the story in today's Globe.
Congressman Mike Capuano indicates that we won't get a more responsive FAA until we get a Democrat in the White House.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Missing dog returned
The Boston Herald was all over the story of a pug dognapped from an East Boston home and reunited with its owner yesterday.
Bennington Street resident Debbie Fitzgerald came home from work Thursday to find her TV, laptop and dog missing. She went to the Herald and offered $1,000 for the return of the missing canine, named Frankie.
The tabloid jumped on the case and Revere resident Lisa Goodman saw the story and realized that the dog she'd purchased from a pair of strangers at Maverick Station on Friday -- she handed over $100 because the men were mistreating the pooch -- was indeed Frankie.
Pug and owner were reunited yesterday, while Goodman -- showing that she is, in fact, a good woman -- declined to accept the reward.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Opening day
An exhibit called "Chingasos" opens today, on this Cinco de Mayo, at the New England Gallery of Latin American Art. The NEGLAA, located at 184 Cottage Street in East Boston, opened recently and seeks to promote Latin American art and artists.
Meanwhile, Friday saw the opening of a new exhibit at Atlantic Works. Pieces by painters Karen Kemp and Maureen O'Connor are on display throughout the month. Atlantic Works is located on the top floor at 80 Border Street.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Zipping around
A reader who lives in the Gumball Factory Condominiums tells me that Zipcar now has two vehicles available from the parking lot adjacent to that building, which is at the intersection of Orleans and Gove streets.
Zipcar, which was founded in Cambridge eight years ago and now offers car rentals for periods as brief as one hour in cities around the country, was courted by the condo's board for a few months and the company agreed to a six-month trial period in East Boston. If there is a decent amount of business the vehicles will remain available in the neighborhood after that, so residents who have been taking the T to pick up Zipcars, as well as those who have never used the service, are encouraged to take advantage of the opportunity.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Eastie's best
The verdict is in: The Globe agrees with most Eastie residents, naming Betty Ann's jelly donuts as the best. We used to have a dozen in the teacher's room every Friday at Savio back in the late 1990s, but by then I had given up donuts, so I've never actually had one.
I've never even been in the Betty Ann Food Shop, as it has been closed every time I've ever walked by it. I will, however, have to make a point of stopping by one day when it is open.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Adding fuel to the fire
Today's attack on the media by firefighters marching on the State House is completely ridiculous. I've heard Ed Kelly -- president of union local 718, which represents Boston firefighters -- on the radio and read some things he's written, and every bit of it has been a distortion of reality. He's not willing to give any ground or to admit to any problem, and as a result the city's firefighters have been without a contract for almost two years.
In a post 9/11 world, you would be hard pressed to find a single American who doesn't admire and respect firefighters for the difficult and dangerous job they do. However, to claim -- as Kelly did today -- that the Boston media has been publishing "bogus stories" planted by city officials or launching "vicious attacks" against them is outrageous.
The fact that two firefighters killed in the line of duty last year may have been impaired by alcohol and cocaine is news and demands that action be taken. This is not something that can be swept under the rug. Also, stories of other firefighters arrested recently for drugs should not be suppressed. And investigations that show that some fire department personnel abuse the workmen's comp system also need to be addressed.
Boston jakes deserve a fair contract, and no one is begrudging them that, but as city employees they are also open to the scrutiny of the public, which demands drug testing and more accountability for those who file injury claims.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Falling star
Last week's East Boston Times reported that a number of parents of St. Mary's Star of the Sea students are justifiably upset after pouring time and money into the school -- including renovating the old convent -- only to have the archdiocese shut the school down.
I was told, by a person familiar with the situation, that representatives from the archdiocese walked in and pretty much relieved the principal, Joan Lawrence, of her command not long before the announcement was made that the school would close in June. It seems that the powers that be were afraid that Lawrence might lead some type of protest action, which Church leaders would like to avoid.
I am not personally aware of the details myself, but that is the story I heard.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Savio rejected lifeline
A few years ago, representatives from the Cristo Rey Network approached the administration of Savio Prep High School with hope that Savio would want to follow the Cristo Rey model, which was having success around the country. The formula involves placing students in positions at area businesses, where they work five days a month, and having those companies pay most of the school's operating costs.
Cristo Rey, which seeks to educate "economically disadvantaged" students in Catholic school settings, also partners with national corporations and charitable institutions, receiving -- for example -- $6 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2006. The network, founded in 2001, currently operates 19 schools, with plans to raise that to 30 in the near future. Back in its first couple of years the organization's leaders felt that Savio could be the ideal location in the Boston area for one of its schools.
Savio, however, felt otherwise, and rejected Cristo Rey's offer to do a feasibility study. At the time there was no attempt to discuss the proposition with Savio's faculty, and the impression that some were left with was that Savio's leadership would rather ensure that the classrooms remained predominantly white instead of adopting a format that appeals most strongly to Latino and African-American families.
This week Cristo Rey held its national conference in Boston, an event that included a tour of North Cambridge Catholic HS, which accepted the network's proposition in 2004. On the shelves of the NCC library were volumes that, for many years, had a home in East Boston. They were the books from the library at Savio, which closed its doors last June.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Smoke on the waterfront
A smoldering 55-gallon drum of an unknown chemical resulted in employees being evacuated from an East Boston business this morning. The fire department and a hazardous-materials team were summoned to Boston Boatworks at 256 Marginal Street, along the waterfront, at 8 a.m. today. Apparently the 30 employees returned to work in the afternoon.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Clean and green
With the spate of beautiful weather we've had this week, a man's fancy turns to ... spring cleaning? OK, women, grilling and baseball are likely at the top of your list, as they are mine, to finish that sentence, but truth be told, many of us are thinking of those subjects year round (yes, even baseball!).
Anyway, Earth Day was observed earlier this week, and I have been thinking recently about eliminating as many unnecessary, corporate-made consumer goods as possible from my life, especially all types of household cleaners. Before the Second World War people made good with simpler and safer items to do the jobs that we buy all sorts of toxic chemicals to do today.
There are many Internet sites to find information on this topic, and a number of books on the subject as I saw in a bookstore this afternoon, but I came across a brief piece on the 'net tonight that lists the six ingredients you need to do all of your household cleaning. I'm going to try to live by it starting now. How about you?
Suffolk preps for May 3 opening
Each of our dailies has a story about Suffolk Downs this morning in the wake of yesterday's luncheon for the track's "family, friends, and assorted guests" at the Boston Harbor Hotel. If you look at the two articles you'll find that the Globe piece portrays the mood as upbeat regarding the track's future, while the Herald story presents a more pessimistic view of Suffolk's survival.