He created it himself:
Walsh pushes parade to end ban on gay groups
Gay group invited to march in Southie parade
But no “rabble-rousers.”
Pro-gay group will march in St. Patrick’s Day parade
Edging closer to acceptance in South Boston
Not so fast.
Mixed reactions to group’s St. Patrick’s parade invite
Negotiations over St. Patrick’s parade continue
Path to compromise is clear for St. Patrick’s Day parade
Parade organizers rescind invite to gay rights group
NEXT DAY UPDATE: Parade, gay group hold fast to impasse
You think we could sit down over breakfast.
"Dorcena Forry wants to uphold St. Patrick’s Day tradition" by Michael Levenson | Globe Staff, February 28, 2014
Senator Linda Dorcena Forry, the first woman, first Haitian-American, and first Dorchester resident to host the storied St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast in South Boston, wants to raise the profile of a historic political roast that in recent years seems to have lost some of its luster with a more diverse crowd.
Dorcena Forry, 40, confesses to some anxiety about her debut as emcee of a slugfest....
Governor Deval Patrick, who last year skipped the event and sent in a videotaped skit, is planning to attend. Dorcena Forry said she is also working with the governor to try to persuade his friend, President Obama, to call in during the breakfast.
Honestly, folks, I've lo$t my lu$ter for the public relations handouts regarding the playings of the political elite and their money masters being called news.
A call from the White House was once a common occurrence at the event, a mark of South Boston’s prominence in the political world. But it has been 10 years since any president picked up the phone.
What are they, anti-Irish?
Dorcena Forry’s ascension to the shamrock-speckled stage has been interpreted as a sign of Boston’s shift from a parochial, old-world town dominated by tribal politics to a multiethnic city with a changing power structure....
Related(?): It’s nice to be in a thriving Jewish community like Boston
Strange how the more things "change" the more they remain the same.
A different tribe took over, and the newspaper reflects that.
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“She’s a hoot.”
Maybe this will stop the laughing:
"Dianne Wilkerson steps into new life after prison; Former state senator finds supporters and opportunity" by Akilah Johnson | Globe Staff, February 26, 2014
The event honored 18 “women of color changing our world,” but one recipient was singled out for special praise.
Mayor Martin J. Walsh went off script at last Thursday’s event, recognizing his “dear friend” at Table 2. State Representative Gloria Fox described her as a sister in politics and said they had been an “unbeatable team.” And former state representative Willie Mae Allen, just before handing this guest her plaque, said, “We’re depending on you.”
Accepting was former state senator Dianne Wilkerson, once the highest-ranking black woman in state government but recently inmate No. 21757 038, convicted of accepting $23,500 in bribes.
There are loads of articles I have from years ago regarding this $elf-$erving public $ervant, but I'm not going to wa$te my time today. You can search my blog or the web if you are into it; what point I want to make here is I find it objectionable and offensive how the elite mouthpiece makes heroes out of these criminal scum because they belong to the same cla$$.
The elite supremacism and endless agenda-pushing leeching out of the whoreporate jew$media these days is staggering. It is almost as if they have thrown any pretense at all regarding the most limited objectivity away and admitted they are nothing but a blatant propaganda outlet now that is written of, by, and for, the upper 20, 5, 1%.
For all the rest of, regardless of color, gender, age, sexual orientation, and all the other things the divisive and diversionary stuff the agenda-pu$hing jew$media shoves at us, it's $hit insults.
It was the first time many had seen Wilkerson since her release from a federal prison in Danbury, Conn., in September, and it was a homecoming few ex-offenders receive when reentering society. Not only did the Prince Hall Grand Chapter Order of the Eastern Star Jurisdiction of Massachusetts Inc. honor her at the Grove Hall event, but MassEquality will also recognize her among a slew of other champions of gay marriage at an event later this week.
Wilkerson’s reemergence in Boston’s circles of influence seems unexpected for someone whose 16-year political career was pockmarked by controversy and ended in such public disgrace.
I don't find it unexpected. What would be unexpected is her being shunned, and then there would be the question why; otherwise, this has become $tandard operating procedure in our two-tier $ociety.
Her travails included six months of home confinement for tax evasion in the 1990s, followed by 30 days in a halfway house for violating the terms of the sentence. She also paid significant fines for campaign violations on two separate occasions, before her indictment on bribery charges in 2008.
But $he's a role model! This is so f***ing $ick!
Addressing her conviction for the first time, Wilkerson told the Globe she has been both overwhelmed and humbled by how she has been received since her release.
She said that the arrest came after a particularly trying time in her life but that she takes responsibility for her actions. Wilkerson added that she is offering her story now not as an excuse but an explanation of her state of mind at the time.
Were you on pre$cription pharmaceuticals at the time?
“Everything that happened to me, I brought on myself because it was about choices I made,” she said. “Whatever state of mind I was in.”
But last week at Grove Hall, the sins of the past seemed to be forgiven. Those gathered honored her as an advocate and champion who fought for fair housing, safer communities, access to jobs, equitable health care, and same sex marriage....
--more--"
"Mayor Walsh’s hires haven’t reflected city’s diversity; Activists not ready to pass judgment" by Andrew Ryan | Globe staff, February 21, 2014
Mayor Martin J. Walsh has repeatedly vowed to build an administration that reflects the diversity of Boston, a city in which people of color and women make up more than half the population.
But a Boston Globe analysis of city payroll records found that the Walsh administration’s first wave of new hires, which includes both Cabinet chiefs and junior aides, was overwhelmingly white and predominantly male. More than half of the 39 nonunion employees brought into the administration during the mayor’s first month in office live in Walsh’s political power base in Dorchester and South Boston. Almost all came from the ranks of Walsh’s campaign.
In an interview this week, Walsh strongly rejected any suggestion that he had fallen short on his commitment to diversity. He pointed to three people of color he tapped for prominent positions in his Cabinet....
The analogy is a racist saying he has a black friend, right?
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Also see: Welcoming Walsh
Bus went right by him:
"Defenders of the drivers are trying to rewrite history, claiming that there was never a strike in the first place. Backers of the drivers are promoting a narrative. This dishonest tactic insults the intelligence of the public, and it’s
disappointing that mainstream labor leaders associated themselves with
it by endorsing last week’s rally for the drivers. If what happened in
October wasn’t a strike, why did the union itself call it one at the time? The facts are that a group within the drivers’ union made their decision to stop work, and now the drivers are unhappy with the consequences....
--more--"
Believe me, the irony of the hypocrisy of the source is not lost on me. In fact, it amazes me. What chutzpah!
Related: Stalled School Bus Strike
The solution is to put more of them on public transports so T finances can be improved!
"Boston school bus cutbacks are viewed warily; Officials propose switch to MBTA for middle school students" by James Vaznis | Globe Staff, March 03, 2014
Boston school officials unveiled a cost-cutting proposal last month that would eliminate buses for seventh- and eighth-graders, who instead would receive monthly MBTA passes....
They are going to adolescent kids on public transit all alone?
Safety is just one concern emerging as the School Committee considers cutting school bus service next fall for seventh- and eighth-graders who would have qualified for rides.
Yeah, I was kind of wondering about that myself.
Parents and education advocates also question how the switch could affect attendance or tardiness, because of the logistics of traveling multiple buses or subways to school or the temptation to exit at another stop for a day of play.
I can't blame the kids for that!
So what brain in the school $y$tem didn't think through this stupid idea when we are constantly told government is all about keeping our kids safe and secure?
Oh, right, GOTTA CUT COSTS (which I'm all for given those overpaid -- and illegal -- school bus drivers)!
Some wonder whether the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority can absorb more than 4,500 additional students in the morning and afternoon commutes and whether bus lines run frequently enough by all the schools.
The move could also complicate the city’s student assignment process, requiring families to investigate public transit routes as they weigh school-choice options.
“I think it’s a bad idea,” said Susan Trotz, a guidance counselor at the Curley K-8 School in Jamaica Plain. “Given that we have hard issues of getting kids to school, it creates another barrier.”
She noted that the change would require many 12- and 13-year-olds to head off to school before sunrise or arrive home after sunset, and she worries that it could exacerbate a socioeconomic divide.
And Boston already has one of the worst ratios in the nation!
But, but, but, how could that be with my flagshit of corporate liberalism being the mouthpiece for the region?
You know, that REALLY EXPLAINS the FOCUS of COVERAGE!
While middle-class families would have the means and mode to drive their children to school to avoid any unease with public transit, low-income families may opt to simply keep their children at home, particularly in bad weather.
Are there any middle class families left in Boston, and can low-income people homeschool?
Good thing the paper of wealth and privilege is looking out for you.
School officials have voiced optimism about the proposal. They point out that more than 1,800 seventh- and eighth-graders from nine city-run schools and four charter schools, as well as nearly 200 sixth-graders from some of those schools, already take the T.
The school system says the switch could save $8 million even after picking up the full tab for the MBTA passes. The monthly passes would cost the School Department $225 a year for each student, well below the annual cost of busing each student, estimated at $1,323....
I wonder what happens when some kid goes abducted or is missing, killed, what have you. I mean, it's not like the T has any crime or anything.
“Every indication we have is that it works fine” at the schools using the T passes, said Brian Ballou, a School Department spokesman. “The MBTA buses have cameras. They are well lit. It makes sense.”
Oh, right, I forgot about the cameras. The total surveillance society has stopped all crime.
He also said the School Department has seen little variation in attendance and tardiness rates among students who already take the T.
Eliminating the bus service would require School Committee approval. Although members did not share their opinions during a discussion at a Feb. 26 meeting, board member Hardin Coleman urged school officials to track the effects on attendance and tardiness.
Attendance in Boston middle schools is a big problem. A Globe analysis two years ago found that 1 in 4 middle school students was chronically absent during the 2010-11 academic year, missing more than 18 days.
Little research exists on any correlation between public transit and middle school attendance rates, but anecdotal evidence suggests there might be, school attendance experts say.
(Blog editor just shakes his head)
When Baltimore launched a campaign to combat chronic absenteeism a few years ago, students in focus groups identified problems with public transit as the top reason they were tardy or absent. Baltimore students in the sixth through 12th grades rely on public transit.
The problems ranged from safety, a lack of transit stops near some schools, and the difficulty of coordinating transfer times between buses and with school start times, said Sue Fothergill, education policy director for the Family League of Baltimore, a nonprofit that partners with the city’s school system on attendance initiatives and other programs.
To help families navigate the transit system as they choose schools, Fothergill said, kiosks were set up where families can punch in their addresses to see how many bus connections were required to get to various schools.
What a pain in the ass to get to school!
Boston school officials are still working out details with the MBTA of the routes the 4,500 students are expected to take, said Kelly Smith, a T spokeswoman.
I hope you get it better than state or government websites.
Didn't the school system just go through all this crap a couple of years ago with chronic late bus arrivals? Why, Mayor Walsh, does NOTHING CHANGE!
Some parents question whether switching to T passes is worthwhile. They note that school buses would still be traveling to most of the schools with younger students on board, and often these buses have many empty seats.
It's in$ane, isn't it?
Once again we $ee that it is NOT ABOUT the KIDS at all! It's about MONEY!!!!
Mary Battenfeld, a Jamaica Plain resident, said her children are split on the proposal. She said her son, a sixth-grader at the Irving Middle School in Roslindale, likes the idea of a T pass because of the freedom it would provide....
He's learned his le$$ons well! He won't be showing up to school!
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And speaking of that very same T.... time to get off the Globe expre$$.
Also see:
Walsh offers South Bay inmates lesson on hope
Mayor Walsh invites Pope Francis to Boston
Imagine the security and transport nightmare.
UPDATES:
Mayor seeks creative ideas for public spaces
Walsh’s first policy speech: Getting down to business
Martin Walsh’s bloc-building style on display
Mayor Walsh heads to D.C. seeking funds, ties
