Love in practice is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams.
The latest issue of the Catholic Radical, Worcester’s oldest progressive paper and the newsletter of the SS. Francis & Therese Catholic Worker community, is now online as a PDF.
Good articles on anarchism, conscientious objectors, and the Belgian Congo.
508 is a show about Worcester. This week, Brendan Melican and I talk with Grace Ross, candidate for District 4 City Councilor.
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Also: Mike reads a great letter in Worcester Magazine and begins a Clay-Shirky-inspired rant he doesn’t have time to finish.
The “85%” number suggests 2 projects I didn’t have time to mention on the show.
In the coming weeks we will be interviewing Bill McCarthy and Rob Diaz. Feel free to suggest questions in the comments below.
508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel includes Brendan Melican, Tina Zlody, and Worcester City Council candidate Mary Keefe.
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Gary Rosen plans to run for State Rep; Bill Coleman plans to run for U.S. Senate.
Tina talks about the upcoming stART in the Street art fest and last week’s Pecha Kucha night.
Mike recaps his analysis of City Council websites.
Mary is running for an At-Large seat on the City Council.
More conversation about this episode at Paulie’s blog.
Continue reading “508 #84: Mary Keefe”
For a blast from the past, take a look at the 2007 candidate websites. More election info at the Worcester Activist wiki.
Please send any comments to pieandcoffee@gmail.com or post a comment. I’ve taken screenshots of the candidate websites I could find, and photos of the candidate signs I’ve walked past when I remembered my camera.
Continue reading “Worcester City Council candidate websites and signs, 2009”
(Events shamelessly lifted from Michael True’s latest e-mail. Please send your events to pieandcoffee@gmail.com or post a comment.)
There is an antiwar vigil every Tuesday in Lincoln Square from 3:30-4:30pm.
Also: Worcester Veg Events from VegWorcester…
508 is a show about Worcester. Today’s panel includes Brendan Melican, Cha-Cha Connor, and City Council challenger Kola Akindele.
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The latest round of debate over Worcester’s pools ended in a contentious City Council meeting this week. Some are seeing the issue as a litmus test in the upcoming City Council election. It has also spurred new calls for a change in the city’s charter.
Upcoming candidates should include Mary Keefe, Rob Diaz, and Grace Ross. Feel free to post questions to them in the comments to this post.
Nice profile in today’s New York Times of Fr Carl Kabat, OMI, a Catholic priest with longstanding ties to both the Plowshares and Catholic Worker movements:
At 75 he continues his crusade against nuclear weapons at missile silos across the United States, armed with a hammer and a pair of bolt cutters. He usually wears a clown suit, in homage, he says, to St. Paul’s words: “We are fools for Christ’s sake.â€
[…]
Subsequent protests led to Father Kabat’s spending more time in prison than out, raising questions about the effectiveness of his approach.
Liz McAlister, who married Philip Berrigan, has an answer. “We live in a culture where we want to measure everything to know how successful things are,†Ms. McAlister said. “It’s beautiful to see people who don’t spend time wondering and worrying about that and are willing to do what they think is right regardless of the consequences.â€
Photo: Carl Kabat at the 2008 Catholic Worker National Gathering in Worcester.
Saying that “The future of Worcester’s pools is a moral decision,” 35 prominent Worcester religious leaders today issued a statement asking the City Manager and City Councilors to “take into account the impact the loss of pools will have on our young people and low-income families” and to “prioritize Worcester’s poorest neighborhoods for pool renovations and rebuilding both as part of the final plan as well as any timeline which will phase-in pools over the coming years.”
Rev. Jose Incarnacion reads the statement at a City Hall press conference today. Mike Benedetti photo/CC BY.
The statement comes out as the Council prepares to vote on the City Manager’s new plan to focus funds on replacing the city’s nine decrepit swimming pools with a few huge ones.
The statement and signatories are below.
Continue reading “35 Worcester religious leaders on pools: “prioritize poorest neighborhoods””
“Fr. John Dear, S.J., internationally known voice for peace and nonviolence, will be the guest speaker at St. Rose of Lima parish in Northborough, MA on Thursday, September 10th at 7:00pm. His topic will be The Culture of People and Nonviolence. At the event we will also remember and honor those lost on 9-11.”
508 is a show about Worcester. This week, Brendan Melican and Bruce Russell talk with Kate Toomey about running for mayor of Worcester.
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Also: no new info on political sign thefts; discussion of the pools issue and a curious incident with the City Manager; Dianne Williamson’s latest cry for help; absurd self-parody from Jordan Levy. We never do get around to discussing how much any of us can bench.
More conversation about this episode on Paulie’s blog.