October 2007

Altruism, in the sense of regard and care for the good of other persons, is a crucially important aspect, but only one aspect, of the sort of regard for the goods of human life that is characteristic of the kinds of social and personal relationships it is best and most excellent to have. An ideal of altruism as antithetical to self-love, to be realized in a community in which each person would care for the good of all the others but not at all for her own good, is bizarre. It is as bizarre and inhuman as an egoistic ideal to be realized in a society in which each would be moved only by prudent self-interest. A more excellent sort of altruism will be one in which one enters sympathetically into a concern that one hopes, and in most cases believes, that the other person has for her own well-being. It will also not exclude a concern for the excellence of human lives, and human relationships, for their own sake. The relatively abstract notions of altruism, benevolence, and self-interest may bring a useful precision to our thought in certain contexts. I suspect, however, that the totality of an excellent concern, admiring as well as nurturing, for human good, relational and shared as well as individual, is better summed up in the richer biblical terminology of loving other people as oneself.

– A Theory of Virtue by Robert Merrihew Adams (ISBN 978-0-19-920751-0)

508 is a show about Worcester.

This week, Mike is joined by Brendan Melican.

You can download the mp3, subscribe to the feed, or see other formats.

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First: Worcester has been attacked by winged invaders. Then: If you’re reading this, then you know Mike’s been sitting in on the Cirignano trial this week. Brendan is excited about his upcoming Mayoral Candidate Forum at the Dive Bar. No word if the candidates will be drinking, but Brendan will. Talk about casinos in Massachusetts, and Mike gets spammed by City Council Candidate John Mahoney.

Correction: I say Bill McCarthy in the podcast, but this was a mixup on my part. McCarthy is no longer running, which is why Mahoney was able to re-enter the race. Many apologies.

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I got there like 20 minutes late. A woman was in the midst of testifying who was Lauren McCarthy’s mom. She’s a teacher at QCC.
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Bay Windows report on day 1.

T&G’s Dianne Williamson does her thing:

At another point, Mr. Gilleran claimed that Mr. Nangle was “very interested” in the story, as though a news account about a protester who bruised her elbow at a rally would catapult a reporter to the editorial pages of The New York Times.

A guy was fixing the courtroom doors this morning, while the lawyers and judge were discussing things inside.

Me, looking at the doors: “Yesterday they were so loud.”

Workman: “Well, they’re not anymore!”
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Channel 3 was gone, but the T&G’s Dianne Williamson was there this afternoon.

The T&G lawyer again tries to get Nangle to not have to testify.

Christopher Robarge

Another witness for the prosecution. 25 year old Worcesterite and counter-demonstrator. Was at the back of the main demonstration.

Saw someone moving fast through the crowd & then fall. Went to help her. (He was a certified EMT-B in Connecticut, and worked for volunteer ambulance services.)

“She was on the ground, she was upset, she was crying.”

“I did see hands on her shoulders.”
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The judge denies the motion to keep T&G reporter Richard Nangle off the stand. He’ll likely be testifying, as he was a witness to part of the event in question.

Ex-WoMag reporter Noah Schaffer is present in the courtroom. He’ll be writing an article about the Courthouse for Boston Lawyer’s Weekly.

During the morning break, several Cirignano supporters arrived. One predicted that Cirignano’s opponents would “flood” the courtroom on Friday. This doesn’t seem likely.

Only 7 of the 8 jurors returned today. Remember the juror who approached the bench as the jurors were leaving yesterday? He’s gone.
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I think Larry Cirignano’s lost some weight, because I didn’t recognize him entering court this morning until it was almost too late to snap his picture.

Today’s events in skylit Courtroom 24 began with a number of motions by the prosection and defense. At one point, the defense lawyer argued that if you have a permit for a demonstration, you have the right to use force to keep people with a contrary message out of the area. You’ll remember that Mr. Cirignano is accused of assaulting a woman at a rally last December at Worcester City Hall.

Things today got as far as impanelling the jury. Eight people; five men, three women; one black man; only one person younger than late middle age.

• You should be able to read more detailed accounts of the action later today from Bay Windows’ Ethan Jacobs (who’s been subpoenaed, but wasn’t at the incident itself and probably won’t testify).
• T&G reporter Richard Nangle, who was present at the crime, has been asked to testify, but the paper’s lawyers are fighting it “tooth and nail.” Mr. Nangle was present in court briefly this morning, but didn’t say anything.
• Shari Worthington, who’s filed a scam complaint against the woman Cirignano assaulted, is herself scheduled to be a witness in the case. Her statements about her criminal complaint have been cuckoo, so it’ll be interesting to hear her talk under oath. Maybe we can get a sense of her motivations.

If you want to come down to see the beginning of the trial, it starts 9am, Wednesday, October 17, Fourth Floor, Courtroom 24, 224 Main Street, Worcester.

N.B. Comments that add nothing but insults to the conversation will be deleted (unless the insults are really good).

Update: Here’s the relevant podcast and essays (one and two) from Michael Ball:

We’ll see how it goes, but I think Cirignano is probably going to be sorry he didn’t plea on this one.

This Sunday afternoon, after singing the wonderful hymn by Isaac Watts, “The heavens declare thy glory, Lord”, I went with my friend Martin of Sage to Saint Margaret’s Church, Lewknor, where they are hosting a “LOAF Fayre” along with an afternoon service. LOAF stands for “locally produced, organically grown, animal friendly, fairly traded”.

The church is now serving as a gateway to the Aston Rowant National Nature Reserve. This project is supported by the Diocese of Oxford and the Christian nature conservation organisation A Rocha.

Brother Samuel SSF of the Hilfield Project/Friary preached on the theme of “Living Lightly on God’s Earth”, and gave us three tips after Saint Francis: courtesy, know your place, and give thanks and praise (“sing in tune”). He mentioned the early Italian vernacular hymn by Francis, which we are familiar in the English as “All creatures of our God and King”. It came from his Canticle of Brother Sun.

Here’s a PDF of a criminal complaint filed against Sarah Loy, the woman the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported was shoved to the ground by a guy named Larry Cirignano last December. Cirignano is on trial for the assault in Worcester October 16.

The criminal complaint, filed by Shari Worthington of the Worcester Republican Blog, is for “disturbing a lawful assembly.”

Why would someone file a complaint so long after the incident? As the stunningly-ineffective anti-gay-marriage group Mass Resistance writes, “A hearing has been set for Oct. 29 regarding the complaint against Loy. At that hearing, a magistrate will decide whether to press formal charges. . . . But this causes a big problem for Loy. If she testifies against Larry on Oct. 16, she risks incriminating herself in a trial against her!”

Which raises a key question: Is it worse to be a sleazy lawyer, or a sleazy lawyer’s stooge?

The relevant statute:

Chapter 272 Section 40. Whoever wilfully interrupts or disturbs a school or other assembly of people met for a lawful purpose shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than one month or by a fine of not more than fifty dollars; provided, however, that whoever, within one year after being twice convicted of a violation of this section, again violates the provisions of this section shall be punished by imprisonment for one month, and the sentence imposing such imprisonment shall not be suspended.

Fifty bucks, and probably no chance of prison? I wouldn’t let this intimidate me one bit. (Easy for me to say, of course.)

508 is a show about Worcester.

This week’s guests are Brendan Mellican, Cha-Cha Connor, and Bruce “Snow Ghost” Russell.

You can download the mp3, subscribe to the feed, or see other formats.

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You can add your two cents by e-mailing pieandcoffee@gmail.com, or leaving a voicemail message at 508.471.3897.

• The real news about CitySquare: groundbreaking won’t be for at least three more years.
• One group is claiming there may be a serial killer in Worcester. This forum discussion goes into every nook and cranny. Bruce and Cha-Cha add their 2 cents.
• There’s a Mayoral Candidate Forum October 22 at the Dive Bar. Any ideas for a Mayoral Forum Drinking Game?
• Our condolences to Scott Zoback on the loss of his father.

To get an e-mail each week alerting you of the new episode of 508, join the e-mail list:

We won’t share this list with others.