December 2008

I’m preparing like mad to go to DC; still, these 2 Worcester stories, which broke on the blogs, seemed worth pointing out.

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The release of the heavily-redacted citizen complaint records against Officer Rojas has been an ongoing fiasco–even just counting the number of pages revealed there weren’t as many as claimed.

Now we know more about what sorts of things were redacted, as Kevin Ksen compares his virgin copy of his own complaint against the version the police released. The redactions are not at random, but they are bizarre–why is it important to black out any mention of the fence at the scene of the incident?

Graphic via Wordle.

Doug “Action Geek” Chapel’s comic strip leaves Worcester Magazine
It’s less surprising that Worcester Magazine cancelled Action Geek than that he stuck around for so long after the recent sale of the magazine; after all, they fired almost everyone else who was a contributor. If you’re interested in creating a brand-new feel for the magazine, getting rid of old features makes sense.

Action Geek, while a bit too grouchy for me lately, has remained one of the reasons I open the magazine. I’ll miss it. Speaking of “brand-new feel”, the only other change I’ve really noticed under the new management is the refashioning of the “one-on-one” interview to have less personality and fewer follow-up questions. So the magazine’s become less interesting in 2 ways, without adding anything new. Maybe they will surprise us.

Doug, meanwhile, is poised to lose both influence and $1,200 a year. If the 1,000 True Fans theory is legit, he should be able to make this up with a little more focus on his internet presence. Best wishes to him in whatever course he takes.

Related: Print continues its slide by almost any way you can measure.

Since the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity this year will coincide with the Lunar New Year season, I have this New Year couplet (春貼) to offer:

同舟共濟百又壹冬祈和好
天下為公兩千玖春更合壹

Tóngzhōu gòngjì, bǎiyòuyī dōng qí héhǎo;
tiānxià wéigōng, liǎngqiājiǔ chūn gèng héyī.

All in the same boat and helping each other, we have prayed for reconciliation for 101 winters;
the whole world but a single commonwealth, in spring 2009 we shall become more at one.

It surely does not follow the meter, and especially in bad form as the first four syllables of each singlet are a cliché.

Well, what is the line going across on the top doorframe (橫批)? Of course, it has to be the four Greek syllables οἰ-κου-μέ-νη, written à la sini Arabic or quốc ngữ.

And instead of the pair of mythical door guards, certainly Peter and Paul should have the honour of place, upholding the church.

If you implement this at your church, I would appreciate that you taking a photograph and leaving a message here to let me know. I might make a mock up image when I have time.

Happy new year!

Greyhound bus crash. Icy roads. I was released from the hospital with a tetanus shot and a bandage. The front of the bus caved in, trapping the driver. He seemed in very bad shape. I was three seats behind him. The people in the seats in front of me seemed pretty hurt, but were able to walk around afterwards.

Say a prayer for everyone travelling this week, that they will stay safe.

Still haven’t made it to my family after spending 24 hours on what should have been a 10-hour trip. With luck, I’ll be there for Christmas lunch.

The Christmas Miracle, for me, is that this delay meant I connected with a friend at the Philly bus station, and we spent the long ride across PA together.

Weary travelers. I think this is the Plainfield Rest Area on the PA Turnpike.

This year I somehow finished most of my Christmas chores in late November. Then things got super-busy, and the last few tasks, like writing this pre-Christmas blog post, got pushed till the last minute.

Civil disobedience through oil and gas bids
Adam sent along this inspiring story of Tim DeChristopher, who de-railed “an oil- and gas-lease sale that caught the attention of Congress and the incoming Obama administration.”

Holiday giving?
If you’re thinking of donating money to an interesting cause, and you’ve already helped your church and local Catholic Worker house, you might consider Worcester’s EMPOWER. This group has been working to start a local biodiesel cooperative, converting waste restaurant fryer oil into home heating oil. They’re raising a few more funds so they can finish crossing the Ts and dotting the Is and begin production. You can learn more about them through EPOCA (their fiscal sponsor), or I’d be happy to put you in touch with the right people.

If you’re looking for a present for post-Christmas giving, you could do worse than the Snow Ghost Community Show DVD box set, available for a $50 donation to WCCA TV13, Worcester’s cable access station (and my sometime employer). Get your copy at WCCA’s office or HBML. I’m slowly uploading the images to the Archive for your DVD-burning pleasure.
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This is the final episode of 508, a show about Worcester. The panel is DeJongh Wells, Tracy Novick, and Scott Zoback.

Standard Podcast [ 34:24 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

We talk about the ice storm, the response from the authorities, the reporting of WTAG, and Kate Toomey’s helpful Facebook updates with official info on the situation.

Jeff Barnard found that while the City Councilors want people to shovel their sidewalks, they’re doing a poor job with their own sidewalks.

The Snow Ghost Community Show also wraps up today. You can get a DVD set of all 24 episodes + extras with your $50 donation to WCCA TV13. Sets are available at WCCA (415 Main St.) and HBML (420 Pleasant St.).

Tracy talks about the tree loss at Cascading Waters and other Land Trust properties.

In honor of the absent Brendan Melican, we make bold predictions about what Mike will find when he returns to Worcester in May.

• Wells: There will be movement on downtown redevelopment. Demolition will start in July or August.
• Zoback: The various police scandals will be dragging on. Earliest beginning to a City Council/mayoral campaign in history, with record numbers of people tossing their hats into the ring. A newcomer will be the mayor.
• Novick: Ditto on the elections; we’ll also see this with the School Board. As well, people will have their electricity back….
• Benedetti: T&G offered up for sale. Jeff Barnard buys it with one day’s cabdriving tips.

We finish up by discussing our upcoming plans. For my part, I will spend the first part of 2009 on the 100 Days Campaign to Close Guantanamo.

mp3 link, other formats, feed, low-fi versions

508 is a show about Worcester. This week, Cha-Cha Connor talks with a guest about the politics of HIV/AIDS prevention in Worcester, especially as regards unprotected anal sex.

Standard Podcast [ 22:17 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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To leave a voice message to be played on the show, call 508-471-3897.

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.

I mentioned in these pages that the “green” Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, His All Holiness Bartholomew I, addressed the European Parliament earlier this year. This was as part of a series during the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. The other speakers were His Eminence Sheikh Ahmad Badr El Din El Hassoun, Grand Mufti of Syria; Sir Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth; and most recently His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. Thanks to the intervention by the Liberals and the Greens, Dr Asma Jahangir, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, were also invited to speak. (Sophia in ’t Veld: “I would like to know why the Conference of Presidents has chosen to interpret intercultural dialogue exclusively as an interreligious monologue and whether it feels a part-session is an appropriate platform for religious messages.” and Sarah Ludford: “it seems that you [the President(s)] have made the Grand Mufti comparable to the Pope and the UK Chief Rabbi as a European representative of his particular religion.”)

Here are some highlights from each the speakers, with links to their texts for the gentle readers’ perusal over Christmastime: Read the rest of this entry »

At the risk of obsessively praying about waste and recycling, I have this prayer to offer, which I trust to be sensibly Trinitarian.

(John Calvin was wrong. The Purgatory does exist. I have seen it with my own eyes, at the Redbridge recycling station.)

God our Creator, in your mercy:
Help us to learn how to live in Paradise, where nothing is wasted,
where we walk or cycle with you as you intended.
Bless the workers who sort our recycling,
who, as befit people created in your image, re-create order out of chaos.

Κύριε ἐλέησον.

Christ our Saviour, in your mercy:
Remove us from the flashy sports cars and the 4×4s (SUVs)
which only speed us to the incinerating Armageddon.
Remind us of your crown, when we see the thornbushes growing over the landfill.
Remind us of your Cross, whenever we see smokestacks or wind turbines on the hill.
Remind us of your Passion and your Resurrection.

Χριστὲ ἐλέησον.

Holy Spirit our Advocate and Comforter, in your mercy:
Guard us on our bus route for the recycling centre.
Purge us of our sins of pride and greed.
Blow your wind on us and drive us in your dynamic,
as on the wind turbines, and as on Pentecost.
Bless with your wordless prayer
everything that has a recycling symbol.

Κύριε ἐλέησον.

Amen.

(By the way, Chris Goodall’s second book is out: Ten Technologies to Save the Planet.)

One of my favorite things in Worcester, the Stone Soup community center at 4 King Street, celebrated its second anniversary last night.

It was more sedate than the first anniversary party, probably because it was at Centro Las Americas, a much larger venue than Stone Soup and more appropriate to the crowd size, and because there were a couple other big events tonight so people were in and out.

A highlight for me was the murga group La Clandestina:

George sings Happy Birthday, cracking up Nori and Aiden:

Dave Maciewski:

Happy birthday, Stone Soup! May this be the second of a hundred!

(These are just some videos from my camera. You can expect more footage in the future courtesy of youth videographer Sergio Castillo, who was on the scene. He e-mailed saying, “The deal is you have to let other people know about my website.” Here you go.)

508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Tina Zlody, Kevin Ksen, and Brendan Melican.

Standard Podcast [ 31:14 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Sunday, December 7, from noon-5pm at Worcester’s Union Station is the “stART in the Station” arts festival.

Seth Godin, from his “Holiday Shopping Guide”:

Buy handmade items from people you like.

stART can hook you up.

There was actually some news on the PILOT/BILOT front this week, with the pharmacy school making a small annual donation to the library.

Worcester will be remembering homeless residents who died in 2008 at this year’s “Longest Night” events, leading up to Dec 21. Watch this space for details.

Worcester has a contract with a new superintendant of schools. There have been delays in the release of the Mark Rojas records.

Mike continues his local journalism case studies. Kevin says the T&G has a new investigative team, or “I-Team”, with Jay Whearly as John “Hannibal” Smith.

The City Manager recognizes Colin Novick’s good work.

Dave Winer on the death of newspapers:

They see the cliff, they know they’re headed for it, but they don’t ask how to turn the car. They don’t really want to know. I think sometimes what they want is to be missed when they lie dead in a crumpled car at the bottom of the cliff. But we don’t want that to happen. Not because we love them, but because life without them is pretty hard to imagine.

mp3 link, other formats, feed, low-fi versions

To leave a voice message to be played on the show, call 508-471-3897.

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.