The article doesn’t give many details. I wonder how they’ll be resettling them here and how they’ll help them assimilate. I’m very happy for them to get the opportunity to come here to the U.S., and I hope they become successful in establishing a community here. If anyone sees more info on where they’ll be coming or what people can do to help, be sure to pass it on.
Year: 2006
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CBGB: There’s been talk that CBGB might move to Vegas, now that it’s closed its doors in NYC. Bruce spoke out about this last night:
That’s like moving The Whisky to Worcester. That’s like moving the Old Grey Whistle Test to LA. It doesn’t work.
Darfur: You can now look at high-res satellite pix of burned villages in Darfur.
Halloween: Global Exchange’s Fair Trade Trick or Treat Action Kit is plain nifty. I was digging through one at a friend’s house last week. Wish I knew about it in time to order some for other friends.
Opting Out: Today I talked to T&G columnist Clive McFarlane about the Opt Out project. Taking my own advice, I wrote down what I wanted to say on an index card, and tried to avoid saying anything but those things.
Clive asked why the project only focuses on schools giving kids’ private info to military recruiters, when schools also give kids’ info to colleges. These seem like very different things to me, but I don’t know much about how schools give that info to colleges, and hadn’t really thought it through.
I tried to avoid this question in a nice way. If Clive writes a column about the project, we’ll find out if I succeeded.
After our conversation, I phoned some of the other people helping with the project, and one said to me:
Schools are not required to give info to colleges by federal law. It’s not legislated. That’s the difference.
That sounds about right to me. Back when I was in high school, we opted in to having info sent to colleges. And the policies seemed like they were under local, rather than federal, control.
(The Telegram website should really have homepages for Mr. McFarlane and Ms. Williamson. Why no respect for the city columnists?)
Gary Rosen swings back
When City Councilor Gary Rosen proposed that Worcester look into getting rubber sidewalks, Pie and Coffee celebrated his unconventional vision, Buck Paxton argued against the idea, and Worcester Magazine mindlessly ridiculed him.
Then, in last week’s InCity Times, Gary Rosen wrote an article explaining the idea, and defending it against his critics:
While arborists, street department and city officials, and newspapers like the Boston Globe and In City Times think that the idea of rubber sidewalks has a great deal of merit, our Worcester Magazine called it “bizarre.” I know that we can be and should be more creative and innovative in Worcester.
The primary benefit of rubber sidewalks, as he describes them, is that they deal better with growing tree roots, bending rather than cracking.
Budding rubber sidewalk geeks will want to read the installation manual (pdf). The section “Releasing rubber sidewalk pavers” seems to indicate that swiping a section of sidewalk would be easy.
Saint Kermit #43: Frank Talk
It’s been a depressing couple of weeks in Massachusetts politics, but Jim and I wade into the muck anyway. Then we point out that this election will determine if the Green-Rainbow Party and Working Families Party are official parties.
[download the mp3 of “Saint Kermit #43: Frank Talk”]
We rant about:
- Kerry Healey calling Deval Patrick soft on crime
- Somebody revealing the skeleton in Patrick’s sister’s closet
- Rand Wilson, who is polling double-digits as “Working Families” candate for State Auditor
- Jill Stein, polling double-digits as “Green-Rainbow” candidate for Secretary of State
Interview: Barney Frank.
Music: National Carpet.
Sports: Sport.
Four new saints!
Pope Benedict canonized four new saints today: a French nun on the Indiana frontier who founded St. Mary-of-the-Woods College, a Mexican bishop who risked his life to help the wounded during the Mexican Revolution, an Italian priest who pioneered education for the deaf and founded an order of nuns, and an Italian woman who founded an order of nuns and schools for girls.
Privacy contest for Worcester high schoolers
At last, the opt-out contest is here.
Public high schools send their students’ personal info to military recruiters each fall, unless the students opt out.
This is not good. So we’ve started a contest.
The Worcester junior or senior class with the highest percentage of students opting out will win $250. Students should turn in opt-out forms (pdf) ASAP.
More info at the contest website. If you know any Worcester high schoolers, let them know about the contest. You can contact optout.admin@gmail.com for more info, too.
Rep. McGovern lectures on Darfur
Monday, October 30, 2006
7:30 PM-9:30 PM
Higgins University Center, Tilton Hall, Clark University.
Lecture by U.S. Representative James McGovern (D-MA). Reception following lecture.
Sponsored by: Strassler Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies
E-mail: chgs@clarku.edu
Phone: 508-793-8897
Another year, another prayer breakfast
This morning was the Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast in Worcester.
Like last year’s, it happened to fall during Ramadan. The speaker was Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America, and a convert from Catholicism to Islam. She talked about Islamic ethics and the potential for peaceful coexistence between people of different faiths.
(In this, she seemed to differ from a Muslim-turned-Christian who Mike Schorsch heard speak recently.)
Hermis Yanis taped her talk, and the following discussion, for his TV show. I hope we can post some clips soon.
In the aftermath of the pope’s Regensburg lecture, it would have been nice had there been a Catholic clergyman at the podium at some point, but no such luck. (The bishop was there, of course.)
Worcester’s Catholic Workers were remarkably well-represented at the breakfast. Above, Tom Lewis, Harry Duchesne, and Mike Boover ruminate. Below, Bruce glows after drinking way too much coffee.
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Big guys forever!: Today Worcester celebrated World Smile Day, a day when we smile and remember Worcester native Harvey Ball.
Some guys from the Willis Center won the pie-eating contest, saying:
I said it from the beginning. The big guys came to represent. And that’s what we did! Big guys forever!
Orange County Catholic Worker: A little update in this week’s OC Weekly.
Continue reading “Items”
A day against war in Worcester
There was a day-long protest against the Iraq War in Worcester’s Elm Park yesterday, in association with events nationwide organized by World Can’t Wait.
Folks were at the park from 9AM to 8PM. One guy was there the whole time!
Harry (left) said that a guy was complaining to him about the boring demonstrations nowadays. “We need more folks like the Chicago Seven and the Catonsville Nine!” Harry told him that Tom Lewis (right), of the Catonsville Nine, would be there shortly, and the guy was thrilled.
Worcester also sent three people to a protest at the corporate offices of Textron that morning. Textron makes cluster bombs. One former Textron employee was at the Elm Park vigil.