Filling In Cambridge, MA Living Spaces

"if a frog is placed in boiling water, it will jump out, but if it is placed in cold water that is slowly heated, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death." Similarly if freedoms are reduced small pieces at a time, their complete absence will not be recognized until it is too late. Why will this proposal to increase the density of living spaces in the city, not have a similar effect making parking, walking, driving and emergency services more difficult?

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20151208/NEWS/151206907

LETTER: Support the 'Barrett Petition' for Cambridge homeowners
Posted Dec. 8, 2015 at 11:14 AM
Updated at 11:15 AM
To the editor:
Patrick W. Barrett III, Broadway

Texas Democrats, Unlawfully Reveal Medical Records Of District Attorney, Openly Show Bigotry Toward Persons With Disabilities

David Woo/Staff Photographer
Dallas District Attorney Susan Hawk talks to reporters outside her office at the Frank Crowley Courts building on Oct. 1, her first day back at work after missing more than two months to deal with an episode of "severe depression."
Indicates routine lawlessness of Democrats revealing medical records in violation of privacy laws. But also it shows bigotry of Democrats against persons with disabilities contrary to state and US discrimination laws. No shame for Democrats who openly violate laws, constitutional protections and individual rights.

[From article]
Hawk, a Republican, wanted to resign in July because of suicidal thoughts, according to the magazine. Instead, she spent two months at the Menninger Clinic, a premier psychiatric hospital in Houston.
D Magazine reported that Hawk thought about overdosing on sleeping pills before she checked herself into the mental health facility. While there, she was diagnosed with major depressive disorder, considered strangling herself with a blow dryer cord and, at one point, was officially committed after telling a nurse: “I’m going to kill myself anyway. Just let me go home,” the magazine reported after an interview with Hawk.
Dallas County Democrats responded Sunday by releasing a statement in which they moved beyond nuanced calls for her resignation and explicitly pushed for her ouster.
“Just weeks ago, our top law enforcement official was involuntarily committed after threatening to kill herself. … In view of the facts that have just recently been revealed, Susan owes it to herself, not to mention her nearly 500 employees and the taxpayers, to resign and to concentrate on getting well,” party chairwoman Carol Donovan said.
Hawk clarified Sunday night that she was at the facility “voluntarily the entire time.” The D Magazine story said she checked herself into the hospital but became committed after threatening to kill herself.
“I’m good. I’m healthy,” Hawk told The Dallas Morning News late Sunday. “I’m not going to let this sort of attack get to me or change that. The reason I told my story is because I wanted to help people. It’s that simple.”
[. . .]
Dallas County Republican Party Chairman Wade Emmert shot back on Twitter, denouncing the Democrats as hypocrites for attacking Hawk but supporting Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price, who is under federal indictment.


http://www.dallasnews.com/news/metro/20151004-democrats-urge-da-hawk-to-quit-after-she-details-depression-therapy.ece

Dems urge Dallas DA Hawk to resign after she details depression therapy, threats to kill herself
By SARAH MERVOSH
smervosh (at) dallasnews.com
Staff Writer
Published: 04 October 2015 11:43 PM
Updated: 05 October 2015 09:33 AM

Cambridge MA Thinks A City Ordinance Will Stop Teens From Smoking Cigarettes

“I see it everyday at the high school where I work,” [Councilor McGovern] said. “At lunch the 18 year-old goes up to the corner store and hands cigarettes to a 15 year-old. [If the ordinance amendment is followed], that’s not going to happen anymore.” How old do students have to be to purchase marijuana in Cambridge? Does the City Councilor ever see [or smell] young people smoking dope?

[From article]
“This is going to be one of the most significant public health decisions we’ve made,” McGovern said in an interview Wednesday.
[. . .]
"I see it everyday at the high school where I work,” he said. “At lunch the 18 year-old goes up to the corner store and hands cigarettes to a 15 year-old. [If the ordinance amendment is followed], that’s not going to happen anymore.”

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/2/5/cambridge-ordinance-amendment-tobacco/

Cambridge Raises Tobacco Purchasing Age to 21
By SAMUEL E. LIU,

Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
February 5, 2015

Respect for Constitution and Laws Essential for Democracy

[From article]
What distinguishes an institution from a flash mob is that its rules endure. They can be changed, of course. But only by significant supermajorities. That’s why constitutional changes require two-thirds of both houses plus three-quarters of the states. If we could make constitutional changes by majority vote, there would be no Constitution.
As of today, the Senate effectively has no rules. Congratulations, Harry Reid. Finally, something you will be remembered for.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/charles-krauthammer-the-democrats-outbreak-of-lawlessness/2013/11/28/3184b6f2-579b-11e3-8304-caf30787c0a9_story.html?hpid=z3

An outbreak of lawlessness
By Charles Krauthammer,
Published: November 28, 2013

Sen. Kennedy Tries to Keep Seat in Family

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204884404574362541012511408.html

AUGUST 21, 2009, 3:33 P.M. ET
Wall Street Journal
What Ted Kennedy Wants
He's trying to change election rules—again.

The Partial Truth

The Partial Truth

The Phoenix got it partially right. Few editorials recognize the fear
politicians have for police unions. But they also fear the police. (Editorial,
"The painful truth," Boston Phoenix, April 4, 2007)
The editorial errs saying, "better policing is the only hope the residents
of Boston�s troubled neighborhoods have." Better politicians and accountability
are essential.
Young people see politicians ignore inconvenient laws. They know that James
Bulger killed 19 persons while working for the FBI, which remains untrustworthy.
Massachusetts elected officials are poor role models. Where is the
motivation for young people to obey laws when the government does not?
More importantly there is a correlation between young males growing up
without a father and without religion, and crime and poor school performance.
It is not an easy problem to solve. But the current leadership in Massachusetts
state and city governments is encouraging crime by example. Just having the best
policing humanly possible will not end this crisis. It's gonna be around for a
long while.

--
Roy Bercaw, Editor ENOUGH ROOM

The painful truth
Boston Phoenix
Boston's murder crisis underscores the need to reform its police force
4/4/2007 11:33:23 AM

If it is painful to try to make sense of the ongoing plague of murders
afflicting neighborhoods in Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan, try to imagine
what it is like to live there.

Life is already tough in these poor and working-class areas. For many of the
200,000 or so who live there, the simple acts of making ends meet, raising a
family, and getting an education are challenges.

We all know that life is unfair. But when the intrinsic inequities of birth are
compounded by a relatively small - probably no more than a couple hundred -
group of criminals, what are the rest of us to think? To expect? To do?

These are questions with inadequate and unsatisfactory answers.
[...]