You have to play...unless you're a criminal.
Then, even if you've been a model citizen in prison and got out with good behavior, spent a little time at the local funny farm to straighten out the demons, and have the fortune to win $1 million, previous records don't lie - we have to declare your win null and void.
MSL's new slogan: You Have To Play - Clean Criminal Records Only!
11/25/2007
Cleary Squared, Dorchester, MA 02136?
Cleary Square, believe it or not, was actually part of Dorchester.
Hyde Park itself was carved out of parts of West Roxbury, Dorchester, Milton and Dedham. According to this map, the town of Hyde Park didn't exist until 1888, and in 1912, it was annexed to the City of Boston.
I have an idea on what parts of Hyde Park came from where...and it looks like the Neponset River was considered the border between Dorchester, Milton and Dedham
Readville: Dedham's contribution was likely from the current Boston/Dedham line at Sprague Street, West Milton Street, and River Street, and formed an island of sorts between Neponset Valley Parkway and River Street. Milton's contribution was from Paul's Bridge east to the present Wolcott Square, and then to the Dedham Line. Had these borders not been changed, Readville could have also been called West Milton.
Cleary Square: Dorchester contributed all of its land from Fairmount Avenue down to near Turtle Pond Parkway, near Kelly Field.
Hyde Park west of Cleary Square: Dorchester and West Roxbury ceded new land to Hyde Park as follows: Dorchester gave up land from around Metropolitan Avenue east of the railroad tracks, Huntington Avenue east of Clare Avenue, and West Street past River St and all the way past the George Wright Golf Course on West Street (where West St changes to Poplar St). West Roxbury contributed everything from Bald Knob Road (now Enneking Parkway) east to Cleary Square, up to and including Gordon Avenue, Georgetowne, and Turtle Pond Parkway west of River St.
Hyde Park east of Cleary Square: Milton gave up almost all of its Brush Hill section east of Fairmount Avenue and north of Beacon St to Hyde Park. Truman Highway, formerly called Water Street, straddles the Neponset for almost its entire length, and ends about 1/4 mile east of Paul's Bridge. Technically, it crosses the Milton line right before the T intersection at Neponset Valley Parkway.
It is also likely that Metropolitan Avenue, currently divided into three seperate sections, formed the basis at least three sections of Hyde Park. 1-440 Metropolitan Avenue is within Roslindale (a part of West Roxbury); 450-800 Metropolitan Avenue is in Hyde Park (formerly part of Dorchester), and after crossing the river, 801-1000 Metropolitan Avenue is in the former Milton section and is bisected by Beacon St. Hence, the name Metropolitan.
Hyde Park itself was carved out of parts of West Roxbury, Dorchester, Milton and Dedham. According to this map, the town of Hyde Park didn't exist until 1888, and in 1912, it was annexed to the City of Boston.
I have an idea on what parts of Hyde Park came from where...and it looks like the Neponset River was considered the border between Dorchester, Milton and Dedham
Readville: Dedham's contribution was likely from the current Boston/Dedham line at Sprague Street, West Milton Street, and River Street, and formed an island of sorts between Neponset Valley Parkway and River Street. Milton's contribution was from Paul's Bridge east to the present Wolcott Square, and then to the Dedham Line. Had these borders not been changed, Readville could have also been called West Milton.
Cleary Square: Dorchester contributed all of its land from Fairmount Avenue down to near Turtle Pond Parkway, near Kelly Field.
Hyde Park west of Cleary Square: Dorchester and West Roxbury ceded new land to Hyde Park as follows: Dorchester gave up land from around Metropolitan Avenue east of the railroad tracks, Huntington Avenue east of Clare Avenue, and West Street past River St and all the way past the George Wright Golf Course on West Street (where West St changes to Poplar St). West Roxbury contributed everything from Bald Knob Road (now Enneking Parkway) east to Cleary Square, up to and including Gordon Avenue, Georgetowne, and Turtle Pond Parkway west of River St.
Hyde Park east of Cleary Square: Milton gave up almost all of its Brush Hill section east of Fairmount Avenue and north of Beacon St to Hyde Park. Truman Highway, formerly called Water Street, straddles the Neponset for almost its entire length, and ends about 1/4 mile east of Paul's Bridge. Technically, it crosses the Milton line right before the T intersection at Neponset Valley Parkway.
It is also likely that Metropolitan Avenue, currently divided into three seperate sections, formed the basis at least three sections of Hyde Park. 1-440 Metropolitan Avenue is within Roslindale (a part of West Roxbury); 450-800 Metropolitan Avenue is in Hyde Park (formerly part of Dorchester), and after crossing the river, 801-1000 Metropolitan Avenue is in the former Milton section and is bisected by Beacon St. Hence, the name Metropolitan.
10/03/2007
We have met the enemy, and s/he is us (and our egos)
Pogo said it, but Jon Keller gives us an example of that very phrase: pick up with momentum of dissatisfaction with the other side of the aisle, and then bring that momentum to a screeching halt with a war surtax.
I don't think it will happen, because it will bear even more people already displeased their income taxes are going to the government for reasons they don't agree with. But if it does go through, the sacrifice should go both ways. If taxpayers are shelling out an extra 2-15% in surtax to fund the war, the senators and representatives are required to surrender 70% of their paychecks into a tax-free fund that will directly assist the soldiers' families.
At $150,000 per year, that's $56 million diverted to soldiers and their families - not chump change. With interest, this can grow into the billions, and give the families a much needed break when the savings and checking accounts are depleted. It will also call the bluff of those senators/representatives of who really does "support the troops" - literally putting a 70% tax where their mouth is, and taking note of who weasels out. With their salaries cut deeply, the senators/reps may then appreciate the value of wealth, and see the folly of socialism - through the iron gloves of income redistribution and punishing people for working hard and generating wealth.
To quote Jon Keller, they do it for "...[s]ymbolism. Grandstanding. Scoring what may well be a valid political point at the potential expense of gaining the political power to effect real change. In other words, doing what baby-boom era pols (of both parties) are notorious for doing, feeding their egos while progress goes hungry."
Jules Crittenden adds his 2-15 cents, with the money quote, "Conceptual flaw. Poor drafting skills, if you will. Lack of perspective. Dems understand that people hate taxes, because someone told them that once. But because they love taxes so much, they don’t get exactly how much people hate them, and therefore, how dumb this idea is. Nobody’s going to get, “Gee, this war costs a lot” off of this. They will get, “Those [jerks] want another 15 percent.”"
I don't think it will happen, because it will bear even more people already displeased their income taxes are going to the government for reasons they don't agree with. But if it does go through, the sacrifice should go both ways. If taxpayers are shelling out an extra 2-15% in surtax to fund the war, the senators and representatives are required to surrender 70% of their paychecks into a tax-free fund that will directly assist the soldiers' families.
At $150,000 per year, that's $56 million diverted to soldiers and their families - not chump change. With interest, this can grow into the billions, and give the families a much needed break when the savings and checking accounts are depleted. It will also call the bluff of those senators/representatives of who really does "support the troops" - literally putting a 70% tax where their mouth is, and taking note of who weasels out. With their salaries cut deeply, the senators/reps may then appreciate the value of wealth, and see the folly of socialism - through the iron gloves of income redistribution and punishing people for working hard and generating wealth.
To quote Jon Keller, they do it for "...[s]ymbolism. Grandstanding. Scoring what may well be a valid political point at the potential expense of gaining the political power to effect real change. In other words, doing what baby-boom era pols (of both parties) are notorious for doing, feeding their egos while progress goes hungry."
Jules Crittenden adds his 2-15 cents, with the money quote, "Conceptual flaw. Poor drafting skills, if you will. Lack of perspective. Dems understand that people hate taxes, because someone told them that once. But because they love taxes so much, they don’t get exactly how much people hate them, and therefore, how dumb this idea is. Nobody’s going to get, “Gee, this war costs a lot” off of this. They will get, “Those [jerks] want another 15 percent.”"
9/26/2007
Speaking (Real) Truth to (Corrupt) Power
Jon Keller is on a roll: he points out to the right-hand side of the aisle that Lee Bollinger's smackdown of Ahmadinejad was not only wholly appropriate, but also about time someone put the phrase "speak truth to power" into more accurate use. (Two "finger quotes" up, Jon.)
I graduated from college many moons ago, but my major was in the "hard" sciences. You could not refute, argue or dissent from anything that read "Proof," "Lemma," "Corrollary" or "Postulate." I think this is still true for the "hard" sciences today, as professors of that stripe are somewhat more apolitical than the liberal arts professors - I can't imagine a physics professor marching around campus with the sign "EMF is not the answer!" or a electrical engineering professor screaming "Stop the Illegal Occupation of the Wheatstone Bridge!"
On the other hand, I don't think my political leanings would endear the liberal arts professors of today, especially the ones who believe in the so-called dogma of "social justice." That's shorthand for "highly educated, elitist, condescending white people so guilty of their good fortunes they fake piety to make themselves feel superior." In fact, I would write in the professor's review, "Looks and acts like Marx - and I'm not talking about Chico, Harpo or Groucho."
I graduated from college many moons ago, but my major was in the "hard" sciences. You could not refute, argue or dissent from anything that read "Proof," "Lemma," "Corrollary" or "Postulate." I think this is still true for the "hard" sciences today, as professors of that stripe are somewhat more apolitical than the liberal arts professors - I can't imagine a physics professor marching around campus with the sign "EMF is not the answer!" or a electrical engineering professor screaming "Stop the Illegal Occupation of the Wheatstone Bridge!"
On the other hand, I don't think my political leanings would endear the liberal arts professors of today, especially the ones who believe in the so-called dogma of "social justice." That's shorthand for "highly educated, elitist, condescending white people so guilty of their good fortunes they fake piety to make themselves feel superior." In fact, I would write in the professor's review, "Looks and acts like Marx - and I'm not talking about Chico, Harpo or Groucho."
9/22/2007
Our new shingle...
Here's as close to a press release as I'm ever going to get...
Only in Boston, Kids! (onlyinboston2.blogspot.com) is no more. It's now Cleary Squared (clearysquared.blogspot.com.) Please change your bookmarks, links, next of kin cards, etc.
Only in Boston, Kids! (onlyinboston2.blogspot.com) is no more. It's now Cleary Squared (clearysquared.blogspot.com.) Please change your bookmarks, links, next of kin cards, etc.
9/21/2007
Making crab cakes out of cancer
All I ask is that you watch the video of Randy Pausch, a computer science professor from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and once you're done, ask yourself how a man with terminal pancreatic cancer can still have the vim and vigor of a freshly-minted assistant professor. Never mind your political bent - see if you would face the end of your life either severely depressed or looking forward to it as if it were a long-term vacation.
Courtesy of Power Line.
Courtesy of Power Line.
9/04/2007
Where has the middle class gone in Boston?
Leave it to the Globe Magazine to substitute to give its view of middle class flight. Our header is what the Globe should have put to make the article more accurate.
Boston has made a paradigm shift within the past two decades. What hasn't changed is prejudice and mistrust between the classes and races. One neighborhood fears declining property values (sketchy people, groups of kids acting up); another neighborhood fears gentrification (big luxury condos, luxury stores and restaurants) and commercialization (big box stores). In the twain are people who have lived in their neighborhoods for decades, paying higher property taxes - sometimes overriden over the 2-1/2% limit - for what is purported for education and health care, but ends up elsewhere, like the general fund or for pork projects.
The middle class in Boston is existent - but it is not as obvious as it once was. In the 1960s, Blue Hill Avenue used to be a enclave for the Boston Jewry. By 1970, it became mostly Afro-American. You have to travel to the far-flung borders of Boston to see a thriving middle class. Hyde Park, West Roxbury, Roslindale, and other parts of the city are good examples where the middle class has not been shoved out and force to flee to a better middle class climate.
What really ruins the dream of the middle class living in the Athens of America is what has oiled the cogs of Boston for centuries - corruption in politics, sky-high housing prices, elitism, a transit system that constantly begs for more money from riders and spends them on vanity projects, and a smug attitude of "we are the best," even contrary to the fact (viz. The Big Dig) . People who have never been to this city or have toured the city only see the surface of what Boston really is, and if the tourist trolley companies had an all-Boston tour, it would certainly take the Athens of America moniker and turn it into the Most Dysfunctional City of America.
The middle class notices this with a gimlet eye for BS. They are taking a look around in their areas, don't like what they see, and plan to leave the area, and quite frankly, I don't blame them.
Update: Here's a different take. There's also the attitude in the suburbs that "if we were like Boston, we'd be successful too, bringing in all that revenue and taxes so we can have better things." Building multi-million dollar condos in Newton will come after they shove a camel through the eye of a needle.
Boston has made a paradigm shift within the past two decades. What hasn't changed is prejudice and mistrust between the classes and races. One neighborhood fears declining property values (sketchy people, groups of kids acting up); another neighborhood fears gentrification (big luxury condos, luxury stores and restaurants) and commercialization (big box stores). In the twain are people who have lived in their neighborhoods for decades, paying higher property taxes - sometimes overriden over the 2-1/2% limit - for what is purported for education and health care, but ends up elsewhere, like the general fund or for pork projects.
The middle class in Boston is existent - but it is not as obvious as it once was. In the 1960s, Blue Hill Avenue used to be a enclave for the Boston Jewry. By 1970, it became mostly Afro-American. You have to travel to the far-flung borders of Boston to see a thriving middle class. Hyde Park, West Roxbury, Roslindale, and other parts of the city are good examples where the middle class has not been shoved out and force to flee to a better middle class climate.
What really ruins the dream of the middle class living in the Athens of America is what has oiled the cogs of Boston for centuries - corruption in politics, sky-high housing prices, elitism, a transit system that constantly begs for more money from riders and spends them on vanity projects, and a smug attitude of "we are the best," even contrary to the fact (viz. The Big Dig) . People who have never been to this city or have toured the city only see the surface of what Boston really is, and if the tourist trolley companies had an all-Boston tour, it would certainly take the Athens of America moniker and turn it into the Most Dysfunctional City of America.
The middle class notices this with a gimlet eye for BS. They are taking a look around in their areas, don't like what they see, and plan to leave the area, and quite frankly, I don't blame them.
Update: Here's a different take. There's also the attitude in the suburbs that "if we were like Boston, we'd be successful too, bringing in all that revenue and taxes so we can have better things." Building multi-million dollar condos in Newton will come after they shove a camel through the eye of a needle.
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