Archive for November 21st, 2011

November 21st, 2011

Page One for Emerging Lowell ‘Creatives’ Anthology

by PaulM

Today’s Sun features a front page, above the fold, article by Jennifer Myers about the COOL-est creative anthology in the city, “Young Angel Midnight,” edited by Ryan Gallagher and Derek Fenner of Bootstrap Productions of Lowell. Writers, musicians, photographers, painters, and more contributed work for the 200-plus page book. The book project was funded by the Cultural Organization of Lowell (COOL) as a gesture of support for the emerging “creatives” in the community.

Read the news here, and get the Sun if you want more.

Note that this Saturday, from 1 pm to 3.30 pm, contributors and editors will be signing and selling copies of the anthology at the UMass Lowell Downtown Bookstore, 151 Merrimack Street, as part of the City of Lights festivities in the city.

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November 21st, 2011

Wilder Street Fences

by DickH

Photos by Tony Sampas

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November 21st, 2011

“Cyberspace & Civic Space”

by DickH

On Saturday I traveled to Boston College for a Mass Humanities program called “Cyberspace & Civic Space: The Influence of the Internet on Our Democracy.” Among the panelists Eli Pariser, the former executive director of MoveOn.org, and Charles Steelfisher who was Deval Patrick’s new media director in the 2006 campaign who went on to perform many of the same functions in President Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign.

While there were interesting tidbits sprinkled throughout the program, the content was skewed towards the decidedly older audience that was in attendance. I’ve been to quite a few programs on new media and the internet and the crowd is typically younger, or at least younger in terms of tech savvy-ness. The audience here was more Mass Humanities fans than internet activists (WBUR was a co-sponsor). The disconnect between the audience and the theme of the event was most evident during the Q&A period that followed the first panel. The organizers throughout had urged attendees to use Twitter to comment on the conference (using hashtag #mh8) and to submit questions to the panelists via Twitter. When time came for the questions, several audience members approached the community microphone to ask away, but a Mass Humanities staffer with some printed-out questions from Twitter stepped in front of them and said she would alternate Twitter questions with live questions. At that the panel moderator, Callie Crossley, the host of a WGBH radio show, said – and I’m heavily paraphrasing here – “don’t waste our time with those dumb Twitter questions when there are real live WGBH contributors standing at the microphone.” So much for new media!

But as I said, the top-quality panelists did share some useful insights. Here’s a sampling: There was much pessimism and suspicion of the amount of data being aggregated about all of us and how it will be used in the future. The current internet, as one panelist put it, is “paradise for the consumer and hell for the democratic activist.” There was also concern that the internet places each of us in a “personal filter bubble.” As Google’s algorithms get better about predicting what we want to see, we are brought into contact only with like-minded individuals, something that insulates of from contrary views. The time-honored tradition of political campaigns in targeting those individuals who are regular voters has risen to new levels of sophistication with computers and digital data. Political messages more and more are directed at those who already participate while those who have not participated continue to be ignored (or are ignored even more intensely, if that’s possible), thereby driving them further away from the realm of political participation. This creates a self-perpetuating system where politicians talk to those who are already engaged and ignore those who don’t vote which makes them even more disengaged. As to whether YouTube and viral video will supplant the influence of big money in politics, the panel didn’t think so. The impact of viral video, however, has been to increase the volatility in politics. Things happen much faster – a candidate can rise in the polls or plummet in the polls in a flash. To a question about the “digital divide” (i.e., not everyone has an internet connection), one panelist said that divide was real, but it is a divide reflected in everything else. The same people who lack internet access also lack decent housing, reliable health care and find access to most necessities of life precarious. It’s a “corporate problem” – if providing these services is left solely to corporations, the services will always go to those with the money to pay for them and those without the money will be neglected. Finally, the internet by itself will not solve our political problems but the internet is a great facilitator for those who do want to solve our political problems.

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November 21st, 2011

E. J. Dionne: “Occupy Our Consciences”

by Marie

In his recent column “Occupy Our Consciences” – Washington Post writer, southeast Massachusetts native E. J. Dionne sees the “Occupy” movement as ready to move on to a new phase. He urges the movement not to let conservatives  drive a wedge between working-class voters and the occupiers as Nixon did back in the 1960s – rather seize an opportunity and based on its slogan – “We are the 99 percent” – move forward.

Dionne notes how the local Massachusetts GOP is doing its part for the Karl Rove types:

That’s the theme of an outrageous advertisement assailing Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren by Crossroads GPS, the group associated with Karl Rove. It accuses Warren, a Democrat, of siding with occupiers who “attack police, do drugs and trash public parks.”

Notice that this is an effort to bury the movement’s apt criticisms of the financial system beneath a pile of stereotypes. The Massachusetts Republican Party is reinforcing the message with regular “Occupy Wall Street Incident Reports” about anything bad that happens at demonstrations around the country. They run under a logo casting Warren as the “Matriarch of Mayhem,” in honor of her statement that she had created “much of the intellectual foundation” for the new movement.

To her credit, Warren has not backed off her support for the movement’s core ideas or goals. She has, however, emphasized that the demonstrators should obey the law.

He ends his piece:

“The occupations have done their work. Now it’s time to occupy the majority.”

Read the full article here at washingtonpost.com.

CategoryHistory, Politics | Comment6 Comments »

November 21st, 2011

Khmer Rouge Trials Continue in Cambodia

by PaulM

Today’s NYTimes includes a report by Seth Mydans about the latest developments in the Khmer Rouge trials in Cambodia. This is part of our history in Lowell because many of our neighbors from that nation came to the U.S. because of the Khmer Rouge’s epic crime against humanity. These neighbors carry personal stories of the genocide and resulting refugee experience. Read the article here, and get the NYT on your porch or online if you want more.

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November 21st, 2011

Emerging Leaders poised to set course against same old, same old: by Marjorie Arons-Barron

by Tony

The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog.

Recent shenanigans to sneak more money for racetracks into the casino gambling bill (about to go to) the Governor’s desk are yet another reminder of the self-interest of many leaders on Beacon Hill. The problem isn’t just political wheeling and dealing however. For generations in this tight city, insiders in various institutions , from finance to the arts, have held hold power very close and have failed to reach out to develop new generations of leadership.

But the times demand such new leadership, leadership that is open, diverse, collaborative and able to shape the global arena. Developing that leadership can’t be left to chance. One of the first to recognize that was former UMass Boston Chancellor Sherry Penney, who had also been interim president of the University of Massachusetts system.  A prominent figure in the Greater Boston community and player in international leadership circles, Penney proposed a Center for Collaborative Leadership at the UMass Boston College of Management and persuaded then-State Street CEO Marsh Carter of its merits. He promptly gave her a quarter of a million dollars to start the effort. Carter, now head of the New York Stock Exchange, was in Boston recently, and the two, along with State Street Corporation’s George Russell, were honored for their contributions to the development of leadership in our community.

Thanks to their activities over the past decade, we now have a cohort of 400 young leaders from every sector, corporate, government and nonprofit. Forty percent are people of color, and over half are women. (Compare that with the 11 percent of women who now sit on the boards of the Globe 100 companies.) One of the Emerging Leaders fellows has been named CEO of a major unit of Sovereign Bank. Another heads Citibank’s efforts in Boston. A physician is head of public health for Massachusetts. Two fellows are heads of nonprofits. Many have been recognized by the Boston Business Journal in its “Forty under Forty” list. There are many other success stories.

We’re going to need every one of these young leaders. You don’t have to look far to see how so many of the current generation in power is messing up, one of the reasons that spawned the Occupy Boston movement. Unfortunately, the Occupy movements, beyond slogans and a diffuse agenda, lacks pragmatic focus. It has yet to move from unbridled passion to a practical agenda and concerted action. It has even generated some health and safety problems. Regrettably, they lack the discipline of The Tea Party, which, for better or worse, has made itself a force to be reckoned with inside the political process.
It’s time for the next cohort of leaders, the Emerging Leaders fellows, to step up and, working within the system, offer strategies to make our society more just. Those of us who are a little long in the tooth need to create some breathing room and let these young leaders show what they can do. That will be a significant living legacy for the likes of Sherry Penney, Marsh Carter, George Russell, and others who have invested so much in training the next generation of leaders.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.

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November 21st, 2011

Robert B Kennedy Transfer Center

by Tony

This video and write up were originally post by MartinS51989

Me at the Robert B. Kennedy Transfer Center in Lowell, Massachusetts during my travel training yesterday afternoon. This transfer is where MVRTA Route 41 goes to from Buckley Transportation Center in Lawrence (and back). In addition, this is also the hub for the LRTA (That stands for Lowell Regional Transit Authority) buses (I took LRTA Route 17 to Chelmsford, which will be the bus I will need to take to get to Adecco when I begin my internship there). Anyways, enjoy this short video.

P.S. According to their official website, the LRTA will also be offering Saturday service to the Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua, NH during the Holiday season

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