Raising money for a worthy charity is a good thing. Raising awareness about a (currently) incurable disease that afflicts 30,000 people in the U.S. and many more worldwide, is a good thing. Encouraging people to think about the needs of others is a good thing. Doing all this using social blackmail that is guaranteed to… Read More »
twistpeach@LiveJournal recently published a 100% awesome journal entry, which went viral, about her experience with a creeper at Arisia 2014 and what she did about it. There is so much good in what she did, and what she wrote about it, that if you have anything to do with SFF Fandom, and probably even if… Read More »
After George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin, a narrative quickly emerged that Zimmerman “profiled” Martin, that he considered Martin suspicious merely because of the color of his skin and the fact that he was wearing a hoodie. Leaving aside the question of whether that narrative is accurate in the particular case of the Zimmerman / Martin… Read More »
This post is mostly for the benefit of my fellow MIT alumni. Remember Jonathan Monsarrat? If so, then you may have gotten the same impression of him back at the ‘tute that I did, to wit, that he gave off creep vibes. Judging from what has been written about him online since then, he’s done… Read More »
Last month, I sent the MBTA a public records request, trying to obtain more information about how aware they are of the problem of air quality problems in the passenger compartments of their buses, and what they are doing about the problem. The Massachusetts Public Records Law requires “custodians of records” like the MBTA to… Read More »
I just sent the following letter to the MBTA. January 14, 2013 Beverly A. Scott General Manager, MBTA 10 Park Plaza, Suite 3910 Boston, MA 02116 Re: Massachusetts Public Records Request Dear Ms. Scott: This is a request under the Massachusetts Public Records Law (M.G.L. Chapter 66, Section 10). I am requesting that I be… Read More »
Have you ever noticed a strong smell of diesel fumes in an MBTA bus, most strongly at the back of the bus? The smell comes from diesel exhaust leaking into the passenger compartment of the bus. It is extremely toxic. Its short-term effects include headache, dizziness, light-headedness, and nausea. Long-term effects include cardiovascular disease, cardiopulmonary… Read More »
To:askamy@tribune.com Amy, Responding to “Confused Neighbor,” you wrote, “Sophisticated people living in a country devoted to free speech should be able to tolerate different — or even offensive — perspectives without wanting to leave the country, but you don’t seem able to see things this way. This is something for you to work on.” Rather… Read More »
Ken at Popehat reports on Pittsfield judge Bethzaida Sanabria-Vega ordering a local blogger not only to stop writing about the daughter of a local public official who was the perpetrator of a hit-and-run accident which nearly killed someone and got off virtually scott-free after the courts “lost” some of the paperwork related to her case,… Read More »
The Hague, The Netherlands – February 10, 2012 – The International Criminal Court today announced a sweeping indictment of the Lord God Almighty for mass murder. An ICC spokesman explained the indictment. “We are emerging from a dark era in which humanity failed to recognize the full personhood of fertilized eggs. Now that we know… Read More »