Phlog - All Comments

re: Better Late than Never, Bill: Clinton stumps for Frank and Grossman

Brian Foley — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 11:35:44 GMT

Great perspective on the Taunton rally. ...and a great snapshot of the Frank campaign. Every time Barney tries to gain a little momentum, it plays directly to Sean Bielat's advantage.

If you haven't already done your research on these two candidates, I encourage you to do so. Sean Bielat is the real deal.

Barney has real reason to be concerned, especially given his housing and banking baggage.

Time for a fresh start if you asked me.

I'm voting for Sean

re: Television LiveChat: Mad Men s04e12 "Blowing Smoke," Boardwalk Empire s01e04 "Anastasia," and more

zhen1827 — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 02:54:50 GMT

I like it very much, thanks!!!

re: Massachusetts Department of Corrections Commissioner Harold Clarke is leaving the state

zhen1827 — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 02:46:35 GMT

I was able to get gang-members together to speak out against this violence.

//www.pandora-au.org/

re: Massachusetts Department of Corrections Commissioner Harold Clarke is leaving the state

Darrell Jones — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 02:47:11 GMT

This is an outcry to Mr. Harold Clarke. I just got word that you resigned on this Saturday October 9th, 2010. How could you come to Massachusetts, sell us the hope that something will change, then the fight gets thick and one day after the report of a black male being jumped at this Prison (MCI Norfolk) and beaten badly- all the Spanish and Black inmates are walking around here worried about it. I have tried to tame them and keep telling them that something is going to change so they should “hold tight”. How could you not wait until the Governor election was over to announce that? Why now? Why did you come here and promise reform or is this the only State that can not be reformed? This happened with Boone and Dennehy as they were trying to reform the Prisons and now you leave in the middle of reforming it after everyone spent so much to get you here. After you came and met with all the programs and promised them a new agenda? Where do we stand now? What will happen to your 5 year agenda? There is a fear here and I feel it and soon enough so is my community out there. The same way they ran Dennehy out of here; it is all coming back. I know I am supposed to be nobody because I am incarcerated, but YOU were supposed to be a man and that is why I refer to the article you were in where you talk about being a Black Belt. Well I am in martial arts too and that is why I say you can not do anything or change anyone’s life with a “White Belt” spirit. Now that you got paid to come here and do this job, what happens to everybody? Who takes control now? Are we going back to the people who supported the “let them break rocks” era? Do we come back and be retaliated for speaking out? What about all the kids who come out of here and go back to our community and do the killings because they were already coming out of your facilities depressed, hopeless and angry and felt unprotected in the protection you promised? Are we all supposed to live in fear every day? I rather die at their hands than live in fear and I rather be who I am today than resemble anybody that calls themselves a leader but sits back and lets this stuff happen.

Every leader out there should be questioning what is going on and your departure. What about Reverend Dickerson and all the other ones you walked with and made us think all these things were going to happen? What about your “Future Search” project? Who follows up on that? We are supposed to be able to speak out and I can’t from jail because you have every type of rule that says that media can not come in here and talk to somebody- and if I talk in here then it is a demonstration, so that is why I communicate this way- because I don’t want to let you trap me. But you and I both know the truth; we are dealing with a system that can’t be changed- why else does everyone leave? What kind of culture are you leaving us to?

I am calling on the Governor right now as it is his duty to protect us and he should get somebody to watch over all of this while you are transitioning out. We urgently need an Oversight Committee. You are the CASE for an Oversight Committee – so all these activists and Legislators such as Kay Khan that have talked about an Oversight Committee, they need to put it on the Governor’s Desk first thing Monday morning because what are we being turned over to?

I have been working with these men behind bars and have a proven track record and I have never been paid a dime to do it and have risked my life to stand up and let you know what has been happening. Now what do I tell these Kids? I know you say I am not supposed to lead and I am no leader- but someone must tell them something! The Boston Police is telling you that these men are coming back out and there is an entire new culture and threat to our communities. They have no “code” because you will not allow people like myself to talk to them, make change and slow down this violence.

I was able to get gang-members together to speak out against this violence. I was able to get them on albums and working together, I was able to direct them into a positive space- just check my record. Let’s tell people the truth! I am just one man and there are others who do it, but you are the only one who has the OBLIGATION to do so! And Governor Patrick: Is everyone who was down the ladder now move up? The same people who have been under question for so many years and now that they are getting close to retirement it is pay back time.

I don’t fear because I already lost my son to the grave and I know what is going on in my community and why those mothers keep saying “why?” I know what they have lost. The mothers just figure that it is “just happening” to them but it isn’t- the guys in here are fighting, You left them with double bunking- it was your idea and that created many enemies that weren’t before. And now you have somewhere to go? How are you going to help another prison system when you couldn’t even help this one?

I am a human being too and I have a right to a voice. The President said there will be no “silencing of dissent” but you want to silence it so bad. Did someone run you out of here on the low as well? What about all the Reverends who stood around you? What are they going to do now? Will they stand up now and go to the Governor and demand an Oversight Committee so we have someone watching over these Black and Spanish boys while they are going through all of this. Or do you think we should all die in fear without ever speaking out and they just “own” us? The Geneva Convention talks about this; it says it is Genocide to turn over one race to another. In this system everything is a secret. Then everyone asks why they come out as “urban terrorists” who don’t love their country….how could they? We don’t give them a chance to love anything or show them what love is about- everything around them is hate hate hate. What you are doing is wrong and at least Dennehy stayed long enough to get attacked.

I know the fact that I was convicted will be immediately thrown my way- but all you have to do is look at my case to see what happened- so I am ready for those attacks. My son is in the grave because these guys are always retaliating and you will not do an independent investigation – a TRULY independent Investigation- Massachusetts is hiding a secret and I am calling on the Governor right now to watch over this because the “Commissioner” route has not been working! To all you mothers out there I am telling you WHY this is happening.

Clarke, you knew what happened at Old Colony and you even slowed down the video project and you should just release everything- you knew there was retaliation and every time in every article I did I said that I would give you a chance to investigate and a chance to do something. Once you dug in deep enough, you realized you couldn’t do anything about this and they [the Corrections Officer Union and those who have been part of the administration for many years] have been running this and you can’t “fight the power”. That is the why our black youth does not look up to the leaders- because of people like you. They may call you “Commissioner” but you are first a man, and we are both going to see God and when that happens the truth will be revealed. And now you want to go… I know what you are doing….I have seen it before…and I am willing to tell the truth.

I am calling on the Governor and these Reverends to listen to Kay Khan and get an Oversight Committee before we all die in here because Massachusetts Corrections is being run like a gangster organization.

And you Commissioner Clarke ought to go to another Karate school and start over because your martial arts is backwards.

Darrell Jones

PS. I am speaking out this way because I know better than to set myself up by talking to the men here.

re: Move over, Kirk/Spock: time for politislash

Joya Ghose — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 08:34:26 GMT

Is this just a dig at the left wingers? (And I use the term loosely). Because I notice you didn't mention any prominent right wing politicians ...

re: Tyler Clementi: What's hate got to do with it?

cheisler — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 12:46:18 GMT

I certainly agree with the idea that students (and people in general) need to be dealt with according to law, and that the issue of whether this crime, specifically, was a "hate" crime is still up in the air.

However, the main point at the heart of this article -- that hurtful and hateful are all part of some attemot at politically correct thought reform is short sighted, at best, and plain wrong.

If students simply needed to be reminded, whether by a code of conduct or assembly or whatever, that certain things are illgeal, and then they wouldn't do them anymore... well, that would be a very nice and pretty little world full of rainbows and hearts.

The real world doesn't work like that. In the real world, students do things that are illegal all the time. In fact, most of us do.

I know it's illegal to speed, but I broke the speed limit multiple times on my way to work.

However, teaching young people that being hateful and hurtful is not OK, even when it might be legally acceptable, is not thought reform. It's teaching them the difference between right and wrong. And, as an educator, I can assure you that's long been part of the academic tradition of this country.

This is especially true in a society where the law lags behind technology by such a great degree. There are many things students might do that possible would stll be "legal", but would also be hurtful and hateful. We need to get people, especially young people, to understand that feeling however you want is fine -- but you don't have the ability to act on it simply because there's no law that says not to.

Focusing on legal issues alone, without considering the moral aspects, and the reality of the world and the kids in it, will do no one any good.

re: Tyler Clementi: What's hate got to do with it?

ROGER SILTNER — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 12:08:58 GMT

WHAT IS NEXT YOU LOOK AT SOME ONE THE WRONG WAY AN IT IS A HATE CRIME PEOPLE HATE EVERY DAY YOU READ OF SOME KIND OF HATE GOING ON WHAT HAS BECOME OF THIS LAND WE LIVE IN SO MABE IT WAS NOT RIGHT BUT THIS YOUNG MAN DID TOOK THE WRONG WAY OUT SO WHO IS TO SAY MABE IF SOME ONE HAD OF TOOK TIME FOR HIM AN TALKED WITH HIM IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A BETTER OUT COME B UT NOT A HATE CRIME

re: Boston Police Officer Resides At House Linked To Mattapan Quadruple Homicide

Farnkoff — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 19:57:44 GMT

So we can assume, I guess, that neither officer was home at the time? Many neighbors reported hearing the gunshots. It would seem unlikely that the shooting occurred very far from where the bodies were found, as Mr. Faraone says. Is there to be a follow-up on this anytime soon?

re: Tyler Clementi: What's hate got to do with it?

MindMatters — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 05:59:02 GMT

The rhetoric of "hate" speech/crimes has a noble ring to it, but unfortunately is semantically vacuous. Who decides what "hate" happens to be at any particular moment? Favored victim groups can turn aside any rational critique by simply using the very, very tired monikers that all end with "phobic." Rather than engage in meaningful moral analysis, one simply has to call somebody else a ________phobic---of whatever sort. Those who might otherwise exercise common sense judgments based on empirical evidence, now claim to have an intuitive grasp of what can never be seen: the true motives at the core of another person's being. The student wasn't videoed because he was "gay." He was broadcast because he happened to be the roommate, and coincidentally, his attractions were homoerotic. He is not a saint or martyr sacrificed on behalf of a virtuous cause of stellar proportions. He'll be portrayed that way, and cynically used for political advantage. In reality, he was a student who wanted to act out sexually, regardless of "preference." What's noble about that? The virtue this student apparently lacked was fortitude in the face of difficulty. Being "gay" does not turn a cowardly act into one of heroic virtue. If his feelings were hurt, that doesn't entail "hate" on the part of anybody else. What it demonstrates is an immature response to perceived embarrassment. The stats on "gay suicide" are notoriously inaccurate, yet thrown around as recklessly as infantile labels like "homophobic." Grow up.

re: Tyler Clementi: What's hate got to do with it?

Pat Curran — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 01:07:08 GMT

To try and define what the motivation for this was starts down the road of obfuscation and the bogusly sought, "politicly correct" EXCUSE. NO it is a crime ! PC

re: Boston Police Officer Resides At House Linked To Mattapan Quadruple Homicide

1trini — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 14:04:18 GMT

Something stinks...

re: Tyler Clementi: What's hate got to do with it?

biff — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 12:13:49 GMT

"The only motivation they had was to hurt and humiliate someone. This makes this crime all the more sickening and Tyler all the more victimized."

Do some research on this. Other students felt the roommate was victimized being kicked out of his dorm till midnight multiple times a week so this guy could engage in behaviour that many believe is unethical and at least distasteful. The kid had a computer... he turned it on to see what was going on. He showed his friends. Yes, not good, but next thing you know if some people look through a peephole at a sex act taking place in their own dorm they will be thrown in jail for years.. ridiculous.. yes, it was bad judgment, but stuff like this happens in college all the time. These kids are getting their lives ruined because this young man had to go and kill himself... if he was a straight kid this could also happen and no one would care...

guaranteed.

re: Tyler Clementi: What's hate got to do with it?

Claire — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 06:56:20 GMT

A 'hate crime' is actually a special species of felonies.

The fact that a crime was committed for racist, sexist or homophobic motive means that IN ADDITION to an assessment of the actual crime committed, it is judged as WORSE because of its motivation.

Therefore, describing this as a 'hate crime' is more serious than describing it as a felony.

re: Tyler Clementi: What's hate got to do with it?

Kyle — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 06:50:00 GMT

Let me sum up your article from the perspective of somebody who understands HATE as a harsh reality:

"Racism does not exist. Hate does not exist. Hate crimes do not exist. Kids don't need to be taught how to tolerate or better understand people unlike themselves, even though a tragic incident took place because two morons didn't know what a gay person was."

Your editorial, like any argument against defining crimes as hateful, suggests a world where racism and bigotry no longer exist. If you think politically correct individuals are deluded, then you should take a long look at yourself. And we should all take a long look at ourselves. We live in a world with hate and bigotry, especially toward homosexuals. It's time for that to end.

re: Tyler Clementi: What's hate got to do with it?

Katosaurusrex — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 03:58:32 GMT

I'm currently a cast member of the show The Laramie Project which is about a hate crime turned murder of a 21-year-old gay male who attended the University of Wyoming. A direct quote from the show is, "A hate crime is a hate crime. If you kill someone, you hate 'em." It is illegal, but it is hurtful. It hurts the person involved and all of the people who care about them. As Matthew Shepards father said, "I would like nothing more than to see you die, but today is the day to begin the healing process, to show mercy to one who refused to show any mercy."

I can only hope that this will shine more light on what really can happen when you're attemping to do something "funny". You are in control of your actions, and you have the ability to stop hate or to continue it. I pray for the world that people will begin to learn from, and stop hate.