1. Cambridge Machine at Work. 1/30/13 meeting.
2. Environmental responsibility, MassDOT, the “Underpasses,” and the Secret Highway Proposal with Massive Destruction.
B. Reprint from January 22, 2013
1. Cambridge Machine: There is no such a thing as bad guys. There are just differences of opinion.
2. Bad guy.
3. Response (also known as censored #1)
4. Summary.
C. PS.
1. Alewife has come closer to perhaps total destruction.
2. Destruction of 22 to a hundred trees has come closer on the Cambridge Common.
3. The Governor has been seeking bonds for massive destruction.
4. Commuter rail has ramped up their outrage in the Destroyed Nesting Area and the DCR has once again bragged that the DCR is incompetent.
A. New Material.
1. Cambridge Machine at Work. 1/30/13 meeting.
On January 30, 2013, the Cambridge Machine had a meeting to discuss the destruction which has been done to Magazine Beach over the last 13 years. Very much long overdue since the Cambridge Machine has spent this long insisting it did not exist.
The Cambridge Machine tried to ram through an expansion of the destruction which does not exist.
The Cambridge Machine tried to expand the destruction from the Magazine Beach playing fields to the hill to the west of the playing fields and to the wetlands behind the swimming pool.
People objected. People looked like they might not be a rubber stamp. The Cambridge Machine deferred the action until the February MONTHLY meeting, and have deferred the February MONTHLY meeting to April, tonight, April 23.
In the meantime, the governor has SECRETLY turned discussion of underpasses into a bond bill with $2 million for underpasses and $24 million for massive environmental destruction including the highway sneaked which in part was not approved.
That SECRET money certainly looks like the reason why the February meeting has been rescheduled for April. Part of the destruction in Patrick’s SECRET $24 million bond bill could have been voted down by a responsible meeting. So, in the typical bad faith of the Cambridge Machine, the February meeting became rescheduled for April, after vote on the bond bill?
2. Environmental responsibility, MassDOT, the “Underpasses,” and the Secret Highway Proposal with Massive Destruction.
MassDOT opposes the $2 million line item in the Governor’s Bond Proposal for supposed underpasses for the River Street, Western Avenue and the Anderson Bridge. These "underpasses" have been rejected outright by the Department of Transportation in their ENF for the River Street and Western Avenue Bridges Rehabilitation Project, EEA No. 15029. The ENF is posted at http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/Portals/26/docs/Western_River/river_western032213.pdf.
The $24 million dollar line in the Governor’s bond proposal has been kept secret. This would destroy hundreds of excellent trees between the Longfellow and BU Bridges, destroy wetlands, destroy the Charles River, destroy animal habitat, and further the ongoing abuse of the valuable and beautiful 32 year resident gaggle of the Charles River White Geese.
Governor Patrick has been provided with the DCR’s tree destruction plans as part of a formal objection. His response was nonsense. The exchange is posted at http://charlesriverwhitegeeseblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/governor-of-massachusetts-responds-to.html. This includes a very specific objection letter and the governor’s nonsensical response.
Governor Patrick’s proposal is wasteful and destructive and an excellent example of government conducted in secret.
The last time the DCR sought money for destruction of these hundreds of trees was Obama moneys in President Obama’s early highway expenditures. The DCR flat out lied that all these excellent trees were diseased. Their filing with the Cambridge Conservation Commission proved the diseased claim to be just another lie.
The Cambridge Machine stalled and rescheduled the February meeting to April.
B. Reprint from January 22, 2013
1. Cambridge Machine: There is no such a thing as bad guys. There are just differences of opinion.
The Cambridge Machine is active again.
Now the Cambridge Machine claims to be defending Cambridge against a massive increase in development allowed in Central and Kendall Squares.
As part of this fight, members of the Cambridge Machine have been doing lovely analyses of morality.
The Cambridge Machine is reading from the script.
The Cambridge Machine is objecting to the use of the word “Bad Guys” with regard to the supposed opposition.
I really do not want to spend a lot of time writing yet another response, so here are a bad guy comment and the response I sent which was censored from their listserve.
I am only quoting the introductory paragraph.
If I quoted the rest, I would have to go on and on and on.
2. Bad guy.
It isn't a case of bad people vs good people. (Gosh, we are hearing enough of that now with the Newtown killings.) It is best to think of it as different viewpoints on how expansion should occur and on the research on urban growth. It seems that the goal of these postings is to offer the opportunity to discuss the pros and cons of upzoning and city planning in a rational, fact-based manner.
3. Response (also known as censored #1)
The people who tell me "It is just a matter of difference of opinion" tend to have striking problems in that their "opinions" deviate very far from the norm.
Excellent examples of deviating from the norm include
(1) fighting for achieving inexcusable destruction of acres of virgin woodlands at Alewife along with massive killing of their resident animals, and fighting through stalling to make it much worse and
(2) fighting for
(a) the dumping of poisons on the banks of the Charles River to feed sickly grass introduced in place of environmentally responsible grass,
(b) the continuation and worsening of large scale deliberate animal starvation of three decade resident animals on the Charles River and related and accelerating animal abuse targeted at achieving a goal of killing off all resident animals on the Charles River Basin,
(c) the continuation of the bizarre wall blocking access between the Charles River and the Magazine Beach playing fields
(d) the continuation of the destruction of the boat docks at the Magazine Beach playing fields,
(e) the continuation of smaller playing fields to drain off poisons which should not be there, and
(f) fighting for destruction of the parking lot at the foot of Magazine Street without giving any explanation except that they do not have the money yet (while "neglecting" to mention that the destruction will occur immediately after they get the money).
When you combine such behavior with loud proclamations of "concern" which give the impression that the speakers are on the opposite side from the side they are really on, I have very great difficulty calling these outrages "differences of opinion."
And when you look at the fact that the principal tool being used is stalling to allow, through inaction, the opposite to happen from what they claim to stand for, that definitely looks to me like the bad guys.
4. Summary.
The tactics used strike me as an excellent example of Evil.
This is Cambridge, MA, USA.
C. PS.
The continuing purpose of the Cambridge Machine company union is to keep people “out of trouble.”
While the Cambridge Machine has had people chasing their tails on Kendall - Central, and stalling on the Magazine Beach vote:
1. Alewife has come closer to perhaps total destruction.
2. Destruction of 22 to a hundred trees has come closer on the Cambridge Common.
3. The Governor has been seeking bonds for massive destruction.
4. Commuter rail has ramped up their outrage in the Destroyed Nesting Area and the DCR has once again bragged that the DCR is incompetent.
Parking is still possible under Memorial Drive as is relocation of that very noisy and destructive metal building, in the right side of the overpass, directly abutting the Destroyed Nesting Area.
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