Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Longfellow Bridge, Magazine Beach, 80 year unused Bathhouse; Charles River, Cambridge, MA

1. Background, Longfellow Bridge “defenders” and destructive nonsense on the Charles River.
2. Response.
3. Editor’s Reply.
4. Caveat.


1. Background, Longfellow Bridge “defenders” and destructive nonsense on the Charles River.

In my last report, I commented on the Cambridge Machine suddenly noticing the Longfellow Bridge project, which has seen outrageous and unnecessary tree destruction. I was particularly observant of the leader of the Cambridgeport front organization of the Cambridge Machine crying about pollution, automobile pollution.

I analyzed his suddenly found environmental outrage in the context of his and his organization’s destructiveness at Magazine Beach and with regard to the hundreds of trees targeted for destruction with Machine support and corrupt practices between Magazine Beach / BU Bridge and the Longfellow Bridge on the Charles River.

The report was posted at: http://charlesriverwhitegeeseblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/cambridge-machine-notices-longfellow.html.

I have received the following response and replied with an earlier draft of section 3.

2. Response.

Thanks Bob for your work and explanations. I am very disappointed in the Magazine Beach push to renovate as opposed to protecting the natural environment. I don't need another "monument" to war in the building down there, I say let it rot and that's just what I told the committee !

3. Editor’s Reply.

Thank you very much.

The most bizarre aspect to their irresponsible behavior is that none of the irresponsible actions at Magazine Beach were done other than through secrecy and lying. The wall barring access between the Charles River and Magazine Beach is explained solely as incompetence. They do not know how to chop down bushes.

The poisons being dumped to keep alive the sickly grass can be remedied by spending money on seed for the grass which survived the better part of a century and was stupidly destroyed. Sew seeds for that grass, rather than spreading poisons.

Reinstituting the responsible grass would allow Cambridge and its friends, should they care, to spend money on returning the playing fields to their size before the start of destruction. Playing field size has been reduced for fancy drainage to keep poisons out of the Charles which should not even be dumped there.

The real reason for the renovations to the building which has not been used for 80 years is to prevent needed repairs on the Charles River to undo outrages created by Cambridge and its friends. This is the standard company union game regularly and destructively used by the Cambridge Machine.

At Magazine Beach, they are lying that they love the Charles River. In reality, they are seeking something to get people chasing their tails over rather than behaving in a constructive manner and undoing 13 years of unnecessary destruction.

The corruption inherent in the vote

(a) to expand the outrage at the playing fields to the top of the hill and to the wetlands behind the swimming pool,
(b) plus to destroy the parking lot needed for the picnic area which they lie that they love,

says everything about their real concerns.

Fooling responsible people into chasing their tails is the same tactic which has been used and continues to be used by the Cambridge Machine in its fight for

(a) the already accomplished partial destruction and
(b) the forthcoming total destruction

of the publicly owned areas of the Alewife Reservation in the western part of Cambridge.

4. Caveat.

A responsible analysis of Cambridge Machine destructiveness cannot possibly distinguish between the knaves and the fools. My analysis of reality looks at the overall situation and does not waste time on the fact that it is entirely possible, but highly unlikely, that all the visible people have been conned.

The ongoing and applicable analysis of Cambridge Machine members, which has been true for the 35 years I have been fighting them, is: “You cannot possibly be so stupid.”

And I have many successes, including spectacular successes.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Cambridge Machine notices Longfellow Bridge

1. Activities noticed.
2. Summary.


1. Activities noticed.

The listserve which is run by the Cambridgeport front organization of the Cambridge Machine has suddenly seen a bunch of discussion on the state’s repairs to the Longfellow Bridge. The Longfellow Bridge is the second bridge east of the BU Bridge.

Most of the comments simply gripe about the impact on transportation flow during construction. The leader of the front organization has twice, at least, decried the project for environmental harm, pollution from cars.

Now Councilor / State Representative Toomey has noticed the situation and has an order marked up for the next Cambridge City Council meeting on July 29, 2013.

2. Summary.

Over the past several weeks, we have reported outrageous destruction of two magnificent groves of trees on the Cambridge end of the Longfellow Bridge by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT).

This destruction follows on corrupt practices by the Cambridge Machine which supported the destruction of hundreds of trees between the BU Bridge and the Longfellow Bridge if you dig far enough and translate code words they way they can and normally would be translated. The destruction was supported in fine print of fine print, with a not at all surprising interpretation. The fought for destruction stretches pretty close to the Longfellow Bridge.

I will not go yet again into this particular outrage, except to note that the head of the front organization walked out of the February meeting (conducted on April 23) at exactly the point when the most recent part of the outrage was beginning, the blatantly fake vote.

No purpose was given for him leaving, although the most basic part of the outrage was the deferral of the February meeting for two months followed by the fake and horribly complicated vote being scheduled for the last ten minutes with the wording passed out at the beginning of the last ten minutes and Charles River supporters driven away by the delay.

There is no indication that the head of the group ever walked out on approvals by the Cambridge Machine for the “underpasses” proposal which was translated by the Governor’s funding to include bond authorization for destruction of those hundreds of trees.

Interestingly, the head of the group is now yelling about traffic being reduced to one lane from two in this project and never, to my knowledge, has he publicly objected to traffic on Western Avenue in Cambridge next to Cambridgeport getting the same treatment by the City of Cambridge. Very clearly, Western Avenue is a much greater nightmare for traffic traveling in that one direction than is the Longfellow Bridge.

Both projects are ongoing at the same time. The most important other differences between the two projects are

1. MassDOT is handling bicycles responsibly and Cambridge will supposedly confine bicycles to the sidewalks as part of their project.

2. MassDOT is irresponsibly destroying trees and Cambridge is not.

The environmental noise fits the standard package of the Cambridge Machine. Yell loudly about the lesser stuff and destroy, destroy, destroy, on the big stuff, while keeping the big destruction as secret as possible and acted on as rapidly as possible.

Such tactics exactly fit what looks like a norm, a norm which is hard to call approaching good faith, and, as usual, things are made as murky as they can get away with.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Alewife’s new meadows and reality, Cambridge, MA, USA

A very major part of the corrupt situation in Cambridge is for the Cambridge Machine constantly to express its love for what it is fighting to destroy.

The editor of the Cambridge Chronicle stopped publishing my letters after I refused to delete a comment in a proposed letter stating that the leader of the fake protective group at Alewife was fighting to destroy Alewife. Even worse, I pointed her to a letter in the Cambridge Chronicle from this person in which the person bragged about the first stage of destruction by the City of Cambridge and friends.

So the Chronicle has repeatedly printed fake “protective” letters yelling about private development at Alewife and censored letters objecting to ongoing efforts at public destruction at Alewife.

This is a very clear change in policy. The Cambridge Chronicle used to publish the City destruction supporting puff pieces but also allowed responsible comments in response at Alewife and elsewhere.

Now the Cambridge Chronicle just publishes the con games with their false and distorted presentation of reality. This amounts to lies of omission.

The corrupt behavior by the front organization supporting destruction on the Charles River is another excellent example. Repeated puff pieces amounting to fraud because of the “love” expressed while silent on the destruction supported have been published while censoring reality.

When the previous editor left, he mentioned he was leaving because of differences between him and the publisher. Could the allowance of the advanced but very real campaigns of fraud without allowing responses by responsible people be the difference he resigned over?

Last Thursday, July 18, the Cambridge Chronicle published an extended oped cooing over the replacement of the parking lot between route 2 and Alewife Station by allowing it to return to nature.

I proposed the following letter to the editor.

******************

Editor
Cambridge Chronicle

You printed praise for the meadow at Alewife created from a parking lot between route 2 and Alewife Station. The way things are being manipulated, it looks like all of the publicly owned woodlands at Alewife could become meadows.

I wrote the zoning petition which Sheila Cook led and which the owner of the former parking lot, Richard MacKinnon, credits for the return of meadow in place of parking. You have recently reported on the second of MacKinnon’s projects south of Cambridge ParkDrive. MacKinnon’s projects are being built with flood protection under them, but, had the City of Cambridge been behaving in a responsible manner, the flood protection would be much, much larger.

The Cambridge government should be negotiating with all developers around the Alewife reservation. Cambridge should be building large flood protection tanks under all new construction at city expense rather than accomplishing further destruction of irreplaceable woodlands.

The Machine, in the Chronicle, has praised the destruction of acres of woodlands for meadow conversion. That author has spent 15 years yelling at private developers and claiming to be defending Alewife. The machine says not to look at the need for flood control which is only going be resolved by destruction of the government owned Alewife reservation unless flood control tanks are built. That Machine letter praised the first destruction of Alewife woods. That destruction was supposedly for flood protection. That destruction will only protect against the worst possible storm in a two year period.

So the Machine tells us to look at Don Quixote fights against private developers and ignore the destructiveness of non action by their friends in government.

The Machine celebrated when Rich MacKinnon dedicated that parking lot for conversion back to open space. The Machine did not mention Sheila’s zoning which MacKinnon gives credit for the conversion.

The Machine does tell people not to look at the destruction of publicly owned Alewife for “flood protection” meadow which that Machine “leader” has bragged about. The Machine tells people not to look at the fact that flood protection should instead be placed under new construction as Rich has done under his two projects, but on a much, much larger scale.

The Machine and its City Council are stalling until all possible places for responsible flood control have been built upon. Then there will be “no choice” but to create a total “meadow” where an irreplaceable woodlands now stands.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Massive Tree Destruction, heartless animal abuse, and other Bizarre Environmental Destruction justified by Bike Highway? Charles River, Cambridge, MA, USA

1. Comment Received.
2. Response.
3. The totalitarian regime in Cambridge, MA, USA.
4. Supplement.
5. Contacts, Miscellaneous.


1. Comment Received.

I commented on Cambridge and its friends proposal to destroy hundreds of trees on Memorial Drive between the BU Bridge and the Longfellow Bridge and to create major environmental destruction through “underpasses” under the next three bridges which the Massachusetts Department on Transportation rightfully condemns.

I got the following response:

**************

Bob -

Have you ever ridden a bike on the bike paths on the Cambridge side of the Charles River (Mt. Auburn).
If you haven't, please do so.

2. Response.

I certainly have and "improving" the bike highway is no excuse for the hundreds of trees slated for destruction. The bike highway, like the "underpasses" is just a convenient con to get people on board who later will be shafted as convenient.

I have a strikingly impressive victory as a bike activist but I do not consider environmental destruction justified by outrageous highway construction.

An excellent example of programmed backstabbing is the irresponsible part of the Grand Junction bike highway. See my report with photos at http://charlesriverwhitegeeseblog.blogspot.com/2013/05/destroyed-nesting-area-north-south.html.

For lack of room, I did not go into the real reasons for the route south of where the bike route would responsibly connect to Vassar Street. [Ed: The problem is with destructive construction under and south of Memorial Drive. The responsible route would turn before Memorial Drive, connect to Vassar Street, and connect to Memorial Drive, a very short distance along Vassar Street.]

First, and most immediate, of course, is yet another technique to kill off and abuse resident animals.

The long range reason, and it may no longer be a long range reason, is to move the Allston / Cambridge exit of the Mass. Pike to the Grand Junction Railroad Bridge to open that area up for relocating Harvard Medical School, etc.

The bike highway would be an excuse to widen the railroad underpass under Memorial Drive. The real reason is to hold the off ramp. The lie is that the bike highway which then be moved "regrettably" to connect to Vassar Street and then Memorial Drive by the shorter, more sensible route it should have taken in the first place. But a bunch of destructive hypocrites can please both Harvard and the people it is stabbing in the back.

The outrages inflicted with the lie of bike activism really have much more major reasons, not the least of which, of course, is welfare for contractors.

********** [in original]

Good question, thank you.

I will consider using the above as a blog / facebook / email post.

PS: I have commuted by bike from Cambridge to Waltham. I consider confining bikes to sidewalks just another abuse of the people the Machine lies it is benefitting, and an excellent example of another Machine related organization shafting those it lies it is trying to benefit.

3. The totalitarian regime in Cambridge, MA, USA.

Everything supported by Cambridge and its friends is presented as that which is politically correct, no matter how irresponsible.

And environmental destruction is hidden through lies of environmental sainthood, and a redefinition of environmentalism to restrict environmentalism to defending whatever the City of Cambridge does not feel like destroying.

And the really rotten stuff is done with maximum secrecy and corrupt tactics along with the usual non stop lying of “holier than thou.”

The destruction fought for on the Charles River has been and continues to be handled in exactly that way, showing a very clear knowledge of just how rotten their behavior is.

4. Supplement.

The real lie is when people, as the above, make a flat out one sided statement with the Holier than Thou in the background, while omitting massive environmental destruction which somebody who is Holier than Thou would mention.

5. Contacts, Miscellaneous.

Massachusetts Governor’s Office email form: http://www.mass.gov/governor/constituentservices/contact/.

State environmental people, DES Hotline: ESF.Hotline@state.ma.us.

MassDOT Accelerated Bridges Program: 857-368-8904 or Stephanie.Boundy@state.ma.us

All Massachusetts Legislators’ emails: http://charlesriverwhitegeeseblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/emails-for-all-massachusetts.html.

Cambridge, MA, USA city councilors: Council@cambridgema.gov.

**********

For people listening to Boston Sierra Club endorsements of environmentally destructive members of the Cambridge City Council, you should be aware that

(1) using the world’s definition of “environmentalism,” there are no environmentally responsible members of the Cambridge City Council; Cambridge’s definition is that environmentalists protect that which Cambridge does not feel like destroying; the Cambridge pols are oh, so pious using their secret, fraudulent definition; and

(2) there are Cambridge Machine activists very visible and apparently very active in the Boston Sierra Club.

If you are talking to a person associated with the Boston Sierra Club, do a credibility check. Ask if they are familiar with the “Urban Ring” rapid transit proposal. This is a subway proposal designed to link the existing subway spokes. I have been working on it since 1985. Cambridge raised the project in a comment to an environmental Impact Statement in the last month or so.

If the Boston Sierra Club “expert” answers “yes,” that he / she is familiar with the Urban Ring rapid transit proposal, ask how many rail options there are. If the answer is “one,” you are getting the flat out lie put out by the City of Cambridge.

Cambridge’s flat out lie is that, of the TWO rail options, the only one that exists is the environmentally destructive streetcar option which the City of Cambridge supports. This option would be highly destructive to the environment near the Destroyed Nesting Area of the Charles River White Geese.

The reality is that THE STATE LEGISLATURE HAS SUBSIDIZED THE OTHER OPTION, the responsible Orange Line / heavy rail option, the Kenmore crossing. The state legislature has subsidized the expansion of Yawkey Station as part of the massive Fenway Park area project which has gotten recent press.

Cambridge’s nonsensical proposal would move Yawkey Station three blocks. The Cambridge proposal would not work without moving Yawkey Station. The Kenmore Crossing uses the now subsidized and being expanded Yawkey Station as part of a brilliant megastation.

You should immediately respond to such nonsense from a Sierra Club “expert” by having nothing more to do with this person. Whether the person is stupid or venal is irrelevant, the person has no credibility and is not worthy of your time.

It is frequently difficult to pin these irresponsible people down in general. The deviant behavior in my test is extreme. They are pious in their demands that, if you are politically correct and pro environment, you have to rubber stamp them. Please do not waste your time arguing about destruction they can try to wiggle around.

Turn your back on them and walk away fast.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Kendall / Longfellow, Cambridge, MA, USA, after July 18, 2013

1. Photo report, July 18, 2013
2. Overview: The environmentally destructive City of Cambridge, MA, USA
3. Contacts, Miscellaneous.


1. Photo report, July 18, 2013

Mishka provides the following photos.

This is getting to him and to us.

The two remaining trees of those marked for destruction.













Two killed on July 18, 2013.













Overview after the outrage on July 18, 2013.













The situation from before the outrage, June 27, 2013.
















2. Overview: The environmentally destructive City of Cambridge, MA, USA

Cambridge, MA, USA, by all rights is an environmental pariah.

The biggest trouble with Cambridge’s destructiveness is that they do a lot of lying and that they have a massive organization which repeats their lies.

Additionally, the massive organization runs around passing on the lies to a lot of other groups.

So an environmental pariah, through a series of lies and repeats of lies is presented to the world, falsely, as an environmental saint.

And Cambridge corrupts state agencies with whom it works.

Cambridge is in the process of destroying the Alewife reservation. It has already destroyed acres there.

Cambridge has inflicted years of increasing destruction on its Fresh Pond Reservation.

Cambridge is preparing to destroy 22 excellent trees on the magnificent Cambridge Common, most because they are “blocking” the view.

Cambridge is in the process of massive destruction on the Charles River.

It has inflicted an environmental outrage on the Magazine Beach playing fields. Its plans called for a “lawn to the river,” so it walled off the lawn from the river with a massive wall of introduced bushes. It destroyed responsible grass which survived the better part of a century and replaced it with sickly stuff that requires poisons to survive. To keep the poisons out of the Charles, they destroyed part of the playing fields for drainage, drainage duplicated in the Longfellow Bridge outrage. The built part of a bike highway slated to destroy hundred of trees.

They have been deliberately starving the 32 year resident beautiful Charles River White Geese. They have increasingly destroyed the environment in the ghetto to which they have confined these beautiful animals, and Cambridge has a plan to increase the damage and to build a fence to separate it off from the adjacent formerly natural hillside. As much ground vegetation as they can get away with has been destroyed from the BU Bridge through the ghetto, through that hillside, to the BU Boat House.

Through blatantly corrupt tactics their agents obtained a fake vote to expand the destruction to the hill to the west of the playing fields and ti the wetlands beyond the hill, behind the swimming pool. Their agents are fighting to destroy the little guy’s parking lot needed for picnicking on that hill, picnicking which the agents glorify.

Working through agents, Cambridge has a bond authorization request in the Governor’s transportation budget to destroy hundreds of trees between the BU Bridge and the Longfellow Bridge on the Charles River.

Cambridge’s agent, the Charles River “Conservancy” ran around getting support for the destruction of those hundreds of trees lying that it was seeking support for “underpasses” under the next three bridges over the Charles River to the west. MassDOT opposed the “underpasses” as environmentally and historically destructive. And there was no mention to the “supporters” of the massive tree destruction.

The governor included $2 to $4 million in his bond authorization request for the “underpasses” and $24 million for associated “paths” bicycle highways which would destroy those hundreds of trees. The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation previously sought Obama anti recession funding to destroy the trees, lying that they were all diseased. They filed papers with the Cambridge Conservation Commission providing the lie.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is inflicting outrageous destruction as part of the Longfellow Bridge renovation project. MassDOT destroyed an excellent grove of trees on the Cambridge end of the Longfellow Bridge above the Red Line rapid transit tunnel. The lie to explain this was that destruction was necessary as part of the project, to reroute inbound traffic to the outbound side of the river. But all the destruction did was allow a straight line between the sides. Responsible construction would have created a turn in the road without destroying these excellent trees.

The above report is on the MassDOT / Cambridge (they are always consulted) destruction of an excellent grove of trees abutting the Longfellow Bridge on the west side in Cambridge next to the ramp from Memorial Drive to the Boston Side of the bridge.

The first explanation of the destruction was that it was necessary to handle rainwater from the bridge. MassDOT does not like connecting to the street drainage system in place.

Then MassDot explained that the destruction was necessary for handicapped access. They are building a handicapped overpass in Boston and moving Cambridge trees to beautify Boston. Then MassDOT blamed the destruction on those objecting. We had a duty to keep them from this outrage.

MassDOT has been corrupted by a reprehensible City of Cambridge, and the outrage has extended to Governor Patrick. The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation is a long standing destructive bedfellow of the City of Cambridge.

3. Contacts, Miscellaneous.

Massachusetts Governor’s Office email form: http://www.mass.gov/governor/constituentservices/contact/.

State environmental people, DES Hotline: ESF.Hotline@state.ma.us.

MassDOT Accelerated Bridges Program: 857-368-8904 or Stephanie.Boundy@state.ma.us

All Massachusetts Legislators’ emails: http://charlesriverwhitegeeseblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/emails-for-all-massachusetts.html.

Cambridge, MA, USA city councilors: Council@cambridgema.gov.

**********

For people listening to Boston Sierra Club endorsements of environmentally destructive members of the Cambridge City Council, you should be aware that

(1) using the world’s definition of “environmentalism,” there are no environmentally responsible members of the Cambridge City Council; Cambridge’s definition is that environmentalists protect that which Cambridge does not feel like destroying; the Cambridge pols are oh, so pious using their secret, fraudulent definition; and

(2) there are Cambridge Machine activists very visible and apparently very active in the Boston Sierra Club.

If you are talking to a person associated with the Boston Sierra Club, do a credibility check. Ask if they are familiar with the “Urban Ring” rapid transit proposal. This is a subway proposal designed to link the existing subway spokes. I have been working on it since 1985. Cambridge raised the project in a comment to an environmental Impact Statement in the last month or so.

If the Boston Sierra Club “expert” answers “yes,” that he / she is familiar with the Urban Ring rapid transit proposal, ask how many rail options there are. If the answer is “one,” you are getting the flat out lie put out by the City of Cambridge.

Cambridge’s flat out lie is that, of the TWO rail options, the only one that exists is the environmentally destructive streetcar option which the City of Cambridge supports. This option would be highly destructive to the environment near the Destroyed Nesting Area of the Charles River White Geese.

The reality is that THE STATE LEGISLATURE HAS SUBSIDIZED THE OTHER OPTION, the responsible Orange Line / heavy rail option, the Kenmore crossing. The state legislature has subsidized the expansion of Yawkey Station as part of the massive Fenway Park area project which has gotten recent press.

Cambridge’s nonsensical proposal would move Yawkey Station three blocks. The Cambridge proposal would not work without moving Yawkey Station. The Kenmore Crossing uses the now subsidized and being expanded Yawkey Station as part of a brilliant megastation.

You should immediately respond to such nonsense from a Sierra Club “expert” by having nothing more to do with this person. Whether the person is stupid or venal is irrelevant, the person has no credibility and is not worthy of your time.

It is frequently difficult to pin these irresponsible people down in general. The deviant behavior in my test is extreme. They are pious in their demands that, if you are politically correct and pro environment, you have to rubber stamp them. Please do not waste your time arguing about destruction they can try to wiggle around.

Turn your back on them and walk away fast.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Bad News, Anderson Bridge — They killed four today — and the hundreds on Memorial Drive?

1. Report.
2. Contacts, Miscellaneous.


1. Report.

Mishka Reports [editor's wording]:

Today, Governor Patrick’s people killed four of the six trees Patrick and his people had threatened to kill as part of his bizarre plans for environmental destruction on and next to Memorial Drive in Cambridge.

*********

These are part of mass destruction of an excellent grove for which Patrick’s people provided three belligerently bizarre “explanations.”

The rest of this excellent grove is being moved to beautify Boston. Other trees will be destroyed later.

Patrick and his people clearly fit with the Cambridge Machine and the destructive woman from the Charles River “Conservancy” who is the biggest cheerleader for destruction of trees on Memorial Drive.

Still possibly pending is Governor Patrick’s seeking of $24 million in funding to destroy hundreds of trees on Memorial Drive between the Anderson and BU Bridges.

The flat out lie there is “underpasses” under the next three bridges which the Massachusetts Department of Transportation does not want. Patrick sought $4 million in bond authorization for the “underpasses” and $24 million for the associated “paths,” the lie being that the associated “paths” destroy HUNDREDS of excellent trees.

The next step in destruction was fought for by the corrupt practices of the Cambridge Machine as they lie that they are loving Magazine Beach.

One thing is certain, however, with Patrick destroying the environment, he is certain to get the endorsement of the Cambridge Machine and of its controlled Boston Sierra Club.

They will loudly and falsely proclaim him “holier than thou.”

2. Contacts, Miscellaneous.

Massachusetts Governor’s Office email form: http://www.mass.gov/governor/constituentservices/contact/.

State environmental people, DES Hotline: ESF.Hotline@state.ma.us.

MassDOT Accelerated Bridges Program: 857-368-8904 or Stephanie.Boundy@state.ma.us

All Massachusetts Legislators’ emails: http://charlesriverwhitegeeseblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/emails-for-all-massachusetts.html.

Cambridge, MA, USA city councilors: Council@cambridgema.gov.

**********

For people listening to Boston Sierra Club endorsements of environmentally destructive members of the Cambridge City Council, you should be aware that

(1) using the world’s definition of “environmentalism,” there are no environmentally responsible members of the Cambridge City Council, and

(2) there are Cambridge Machine activists very visible and apparently very active in the Boston Sierra Club.

If you are talking to a person associated with the Boston Sierra Club, do a credibility check. Ask if they are familiar with the “Urban Ring” rapid transit proposal. This is a subway proposal designed to link the existing subway spokes. I have been working on it since 1985. Cambridge raised the project in a comment to an environmental Impact Statement in the last month or so.

If the Boston Sierra Club “expert” answers “yes,” that he / she is familiar with the Urban Ring rapid transit proposal, ask how many rail options there are. If the answer is “one,” you are getting the flat out lie put out by the City of Cambridge.

Cambridge’s flat out lie is that, of the TWO rail options, the only one that exists is the environmentally destructive streetcar option which the City of Cambridge supports. This option would be highly destructive to the environment near the Destroyed Nesting Area of the Charles River White Geese.

The reality is that THE STATE LEGISLATURE HAS SUBSIDIZED THE OTHER OPTION, the responsible Orange Line / heavy rail option, the Kenmore crossing. The state legislature has subsidized the expansion of Yawkey Station as part of the massive Fenway Park area project which has gotten recent press.

Cambridge’s nonsensical proposal would move Yawkey Station three blocks. The Cambridge proposal would not work without moving Yawkey Station. The Kenmore Crossing uses the now subsidized and being expanded Yawkey Station as part of a brilliant megastation.

You should immediately respond to such nonsense from a Sierra Club “expert” by having nothing more to do with this person. Whether the person is stupid or venal is irrelevant, the person has no credibility and is not worthy of your time.

It is frequently difficult to pin these irresponsible people down in general. The deviant behavior in my test is extreme. They are pious in their demands that, if you are politically correct and pro environment, you have to rubber stamp them. Please do not waste your time arguing about destruction they can try to wiggle around.

Turn your back on them and walk away fast.

Negative DCR reports in the News, What Else is New?

1. Summary.
2. Vote pending in the legislature. Massive Destruction, fraudulent description.
3. The destroyed nesting area.
4. Magazine Beach.
5. Summary.
6. Contacts, Miscellaneous.



1. Summary.

The Department of Conservation and Recreation is in the news because of mismanagement of its property condemned by a state official.

That is no surprise.

The fake group the Cambridge Machine has created on the Charles River with its non stop lies of loving Magazine Beach is specifically designed to hide the outrages and protect a really rotten friend of Cambridge from well deserved condemnation.

Nothing has been destroyed in the last day at Longfellow - Kendall. I will do a little more communication of the rot in this agency and its friends.

2. Vote pending in the legislature. Massive Destruction, fraudulent description.

Governor Patrick included in his budget destruction of hundreds of trees on Memorial Drive in Cambridge between the BU Bridge and the Longfellow Bridge on the Charles River.

This destruction fraudulently got a lot of approving signatures under the lie of “underpasses” under the next three bridges to the west.

The lying description is paths associated with those underpasses. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation, responsible for those bridges, has clearly rejected the underpasses, loudly condemning the environmental destruction.

The head of the falsely named Charles River “Conservancy” has quietly reported continued efforts in favor of her “underpasses.” The actual “underpasses” run bond authorization of $2 million or $4 million. The “paths” (bike highways) associated with those “underpasses” run $24 million. Those underpasses are terrible. The paths run six times money with their destruction of hundreds of trees.

So, in the usual lies we are faced with in these ongoing outrages, the $24 million is not mentioned, only the $2 million or $4 million.

The trees being destroyed between the Longfellow Bridge and the point where Memorial Drive splits are truly massive.

The trees in the background in the photos I have been using of the Longfellow on ramp grove give a feel for the outrage.

Before destruction.

















First destruction.














The leader of the falsely named Charles River “Conservancy” has publicly cooed at this destruction.

The destruction in the proposed bond authorization includes a magnificent 104 tree grove at the Memorial Drive split, not as large as the trees to its east, but a magnificent grove. Governor Patrick’s bond authorization would destroy more than 80 of these 104 trees.

















The DCR previously tried to get Obama anti-recession money to destroy the hundreds of trees Governor Patrick is now targeting for destruction. The DCR lied that all the targeted trees were sick. The lie was proven in their filing with the Cambridge Conservation Commission.

3. The destroyed nesting area.

The destroyed nesting area, with the consent of the DCR, was used for parking for months of railroad repair with parking readily available a few hundred feet away next to Memorial Drive overpass.

The DCR’s goal is to kill off all animals on the Charles River Basin. This is in their secret definition of “parkland.”

They are not doing it directly. That is would make the lies from the Cambridge Machine of the DCR’s sanctity more difficult.

So they sneak destructive attacks into whatever they can. Over the years, they have destroyed almost all of the ground vegetation between the BU Bridge and the BU Boathouse to the east of the Destroyed Nesting Area. The Cambridge City Council has a plan to fence off the connection between the Destroyed Nesting area the devegetated hillside between the Grand Junction railroad tracks and that boathouse.

The Cambridge Conservation Commission limited much of the latest damage after the fact. My praise for the CCC has been censored by the house organ Cambridge Chronicle.

Undergrowth near the tracks in the DNA was even more devastated by the parking lot use.

Here are some photos of the mess from June 23.

















Here are photos taken on July 14 after the mess was cleaned up. Nature’s attempts to heal have been destroyed. The scraps in the photos above were destruction aimed at saplings. Even the saplings are gone. The mass dumping of crushed stone now dominates the area of worst vegetation destruction by the DCR and its friends over a numbers of years.

















The last photo is of a plastic barrier I assume the DCR lies is "native." It fits their REAL definition of "native." It cost money and they planted it. This is the remnants of the barrier around the BU Bridge construction. That plastic barrier has in no way been removed by the DCR.

Leaving plastic in an environmentally sensitive location exactly fits the rottenness of the DCR and belies the nonstop holiness lies of the Cambridge Machine.

4. Magazine Beach.

I have gone on long enough for now. I will repeat some of prior reports, probably in the coming days. Corruption, corruption, corruption.

5. Summary.

It is always a relief to get away from the rotten situation in Cambridge, MA, USA, and see normal people reacting to the rottenness of the actors in question, rather than listen to the hypocrites of the Cambridge Machine lie of the holiness of very unholy characters.

The outrage on the Charles River started with a contract lacking proper legalities with Boston University under which Boston University accomplished the first destruction. Boston University lied for six months that they did not do it. Boston University finally bragged of the destruction after being condemned by the Cambridge Conservation Commission for their destruction. Their destruction started during the day prior to a Cambridge Conservation Commission hearing.

That destruction included the stairs which should have been used by the railroad workers to park next to Memorial Drive, and included the opening to the destroyed nesting area which is now blocked for use by the Charles River White Geese to get some food on their own in place of the starvation being inflicted by the DCR and Cambridge.


















6. Contacts, Miscellaneous.

Massachusetts Governor’s Office email form: http://www.mass.gov/governor/constituentservices/contact/.

State environmental people, DES Hotline: ESF.Hotline@state.ma.us.

MassDOT Accelerated Bridges Program: 857-368-8904 or Stephanie.Boundy@state.ma.us

All Massachusetts Legislators’ emails: http://charlesriverwhitegeeseblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/emails-for-all-massachusetts.html.

Cambridge, MA, USA city councilors: Council@cambridgema.gov.

**********

For people listening to Boston Sierra Club endorsements of environmentally destructive members of the Cambridge City Council, you should be aware that

(1) using the world’s definition of “environmentalism,” there are no environmentally responsible members of the Cambridge City Council, and

(2) there are Cambridge Machine activists very visible and apparently very active in the Boston Sierra Club.

If you are talking to a person associated with the Boston Sierra Club, do a credibility check. Ask if they are familiar with the “Urban Ring” rapid transit proposal. This is a subway proposal designed to link the existing subway spokes. I have been working on it since 1985. Cambridge raised the project in a comment to an environmental Impact Statement in the last month or so.

If the Boston Sierra Club “expert” answers “yes,” that he / she is familiar with the Urban Ring rapid transit proposal, ask how many rail options there are. If the answer is “one,” you are getting the flat out lie put out by the City of Cambridge.

Cambridge’s flat out lie is that, of the TWO rail options, the only one that exists is the environmentally destructive streetcar option which the City of Cambridge supports. This option would be highly destructive to the environment near the Destroyed Nesting Area of the Charles River White Geese.

The reality is that THE STATE LEGISLATURE HAS SUBSIDIZED THE OTHER OPTION, the responsible Orange Line / heavy rail option, the Kenmore crossing. The state legislature has subsidized the expansion of Yawkey Station as part of the massive Fenway Park area project which has gotten recent press.

Cambridge’s nonsensical proposal would move Yawkey Station three blocks. The Cambridge proposal would not work without moving Yawkey Station. The Kenmore Crossing uses the now subsidized and being expanded Yawkey Station as part of a brilliant megastation.

You should immediately respond to such nonsense from a Sierra Club “expert” by having nothing more to do with this person. Whether the person is stupid or venal is irrelevant, the person has no credibility and is not worthy of your time.

It is frequently difficult to pin these irresponsible people down in general. The deviant behavior in my test is extreme. They are pious in their demands that, if you are politically correct and pro environment, you have to rubber stamp them. Please do not waste your time arguing about destruction they can try to wiggle around.

Turn your back on them and walk away fast.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Longfellow / Kendall: The first grove was destroyed to get a straight line.

1. Mass. Engineers Like Straight Lines.
A. Destruction pending.
B. The record, total lack of value in prior destruction in Kendall Square.
2. Photos.
3. Contacts, Miscellaneous.


1. Mass. Engineers Like Straight Lines.

A. Destruction pending.

We have been following the imminent and ongoing outrage on the Charles River in Cambridge, MA, for many years.

We are at a crucial turning point. The legislature, apparently tomorrow, July 17, 2013, will vote on the destruction of hundreds of trees on the abutting Memorial Drive between the Longfellow Bridge and the BU Bridge.

The lie of explanation is “underpasses”. Underpasses rejected by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) for the next three bridges over the Charles were pitched without telling the “supporters” that the “underpasses” were used as a con game to get unknowing support for destruction of these hundreds of trees between the BU and Longfellow Bridges.

MassDOT has started destruction of the excellent grove of trees which connects Memorial Drive to the Longfellow Bridge. They have provided three BIZARRE “explanations.” This destruction has also occupied many posts. The most recent is at: http://charlesriverwhitegeeseblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/major-destruction-action-on-charles.html.

The woman key in the fight for destruction of those hundreds of trees has publicly cooed over the commencement of destruction of this excellent grove of trees.

Completion of destruction is imminent.

B. The record, total lack of value in prior destruction in Kendall Square.

MassDOT has already destroyed an excellent grove on top of the Red Line subway line which crosses the Charles River on the Longfellow Bridge and then goes underground under Kendall Square. This excellent grove was at the Longfellow Bridge end of the tunnel under Kendall Square.

The lie here was that destruction of this excellent grove was “necessary” to reroute traffic as part of the project. Traffic going from Boston to Cambridge is being prohibited for the duration of the project. For the first part of the project, traffic going from Cambridge to Boston will be rerouted from the Boston bound side to the Cambridge bound side.

And, according to MassDOT, destruction of that excellent grove was “necessary.”

We are now able to see how “necessary” that destruction is.

MassDOT has created a straight line for that traffic through the destroyed grove.

All MassDOT had to do was pivot the line to the east. That would create a very slight turn as traffic entered the Boston bound side. There are traffic turns all over the place.

The engineers did not have the decency, the honor, the respect for our world to create that turn and refrain from destroying that excellent grove.

This is global warming.

This is the reprehensible Cambridge, MA. This is the reprehensible Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

This fits in exactly with the planned outrages at that excellent grove on the on ramp and between the Longfellow Bridge and the BU Bridge.

Trees are being destroyed because we have terrible governments in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the City of Cambridge, MA, USA.

Trees are being destroyed because Cambridge has a belligerently corrupt Cambridge Machine which can be relied upon to run around calling its destructive state and local governments “holier than thou” no matter how much of a lie that is.

No other reason.

They have accomplished major, irresponsible destruction, but a lot of very important trees have not been destroyed.

Contacts are below in section. 3.

2. Photos.

A. The grove on the on ramp.

Before destruction.



After removal of the first two trees.



B. The grove above the red line.

(1) Lovely Pines, June 18.



(2) Lovely Pines Nearby, June 18.



(3) Killed Pines, June 19.



(4) Piled construction junk where the nice pines were, July 15.



(5) Larger View, piled construction junk where the nice pines were, July 15.



Note: You cannot see it, but the next grove they want to needlessly destroy is to the right of the cars in the road.

(6) Even larger view, piled construction where the nice pines were, July 15.



(7) View from above, July 15.



The opening to the immediate left is the one shown in the preceding photo.

The opening behind it is Main Street, Cambridge, MA.

In the middle is the future crossover, now occupied by jersey barriers. No responsible reason whatsoever to destroy that excellent grove of trees. Just create a slight turn, if you are responsible.

3. Contacts, Miscellaneous.

Massachusetts Governor’s Office email form: http://www.mass.gov/governor/constituentservices/contact/.

State environmental people, DES Hotline: ESF.Hotline@state.ma.us.

MassDOT Accelerated Bridges Program: 857-368-8904 or Stephanie.Boundy@state.ma.us

All Massachusetts Legislators’ emails: http://charlesriverwhitegeeseblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/emails-for-all-massachusetts.html.

Cambridge, MA, USA city councilors: Council@cambridgema.gov.

Plus the links provided in the above email.

**********

For people listening to Boston Sierra Club endorsements of environmentally destructive members of the Cambridge City Council, you should be aware that

(1) using the world’s definition of “environmentalism,” there are no environmentally responsible members of the Cambridge City Council, and

(2) there are Cambridge Machine activists very visible and apparently very active in the Boston Sierra Club.

If you are talking to a person associated with the Boston Sierra Club, do a credibility check. Ask if they are familiar with the “Urban Ring” rapid transit proposal. This is a subway proposal designed to link the existing subway spokes. I have been working on it since 1985. Cambridge raised the project in a comment to an environmental Impact Statement in the last month or so.

If the Boston Sierra Club “expert” answers “yes,” that he / she is familiar with the Urban Ring rapid transit proposal, ask how many rail options there are. If the answer is “one,” you are getting the flat out lie put out by the City of Cambridge.

Cambridge’s flat out lie is that, of the TWO rail options, the only one that exists is the environmentally destructive streetcar option which the City of Cambridge supports. This option would be highly destructive to the environment near the Destroyed Nesting Area of the Charles River White Geese.

The reality is that THE STATE LEGISLATURE HAS SUBSIDIZED THE OTHER OPTION, the responsible Orange Line / heavy rail option, the Kenmore crossing. The state legislature has subsidized the expansion of Yawkey Station as part of the massive Fenway Park area project which has gotten recent press.

Cambridge’s nonsensical proposal would move Yawkey Station three blocks. The Cambridge proposal would not work without moving Yawkey Station. The Kenmore Crossing uses the now subsidized and being expanded Yawkey Station as part of a brilliant megastation.

You should immediately respond to such nonsense from a Sierra Club “expert” by having nothing more to do with this person. Whether the person is stupid or venal is irrelevant, the person has no credibility and is not worthy of your time.

It is frequently difficult to pin these irresponsible people down in general. The deviant behavior in my test is extreme. They are pious in their demands that, if you are politically correct and pro environment, you have to rubber stamp them. Please do not waste your time arguing about destruction they can try to wiggle around.

Turn your back on them and walk away fast.

Monday, July 15, 2013

Major destruction action on Charles River, Cambridge, MA NOW

1. Introduction.
2. Longfellow Bridge.
3. The flat out corruption of “Underpasses.”
4. Chortling by the reprehensible “conservancy.”
5. Contacts, Miscellaneous.


1. Introduction.

Photo before.



Photo after first two attacks.














Compare the photos closely. The first photo has three excellent trees to the left of the opening. The second has one.

The supposed explanations are consistently nonsense.

Destruction could resume today, July 15, 2013.


Trees in the background could be could be part of the hundreds which could be destroyed by deceptive fine print in the Governor’s Budget, fine print which is the result of a campaign of lies and corruption which have continued very much unabated. Bond authorization for the destruction of hundreds of trees destroyed with explained by flat out lies.


It is horrible to be constantly exposed to belligerent corruption by people who seek the votes of environmentalists.


2. Longfellow Bridge.

This excellent grove is in Cambridge, MA to the east of the Longfellow Bridge connecting Beacon Hill in Boston, MA, and Kendall Square in Cambridge, MA. The grove lines the ramp from Memorial Drive to the Boston bound side of the Bridge.

The real explanation for this outrage seems to be that destruction is being accomplished by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation as an engineers’ toy. They are rebuilding the Longfellow Bridge and want to drain rain on the bridge in a fancy manner. Now would it not be beautiful to have “natural” drainage instead of messy street run off sewers?

That is the total real explanation for the destruction.

Irresponsible and stupid.

The “explanations” have gotten cuter.

The destruction has been explained as assisting the handicapped. The trees they are not destroying are being moved from this excellent, well established grove in Cambridge to beautify a new overpass with handicapped capability. Outrageously irresponsible, but Cambridge has a very rotten Machine which does a lot of lying and Boston has responsible activists.

MassDOT has also indulged in nonsense which lies about impact on the sewer system. Massachusetts sewers are going from combined sewer systems in which street runoff is combined with human waste to separating the two. You cannot put street runoff into the system managing human waste. The fact that street runoff belongs in the street run off sewers is not mentioned.

3. The flat out corruption of “Underpasses.”

A falsely named group which runs around lying that it is a “conservancy” has gotten a lot of people to support “underpasses” for three bridges west of the BU Bridge. They lie by omission of the fact that their package includes destruction of hundreds of trees between the BU and Longfellow Bridges.

The “underpasses” themselves are so irresponsible that MassDOT, which would be responsible for them, rejects them outright.

The governor’s budget includes $4 million for the “underpasses” in spite of the MassDOT opposition. Much more importantly, it includes $24 for “paths” associated with the “underpasses”, the bike highway which would destroy all those trees.

The fake “neighborhood association” in Cambridgeport brilliantly demonstrated the corruption of the Cambridge Machine by its corrupt creation of a “vote” supporting the portion of the bike highway which is part of the doubling of environmental damage at Magazine Beach. They could not get a supporting vote in their January 2013 meeting, so they postponed action to their February meeting. They conducted their February meeting on April 23, 2013, driving away the folks who showed up in January. After devoting the entire January meeting to the topic, the discussion was restricted to the last ten minutes of the April 23, 2013 meeting. A very complicated and misleading motion was passed out at the beginning of the last ten minutes, then was “voted on” by a group consisting of robots and of people who could care less about the Charles River.

This corruption is normal in Cambridge, MA, and is entirely consistent with the very serious lies of omission through which “support” for an irresponsible “underpasses” proposal has been converted through flat out corruption into “support” for the destruction of hundreds of trees between the Longfellow and BU Bridge.

Funds were previously sought by the Department of Conservation and Recreation through Obama moneys. The lie that time was that all these excellent trees were diseased. That lie was proven by their filing with the Conservation Commission of the City of Cambridge.

Another common lie from these people has been the non stop lie of “no intention” to harm the Charles River White Geese. Their secret definition of “harm” does not include deliberate starvation or repeated outrages such as the use of their nesting area for parking with dumping of crushed stone in the middle. Then we go into the corrupt vote just taken by the Cambridge Machine.

The vote in the legislature has been reported as scheduled for Wednesday, July 17.

4. Chortling by the reprehensible “conservancy.”

The falsely named Charles River “Conservancy” is the front organization fighting for this outrage. It has major funding from Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, plus many other entities who would benefit from environmental destruction, while, of course, lying that they are holier than thou. I have gone over its funding in prior reports.

The falsely named Charles River “Conservancy” has announced it is still fighting for its falsely named “underpasses” proposal through discussions with legislators.

The falsely named Charles River “Conservancy” has cooed at the first destruction of the grove next to the Longfellow Bridge.

Corruption, corruption, corruption. Business as usual by those fighting for destruction on the Charles River in Cambridge, MA, USA.

5. Contacts, Miscellaneous.

Massachusetts Governor’s Office email form: http://www.mass.gov/governor/constituentservices/contact/.

State environmental people, DES Hotline: ESF.Hotline@state.ma.us.

MassDOT Accelerated Bridges Program: 857-368-8904 or Stephanie.Boundy@state.ma.us

All Massachusetts Legislators’ emails: http://charlesriverwhitegeeseblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/emails-for-all-massachusetts.html.

Cambridge, MA, USA city councilors: Council@cambridgema.gov.


**********

For people listening to Boston Sierra Club endorsements of environmentally destructive members of the Cambridge City Council, you should be aware that

(1) using the world’s definition of “environmentalism,” there are no environmentally responsible members of the Cambridge City Council, and

(2) there are Cambridge Machine activists very visible and apparently very active in the Boston Sierra Club.

If you are talking to a person associated with the Boston Sierra Club, do a credibility check. Ask if they are familiar with the “Urban Ring” rapid transit proposal. This is a subway proposal designed to link the existing subway spokes. I have been working on it since 1985. Cambridge raised the project in a comment to an environmental Impact Statement in the last month or so.

If the Boston Sierra Club “expert” answers “yes,” that he / she is familiar with the Urban Ring rapid transit proposal, ask how many rail options there are. If the answer is “one,” you are getting the flat out lie put out by the City of Cambridge.

Cambridge’s flat out lie is that, of the TWO rail options, the only one that exists is the environmentally destructive streetcar option which the City of Cambridge supports. This option would be highly destructive to the environment near the Destroyed Nesting Area of the Charles River White Geese.

The reality is that THE STATE LEGISLATURE HAS SUBSIDIZED THE OTHER OPTION, the responsible Orange Line / heavy rail option, the Kenmore crossing. The state legislature has subsidized the expansion of Yawkey Station as part of the massive Fenway Park area project which has gotten recent press.

Cambridge’s nonsensical proposal would move Yawkey Station three blocks. The Cambridge proposal would not work without moving Yawkey Station. The Kenmore Crossing uses the now subsidized and being expanded Yawkey Station as part of a brilliant megastation.

You should immediately respond to such nonsense from a Sierra Club “expert” by having nothing more to do with this person. Whether the person is stupid or venal is irrelevant, the person has no credibility and is not worthy of your time.

It is frequently difficult to pin these irresponsible people down in general. The deviant behavior in my test is extreme. They are pious in their demands that, if you are politically correct and pro environment, you have to rubber stamp them. Please do not waste your time arguing about destruction they can try to wiggle around.

Turn your back on them and walk away fast.

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Governor Patrick: Massive Tree Destruction for the Charles River in addition to Longfellow / Kendall Destruction

1. Analysis.
2. Contacts, Miscellaneous.


Threatened grove by the Longfellow Bridge.

Before.

















Without the first two trees.














1. Analysis.

In addition to the ongoing outrage at Longfellow / Kendall near the Charles River, Government Patrick proposed a bond bill for massive tree destruction on the Charles River, the wanton destruction of hundreds of trees between the Longfellow Bridge and the BU Bridge. This is by the governor of Massachusetts, without mentioning the environmental destruction, of course.

I had hoped that this outrage did not appear in subsequent versions of the budget, but a recent document by the falsely named Charles River “Conservancy” indicates otherwise.

The lie that the Cambridge Machine and this fake “conservancy” group used was bridge “underpasses” on bridges further west on the Charles River. The publicly mentioned “underpasses” proposal was so irresponsible that it was strongly rejected by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

The fine print in the Governor’s Budget called for $2 million bond authorization for the underpasses, and $24 million for the associated “pathway.” That associated pathway would destroy hundreds of trees between the BU Bridge and the Longfellow Bridge.

The Department of Conservation and Recreation previously sought moneys for this destruction in an Obama counter Great Recession proposal. They lied that all the trees were sick, a lie proven by their filing with the City of Cambridge’s Conservation Commission.

The reprehensible front organization of the Cambridge Machine which claims to represent the Cambridgeport Neighborhood created a group supposedly concerned about Magazine Beach. Using tactics being used by a comparable group fighting for the destruction of the Alewife Reservation, they have told people they love Magazine Beach, just ignore ALL of the problems there, massive environmental destruction and heartless animal abuse, and look at a historical building which had been closed to the public for 80 years.

The core of this group attempted to get authorization by its neighborhood for approval for a tiny portion of the tree destruction outrage, without mentioning the tree destruction, and without mentioning the massive extension of the existing problems they have been keeping secret which were being much more explicitly approved..

This fake group could not do an approval of this outrage after devoting their entire January 2013 meeting on the issue, so they delayed the action to the February 2013 meeting. They then held in the February 2013 meeting on April 23 to drive away the interested folks. They then conducted discussion of a very complicated proposal in the last ten minutes of the meeting. They handed out the very complicated proposal at the beginning of that last ten ten minutes “discussion.”

So a meeting consisting of robots and of folks totally uninterested in the Charles River participated in a “vote” of support without ever being told about the fine print in the fine print and with the interested people driven away.

The same corrupt group is fighting for destruction of the excellent grove on the on ramp from Memorial Drive to the Boston bound side of the Longfellow Bridge by telling people to look at objections to signs on buildings.

The fake “conservancy” has reported that they are still fighting the fight, not mentioning all the destruction, of course.

It is highly likely that the Transportation Bill now being considered by the legislature includes destruction of hundreds of trees between the Longfellow and BU Bridges in the name of a path associated with bridge “underpasses” further down the Charles River.

This is in addition to the outrage which has been started on the ramp from Memorial Drive to the Longfellow Bridge inbound.

2. Contacts, Miscellaneous.

Massachusetts Governor’s Office email form: http://www.mass.gov/governor/constituentservices/contact/.

State environmental people, DES Hotline: ESF.Hotline@state.ma.us.

MassDOT Accelerated Bridges Program: 857-368-8904 or Stephanie.Boundy@state.ma.us

All Massachusetts Legislators’ emails: http://charlesriverwhitegeeseblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/emails-for-all-massachusetts.html.

Cambridge, MA, USA city councilors: Council@cambridgema.gov.

**********

For people listening to Boston Sierra Club endorsements of environmentally destructive members of the Cambridge City Council, you should be aware that

(1) using the world’s definition of “environmentalism,” there are no environmentally responsible members of the Cambridge City Council, and

(2) there are Cambridge Machine activists very visible and apparently very active in the Boston Sierra Club.

If you are talking to a person associated with the Boston Sierra Club, do a credibility check. Ask if they are familiar with the “Urban Ring” rapid transit proposal. This is a subway proposal designed to link the existing subway spokes. I have been working on it since 1985. Cambridge raised the project in a comment to an environmental Impact Statement in the last month or so.

If the Boston Sierra Club “expert” answers “yes,” that he / she is familiar with the Urban Ring rapid transit proposal, ask how many rail options there are. If the answer is “one,” you are getting the flat out lie put out by the City of Cambridge.

Cambridge’s flat out lie is that, of the TWO rail options, the only one that exists is the environmentally destructive streetcar option which the City of Cambridge supports. This option would be highly destructive to the environment near the Destroyed Nesting Area of the Charles River White Geese.

The reality is that THE STATE LEGISLATURE HAS SUBSIDIZED THE OTHER OPTION, the responsible Orange Line / heavy rail option, the Kenmore crossing. The state legislature has subsidized the expansion of Yawkey Station as part of the massive Fenway Park area project which has gotten recent press.

Cambridge’s nonsensical proposal would move Yawkey Station three blocks. The Cambridge proposal would not work without moving Yawkey Station. The Kenmore Crossing uses the now subsidized and being expanded Yawkey Station as part of a brilliant megastation.

You should immediately respond to such nonsense from a Sierra Club “expert” by having nothing more to do with this person. Whether the person is stupid or venal is irrelevant, the person has no credibility and is not worthy of your time.

It is frequently difficult to pin these irresponsible people down in general. The deviant behavior in my test is extreme. They are pious in their demands that, if you are politically correct and pro environment, you have to rubber stamp them. Please do not waste your time arguing about destruction they can wiggle around.

Turn your back on them and walk away fast.

Friday, July 12, 2013

MassDOT Meeting on Longfellow / Kendall, Charles River, Cambridge, MA, USA

1. Mishka’s report on the Cambridge “meeting”.
2. Contacts, Miscellaneous.


1. Mishka’s report on the Cambridge “meeting”.

Mishka reports on the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) meeting held the evening of July 10, 2013 while I was returning from central / western New Hampshire.

Photos before destruction and Tuesday after the first of the destruction.


********************

Part I. General context.

The meeting was predominantly about construction plans and about traffic mitigation.

The most horrifying aspect of this is that the whole project is a rushed job, whether the construction is starting before the design is completed. They called it something like "design-as-you-go" principle, or something similar.

This further increases the already high potential for schedule delays and cost overruns. I am afraid we are buying ourselves another Big Dig.

There were a lot of people representing themselves and representing all kinds of organizations (affected hotels, affected hospitals, private bus shuttle companies), and they all were quite active during the comments and questions period.

Bicycle riders and their organizations were very prominent and active, they asked first questions, and all together they asked a lot of questions. Despite that the answers they were getting from the project were not too encouraging.

I think only one comment (besides mine) was at all related to environmental concerns. Someone suggested real-time monitoring of certain pollutants which might increase due to the extra traffic congestion, the reason for monitoring being that those pollutants would cause increase of cardio
emergencies in bikers and runners.

Interestingly enough, there are traffic monitoring cameras in Boston, but not in Cambridge (Cambridge does not allow them because of the privacy concerns, and does not have
the infrastructure for them).

Part II. Trees they want to kill.

A bit more of context. There was a stenographer, there should be a record. They were also giving out forms for the old-fashioned form of comments which can be mailed, I have a blank form like that
(and it can be copied).

They did show the graphics of those underground retention tanks for the water overflow from the bridge -- those tanks look like they are quite huge.

I spoke at the end, I think only one person spoke after me. I spoke only for myself, and I was not feeling too comfortable even about that, given that all those people in that room seemed to have completely different interests (mainly how this project is going to disrupt their daily lives).

***

So, what I said consisted of two parts.

I complained that there was lack of transparency and not enough information shared with the public, certainly not enough for the people to be able to judge whether the tree removal is really
minimal.

In particular, I noted that we were not informed whether the option of directing the overflow into the existing sewage system was considered at all, and if it was considered and rejected we were
not informed about the reasons for that.

In response they claimed that, in particular, the current modern law is that you cannot do a new construction redirecting the storm overflow into sewers.

I have no idea, whether this claim they made is correct or not. If we manage to squeeze a hearing out of these people, we would need to do our homework on this.

[Ed: more bad faith. They are giving an irresponsibly misleading argument concerning the requirement to provide separate sewers, for human waste and for street runoff. This should go into the street runoff sewers. Irresponsible argument.]

***

The second part of what I said was that these trees line a public way, which people (including myself) use daily to go from home to work, and what not, and that we normally would expect a Chapter 87 hearing to be held in such a situation. I said that we requested such a hearing and that the lawyers for the project claimed that there is a loophole allowing them not hold such a hearing, because the trees are on a DCR land.

I said that this is unfortunate that they did it, and this is unfortunate for a number of reasons. While they might have some court precedents to rely upon, the law is specifically written
to discourage such evasions. Section 1 of Chapter 87 specifically directs to consider a tree to be a public shade tree, if there is any doubt whether it is or it is not. Section 3 of Chapter 87 specifically states that even the owner of the land on which the tree is situated cannot cut it without Chapter 87 Section 3 if the tree is functionally a public shade tree (that is, lines a public way). I did spell this out for them.

I said that another reason why this is unfortunate is that they are missing a chance to actually be transparent about this and share the details with interested public. I noted (and they agreed) that a traffic meeting like this one would not be an appropriate venue.

Therefore, I urged them again to call a hearing on those tree, and to post a notice of such hearing on the affected trees, regardless of whether they are ready to concede that these are public shade trees, and regardless of whether they are ready to call it a Chapter 87 hearing.

Their answer (people from the contractors doing the project were leading the meeting, although state people like Stephanie Boundy were there) was that they work with this and that environmental
and conservation agencies from the state and from Boston and Cambridge, and they essentially rely on the advice from those agencies on which meetings and hearings to hold.

[Ed: they claim to be responsible because they are following advice from people who are not fit to manage environment responsibilities. Prior MassDOT initiatives have ignored these folks because they are so irresponsible — Grand Junction and the destructive bike highway. One of the very shocking things about this package is the abandonment of principles by MassDOT. One of the “environmental organizations” fighting for the outrages MassDOT has previously rejected has cooed to see the destruction start here.]

So they tried to redirect responsibility to state and city environmental and conservation agencies (I don't remember all the names they dropped) for not holding this meeting.

I said that I understand, but at the very least I'd like my repeated request to nevertheless have this hearing on the trees to be formally recorded here.

2. Contacts, Miscellaneous.

Massachusetts Governor’s Office email form: http://www.mass.gov/governor/constituentservices/contact/.

State environmental people, DES Hotline: ESF.Hotline@state.ma.us.

MassDOT Accelerated Bridges Program: 857-368-8904 or Stephanie.Boundy@state.ma.us

All Massachusetts Legislators’ emails: http://charlesriverwhitegeeseblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/emails-for-all-massachusetts.html.

Cambridge, MA, USA city councilors: Council@cambridgema.gov.

Plus the links provided in the above email.

**********

For people listening to Boston Sierra Club endorsements of environmentally destructive members of the Cambridge City Council, you should be aware that

(1) using the world’s definition of “environmentalism,” there are no environmentally responsible members of the Cambridge City Council, and

(2) there are Cambridge Machine activists very visible and apparently very active in the Boston Sierra Club.

If you are talking to a person associated with the Boston Sierra Club, do a credibility check. Ask if they are familiar with the “Urban Ring” rapid transit proposal. This is a subway proposal designed to link the existing subway spokes. I have been working on it since 1985. Cambridge raised the project in a comment to an environmental Impact Statement in the last month or so.

If the Boston Sierra Club “expert” answers “yes,” that he / she is familiar with the Urban Ring rapid transit proposal, ask how many rail options there are. If the answer is “one,” you are getting the flat out lie put out by the City of Cambridge.

Cambridge’s flat out lie is that, of the TWO rail options, the only one that exists is the environmentally destructive streetcar option which the City of Cambridge supports. This option would be highly destructive to the environment near the Destroyed Nesting Area of the Charles River White Geese.

The reality is that THE STATE LEGISLATURE HAS SUBSIDIZED THE OTHER OPTION, the responsible Orange Line / heavy rail option, the Kenmore crossing. The state legislature has subsidized the expansion of Yawkey Station as part of the massive Fenway Park area project which has gotten recent press.

Cambridge’s nonsensical proposal would move Yawkey Station three blocks. The Cambridge proposal would not work without moving Yawkey Station. The Kenmore Crossing uses the now subsidized and being expanded Yawkey Station as part of a brilliant megastation.

You should immediately respond to such nonsense from a Sierra Club “expert” by having nothing more to do with this person. Whether the person is stupid or venal is irrelevant, the person has no credibility and is not worthy of your time.

It is frequently difficult to pin these irresponsible people down in general. The deviant behavior in my test is extreme. They are pious in their demands that, if you are politically correct and pro environment, you have to rubber stamp them. Please do not waste your time arguing about destruction they can wiggle around.

Turn your back on them and walk away fast.