Destruction of Grand Junction and of the Charles, Letter to Cambridge, MA, USA City Council

Destruction of Grand Junction and of the Charles, Letter to Cambridge, MA, USA City Council

The following letter from me was received by the Cambridge, MA, City Council on May 9, 2016

City Council
City of Cambridge
c/o City Clerk

RE: Grand Junction Construction, Destruction of the Charles River.

First of all, several weeks ago, I transmitted to you a DVD going into the outrage being implemented by the Department of Conservation and Recreation and the City of Cambridge on Memorial Drive between the BU Bridge and the Longfellow Bridge.

Please be advised that, after consulting with a number of folks, the video has been modified in a number of ways, most importantly to greater emphasize the heartless abuse of the Charles River White Geese, and the INCREASE in the dumping of poisons on the banks of the Charles River.

The modified version, “The Destruction of Memorial Drive, Charles River, Cambridge, MA, ed. 3" is now posted on YouTube for greater convenience and broader distribution.  Its URL is https://youtu.be/h_u-woTPRJ8.

Secondly, concerning CMA 2016 #93, I got scared reading at least one of what appears to be a standard form based communication to you on CMA 2016 #93.  On looking into the matter further, it would be helpful if you described the city line to which to are constructing as the Somerville-Cambridge city line, and not the Boston-Cambridge city line under the middle of the Charles River, but the use of the word “Eastern” referring to the Grand Junction is helpful.

The really dangerous part of the Grand Junction proposal, as with so many proposals coming out of the City Manager Machine which has been in place since 1974, is the problem of lies of omission with regard to environmental outrages which should be presented front and center but which, instead, are hidden as much as is possible.

The last time I saw the Charles River end of the Grand Junction proposal, it continued the destruction which Cambridge and the DCR started on Memorial Drive in January into the Destroyed Nesting Area of the Charles River White Geese.  The problem is compounded by omissions in the destruction plans between the BU Boathouse and the BU Bridge which look like fraudulent attempts to place on notice of destruction by failure to mention.

At the top left of the next page is the plan for the Charles River end of the Grand Junction proposal.  It would go straight through the animal habitat between the Grand Junction and the BU Bridge, plus would divide that part of the habitat from that portion between the Grand Junction and the BU Boathouse with a fence running along the length of the railroad, with this proposed highway supposedly connecting to a segment in Boston which has been rejected by MassDOT in its Mass Pike planning.

The responsible alternative is a minor land taking where the Grand Junction is close to the bend of Vassar Street to allow the Grand Junction path to connect to the outrage on Memorial Drive by way of Vassar Street.

To the right [ed: following in this reproduction] of the broader map is the CDD’s detailed map of the continuation of the Memorial Drive outrage into the Destroyed Nesting Area, the animal habitat between the Grand Junction and the BU Bridge.  So many trees are shown, but the trees shown, highly likely, would be trees paid to be installed by contractors after contractors destroy perfectly good trees, a maneuver the DCR brags about in the ongoing outrage.

Here are some photos of the current use of the area between the BU Bridge and the BU Boathouse.  The photos were taken on April 30, 2016.  The dirt habitat has been artificially created by the DCR / its agents.  The crushed stone habitat has been the joint creation of the DCR and a group of irresponsible railroad workers who were very destructive, with clear consent of the DCR “manager.”  There are a lot of Charles River White Geese in the area nearest the BU Bridge.  They had been feeding on grass across the on ramp to Memorial Drive, but that was not consistent with the DCR / Cambridge starvation plans.  So the access to food was once again denied.

Much of this is FINAL WORK on the “remediation” of the BU Bridge repair project.  It clearly shows the level of lack of responsibility which can be expected to come out of the destruction of hundreds of trees in January.

You will note that the Charles River White Geese have been forced to nest in very precarious locations.  A major part of this need comes from the deliberate destruction of ground vegetation by the DCR and its friends / agents.  Some of the nesting to which they have been forced is between the Grand Junction and the BU Boathouse, the Wild Area which the relevant part of the destruction plans clearly call to be totally destroyed, by showing one undestroyed tree and nothing else where there are currently hundreds.  The destruction plan also could be calling for the destruction of all trees in the area where the J shaped highway would go, along with all trees on the river and next to the BU Bridge.

While the plan specifically calls for the destruction of an excellent tree at the on ramp, the omission of so many trees even on this side flags more proposed destruction.  A number of trees between the BU Boathouse and the Hyatt Regency on the river side were destroyed in spite of their not being spelled out for destruction in the destruction plans.  (See the YouTube video).  Cambridge and the DCR love to destroy trees.

There has been very major deliberate destruction of the area by the DCR as heartless animal abuse furthering the starvation imposed upon the Charles River White Geese by the Cambridge / DCR destruction at Magazine Beach in the 2000s.  The fact that the current plans of Cambridge and the DCR make the situation at Magazine Beach worse make the situation that much more scary.

The stated goal of the DCR is to kill off or drive away all resident animals, and the DCR, with the assistance of the City of Cambridge could care less about the 34 year residency of the Charles River White Geese, and their very great Tourist Appeal.

Of very clear interest was a comment by the DCR manager at a fake “public input” session that the DCR stands ready and willing to transfer control of Magazine Beach to Cambridge in accordance with the agreement which was part of the 2000s destruction.  Clearly, Cambridge wants to be able to blame the DCR for the ever increasing outrages and deny, deny, deny Cambridge’s very real joint planning involvement.

Sincerely, 

Robert J. La Trémouille

Individually, and as Chair

Friends of the White Geese

The letter,plus one photo, duplicates the photos published in my report posted at http://charlesriverwhitegeeseblog.blogspot.com/2016/05/charles-river-springtime-in-destroyed.html.  This report contains all the photos.  The reason for the prior omission was technical.  The original photo was "portrait."  The software reported it as "landscape."  So the tree would have been shown lying on its side.  I have since edited the photo to make it square which was allowed by the software.

Charles River, Springtime in the Destroyed Nesting Area of the Charles River White Geese

Charles River, Springtime in the Destroyed Nesting Area of the Charles River White Geese

1. General.
2. Visit.
3. Visit in Context.

1. General.

Our video on the destruction of Memorial Drive on the Charles River in January 2016 by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation with the support of the City of Cambridge  is posted at https://youtu.be/h_u-woTPRJ8.

2. Visit.

Last Saturday, on April 30, 2016, I visited the Destroyed Nesting Area of the White Geese and looked at a recent, apparently complete “improvement” by the DCR and Cambridge.

It looks, in many ways, like a wasteland, less of a wasteland than the DCR and Cambridge created in January, but this is the FINAL PRODUCT.

Major work was done on the BU Bridge a few years back.  In the middle of the project, the legislature destroyed the then Metropolitan District Committee and replaced it by splitting its responsibilities between the Department of Transportation and the Department of Conservation and Recreation.  MassDOT got the bridges.  DCR got the riverbanks, along with the planners and managers.

The BU Bridge repair work was planned by DCR.  It included major destruction in the Destroyed Nesting Area which was totally unnecessary.  The area about 100 feet from the BU Bridge was needed for access.  But the DCR did additional destruction pointed into the DNA which was very much not necessary.

I found a lot of the Charles River White Geese in that area.  REMEMBER, much of this area has been “repaired” after the BU Bridge work.

Look at all the dirt.  The DCR planted a bunch of shrubs and simply let them die or survive.  If they had done what was intended, the “repaired” area would have been overgrown with excessively thick bushes, like the bushes on the banks of the Charles shown in the “Heartless Animal Abuse” portion of the video.  Some bushes survived and most died.  The DCR is very happy to have created a bunch of dirt where they promised bushes.

To make the repair project work, however, a 100 foot strip next to the BU Bridge was created that made sense to create for BU Bridge access.  The, as usual, lies of omission withheld mention that this formerly vibrant area was planned for dirt along most of its extent.

No grass, nothing to make the place livable.  Just dirt, and a lot of bushes which did not survive because, at least in part, the DCR did not care.  They had done their part.  They had made work for the contractors.  There was no more make work to brag about.  So they just let everything die and remain dirt.

The goal of the DCR is to kill off or drive away all resident animals.  The situation created is obvious and deliberate.

The Charles River White Geese are doing their best to make a living out of this outrage.

Here are photos of them from Saturday.

Heartless animal abuse.

ALL of the gravel, except near the railroad tracks, has been dumped there by the DCR and its friends (irresponsible railroad workers friendly to the DCR were particularly destructive).  The bare earth is overwhelmingly the creation of the DCR and its friends.  

I saw two visitors whom I have never seen before.  They were not there when I returned.  So I presume they are migratory.  On looking over the shots, I only see one photo, of one of the two, and, as photographed, it does not look that distinctive.  My memory is of a reddish color.  Perhaps my color rendering is not that good.

A lot of the Charles River White Geese are near the entrance.  Here is a photo of the entrance.

The Charles River White Geese have been getting through this starvation fence and eating under Memorial Drive.

The tangle with the barrel and its top is new.

The Charles River White Geese were hoping to get food, but food is being denied to them even more aggressively.

Heartless animal abuse.

The Starvation Wall at Magazine Beach (details in the video under Heartless Animal Abuse) was created to starve them.  The DCR found out that they were getting food.  So the DCR has created this additional Starvation device.


3. Visit in Context.

The photos in this section are taken from the video linked in Section 1.

The first photo places the Destroyed Nesting Area in context.

The area destroyed in January runs from the Destroyed Nesting Area on the left TO THE SECOND BRIDGE TO ITS RIGHT, an inconceivably large area in a major metropolitan community.

And it was destroyed BY THE Massachusetts DCR AND BY CAMBRIDGE, MA, USA.

Here are the destruction plans for the January outrage which apply to the area including the Destroyed Nesting Area (on the left) and the Wild Area (on the right).

At the far left is the BU Bridge.  At the top is Memorial Drive.  In the middle is the Grand Junction Railroad.  At the right is the Wild Area.

The Wild Area shows exactly one tree, and they say they are not destroying it.  But the Destroyed Nesting Area shows only five trees, one of which they say they are destroying.

The trees by the railroad tracks are also not shown.  That is scary, given the destructiveness of these terrible people, the reflexive cheerleading of the fake groups and the determination of the Cambridge City Council to have folks look at everything except the outrages inflicted by the City of Cambridge and the DCR.

A highly reasonable interpretation of the plans for the Wild Area is that every tree east of the railroad tracks and west of the BU Boathouse is doomed.  Even more scary is the omission of so many trees in the Destroyed Nesting Area.

The Cambridge City Council has its own destructive plans for the two areas.  Those are called by the euphemism of a Grand Junction bike highway.  Those destructive plans, as is the custom with outrageously destructive plans are kept as secret as possible while pablum is put out about how great the plans are.

In the photos in section 2 above, the BU Bridge repair “corrected area” is to the left.

I must apologize for an omission in the title in the video.

IT IS ALWAYS AN ERROR TO ASSUME “They would never stoop so low.”

The video in a later slide mentions the apparent destruction of the Wild Area because all those trees are not mentioned.

The video in this slide does not mention that THE ONLY TREES SHOWN in the Destroyed Nesting Area are the ones near Memorial Drive.  Is it intended to destroy all the rest?

Look at the true vileness achieved by Cambridge and the DCR as documented in the video.

IT IS ALWAYS AN ERROR TO ASSUME “They would never stoop so low.”

Charles River: Destruction Video posted on YouTube

Charles River: Destruction Video posted on YouTube

Friends of the White Geese are pleased to announce the posting of a detailed video on YouTube concerning the outrageous destruction this year on the Charles River, including the impacts on the Charles River White Geese.

It is entitled “The Destruction of Memorial Drive, Charles River, Cambridge, MA, USA, January - February 2016, 3d Ed.”  It is posted at https://youtu.be/h_u-woTPRJ8.

Here is one of the very large collection of photographs included in the report.

A preliminary version of this report has been cablecast on Cambridge, MA, Cable Channel 8 by CCTV Cambridge, with Internet availability.  It has been studied in a review session of CCTV Cambridge.  The 3d ed. includes modifications to allow for comments in that forum and from elsewhere.

The video is an expansion of presentations made on my Cambridge Environment show on CCTV Cambridge, channel 9 primarily on February 7, 2016, including an introductory information from my cablecast on March 27.  The content has been edited to present introductory materials and to edit the February 7 show to create a presentation starting at the BU Bridge and extending to the Longfellow Bridge.

Added to the original presentation are photos, maps, and destruction plans.  The photos are my work product.  The maps and destruction plans are taken from materials created by the Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Almost all of the destruction occurred in January 2016.  The photos include before and after pictures between the BU Bridge and Mass. Ave. Bridge (halfway between the BU and Longfellow Bridges), with some, powerful photos of destruction of the magnificent Cherry Grove, IN PROCESS.

The photos in the destruction presentation between the Mass. Ave. Bridge and Longfellow Bridge were all taken during destruction by the DCR contractors.  All destruction is blessed by the City of Cambridge.

The report has integrated in it an update to reflect further destruction in late February near the BU Boathouse.  The destruction was located between the Hyatt Regency Hotel and the BU Boathouse.  The BU Boathouse, in turn has only the Destroyed Nesting Area, the Grand Junction Railroad, and the Wild Area between it and the BU Bridge.

The video goes into DESTRUCTION YET TO COME, and reflects destruction and heartless animal abuse both in the main area of concern, but also on Magazine Beach, to the west of the BU Bridge.  The information page fills in additional information.

Presentations to date have been highly favorable on the video report.  Comments received made the video more powerful than the original edition.  They are appreciated.  I hope my response is considered adequate by the contributors.

I would love to get your comments at boblat@yahoo.com.

Charles River: “Neighborhood Association” admits it is a fraud.

I try in these reports to concentrate as much as possible on the really vile actors, the City of Cambridge, MA and the Department of Conservation and Recreation of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The reality in Cambridge, however, is a system of fake groups which have grown up during the existence of the City Manager Machine which dates back to 1974, when the first of the regency declared his intention to create “neighborhood associations.”

It is amazing how these “independent groups” tend to think in lock step and frequently recognize a reality which has nothing to do with reality recognized by people outside their world.  But they sure do love to praise the City of Cambridge, and its friends, plus, all together too frequently, entities which are worse.

The fake neighborhood association which has fought for for years and has just helped Cambridge and the DCR achieve the destruction of hundreds of trees on Memorial Drive just broke a wall of silence on the vileness of the situation.

They run a listserv.  Their latest president has announced that they have a duty to censor any and all posts which are contrary to the policies of the City of Cambridge and its friends, even when, as in the ongoing and accelerating destruction of the Charles River, the City of Cambridge and its friends are the clear enemies of decent human beings.

The latest explanation amounts to a declaration that they are obliged to be cheerleaders for these vile governmental entities, NO MATTER HOW IRRESPONSIBLE.  They argue that to allow responsible dissent on even the most obvious issues, the most irresponsible behavior by their government buddies, would risk them the loss of their tax exemption.

In short the newly discovered president has announced that they have a duty to be fraudulent when they call themselves a “neighborhood association.”

This is, reportedly, based on a legal opinion issued by the former president.  The former president seems to have been replaced without notice, or perhaps his disappearance was announced while I was being barred from access to the listserv.

Why would he have disappeared as president?

Could it have been a flier distributed by Friends of the White Geese which accurately communicated that the fake neighborhood association had gone public in its fight for destruction of the environment of the Charles River?

In a “neighborhood association” meeting at the end of last year, that former president barred discussion of the then pending destruction of hundreds of trees on Memorial Drive.  He called discussing the impending destruction was beyond the jurisdiction of the group because the destruction was on the wrong side of an artificial line created by the City of Cambridge.

The reality, however, is that the core of the “neighborhood association” had been fighting for this destruction for years, using all sorts of corrupt techniques.

In the next meeting, the same former president was happily setting the group up to discuss the nature of saplings to replace the trees the fake neighborhood association had helped destroy on the wrong side of that magic line.  And somehow the magic line which “barred discussion” was no longer a concern.  Discussion was considered acceptable in exactly the same area which he said could not be discussed.

The fake neighborhood association wanted to be paid off.  They had gotten the destruction the DCR and Cambridge wanted.  The key part of the group wanted the joy of selecting saplings to replace the trees they should not have destroyed in the first place.

And our leaflet invited folks to the key meeting saying exactly that.  To no surprise, the joy the “neighborhood association” was seeking was suppressed at that meeting.  They had a guest they had wanted to provide input on replacement saplings, but the “neighborhood association” did not mention that they wanted the pay off they had been looking for, and promised, for the massive destruction.

I could go on and on and on.

Needless to say, this “neighborhood association” has now openly bragged when discussing censorship on its listserv that it has a duty to cheerlead its irresponsible government, no matter how irresponsible the government is.  And it has explicitly stated that it has a duty to suppress any and all statements to the contrary of the policies of the irresponsible government.

I call that an admission of fraud.  That is not a neighborhood association.  It is a cheerleading group lying about its identity.  AND THE ONLY THING THAT IS UNUSUAL IS THE ADMISSION OF FRAUD.

PS:   I attempted to communicate reality a number of times in response to the discussion of whether the listserv should censor.  A number of times I attempted to support people opposed to censorship.  To no great surprise, I seem to have been shut off from the listserv again, and of course, all of my proposed inputs were censored from being passed on to the listserv.

I have received nothing in a day from the listserv in a day, and I got a lot before that.  Looks like I have been barred from the listserv again.

Reality is highly offensive to Cambridge’s cheerleaders, regardless of the fraudulent names they apply to their lovely named groups, and regardless of their owned self proclaimed saintliness.

Charles River: Response favorable to the Cambridge Con Game.

Charles River:   Response favorable to the Cambridge Con Game.

In my latest report, I reported on a fraudulent piece of protection by the Cambridge City Council, lying that it is environmentally responsible, as usual, by yelling at the other guy.

That report is at http://charlesriverwhitegeeseblog.blogspot.com/2016/04/charles-river-loggers-declare-sainthood.html.

I got a respectful, short email response, nicely favorable to the city council action, from a follower who provides a lot of positive comments which normally spin off into reports on this blog.

I gave him a detailed email response, and I was thinking of posting the exchange.

I, however, have just looked again at my post.

I appreciate this person’s response.  I appreciate his very clear constructive assistance over the years.  I acknowledge his positive concern by his response to this post.

I, however, have just reread the post.  It communicates reality very effectively.

To clarify one point.

The biggest environmental problem on the Charles River is the fraudulent “environmentalism” coming out of the City of Cambridge.  The city government’s environmental foundation is flat out fraud.  They stay in office based on a house of cards which is heavily kept in place by a large system of self proclaimed “independent” groups which, in turn, act as cheerleaders for the very bad City Manager Machine, and others acting in concert with the very bad City Manager Machine.  Plus, they frequently act as cheerleaders for entities worse than the City Manager Machine.

The environmental outrage is real.

Fraudulent yelling at the other guy by the Cambridge City Council should be taken as what it is:   fraud whose most important value is to keep the house of cards from collapsing of its own weight by distracting an electorate which demands a responsible government.

A responsible community taking the actions which the City of Cambridge constantly claims makes it environmentally saintly would continue to be responsible communities because of their responsible actions AS A WHOLE.  Responsible communities taking such actions would be worthy of commendation.

The City of Cambridge doing the same responsible stuff IN PLACE OF RESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOR which only it can accomplish is due the contempt appropriately targeted at any other hypocrite.

Charles River: Loggers declare sainthood, yell at the other guy.

Charles River: Loggers declare sainthood, yell at the other guy.

During the destruction of hundreds of trees on Memorial Drive, the Cambridge, MA, City Council got condensed versions of these reports on the same scale as these reports came out.

They responded with a resounding silence at the destruction of those hundreds of trees by the State Department of Conservation and Recreation and the City of Cambridge.  Before this outrage, Cambridge without the DCR destroyed the magnificent grove at the entrance to the Cambridge Common with Cambridge and state moneys.  Not that long before that, Cambridge and the DCR destroyed acres of the irreplaceable woodlands at Alewife, with Cambridge and state moneys.

The Cambridge City Council strongly declares itself environmental saints by yelling at the other guys, and keeps as silent as is viable about outrageous destruction by Cambridge and its friends, except to pay tabs as requested.

Now that Cambridge and the DCR have committed the massive destruction on the Charles River with hundreds more to go, the Cambridge City Council has decided to take action.

They are yelling at the other guy.

This irresponsible entity which is very happy to see and / or pay for the destruction of hundreds of trees by Cambridge / its friends, has just yelled at the general public.  They are standing up to excess use of bags, and they are taking a stand.

Naturally, they are as silent as possible about the outrages on the Charles which have happened and which are planned to get much worse, with massive destruction of animal habitat.  The same goes to their destruction of the Cambridge Common and Alewife.

But the public is using bags!!!!  That involves plastics and the destruction of trees.  The destruction of trees is for a purpose.

The escalating outrages on the Charles, on the Cambridge Common and at Alewife directly conflict with the City Council’s stated saintliness on the environment.  THIS MUST BE KEPT SECRET.

So they yell about bags.

Con game?

Of course.

How dare anybody get displeased at them for the massive destruction by their friends of HUNDREDS OF healthy, excellent trees.

How dare anybody get displeased at the blatant make work for contractors!!

The Cambridge City Council is standing up to plastic bags.

And shame of you for objecting to their and their friends outrageous logging.

LOOK AT THE PLASTICS.  DO NOT LOOK AT THE MASSIVE DESTRUCTION WITH PLANS TO MAKE THINGS WORSE.  DO NOT LOOK AT THE HEARTLESS ANIMAL ABUSE.

LOOK AT THE PLASTICS.

Business as usual in the City of Cambridge, MA, USA.

PS:  We do have a video on the outrage on the Charles.  We reported the schedule a few days ago.

Charles River Destruction Report, Destruction of Memorial Drive, January - February 2016

Charles River Destruction Report, Destruction of Memorial Drive, January - February 2016.

I have received the following message from Lily Bouvier, Programming Director, Cambridge Community Television, concerning my commentary / slide show video, “The Destruction of Memorial Drive, January - February 2016.”

It gives before / after reports between the BU Bridge and the Mass. Ave. Bridge, and middle of destruction reports between the Mass. Ave. Bridge and the Longfellow Bridge, all with destruction plans and maps from the state agency doing the actual destruction.

The report will probably be improved upon.

Please note that persons who cannot get Cambridge Cable have internet access on the provided URL.

* * *

Hi Bob,

This message is to let you know that your production The Destruction of Memorial Drive is going to begin playing on the CCTV channels this coming week. So far it's scheduled for broadcast on Channel 8, Sunday 4/3 and Tuesday 4/5 at 5pm, and Wednesday 4/6, Thursday 4/7, and Friday 4/8 at 9am.

Folks can tune in via Cambridge cable TV, or through the live streams on our website, at www.cctvcambridge.org/channel08.

Hope you get a chance to watch, and to let others know as well!

Thanks,

Lily

Charles River, Bizarre Tactics from the Cambridge Machine

Charles River, Bizarre Tactics from the Cambridge Machine

I have been trying to upload the video I have prepared on the destruction of Memorial Drive to YouTube.  I have not been successful.

We have been leafleting, as convenient, meetings of the Cambridge City Council, telling folks about the environmental destruction of the City of Cambridge.  We have leafleted folks as they approach the city council meeting room.

This sort of communication is unthinkable in Cambridge.  In Cambridge, you do not talk reality around the Cambridge City Council.  The only thing thinkable is to praise the sainthood of the City of Cambridge.

The trouble is that the City of Cambridge is the opposite of saintly.

You start with the destruction of hundreds of trees on the Charles River during January and February 2016.  The actors were contractors of the Department of Conservation and Recreation, but the City of Cambridge blessed it, and their cheerleaders aggressively fought for it, lying all the way that they love the Charles River.

This follows on the destruction of the Cambridge Common.

Both follow on the destruction of more than 3.4 irreplaceable acres of the Alewife reservation.

And then there is the outrage on the Magazine Beach playing fields and in the destroyed nesting area in the 2000s.  This last outrage is not mentioned in the fliers.  You can only get so much into an 8 ½ x 11 piece of paper.

Friends of the White Geese have had the nerve to tell people about the real record of the City of Cambridge.

While leafleting folks coming up the staircase to the most recent meeting, I could be wrong, but I got the impression that a Machine operative was bragging that the City Council was out to get me.  Could that Machine operative have been suggesting retaliation for communicating reality?

The City Council has already placed themselves clearly in favor of corrupt tactics by the City of Cambridge.  An agent of the City of Cambridge was bragging of environmental saintliness on the city trees at a public meeting.  She was shocked that we leafleted reality.  She threatened our  counter leafleting with reality with a $25 fine per leaflet.

I complained to the City Council.  The City Council responded with a very loud silence.  The usual support by silence with a wink and a nod.

What the Machine operative could have been talking about at that most recent meeting, if he / she were talking about anything, could be a motion by the city council at that meeting to look into regulating people lobbying the city council.

Regulation impacting the Friends of the White Geese would be downright bizarre.  Lobbyists regulated routinely are folks getting paid for the effort.  Friends of the White Geese has no paid lobbyists.  We deliberately communicate to folks about the vile record of the City of Cambridge with the hope that reality might possibly reverse the impact of the lies being put out about Cambridge’s saintliness.

No money to lobbyists.  We have not even directly talked to the City Council in something like ten years.  We are on record with written communications, and written communications, and written communications.  We do encourage people to talk with the city council.

The BIG problem with us talking directly, as opposed to very clear written communications, is the fake world the City Council and its cheerleaders live in.  “Environmental destruction by the City of Cambridge” translates in their language to “praiseworthy environmentalism” or “improvements.”  You keep on talking and you are talking to a stone wall.

However, if a lot of people talk to the stone wall, then a lot of people can get a better impression of the very vile reality in the City of Cambridge.  The only responsible evaluation has to be “You can’t possibly be so stupid.”

ALL our reports on the destruction of those hundreds of trees on the Charles River starting with preliminary reports in September 2015 have gone, in condensed version, to the general email address which gives individual copies to each member of the Cambridge City Council.  The new member was added to the list of recipients of the email condensations in the middle of the campaign, along with most of the other candidates.

The City Council has supported the outrage on the Charles River through silence in circumstances which call for outrage, English translation: support with a wink and a nod..

All we are asking now from politically powerful people is

1.  to get rid of Massachusetts’ Department of Conservation and Recreation in favor of Massachusetts’ Department of Transportation, insofar as is possible, and

2.   to fire the Cambridge City Manager.  As far as we are concerned, Cambridge has had one City Manager since 1974, with three different faces.  In this regency, each city manager has passed the torch to the next City Manager, and that is what face number 3 is trying to do.  Face number 3 has designated his principal assistant to be his replacement, just as the preceding two faces did when they retired.

We think the responsible thing to do is to fire the City Manager, not just face number 3, but to prevent face number 4.  The continuing outrage of this interlocked City Manager position has amassed tremendous power and a whole bunch of fake groups.

The fake groups certainly look like a lot of them loudly proclaim their independence.  But they then turn around and cheerlead for Cambridge and its friends' irresponsible behavior and for expanding the power of the government of the City of Cambridge.

We think that, if the City Council has not hired an outside person as city manager by #3's retirement at the end of June, the City Council should hire as temporary City Manager the City Clerk, a person who is highly respected, and has clean hands.  She has had nothing to do with the outrages.

Then hire a responsible outsider as City Manager.

City Manager face #4 proposed by City Manager face #3 has been the head of the department responsible for the hands on work of the City of Cambridge.  I do not know exactly how filthy her hands are, but, since that position, she has been the second in command of the City of Cambridge during the regime of City Manager face #3.  Thus, it is rather silly to assume she is free of problems.  And as #4, she would clearly get the reflexive loyalty of a lot of cheerleaders, and the power associated with this massive machine.

The clean hands of the City Clerk could disqualify the City Clerk for selection, unfortunately.  Saintliness is the non stop lie.  She has not been part of the non stop lies.

Reality is something which is unacceptable in the City of Cambridge.  HOW DARE YOU COMMUNICATE REALITY!!!!

But they do love to brag of supposed saintliness.

Charles River: Public Dispute with Cambridge Machine

Charles River: Public Dispute with Cambridge Machine.

The reality of the situation in Cambridge is that, at the start of this now 42 year situation, the first regent in the City Manager operation, James Leo Sullivan expressed a desire to create “neighborhood associations.”

Sullivan had been fired in the 60s and rehired in 74, with this very strong goal in mind.  As usual when dealing with this one city managership with 3, perhaps 4 faces, the words sound so nice and the reality is so different.

A whole bunch of interlocked groups have “appeared.”  Trouble is that the true, most important function of so many of these groups is cheerleading for the City of Cambridge.

Over the years, I have seen a lot of lying, and a lot of corrupt behavior, a lot of which, in reality, acts to implement the goals of the city government.

This, however, is the first time I have been able to get into a published spat with a key member of the machine which is the combination of those cheerleading groups.

The exchange is at:  http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/news/20160311/rossi-to-retire-as-cambridge-city-manager-in-june#loadComment.

The relevant part is not the news story, but the comments on the news story.

Probably the most visible and perhaps the nastiest of the cheerleaders is Robert Winters. 

Talking with the machine is like talking to a scripted responder.  The words commonly deviate markedly from reality, but the basic pitch normally can be described with the comment “You cannot possibly be that stupid.”

In this case, Winters strongly disputed my position that Cambridge has been very destructive.

Winters claimed to have no knowledge of destruction at Alewife, the Cambridge Common or on the Charles River.

The following is a photo published on his blog.  This photo was transmitted by the City of Cambridge as part of a puff piece bragging of Cambridge’s destruction of more than 3.4 acres of irreplaceable woodlands AT ALEWIFE.  

Winters claimed, in his printed comment, that he had no knowledge of destruction at Alewife.  The trees lining the edges of this photo formerly filled the entire area.

It is very difficult to plead stupidity when you have published a report which calls you a liar.

Winters also claimed stupidity on the destruction of the Charles River.  He gave the impression of lack of knowledge of massive destruction.  I referred him to the Charles River White Geese facebook page with its condensations of the blog reports, some photos, and links to the big reports on this blog.

Winters explained the destruction of the Cambridge Common using another standard pitch: difference of opinion.  The people he talks to think it is an improvement.  But the people he talks to have major lack of concern for reality.  

Normal people when faced with the reality of the explanation of why Cambridge destroyed the 22 tree excellent grove at the Harvard Square entrance to the Cambridge Common sneer at Cambridge’s explanation.  

Cambridge explanation in the first full paragraph of page 4 of the Environmental Notification Form was that those excellent, beautiful trees, were blocking the view of the monument.

Here is the environmental notification form.  Double clicking brings each page up to a good size.  Read the first full paragraph on 4.  The words I just used are the real English translation of the bureaucratize.

Interestingly, after really nasty words, Mr. Winters does not seem to have responded to my replies.  You can only go so far with falsehoods, and unsupported nastiness, even when you couch the language so as to give yourself deniability.

This mentality is the foundation for the group which really is the foundation of the destructiveness of the City of Cambridge.  Winters is the most visible member, the supposed intellect in the organization.

But usually, they do not put their nonsense in print.

Here are before and after pictures at the Cambridge Common.

This outrage, of course, has been turned into a pittance on the Charles River, but it is a very visible outrage, an outrage very important and very familiar to a lot of people.  The Cambridge Machine cannot lie their way around this.


I am in the process of posting a 20 minute video on YouTube concerning the outrages of January and February on Charles River with a great deal of reality as opposed to what comes out of the Cambridge Machine.....