What is the Role of Media in Our Democracy? Is the media contributing to the division between the left and the right? How will Donald Trump’s Presidency affect news coverage? How (or should) the media respond to accusations that they are distributing “fake” news? Does the desire to appear neutral create an environment where false …
Moving from BRTto LRT (light rail)
Will, I met you about two years ago at the Faneuil library in Brighton with my friend Frank who lives in Belmont. While his concerns were mainly fraud in municipal bonds, mine were transit. Here is a site you may want to check for transit based information: http://www.nmrails.org/ Thanks, Bill Aldrich
Health Care — a coming concern
The Trump health care changes may not take effect until 2020, but even without those changes the Massachusetts health care model is under stress.
MBTA Service Cuts
The MBTA has proposed to cut services to balance its budget. While I do not endorse any of the cuts, I do feel we need to let the MBTA board work through the hard choices it has to make.
Proposed cuts to commuter rail service
I just read this article from the Globe on proposed cuts to weekend commuter rail service, the Ride, and privatizing MBTA garages: http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/03/13/mbta-could-cut-all-weekend-commuter-rail-service-certain-trips-for-disabled-riders/xMzKjWs1XXXgKivZzTDAZP/story.html#comments Seems like cutting service isn’t the same as “fixing.” Of course it saves money, but it no longer accomplishes its goal. The goal of making it cheaper to run the MBTA shouldn’t …
Some Stats on Criminal Justice
As the conversation about criminal justice reform heats up, some numbers are helpful for putting things in perspective. As I share in this post, Massachusetts has the third lowest incarceration rate among the 50 states–but we lock up 4 to 5 times as many people as we did 40 years ago. I want to share more on this critical issue, and to hear from you, at my upcoming community discussions.