Left In Lowell

We’re holding a canvass for Deval Patrick this Saturday, June 22, 10am - noon. We will meet at 122 Western Ave in Lowell for some quick training, then head out to several precincts in the city to knock on doors!

It’s not as scary as it sounds (it’s actually a lot of fun!), and everyone will go together with a partner, so please join us! Get to know your city a little better. And if you’re interested in other volunteer activities for Patrick, please email me (lynne (at) leftinlowell.com - replace the (at) with @) and I will put you on our growing email list.

See you there!

A friend sent me this cultural tidbit to post.

Short Attention Span PlayFEST
Atlantis Playmakers

July 20, 21 & 22 at 8pm, Revolving Museum, 22 Shattuck St, Lowell
Tickets: www.AtlantisPlaymakers.com, $12 in advance (by 7/15), $18 at door

“An entire festival in one night…Choose your favorites for the coveted Audience Awards

The Short Attention Span PlayFEST has been bringing original works to the stage since 1999. Each year we receive hundreds of entries from around the globe and select only the best for your viewing pleasure. True to its name, the directors and actors are given a limited amount of time to prepare each play. Come check it out - if you don’t like one play, don’t worry, you won’t have to wait long to see the next one!”

Buy tickets by tomorrow at the discounted price!

Just so it doesn’t slip your mind. 10am - noon, meet at 10 at 122 Western Ave off School St in the parking lot.

Margaret of the Citywide Parent Council has exceptionally awesome coverage of the July 19th School Committee meeting. Go. Read!

Everyone is talking today on the blogs about the “amicable separation” of the Goodridges, the couple whose lawsuit went before the State Supreme Court and changed the face of legal marriage in Massachusetts. A lot of people are wondering what this means for the discussion of gay marriage.

To me, it’s as simple as this: the right to a legal proceeding for divorce is as important a right as marriage. It is the legal reasons for marriage (state civil marriage, people, before you get all wrapped up in the semantics) which prompted the MA Supreme Court to rule in the Goodridges’ favor in the first place.

Imagine you are a gay couple. You’ve produced offspring together (adopted, artificially inseminated birth, surrogate motherhood, whatever). You own a house together, in so much as you can, you both have halvsies in everything. If you were straight and married, and things had come to the point where you couldn’t amicably divide things like child custody and house sales, you would turn to the courts. Now, the courts have not always been fair (like favoring moms over dads on custody for decades) but at least it’s all legal and can be sorted out. But gay couples, until the last few years, did not have the same avenues of the family court systems. Sure, they can take each other to court, sue, etc, but family law itself didn’t apply - they weren’t legally married in the first place, so they can’t have legal divorce.

This is why the Goodridges sued to gain the legal status of their straight peers…so that the legal, binding, and comprehensive rights of a couple stood up in the courts - whether that’s about health care, an end-of-life decision, the protection of children in the event of one person’s death, or even the use of the courts in divorce proceedings. It’s why the Goodridge decision was landmark, and fair. And right.

I can tell Lowell is changing. In all of my years living in this City, I have never seen so many people downtown taking their dogs for a morning walk prior to dashing off to work. There must a dozen or so every morning. And the dogs come in all sizes and shapes. Some are walking more than one dog.

These must be the new residents who have moved in the condos and are helping reshape and rejuvenate the City. They are welcome but their dogs are another story.

I do not think downtown Lowell is dog friendly. Also, are those condos large enough for a dog to roam as nature intended?

What concerns me the most is that these dog lovers are not carrying pooper scoopers; not even a plastic bag. So where does men’s best friend go to do what is required of them? There is not that much grass area.

I know that the downtown neighborhood association had some discussion about a public park for their children but they also need to work on a dog park.

I get a bevy of “stuff to do” arts emails in my inbox and I like to post them when I can. Honestly, I need a cultural writer for this blog, if anyone’s interested. Also, see KRS’s post below for Revolving Museum events.

7/20: Tyler Park Concert, 7-8pm, Tyler Park.

7/28 - 7/30: Lowell Folk Festival. Fri 7-10pm, Sat noon-10pm, & Sun noon-7pm, downtown Lowell. A can’t-miss of course!

8/3 - 8/6: Lowell Quilt Festival, between 10am and 6pm, citywide.

8/5: First Saturdays Open Studios at Western Ave, noon to 5 (some artists will be here during the hours of the Quilt Festival as well). 122 Western Ave, Lowell.

Add other events you might know of to this list, or email me and I’ll try to post them.

Added from other emails:
Saturday, July 22, from 11 AM - 12:30 PM: teens from the UTEC Farm Project will be presenting an agriculture and nutrition workshop at the Revolving Museum (22 Shattuck St., Lowell). Learn about where your food comes from as well as some basic agricultural techniques. Learn how young people are learning and building community on the farm. FREE STUFF too (potted plants and fresh produce)!!!

Also, check out some fresh produce for sale as the Farm Project teens bring their work to the Downtown Lowell Farmers Market starting this Friday, July 21st from 9 AM to 12 PM.

Questions? Contact Farm Project Coordinator Derek Mitchell at dmitchell[at]utec-lowell.org or 215-767-2092.

We’re holding a canvass for Deval Patrick this Saturday, June 22, 10am - noon. We will meet at 122 Western Ave in Lowell for some quick training, then head out to several precincts in the city to knock on doors!

It’s not as scary as it sounds (it’s actually a lot of fun!), and everyone will go together with a partner, so please join us! Get to know your city a little better. And if you’re interested in other volunteer activities for Patrick, please email me (lynne (at) leftinlowell.com - replace the (at) with @) and I will put you on our growing email list.

See you there!

TakeMassAction is reporting that Romney’s veto againt the budget for gay/straight alliances in schools was overturned, by one vote! Initially it looked like the veto would stand, but some put forward a motion to reconsider and a couple legislators changed their vote. I’m trying to find the roll call to let you know how your Reps here in Lowell voted.

It was close (too close) but still a victory for a viable program which helps gay teens and keeps our schools safer.

UPDATE: our roll call for our Reps on this override was as follows: for the first vote, all three (Nangle, Golden, Murphy) voted yes to override. On the second revote, two had yeses and one (Nangle) didn’t vote (presumably he couldn’t stay for the second vote but it’s unknown why).

I’d like to praise our delegation for supporting Massachusett’s gay teens against Romney’s veto of a very good school program.

Dear god.

Turkish officials signaled Tuesday they are prepared to send the army into northern Iraq if U.S. and Iraqi forces do not take steps to combat Turkish Kurdish guerrillas there - a move that could put Turkey on a collision course with the United States.

So does it seem now that the probable breakup of Iraq is pure fiction?

Diplomats and experts cautioned the increasingly aggressive Turkish statements were likely aimed at calming public anger and pressing the U.S. and Iraq to act against the Turkish Kurdish guerrillas. But they also said Turkish politicians and military officers could act if nothing is done.

We can’t even stabilize Baghdad. We’ve stayed out of the Kurdish north primarily because they’re somewhat independent and self-governing. Iraqi and US troops have the will and the numbers to even consider bringing more forces into the north where the Kurds live? (Nevermind whether or not it’s necessary. I have some issues with Turkey’s policy against Kurds.)

Don’t believe we’ve lost in Iraq? Read this heartbreaking first person account of life in Baghdad.

[Article via AMERICAblog. Iraq blog via BMG.]