Left In Lowell

Here’s living proof that its demise was prematurely declared.

Here’s what we have learned about the interrogation of detainees, torture, and the big reason, why.

• The government got some detainees from its war in Afghanistan (fought reluctantly by an administration hell-bent on a war in Iraq). They got some information from them through traditional, non-torturous means.
• None of that information tied Iraq in any way, shape or form with terrorism or Al Quada. That just wouldn’t do. They needed to find a reason to go into Iraq, dammitall.
• So they tortured a reason out of people. Brushing aside the CIA and its normal practices, according to a CIA interrogator who testified to Congress and other news reports, the contractors came in and allegedly violated our longstanding laws and treaties against torture, it appears, on behalf of one Mr. Dick Cheney.
  

  The truth is that when the CIA didn’t give Cheney the info he wanted about an Iraq-al Qaeda connection, he marginalized the agency:

  In the initial stages of the war on terror, Tenet’s CIA was rising to prominence as the lead agency in the Afghanistan war. But when Tenet insisted in his personal meetings with the president that there was no connection between Al Qaeda and Iraq, Cheney and Rumsfeld initiated a secret program to re-examine the evidence and marginalize the agency and Tenet. Through interviews with DoD staffers who sifted through mountains of raw intelligence, FRONTLINE details how questionable intelligence was “stovepiped” to the vice president and presented to the public.

• The CIA and the Bush administration “briefs” Congressional leaders on “both” sides.
• The Bush administration consistently lied, lied, lied to everyone about everything they did while in power.

So who thinks Pelosi isn’t telling the truth? Most people should believe she is in this her-versus-them moronic debate. Occam’s razor demands it, given everything that we know about the situation, don’t you think?

And yet, the media sheeples have once again, with rare exception, given in to the right wing bitch and moan brigade and now we have a slipping of the approval rates for the leader of the Democratic party in the US House.

Constant vigilance, people, these liars and cheaters are not done with this country yet.

Why hire a spokesperson if he/she is not going to talk to the press? The Sun’s Sunday Column reported that back on May 8th, they asked Sheriff James DiPaola’s spokesman Michael Hartigan a number of questions regarding Middlesex County Sheriff Department employee and Lowell School Committee person Regina Faticanti’s alleged use of a Department computer to make the alleged threat against School Superintendent Chris Augusta Scott.

To date, Hartigan has not provided any information nor answered any of the paper’s questions. So, why do we need a spokesperson if he is not going to talk to the press? Why have a spin doctor on staff, if you are not going to let him spin?

On her blog, Jackie answered the Warren Shaw-authored op-ed piece in Saturday’s Sun, “Does the school board model need an overhaul?”

Shaw , the long-time WCAP radio host, political commentator and former Dracut town official has been advocating for a while that the current election system and authority structure of school committees are ineffective at best and obstructionist at worse.

He wrote: “If you’re happy with the continuing battles over funding that take place in nearly every city and town in the commonwealth, don’t bother thinking about it. If it pleases you that in the same municipality, school-side employees get raises and municipal employees from firefighters to library staff go without, keep what you have. If you think that school board subcommittees should take unilateral actions that so infuriate their colleagues that they find it necessary to defend their rights by having a verbal exchange with the superintendent that transforms into a legal battle, maintain the status quo.

The recent allegation against a Lowell School Committee person was not the catalyst for this viewpoint; he has been talking about this for a while now. In this campaign, Shaw joins Kendall who floats the idea at least once or twice a year.

But Jackie reminds everyone that “cutting voters out of the process is wrongheaded and goes against the democratic foundation on which this nation was built. The remedy for good governance is what it has always been: informed, attentive and active citizenry who hold their elected leaders accountable.”

I agree with Jackie. The problem is not the structure. The problem is a disinterested and uninformed electorate. If we could only find a way to motivate, inspire and mobilize residents to vote during municipal elections. Look at the horribly, low turnout that our neighboring towns experienced during their recent elections. Lowell will not do any better this fall. As long as people feel disenfranchised, they will not come out to vote. And who benefits by general apathy this? Those already in power!

This op-ed by Sonia Chang-Diaz and Jamie Eldridge says it all: we are completely avoiding the real discussion about taxes in this state.

“Taxes” is often thought of as the dirtiest word in politics. Yet taxes are the way that we, as a society, pay for the things we value: education, police and firefighters, and public transportation. Each day we rely upon government services, public infrastructure, and state regulation, paid for by our taxes, in order to allow us to work and raise a family. What’s so dirty about that - and why are we so afraid to talk about it?

A fair tax system asks residents to contribute to the cost of government services based on their ability to pay - and few people would consider a tax system to be fair if the poorer you are, the greater proportion of your income you pay in taxes. But that’s exactly what more regressive taxes - such as a sales or cigarette tax - do. They ask those who can least afford it to pay more.

The crux of the matter:

There are also ways we could modify the income tax to make it even more progressive. Over the long haul, an amendment to the Constitution would allow the Commonwealth to join 34 states and the federal government in establishing a tiered, progressive tax rate system. But even this year, we could raise the personal exemption, increase the state Earned Income Tax Credit, or expand the Property Tax Circuitbreaker, so that more of the revenue we raise is coming from taxpayers with higher incomes, while lowering taxes for those near the bottom.

Even as someone in a not-so-low tax bracket these days, I heartily endorse an income tax increase, with a progressive regime to ensure those least able to pay are paying less, proportionately, of their income. And I endorse a constitutional amendment to allow true progressive taxation. The article is correct in that we are in the bottom half of states in regards to taxes paid as a percentage of personal income. We’ve gotten into that bottom half by the aggressive and short-sighted policies last few administrations and legislatures. But we got to be a strong Commonwealth, a wealthy Commonwealth, because of our prior history of investing in our citizens through education, entrepreneurship, and services to help those who need it help raise themselves up. That investment is waning, and so is our state. We’re losing population, our educational prowess is declining, and our universities becoming unaffordable and unattainable.

It takes investment in ourselves to make us strong. The loss of that is making us weaker. We need a fair and honest tax system NOW.

I just read Frank Rich’s op-ed piece in Sunday’s New York Times “The American Press on Suicide Watch” in which Rich makes the point that if we want to receive news in whatever format, we will need to pay for it, otherwise journalism will cease to exist.

He writes “… if a comprehensive array of real news is to be part of the picture as well, the time will soon arrive for us to put up or shut up. Whatever shape journalism ultimately takes in America, make no mistake that in the end we will get what we pay for.”

Rich is right, quality journalism requires financial support. The new media, including bloggers, fulfill only one portion of the need to be informed and engaged in public life. In recent discussion with friends, I predicted that this coming municipal election will be the last one the Sun will influence. The newspaper as we know it will not be around in 2011. There will be something there, a bi-weekly or weekly newspaper as well as a web site, but not a daily newspaper that acquires its income from advertisement.

If that is the case, how will the real journalists get paid? I am not talking about those who sit at their desk taking phone calls from their agenda-driven, inside sources or those who lunch with self-proclaimed power brokers, no I am talking about the journalists who go out everyday get the facts and report them with little or no prejudice.

What may work is what Rob Mills, the Sun’s crime reporter, is already providing the newspaper, both the hard copy and the web site. He blogs, tweets, has a facebook account, takes pictures and videos for their web site and of course, writes the story for the paper. He is, in effect, a one person media outlet. Would Lowellians pay for all of this information on crime and safety if it was not free? I think yes. But would we pay for articles, those that lack drama but are essential for a prosperous and flourishing democracy? Citizen journalists will only get us so far; we better find the formula that will work and find it quick.

The clock is ticking loudly.

Jenn Myers is reporting on the Sun’s web site that we have a new lease with the Spinners. By a vote 8-1, CC A. Kazanjian voting against it, the City Council voted to accept the new lease agreement. Last Monday the CC went into executive session to discuss the terms of the lease agreement with the Spinners’ organization.

The preliminary contract appears on the City’s web site as part of the City Council packet. Here is the link to the pdf file. Myers reports that the terms of the contract are $2.5 million over a 10 year period. I think the City got a good deal. I hope CC A.K. is just as demanding when other contracts for City-owned properties (i.e. auditorim) comes around.

With the City Hall transmitters failing to broadcast tonight, we missed some of the usual theatrics. If anything of interest or unusual occurred, we will post a video clip. Congratulations to all who made this happen.

It seems like everywhere I go, I am asked who is the Lowell Shallot? Lowell’s version of the Onion. I do not know who he is but I am as curious as you. In case you have not checked out Lowell’s latest blog, please do. The Shallot refers to his blog as a “satirist view of Lowell.”

Why such an interest? All bloggers can be critical observers and some of can be brutally honest, but he knows a lot about how Lowell operates behind the scenes, much more than the average resident; and yes, is not afraid to say it. How many of you understand the “significance” of Louis Saab, Frank Keefe and the City Center Committee. They, among others, were target of his keyboard.

However, he leaves his harshest criticism for the leadership of the Sun. His facebook site says he was born in 1980; that does not seem right. However, the dropping of “f” bombs here and there, leads me to believe that he may be. But then why would a 29-year old person have such a visceral reaction to Campy and Kendall? Some have told me it has to be a current employee or ex-employee of the Sun. I know it is not a current one as for ex-employees, I am not sure.

I know all of Greater Lowell’s other bloggers. This person remains a mystery. Not only is he knowledgeable about the inner workings of the City, both private and public, but he is a good writer and technologically savvy.

I think we should call in a profiler.

Yesterday morning after finishing my bi-monthly “blogger’s spot” on WCAP, I ran into Officer Tim Golden who was there to promote a summer program for kids of Lowell: the Student Police Academy. I never knew such a program existed. What a great idea!

The program runs for 3 weeks from 8:30 - 2:00 p.m. Incoming 7-8 graders attend from July 27 th - August 14th; incoming 7th and 9th graders attend from June 29 - July 17th.

The purpose of the Student Police Academy is to instill discipline, structure and team-work. The day begins with exercises. The Cadets take their classes at the Little Theater at LHS. Those classes consist of gang prevention, bullying, internset safety, drug and alchohol awareness, smoking cessation, ethics, decision making and the entire Grang Resistance Education and Training Curriculum.

Also the students will get CPR certified and First Aid Instruction; a tour of the Lowell Police Station, fire safety clases and demonstrations from the cannine division and the bomb squad.

Of course, there will also be opportunities for fun and games. At the end of the 3-week course, the cadets are given a diploma during a graduation ceremony.

Those parents interested can contact their children’s School Resource Officer or call 978-937-8943. There will be a mandatory meeting at the LHS cafeteria this coming Wednesday, May 13th at 6:00 p.m. Of course, the entire program is free of charge to children who live in Lowell. This is a great way to keep the kids off the streets while teaching them important life skills. I wish I was a kid again.

It looks like Scott is going to seek criminal charges.

The big question is, will Faticanti resign, or try to run for reelection with this hanging over her? If she really did something wrong, she’d be better off resigning now in my opinion. But I doubt she will. (Then again, even if she is in the wrong, I doubt she believes she is…) Honestly, if she resigns or is forced to resign, I won’t miss her caustic attitude, or her GOB connections.

The other school members are right - this can’t come at a worse time, with the budget situation ahead of the SC. As this is a legal matter, the courts will have to decide, but if there was truly wrongdoing on Faticanti’s part, she should be doubly ashamed of herself, as this disharmony could endanger our kids’ education here in Lowell.

I don’t suppose all this will be resolved one way or the other before the next election so we can base our voting decisions on it. Sigh.

(Edit: Not that I would ever in a million years endorse or vote for Faticanti, but I mean, for other people to base their decisions on.)

I watched parts of the School Committee meeting last night. As I had stated in a previous post,, the City Council Chambers were filled with cafeteria workers who were there to protest the School Administration’s issuance of an RFP to gather information in preparation for the budget discussion.

I will post a clip of the meeting as soon as the streaming video is posted on the internet. If you missed it, you miss some grandstanding, some misrepresentation of the facts, and you missed School Committeeman Jim Leary take the Mayor, Bud Caulfield, to school. If Bud thought that he was going to spin the facts and have no one attempt to rebut him, he tried it with the wrong guy.

So we had 4 School Committee people who wanted to be informed and we had 3 who “outraged.” Please save me the drama and put your time and effort to come up with a solution to this massive budget cut that is coming down the pike. Massive is an understatement.

The issue of the authority to issue an RFP was mixed in with the potential lay-off of cafeteria workers. It is easy to support $11.00/hour workers; not so easy to balance the books. Sometimes I wonder who is the natural constituency of the School Committee: the taxpayers of Lowell who want to educate the children or the special interest groups that take over the chamber halls.

Last night the Mayor mentioned that the cuts should come from “middle management.” He reiterated the same thing this morning on WCAP. Does the salary and benefits of “middle management” come up to $4 - 8 Million? And I want to know who these “middle managers” are? I want the names of the “big fish in the ocean.”

If you want the background story, here is the link to the Jenn Myers’ article that appeared on April 24th in the Sun. Dick twittered the meeting; here is the link to his tweets which provided the “live blog” of last night’s proceedings.

By the way the SC passed a motion to table the RFP until they receive an opinion from the City Solicitor.