October 2004 - Issue 4

Section 8 tenants bracing for a fight

“Fair rent” means “you can afford it.” “Market rent” means “you can’t afford it.” So what does “Fair Market Rent” mean? Leave it to the government to come up with a phrase like that.

Riverside abuttors present Harvard with alternative site plan

Abutters’ fierce opposition to Harvard’s latest dormitory construction plan led to an emergency meeting of the Riverside Neighborhood Association (RNA) September 28. Harvard’s community liaison guy, Tom Lucey, listened along with around thirty residents as Kevin Hill presented an alternative design plan on behalf of the abutters.

What do you want to talk with me about? ...Why are you hitting me?

Kenneth Thomas wears his hair in short, tidy dreads, speaks clearly and laughs easily, but never loudly. He carries a small, neat packet of papers and a book, a serious book about philosophy. Like a lot of people in Central Square these days, Ken Thomas has no permanent home.

Samson's back—and he's being tailed....

Emile Durzi is a long time Cambridge resident and proprieter of Cafe Algiers, a popular Harvard Square restaraunt.  He authored an essay about Israeli defense doctrine that you can read below.  Last spring, he was visited by two individuals who were very interested in his writing at his restaraunt.  One did not identify himself.  The other identified himself as Special Agent John Blake of Homeland Security.   Blake asked Emile if he was the owner of the restaraunt.  He then asked him if he had written an essay about Samson and suicide bombing.  Emile replied he had and brought a copy for each agent.  The unidentified one reviewed it and agreed it was not a security threat.    Emile said, "Maybe the person who complained should go back to school and learn to read."  Agent Blake apologized, saying “some in the Jewish community” are very sensitive about these things. He said to contact him if anyone gave him any trouble.  We are happy to be able to bring this thoughtful essay to our readers. —Aimée Smith

Carolina Johnson: fight to break out of a two-party system that's regressing

Carolina Johnson is the Green-Rainbow candidate for State Representative in the 25th Middlesex District. Johnson grew up in Washington State, in a small town north of Seattle, an industrial, fishing, isolated town on an island. She worked four jobs in order to pay for her first year at Harvard, graduateing in June with a joint degree in Social Studies and Women’s Studies. In Washington, she learned how to build houses. In Cambridge, she is a renter.

The influence of the drug companies

Over the course of many years the public relations efforts of former Cambridge resident, and nephew of Sigmund Freud, Edward Bernays, persuaded many persons that psychoanalysis was a credible medical practice. see John Stauber, "Toxic Sludge is Good for You.”

Charles River white geese being starved out

Friends of the Charles River White Geese are trying to keep the animals from starving this winter. There are now three lines of barriers on land and water which prevent the geese from feeding on the grass at Magazine Beach as they prepare for winter.

DA: Feds may still be watching "the Lafayette eight"

The Lafayette 8 are community activists with Homes Not Jails. They were arrested last April 14th while planting flowers and a small tree on Lafayette square at the intersection between Mass Ave and Main street. They are each charged with breaking and entering related felonies at the abandoned Shell station on the lot.

"I'm just a person who doesn't want to move"

Sitting at the top of the high steps that have led to her home for over fifty years, Jean Keldysz can survey the whole of Allen Street, and tell the story of each house and every family who have owned and rented here during that time.

Celebrating the life of Edward Silva Teixeira

Family, friends and community activists will celebrate the life of Edward Teixeira on Saturday, October 30 from noon to 2:30 at the Jorge Hernandez Cultural Center, 85 West Newton Street in Boston.

Nader vs. Cobb in the US Green Party—one view from the Left

Ever since the U.S. Green Party convention in Milwaukee, many on the left —both within and outside the Greens— have claimed that David Cobb's nomination was a takeover of the party by the Anybody But Bush (ABB) crowd. They think that the Greens are turning themselves into an appendage of the “Democratic” Party. At the same time, many dedicated Greens around the country have taken up the Democrats’ refrain about Ralph Nader being on an ego trip, running a right-wing populist campaign, and being financed by Republicans.

Pinkertons agency hired to investigate charge against MIT cop

On October 1, a Magistrate's Clerk denied probable cause after a hearing to determine if charges of assault and battery would be brought against MIT Police officer Joseph D'Amelio. Her finding is being appealed.