The difference between the “old” Red Sox and the “new” Red Sox can best be summed up like this:
The “old” Sox continually found increasingly improbable ways to lose.
The “new” Sox continually find increasingly improbable ways to win.
While last night was messy (we should have had it in the 9th), anything in the W column counts in September.
We all know Boston has a long and troubled history with regards to public schools and busing and that kind of thing. Recently, a local task force has determined that Boston should try to go back to the neighborhood schools concept with elementary and middle schools (article here).
If I understand the article correctly, the city will be divided into several zones. Parents will have the option of choosing a particular school within their zone as their first choice. Their second choice will be a school outside of their zone. People living within 1/4 mile of a zone border will have the option of choosing from either zone. Fifty percent of the school’s seats will be reserved for children who are able to walk to school.
I like this idea. There are about four or five elementary schools within walking distance of my house. If I lived here and had a kid, I would love for my kid to be able to walk to school — I would hate for him/her to be bussed all the way to, say, West Roxbury. I was lucky as a kid to be able to walk or have a short bus ride to school, but of course, I lived in a teeny suburb so I had that option.
Granted, there are many schools in the poorer neighborhoods that are not up to speed. Parents still have a chance to get their kid into a better school in the city, but it’s no guarantee. I would like to see some kind of pledge, or something, that says, “As we work in this zoning system, we will improve those schools in the poorer neighborhoods that are failing.” Yes, yes, easier said than done, I know. I think their hearts are in the right place, though.
Every now and then (okay, far too frequently) I tune into WTKK’s afternoon call-in program on the ride home — Jay Severin’s Extreme Games. Although he is often less of a right-wing shill than blowhards like Limbaugh, Carr, Hannity, and O’Reilly, his comments yesterday were some of the most disgusting I’ve heard on the radio.
He advocated that the US government make an announcement to the world that if terrorists attack the US (or even our troops in Iraq, if I remember correctly), then our Air Force will immediately drop a nuclear weapon on the holy shrines at Mecca and Medina. If it continues, we move onto other cities in the Muslim world. Apparently, he has said this before, according to this moron’s blog.
Not only is this immoral, but it is not going to resolve the issue. What terrorist would hang out in one of the cities targeted for destruction? The people blowing up themselves and innocents in order to get at the US are not likely to stop their actions in order to save the holy sites. They’ve already proven that they hate the US more than they love their fellow Muslims or their holy sites.
Not only is it immoral and not likely to stop Islamic extremist violence, but it is also based on a fallacious view of history. Severin says that this ultimatum is a variation of the solution that Kennedy used in the Cuban Missile Crisis, in which Kennedy announced that any attack from Cuba would require a US retaliation against the Soviet Union. Let’s set aside the fact that the analogy is lame: the missiles in Cuba were placed there by the Soviets and the terrorism is not being put in place by the people of Mecca. The bottom line is that the Cuban Missile Crisis was not solved by an ultimatum, but by diplomacy. Kennedy made a deal with Khrushchev. The US removed missiles aimed at the USSR from Turkey and promised not to attempt to invade Cuba again (”Bay of Pigs”) in exchange for the removal of the Soviet missiles from Cuba.
And the worst part is he calls himself and his dopey listeners “The Best and Brightest.”
One of the best times you can have Downtown on a Tuesday night is at the Elephant & Castle, which hosts a weekly trivia competition. Teams of up to five players compete for prizes from 6:30-8:30, and it is a fierce battle nearly every time.
The questions are pretty tough, much harder than, say, “Jeopardy!” hard, but it’s always a blast. Next Tuesday (Sept. 28), the Tournament of Champions begins, with the final prize to be awarded around year-end.
And if you do come by, feel free to seek out the “Three People Who’ve Never Been In My Kitchen” team and say hello.
Elephant & Castle
161 Devonshire Street
Ph: (617) 350-9977
Just wanted to publically congratulate my good friend, Ken McGlothin, on doing a great job calling the third inning of tonight’s Red Sox game on NESN. He was the winner of the Sam Adams Announcer for an Inning contest. I personally thought he did a great job, but I am biased. Anyone else see it? What were your thoughts?
…at least on this front. Just to let the whole world know at this point, my wife is pregnant with our very first child….Dude, out of my skin excited! In any case, I think a celebration at PF Changs on Bolyston St. is in order.
…if anyone is interested in getting info on these & other interesting upcoming events, go to Boston Event Guide and sign up for their email list, they don’t spam you and you can be entered for a night out on the town, or even weekends at Boston-area vacation spots.
you can help support Children’s Hospital in Boston by participating in the 2nd annual Park Square Stroll… however this event is much pricier: $50 in advance, $60 on Sunday. But the list of participating restaurants reads like a Zagat’s of Boston: Via Matta, Pigalle, Davio’s, P.F. Chang’s, Excelsior and so on and so forth.
The Beantown Jazz Festival, going on this Saturday afternoon in the South End, looks pretty interesting. $5 donation accepted
