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New-format Olympics meetings: Fostering dialogue or minimizing dissent?

Protesters before the meeting in Jamaica Plain

Protesters gathered before the meeting.

The day after Boston 2024 announced their revised plans, organizers of a city forum on the games tried a new approach in Jamaica Plain: Splitting the meeting into three parts, to discuss different ramifications of the would-be games.

"They're separating us to take away our voice!" some protesters yelled at the English High School session, not far from Franklin Park, which remains the proposed venue for equestrian events and the pentathlon.

Representatives of Boston 2024 told the crowd that the breakout sessions were meant to facilitate dialogue, specifically on "Creating Open Space/Parks Legacy," "Envisioning New Neighborhoods" and "Planning our Transportation Future."

Director of Olympic Operations John Fitzgerald encouraged people to split among the breakout sessions but received shouts of "You lie!" and "When do we get to talk?" The largest opposition group remained in the auditorium to protest Boston 2024 representatives while the other two sessions were tense but quieter overall.

Mayor Walsh's 15-yearplan to add 53,000 units by 2030 was the major talking point of the Neighborhood/Housing session, presented by Devin Quirk, director of operations at the Department of Neighborhood Development. "We need to do more to ensure that Boston remains an affordable city for everyone of all backgrounds," said Quirk.

Meeting attendees were not satisfied that housing plans would only meet the minimum 15% affordable housing inclusionary development policy, while also giving tax breaks to developers. Boston 2024 representatives said that gentrification and displacement are problems everywhere, Olympics or not, and the opportunity of hosting the Games could be the perfect disruptive event to spark neighborhood development and renovation.

Many residents expressed frustration when told the Olympics could solve Boston's housing, transportation and infrastructure issues. "This Olympic thing is a total diversion," said Jamaica Plain resident Laura Foner. "It's really diverting us from how we want use our resources as a city and what kind of city we want to become."

Tonight's meeting was the sixth of nine community meetings; the next public meeting will take place on July 28 at the Mildred Ave Middle School.

The meeting also came following the USOC's meeting with Boston 2024 organizers in California. The USOC stuck with Boston, but said it wants to see better polling numbers for the games here.

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Comments

In other words, if you don't allow us to rape the taxpayer for this nonsense that will clearly only benefit developers and people who can afford to live in "Midtown", then just keep wallowing in the shit we've been doing as little as possible to fix?

Or am I oversimplifying?

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No.

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The word rape is not appropriate here. Do not minimize sexual violence by using language out of context.

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then you can tell me what I can or cannot write.

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.. is one of the funnier features of the stream here.

Lacking passion, lore to share or insight to add, they wait for a juicy bit of wrong speech or a chance to be right about some peripheral detail.

Scolding is an important tool. Some jump the gun and have to back pedal. You'd think they'd find a life to get or a way to shine but it just ain't in em.

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rape, noun: an act of plunder, violent seizure, or abuse

That sure as hell sounds what Boston 2024 is trying to do to this city.

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Like screw, f*ck, strangle, murder, destroy, or kill would surely have been much more appropriate and not would not minimize violence at all.

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You can write fuck.

As far as using the word rape in my post, I would be a lot more inclined to take all of these admonitions to heart if I had a previous history on this forum as being an ardent supporter of sexual violence.

I am not one of those people who allow a mere word to take the focus away from the core issue.

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I just find it strange that the term "rape" used in this context is considered differently than any of the above terms.

And I don't know why that considering I swear like a sailor I hesitate before typing certain words out in full, like maybe my mom is reading over my shoulder.

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At the first Mayor Walsh Boston 2024 community meeting after Boston 2024 released its 2.0 bid, residents of the City demanded the bid be withdrawn.

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Oh, please. People have used the word "rape" to mean a serious violation of all sorts of things for centuries. Just because there's a moral panic ongoing over the past few years about sexual assault doesn't change the definition of a common word.

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Did you go with "rape" after deciding "literally Hitler" was too over the top?

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... and or "pillage" be adequate to describe what is being planned?

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Using "rape" as shorthand for "swindle" is lazy thinking and writing.

(I agree with the gist of your comment, but yeah. Poor word choice.)

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Malcolm Tucker: [On the phone, about Abbot] Hi Tom, what can I do for you? ...Well, I didn't know what he was doing with his flat... No, I told him that fucking flat wou- ...But they're not running with this... No, well, I know, he- He's got an interview now with that Angela Heaney, you know, that twat bubble from the Standard... fuck, she's just gone to the Mail.

Malcolm Tucker: [to Hugh, barely audible, outside the "goldfish bowl"] They're running about your fucking flat. I fucking told you about that. Why the fuck didn't you talk to me about it YOU STUPID CUNT! How am I supposed to do my job if I don't know WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?! [door opens, making Malcolm's torrent of abuse audible] YOU'RE A FUCKING PRICK! AN ABSOLUTE CUNT, you understand that?!

[on the phone to a colleague about how busy he is]
Malcolm: I've got more on my plate than a spinster at a wedding. That wasn't a reference to your daughter by the way, Andrew.
[later in the episode, on the phone again]
Malcolm: Doug Hayes is a massive abortion. Again, not a reference to your daughter.

Your namesake seems to have no problem making his point in a non-PC manner, wouldn't you say?

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Malcolm Tucker, the crossest man in Scotland, uses a lot of salty language and vivid imagery. I don't have a problem with that. On one occasion, he did warn Nicola Murray and Terri Coverley that he was about to use some "violent sexual imagery" to convey how upset he was - but then he just said, "You have laid your first egg of solid fuck. You took a lump of e. coli and sprayed it out of your arse at 100 miles per hour" - something like that, anyway. He threatens people all the time - but actually using terminology or imagery that relates to rape is something that even he won't do. It's lazy, for one thing, and Tucker is anything but lazy; and it does indeed cheapen a horrific act to use it as shorthand or metaphor for something much less extreme.

From one cunt to another: let's think about our word choice. No one wants to nanny-state the comments section, but some bad words are worse than others.

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It seems people do want to nanny state the comment section. Because if people didn't, you wouldn't be taking this as an issue while completely ignoring the main point of the topic.

Let me tell you an experience back when I was still a middle schooler. I was bullied by some kid sometimes followed by a few others (fortunately he did not went to the same HS later, but the damage was done to how well people would perceive and my psyche as I looked back). He spent so much energy mocking and find ways to get under my skin. You know what two key phrases he use used to get under my skin? Insulting swear words? No. Threats? No. It was "Livin' Extra Large" and "Foxwoods". Two shirts I have to wear because back then my family was poor, no understanding in fashion, and I was fat. No use of "forbidden words", just regular words but I can sense all the malice and hostility behind.

From that experience that I understand that it is not the word in-and-of itself that hurts. It was what it implies behind. By the meaning and intent. Alone, it means nothing.

It is not the word in-and-of itself. It is the intentions and meaning behind it. Dvdoff said rape with no malice, derisiveness, or hatred behind it. All you're doing is increase its forbidden-ness that evolve it into a swear word will be much more undercutting when actually used with hostility and callousness behind it.

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1. I'm sorry that happened to you.
2. I agree with dvdoff's comment, but words - that word especially - have power. In this case, it has the power to derail the main point of his argument, with which most of us agree, I think - and there's no need for that. Other words would convey the same thing. Using rape as a metaphor, or a plot device, or a rhetorical device, is (a) lazy (easy way to drum up controversy), and (b) insulting to sexual assault survivors.

I realize I sound like a feminist killjoy. However, I don't think it's irrational or wrong to want someone not to resort to rape when it's unnecessary and distracting. If he chooses to continue to do so, if you decide to do so, if anyone decides to do so - all I can do is object, and explain why I think it's a bad idea. Listen to me or don't; I can't make anyone do anything.

Anyway, #NoBoston2024. I think we can all (?) agree on that, in this particular thread.

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"I don't think it's irrational or wrong to want someone not to resort to rape when it's unnecessary and distracting"

I don't think dvdoff was going to go out and rape people because he was so angry about Boston2024, so I'm not sure what was unnecessary or distracting. Would it have been better if he said "they're out to murder the finances of the city"? What about those who are victims of murder?

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Rape to me is a superior force imposing it's will on a weaker one. When the characters in Mike Judge's Silicon Valley were "brain raped", was Judge slapping the face of everyone who has ever been a victim of sexual assault?

Saying that I endorse sexual violence or have no respect for victims of sexual assault when I use that term to describe what the power brokers of this city plan to do to it's citizens is as ridiculous as those who claim the legalization of gay marriage is a slap in the face to both religious freedom and the Constitution.

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Rape to me is a superior force imposing it's will on a weaker on

Why is there so much resistance to using the word's alternate meanings or using it metaphorically to describe domination by superior force instead of its most common use, "Rape is nonconsensual sexual intercourse; it's often committed through force, threats, or fear"?

I think maybe because of the stigma born by rape victims and our confused hyper-sexual anti-sexual society.

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I don't think he was, either, nor do I believe I implied that I thought he was. If you don't understand why using "rape" (when "fuck over" would have been just as effective - and just as shocking, to some readers) is needlessly distracting, then I don't know what to tell you.

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Scroll through today's stream of posts here and look at how much space is wasted by hall proctors.

And it's their main way of interacting. They don't do useful. My main aim here is to augment Adams posts in areas I care about like real estate swindles, because I have all day.

I want to add value and back story. Imagine that.

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I have to agree I don't like the way they are wording their message either.

Problems of the Olympics is not the Olympics in-and-of itself. Unless you hate sports, there's no issue with Boston having a series of sports games. The problems are the stuff that been coming along with hosting the games. Problems like money to build facilities, space to house the athletes and other people, traffic it would bring, and other resources. Issues that are resolvable by planning, mitigation, and arranging funding that doesn't require our taxpayer dollars.

Questions would then we plans and proof of how things will get funded. Show plans where people will get houses. Offers of mitigation to trade off on traffic. Contingency plans for thing that goes wrong. Along with showing that, time to question, question, question to test the consistency and veracity of what is shown.

Immediately yelling back "You lie" and "When do we get to talk?" is not testing plans nor clarifying plans. "You lie" implies nothing shown would be believed, no need for questioning or testing, anything put out is fails out of the door with no opening to prove otherwise. Yells of "When do we get to talk?" on shows similar closed-mindedness rather than rational skepticism.

We have good reason to be skeptical, but skeptical does not mean immediate denial. Show me a good plan and some of proof you mean it. Show me consistency and I will judge on what is presented (which that I'm not impressed with what is shown with 2.0, but article doesn't seem to be indicating they judging by what the plan is showing, just advocating they don't want it regardless what plan is shown).

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The 2024 meetings sound like the Urban Renewal public meetings. Lots of lecturing by annointeds with limited opportunity for unwashed public comments.

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Just wondering, because the ones I've been to recently have been overrun with public comments including a lot of personal comments and attacks directed at BRA officials.

Maybe I'm conflating these too much with the Casey meetings, and don't get me wrong--I cannot wait until this Olympics nonsense is over, but flapping signs and shouting "you lie" is not dialogue or a productive way to get your point across (ditto chalking up White Stadium). And being asked to sit down at a table is not equivalent to being silenced or oppressed.

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The rules of the BRA meetings thankfully aren't being followed by the participants. The public wouldn't be able to say very much in the very limited time allotted if they obeyed the rules.

Are people being uncivil? Yes

Sometimes over the top obnoxious? Certainly yes

Is it justifiable? Arguably yes

Is it the only reason why the public is being heard when the powers that be already have their minds made up? OH HELL YES!

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Including emails, letters, etc. But when these meetings are dominated by people shouting and interrupting, any chance to ask questions or have any kind of dialogue is squelched and it just becomes a shouting match. Again, I don't know what meetings Anon is referring to but this has been my experience so far.

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The JP meeting had a new format, breakout sessions. It left less time for the audience to ask questions. I think maybe they should schedule more time to ask questions.

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This!

The format makes it seem like you are going to a chance to give more participation time but it actually gives LESS time for input and questions

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They peaked a while ago. It's a long downhill slalom to Hamburg or Paris.

I was even thinking about tiny Charlemont. My friends who lived there in the 70s were back to land Grateful Dead libertarians blending in with the hill people.

They have a dim view of Boston that dates back to Shay's Rebellion and are likely to be no more welcoming than Jamaica Plain.

USOC gave itself a bolt hole big enough to drive a truck through with 'polling numbers'. They can't be goosed. The cat left the bag. The boat was missed.

They'll either be static or decline further and that will be due, in part, to the obsolescence and conceit of team 2024 PR aligned with this stealth approach they now use.

I bet there a bunch of shills who made registered accounts here well before 2024. It's part of this senile PR system feeling its way around and you can tell cause they make trimmed 'message posts' rather than the more jocular or idiosyncratic posts from many of the beloved regulars like Cybah and Dvdoff.

The posts are framed as talking points parroted and the shills stay doggedly "on message".. Everyday people don't write posts with tight talking point bullets like mid 90s communications shills. It takes a certain training, now thankfully obsolete, to the dismay of Team 2024

And they are trying change ups. The Monday team used their accounts and got pummeled by the regulars while making fools of themselves.

Yesterday, they switched up and made up non account posts with fake local realty biz types.

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You forget, the Boston area rich people of the time (Beacon Hill, Hingham) won Shay's Rebellion and all Belchertown got was a highway named for him.

Fake accounts are all over these boards. There are a number coming out of some place that rhymes with Raygun Communications or Teegan Communications or something like that. I would love to stand outside Old City Hall and see the summer interns coming out for lunch with their wrist supports on to prevent carpal tunnel from typing B24 fluff.

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to make claims on the contents of my memory and experience. It's a cute rhetorical device though.

As to you're other point, yeah, that's what I figure. It's a transition time where the PR powers are crotchety and complacent from having it fairly easy for decades.

They don't really know how to use this system, best practices have fairly been codified anyway. There seem to be comment farms as an element where some of the shills get handed a set of accounts to work and they're off to the races.

This week was telling. On Monday we had the sock puppet accounts out in full force and they got clobbered. Tuesday was quieter with unregistered 'Joe Blow' posts as if they had a morning meeting about their prior piss poor performance.

Adam's shop really has become a pivotal place for trying to influence opinion, they just don't understand how to do it and it doesn't benefit him all that much, which sux.

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and dvdoff?

I can't tell

I bet there a bunch of shills who made registered accounts here well before 2024. It's part of this senile PR system feeling its way around and you can tell cause they make trimmed 'message posts' rather than the more jocular or idiosyncratic posts from many of the beloved regulars like Cybah and Dvdoff.

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I'm far from "beloved" here...

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And you make a great example of what a normal person post looks like. I'm trying to do a "Spot the shill" primer and I needed good examples of actual humans instead of PR hacks.

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... but only by the "registered and not a troll" contingent :)

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n/t

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Truly. You honor this humble servant.

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If you spend your trust fund money on a million dollar condo an actual poorer person was displaced for you from as long as you protest hypothetical poor people in other neighborhoods being displaced for someone else's benefit.

Keepin it real in JP!

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That's pissing me off too.

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Seriously, as a former resident of JP, I understand that some of the denizens of that neighborhood can come off as smug and entitled (but honestly, not most - most JPers are just regular decent folk, like most folk generally).

As far as I can tell, I've never met a JP resident who was living high off daddy's money. It seems such a weird trope to keep hearing repeated. Honestly, to my ears, when I hear anyone say it, it translates to "I resent people who are younger and have slightly more disposable income than me".

(full disclosure - sometimes I resent those people too. But I don't pretend that they're the slumming scions of corporate oligarchs.)

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Anecdotal evidence for sure, but the number of people I am friendly with that have trust funds in JP has grown from zero 10ish years ago to a handful today. It's less about trust fund status to me and more about the fact that JP has become overflow real estate for folks who would never have lived here 5-10 years ago. More and more I am hearing people mention that they moved to JP from Charlestown/Back Bay/South Boston/Beacon Hill. That migration pattern was not in place up until recently.

Still my favorite neighborhood in Boston and I feel lucky as hell to have moved here when I did.

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So a hand-full of trust-funded neighbors (just how does that come up in conversation btw?) and you assume you're surrounded by such?

I think most people moving from the pricier neighborhoods you mention did so because they don't have the large amount of money required to live there - from a trust fund or otherwise. It's pretty much the same progression I experienced in my third of a century as a Bostonian, ie (renting in)Back Bay>South End/Rox>JP>(and finally as an owner)Roslindale.

As much as we love living in Boston's Shire, if I was trust-funded (and not only did I laugh outloud when I wrote that, but I imagine my dad, thousands of miles away, did so as well for no reason he could figure) - I very much doubt I would have migrated so far west without leaving the city altogether. I suspect others with similar migration patterns have also been subject to boring old middle-class fiscal realities.

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... we moved to Roslindale because we could afford moving (to the Hyde Park edge of) Roslindale and could not possibly afford moving to Jamaica Plain (or even West Roxbury). ;-}

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Both charge 120+ thousand dollars for a credential that gets you an an oboe job for the Saskatoon Civic Symphony or an adjunct slot as a cello instructor.

So ask yourself.. who would blow that kind of money on a dud credential?

And many like JP.

To me, it is the new thing rich people do for the kid who isn't going to be running a trading desk at Goldman. It has replaced the role of the Cavalry in Victorian England as the place to park your kid who isn't a good bet for important stuff.

Billy Ruane was from the Sequoia Fund. I was his his personal assistant for a few years. Jerry, the Morphine drummer, is from Procter and Gamble.

Being a personal assistant to the trusted is a regular cottage industry here and I had a bunch of 'clients' over the years who were also my dear friends. Cambridge has a much better selection of trusts.

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The gentrification you describe is certainly not unique to JP. But the pace of it in JP is pretty goddamn depressing. And, yes, the trust fund contingent is large in my neighborhood.

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Do people just tell you "Oh, my daddy was very wealthy and so I don't have to work for a living"?

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I think it's a easy, dismissive shorthand for 'richer than me'. It allows people to assume that they are better than someone who is richer than they are because those rich people have undeserved good fortune. I'm sure it exists and it is depressing to see the Paris Hiltons of the world waltz through life, but I think it's a sort of defense mechanism by people who are essentially just jealous of richer people.

IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION - being richer than someone does not in any way make a person better than someone. But, and this is my point, it also does not mean they are necessarily in any way worse than someone else. Details matter people.

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But do we really care that the Paris Hiltons of the world are "waltzing through life?" Her life looks awful to me. Best of luck to her and the Kardashians, but there is nothing to envy there.

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Most of my friends/acquaintances and I are comfortable enough to discuss money with one another. And the people I know are not in the camp you cartoonishly describe. They received help from a trust/estate but still work.

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even without the Olympics.

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oh they are such tough guys!

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We're having a community meeting in Quincy to talk about the proposed beach volleyball venue. I am a long time resident of Quincy and who will very much be affected by such the Boston2024 spectacle. I will not be pushed into a breakout session. I would like my voice to be heard by all attendees.

Friendly reminder of how these meetings work: I went to one a couple of weeks ago and was referred to as a troll by Joe Rull, Chief Administration Officer, for Boston2024 for live tweeting the event. For well over an hour, he'd throw that word at me and even hemmed and hawed his way through a question about Boston2024's non-profit status because he didn't want it to be misinterpreted by the troll in the room.

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The meetings are a charade. Last night's had a number of city employees in the room as "supporters" filling seats. The push is on hard within the city worker ranks from higher ups to get on board.

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UHub roving reporter Nancy arrested for disorderly conduct

UHub roving reporter Nancy was arrested last night at the community meeting in Quincy after asking one too many questions about traffic flow and protecting the conservation area of Squantum Point Park.

Boston 2024 officials noted that she was too skeptical of the proposed 18,000 person beach volleyball venue slated to be built in the current parking lot of Squantum Point Park. Anonymous sources most definitely not associated with Boston 2024 claimed that she caused a commotion when she approached the microphone and began asking from a list of questions.

Other sources noted that she had previously emailed her list of questions to both Boston 2024 and Quincy's Mayor Koch to help them prepare for the meeting. **

Nancy will remain in jail until 2025 because organizations that oppose Boston 2024 do not have any money to post her bail.

** I haven't actually sent the questions yet. I have to do more research on what is and isn't protected conservation land. I have committed to Boston 2024 to email my questions to them before the meeting so they can get an idea of what residents concerns might be.

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The Neponset River Watershed Association just finished a major trail project there.

http://www.neponset.org/happenings/quincy-riverwalk-in-neponset-river-re...

I made a bunch of videos of the trail route before they cleared it.

From a public access point, it's another place out on a tether of roads that are no prize for large crowd things.

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They come in with vaguely grand plans and visions of this and that, and try to hide how much it will cost the taxpayer.

What they are really doing is showing people who have been told time and again that there is no money for the MBTA, no money for the schools, no money for infrastructure that there is money there or can be money there - but only for their month-long party.

And it is our money, and we know that.

What I hope happens is that 2024 falls through with minimal pillaging on the zoning and takings front, and people demand all the other things we need.

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Massachusetts just isn't equipped with enough workable space in the Boston core or particularly exciting peripheral event locations.

Let's return to the rafting venue, cause it's such a sweet pick. The Deerfield River is wonderful. It's a great fly fishing locale, but it's no one's idea of a top 10 white water rafting destination and it is completely rural.

An Olympic level event there, at scale, would be a comparable imposition to one on Boston, maybe worse, and leave it even more trashed.

It's another case of a Hail Mary location pass tossed by hacks who lack any substantive understanding of the Commonwealth.

After that, there is the all important tanked poll numbers menace and general Boston area hostility that is running a better opposition operation on a volunteer basis than an entire regiment of well paid and credentialed shills and poohbahs.

By the time 2024 gets to costing and tax money, they're getting nothing from the Baker/DeLeo combine so that'll just send them tumbling into the ditch.

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In some places, like Athens, they had to built artificial white water courses, which is idiocy. In this case, the Deerfield or especially the upper dryway Dragon's Tooth run are pretty decent white water, (Class IV) where a minimal investment of infrastructure is needed- they simply need to get the dam management company to agree to the releases from the reserviors upstream. All in all, it's a rounding error in the budget compared to a 3 week stadium for 80,000 or an entire aquatic center - those are the budget busters.

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The rapids are a seasonal feature, with 32 scheduled water releases in season.

http://www.zoaroutdoor.com/dryway_ataglance.htm

It's like the Athens rapids turned inside out.

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Poster's Note: I know I posted this in another thread but I want to post it here also. People should read this article. First time the majority has spoken out.

------

At least according to this WGBH article.

http://wgbhnews.org/post/widett-circle-not-sale-olympians-owners-will-talk

The best two quotes from this article are:

“This is the place that feeds the city and the region,” says Michael Vaughan, spokesman for the business co-op in Widett Circle called the New Boston Food Market.

“Whether you buy a roast beef or a piece of chicken at Roche Brothers in West Roxbury or you go to dinner at Grill 23 or Legal Seafoods, more than likely it passed through the docks and the bays of New Boston Food Market,” he says.

“Our biggest frustration is consistently when anyone refers to the site as underdeveloped or underutilized,” says Vaughan. “We have 800 employees there, we have 20 businesses. We do a billion dollars a year in sales. We’ve grown 10% year-to-year the past 2 years.”

He says Widett Circle, owned cooperatively by the businesses within it, is NOT for sale or even considering moving. The city assesses its value at more than $20 million. So either Vaughan and his colleagues are holding out for the right price or they aren’t convinced yet the Olympics will happen.

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The New Boston Food Market's property is actually assessed at $2.0 million (http://www.cityofboston.gov/assessing/search/?pid=0801024030), not that it really matters since the cooperative doesn't actually pay property tax like a normal property owner. They have a so-called "121A" agreement with the City--the same type of tax break used by big developers like Millennium--which eliminates their regular tax in favor of an annual payment to the city. How much? We don't know, because 121A payments aren't made public. It's probably around a half a million a year.* If they are so proud of their "billion dollars a year in sales," how about they carve off more than 0.05% for the city. You can "salt of the earth" these guys all you want but like every one else they'll avoid their fair share of property taxes if they can, and they have their price. I wouldn't read any more into that news article than them trying to work a better deal. Rationally speaking, they might do just as well in a brand new facility bought and paid for by a master developer who will eventually put way more into the city coffers.

*based on current estimated revenue of ~$850K for Widett Circle minus $350 paid by ART Mortgage Broker / Cold Storage Company

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I'm curious to see if the 'breakout' format will continue or if the breakouts at English High were a way to divide and conquer the opposition in JP. Boston2024 did not get a warm reception at the meeting hosted by the Franklin Park Coalition a few months ago and if you follow social media at all, it's obvious that JP is home to several of the more vocal opponents. On the one hand, the breakouts appear to be a good way to get down to brass tacks on some of the issues surrounding this boondoogle. If they are going to continue with the breakouts, then the meetings should all come back together and a summary of what was discussed at each breakout be presented to everyone.

What I could not determine from last night, other than Nikko - who from Boston2024 was present?

One interesting take away, Fitzy said he took his job as watch dog of 2024 seriuosly. If so, then why hasn't he read the bid? Or demanded the bid?

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in front of Marty Walsh's house by BLM and associates? To protest the Olympic bid?

I'm scratching my head wondering how this group can go any further off the rails. Especially when this Olympics bid was a long shot to begin with and will, I believe, naturally fall to pieces due to lack of public support, infrastructure and logistical challenges, etc. These groups seem highly skilled at a. Making a tempest in a teapot b. Alienating every possibly natural ally. Right now BLM couldn't fill a good-sized table at the Olive Garden, let alone create positive social change.

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That's the conundrum faced every day by Daunasia Yancey. Media attention at that young age is a little addicting.

So what if she comes off like an idiot to most people, don't you have any idea how many other morons she's inspiring through her ridiculous policy of bothering people who are more than likely on her side anyway?

Hopefully, Yancey opens a bookshop in JP someday and gets out of the protest business.

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Black Lives Matter is not the same as the two no-Olympics groups.

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that he pull the Olympic bid. And no, I have no idea how these groups have meshed around this common cause which seems at best a distraction from more pressing matters, but it's what they seem to have on their mind these days.

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Which presumably would happen around certain venues in predominately black areas, such as around Harambee Park (and Franklin Park, I'd think).

I'm just saying it's not necessarily fair to blame/credit other groups for what happened on Walsh's block the other night (in what turned out to be kind of a futile effort since the mayor was in or on his way to Colorado at the time).

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"Daunasia Yancey, 23, founder and lead organizer of Black Lives Matter Boston, accused the mayor of being “pretty uneducated” about the proposal’s ramifications on the city’s poor.

“Our goal was to raise the conversation about the devastation that a 2024 Olympic bid would bring to Boston, and so if he is now willing to read the bid in full and to develop an educated stance on it, then excellent,” Yancey told the Herald.

“I’ve been getting calls all day. I think it was absolutely effective,” Yancey said.

Yancey said bringing a protest to the doorstep of a politician is a tried and true tactic.

“There’s a long legacy of bringing political protests to politicians wherever they are,” Yancey said, calling any disruption “a byproduct of protests.”

“The Olympics is going to disrupt an entire city and region,” Yancey said, “and so I would 
say if we can disrupt a street 
and prevent that, then job well done.”

I'd say Yancey was seeking out credit, wouldn't you?

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Need a Whole Foods? Athletes need to eat healthy,

I'm starting to support this just for the yucks.

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I just find it tangentially connected to the issue of racial violence etc and essentially an utterly minor, pointless distraction. BLM and Safe Hub Collective took very explicit responsibility for the protest at Walsh's house but apparently they couldn't rally more than ten nocturnal followers or be bothered to check his travel schedule beforehand.

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They could join the Westboro Baptist Church in protesting funerals. At this point, they are just about as credible, and relevant as WBC.

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The purpose of the protest was to call attention to one very important fact, Mayor Walsh is responsible for dumping this hot mess on Boston by signing an agreement, which he admits he hasn't read, that made Boston an official partner of Boston 2024, a private organization.

Walsh did this without consultation of our reps on city council and without raising it as an issue in public, nor did he run on it.

It has become exactly what detractors feared most, the biggest priority in our debate about an agenda for moving Boston forward.

Black Lives Matter brought their concerns right to his front door knowing he'd freak out, produce coverage of their protest in the Herald, and shine a light where they want a light to shine, right on Marty Walsh.

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All these publicity seeking morons had to do is check and see if the Mayah was even home, which he wasn't. He was in Colorado.

As far as holding Walsh's feet to the fire regarding his laying down for Boston 2024, it seems to me more intelligent and less publicity hungry people are already doing that, without disturbing a bunch of innocent people at 4AM.

Hashtag: needsleeptogotowork.

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The problem with the new meeting format, isn't so much breaking up into groups to discuss different aspects of the bid. The problems are 1) framing the discussion ONLY as if the Games are a done deal-there is no discussion of whether we want the bid or not 2) tightly restraining the "conversation" within a short list of questions posed by Boston2024 not by the citizens who attend the meetings and will have to deal with the disruptions caused by these sort of events. These meetings are Boston2024 propaganda, allegedly hosted by the city, meant primarily to convince us this is a good idea-not to actually discuss the merits of the bid and listen to Bostonians' views about the bid. If the city was actually interested in the opinion of Bostonians there would a vote at the end of every meeting. This past meeting wasn't really about the games it was an effort to co-opt Boston history (Olmstead and the Emerald Necklace, ironic considering they were willing to destroy the Common & Public Garden until recently) and weld it onto the bid. And show off grand plans for a future they envision of Widett Cir ans a mid-rise fortress community walled off from the South End & South Boston. They spent a lot of time taking about tax revenue, of course much of that revenue is decades away, if they developers don't default, since the developers would demand huge tax breaks. All in all it was simply a different marketing approach rather than an actual new plan.

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