Open Media Boston - progressive news, views and arts from the "Hub of the Universe"

More Marriage Equals More Cake

superuser — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:38:41 -0500

Circumscribed Debate on Rising Unemployment Shows Need for Genuine Left Wing in American Politics

superuser — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:28:42 -0500

It's rather disheartening to see the way that the ongoing economic downturn gets spun in the news media. Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the official unemployment rate went up into the double-digits for first time since April 1983. Specifically, 10.2 percent of American workers - 15.7 million people - were out of work in October. Up from 9.8 percent in September. And that's just the narrow U-3 analysis of the job loss numbers. The more accurate U-6 analysis - that includes more categories of unemployed and underemployed workers - now indicates that we have 17.5 percent unemployment. One bright spot in this situation is that the Obama administration's BLS seems to be working assiduously to produce more accurate numbers than they did under the Bush administration. But the numbers themselves are dismal. The latest Massachusetts numbers are also approaching historic highs - 9.3 percent unemployment in September, and we'll have to wait for November 19th for the October numbers - but we can expect them to continue matching the upward trend of the national numbers in the near term.

Mass. LGBT Advocates Protest Yes Vote on Maine's Anti-Gay Marriage Question 1

superuser — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:49:01 -0500

BOSTON/Boston Common - Immediately following the yes vote on Maine's Question 1, the "Maine Same-Sex Marriage People's Veto," over 100 Mass. gay marriage advocates held a protest on Boston Common next to the Park Street T stop on Wednesday evening. The question was put on the ballot by Stand for Marriage Maine - a coalition of conservative religious and social organizations - to overturn Maine's recently-passed gay marriage law. It was opposed by the progressive coalition Protect Maine Equality. Both the pro- and anti-Question 1 forces had significant support on the national and state levels during the closely watched campaign - which was widely viewed as a barometer of the prospects for the success of the gay marriage movement around the U.S.

Google Dashboard Is Only a Small Step Towards Data Collection Transparency

Jesse K-S — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:48:06 -0500

Google is on the defensive in recent months, facing threats of antitrust action from the Obama administration, a concerted public smear campaign by Microsoft, and growing concern from its users over its panoptic and ubiquitous services. In an attempt to allay these concerns and convince Washington it isn't evil, Google has created Dashboard, a tool that brings many of a user's privacy settings and content from Google products onto one page. But while Google markets it as a powerful tool to manage one's privacy, the seemingly extensive Dashboard actually presents users with a limited set of the total personal data Google collects.

"Bravest Woman in Afghanistan" Malalai Joya Speaks in Boston

jmarinova — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:16:14 -0500

BOSTON/Dorchester - Malalai Joya, now 31, was the youngest ever woman elected to the Afghan Parliament in 2005 and is an outspoken critic of the Karzai government and NATO occupation. Press Pass TV caught up with Joya and supporters at an event hosted in Dorchester by United for Justice with Peace and Dorchester People for Peace.

Apple Lost an Opportunity to Innovate with Magic Mouse

Jesse K-S — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:19:23 -0500

Steve Jobs has finally done it with Apple's new Magic Mouse: the product is devoid of buttons. Instead of the usual left and right click with a scroll wheel, the Magic Mouse has a single shell that recognizes multitouch gestures across almost its entire surface, adding a new tactile dimension to the standard keyboard & mouse combo. Actually, the Magic Mouse's biggest problem may be that it's still just a mouse.

We're Not Allowed to Back Candidates, But ...

superuser — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:36:33 -0500

One of the vexing things about running a non-profit news operation is that the same restrictions that apply to regular non-profit organizations also apply to us. So we are not allowed to back candidates for elected office in this pages until we come up with some kind of legal arrangement that allows for it. I find this rather ironic considering that corporations are able to exercise huge amount of direct influence on government, and corporate-owned news operations absolutely have the right to back candidates chosen by their editorial boards. However, since we don't want Open Media Boston to become a corporation and haven't yet launched our cooperative (what coop, you ask? you'll be hearing more about that soon enough), we'll play ball for now. So residents of Boston, Cambridge, Somerville and other Massachusetts municipalities that may check us out from time to time should know this: we can't tell you exactly who to vote for in this week's election, but the editorial board of Open Media Boston strongly encourages our viewers to vote for the best progressive candidate you can find in any given contest.

Young Housing Activist at MAHT Housing Rally 10_31_09

superuser — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:58:14 -0500

Victory for Green Justice Coalition - New Mass. Energy Efficiency Plan Will Help Revive Working Class Neighborhoods

superuser — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:54:33 -0500

On October 27, 2009 Massachusetts adopted a $1.4 billion plan that will

* cut greenhouse gas emissions,

* create high-quality jobs in the state’s highest-unemployment communities, and

* provide up-front financing so low-to-moderate income residents can save money and do deep retrofits on their homes.

This is a victory for the Green Justice Coalition, a community-labor-environmental alliance that is less than a year old. Here’s how we won.

Housing Activists Rally to Demand Protection for Federally Subsidized Tenants

superuser — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:46:33 -0500

BOSTON/Hyde Park - A group of over 30 housing advocates - many of them tenants in apartments subsided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development - held a rally in Cleary Square Saturday in support of a raft of proposed legislation and treaties at all levels of government that would help low-income families remain in their current apartments at lower than market rates. The event was organized by the Mass. Alliance of HUD Tenants, a statewide coalition representing tenants in privately-owned, HUD subsidized apartments.