Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category
Happy traditional Columbus Day!
As every kid in America used to know, it was on Oct. 12, 1492 that Columbus discovered America. Most kids also learned the little poem that began, “In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” I learned it in kindergarten at Miss Hope’s progressive Studio School on Montrose Avenue. Do schools still teach that […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: America, Christopher Columbus, Columbus Day, explorer, Greenwood School, History, holiday, Hope Dillaway, Humor, Indigenous Peoples Day, Italian-Americans, Mark Sardella, Opinion, Politics, Studio School, United States, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA
Dear Wakefield High
In the run-up to the Nov. 8, 2016 election that legalized pot in Massachusetts, how many times did you hear that legalizing recreational marijuana would never lead to increased pot use among youth? I heard it dozens of times, in paid advertisements, in op-ed pieces and on social media. The level of denial that legalization […]
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Tags: 2016, cannabis, Catherine Dhingra, Cheech & Chong, driving, drugs, election, Galvin Middle School, high, Humor, legalization, marijuana, Massachusetts, medicine, Opinion, Politics, pot, potheads, stoned, stoners, Wakefield High School, weed, WHS, WMHS, youth, Youth Risk Behavior Survey
Name shaming
Wakefield’s inexorable slide from a proud, blue collar, working class town to the precious PC world inhabited by communities like Cambridge, Concord and Lexington accelerated just a bit this month when the Board of Selectmen decided that it would, after all, like to change its name to one that does not have the word “men” […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: Ann Santos, Board of Selectmen, Brookline, definition, dictionary, Ed Dombroski, election, gender neutral, History, Humor, man, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Mehreen Butt, men, name, Opinion, PC, Peter May, political correctness, Politics, Rena M. Colson, sex, Steve Maio, Tony Longo, Town Meeting, tradition, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, women
No win zone
Sometimes, the people in charge of things just can’t win, especially in the age of social media, where everybody’s a pundit. Recently, town officials announced several more initiatives to try to revitalize the downtown. Of course, it’s never enough. Or is it too much? Either way, the town is sure to get slammed for doing […]
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Tags: Board of Selectmen, business, business district, commercial property, development, Dog Park, Dollar Tree, downtown, economic development, Facebook, Malden, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Melrose, merchants, parking, police, pundits, Ralph Waldo Emerson, schools, signs, social media, taxpayers, traffic, Twitter, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, zoning
Food for thought
My horoscope for Saturday, Aug. 19 said that I would be faced with a difficult choice. As always, it was correct, which is why I base all major decisions on the stars. Everything good always happens on the same day. My dilemma on Saturday was whether to grab my Louisville Slugger and my mask and […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: America, Boston Common, Charlottesville, counter-protest, demonstration, fascist, Festival Italia, food, Free Speech Rally. Boston, Ku Klux Klan, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Nazis, new england patriots, police, protest, rally, riot, social justice, Tim Carter, United States, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA
Weeded out
The good news for the Cannabis Community is the Massachusetts Legislature finally finished tinkering with the law making recreational marijuana legal and Gov. Charlie Baker has signed it. The bad news is the first pot shops won’t open for another 324 days. But who’s counting.
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Tags: Attorney General, Boston 25 News, Boston Herald, business, Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome, Charlie Baker, chronic, CHS, Colorado, doctors, ganja, hash, hemp, Jeff Sessions, joint, law, legalization, legislature, marijuana, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Maura Healey, pot, Question 4, Town Meeting, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, weed
Our beautiful Lake
At long last, I’ve seen the light. I’m admittedly a slow learner, but it has come to my attention that some readers find my weekly entries in the space needlessly caustic. Some might say “snarky” or even “mean.” I was deeply troubled when I learned of this. The knowledge that my writing may have caused […]
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Tags: apology, civil rights, civility, column, constructive, diversity, hate, human rights, Humor, inclusivity, Lake Quannapowitt, marijuana, Matk Sardella, mea culpa, multiculturalism, Opinion, Politics, pothead, reefer, sarcasm, satire, sensitivity, snark, sustainability, tolerant, uplifting, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, weed, white privilege
Parade of days
A thought occurred to me while anticipating the Wakefield July Fourth Parade. As important as Independence Day is, it overshadows other early summer observances that just don’t get the respect they deserve. It’s like having a birthday on Christmas. Nobody notices. Well, I’m here to right this wrong, because fighting injustice is what I’m all […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: air conditioning, Canada Day, Cinco de Mayo, Climate Change, CNN, dog days, fake news, Fourth of July, Global Warming, handshake, holidays, Humor, Independence Day, July 4th, nudism, Opinion, Parade, Politics, Tom Brady, US Constitution, voting, Wakefield MA. Massachusetts, Wikipedia
Town Meeting highs and lows
Let me be the first to say it. Hot enough for you? I know, it’s barely 70 degrees, but after the February weather we had earlier this week, today feels like Death Valley. It doesn’t get reliably warm around here until the summer solstice. Then it’s summer until about the Fourth of July, and it’s […]
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Tags: attendance, Bill Carroll, democracy, Humor, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Open Town Meeting, Opinion, Politics, Reading MA, Representative Town Meeting, solstice, Special interest, summer, sun, taxes, Town Moderator, vote, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA
Mark Sardella 