March into madness
Out of an abundance of misanthropy, I have decided to self-quarantine until further notice.
No, I’m not reacting to the coronavirus. I’m responding to the sheer panic that has overtaken the human population in the last week, including some normally level-headed leaders.
I’m in Stop & Shop about every other day under normal circumstances. But when I went there late last Thursday afternoon, I wasn’t prepared for what awaited me.
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Tags: Boston Marathon, bottled water, cancelations, Charlie Baker, closings, colleges, coronavirus, COVID-19, disease, economy, epidemic, hand-sanitizer, hoarding, Humor, hysteria, illness, Mark Sardella, misanthropy, News, Opinion, pandemic, panic, parks, Politics, quarantine, restaurants, schools, sickness, social distancing, Stop & Shop, supermarket, toilet paper, Town Meeting, virus, WakefieldMA
Three strikes for early voting
Just days after Tuesday’s Presidential Primary Election, voting is still much on the minds of the populace. I know, some of you early-voted the previous week because who votes on Election Day anymore, right?
I do.
Voting on the actual day of the election is just a weird personal preference I have. Don’t judge me. I’m not saying everyone has to do it.
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Tags: America, early voting, Election Day, Election Day Regiistration, elections, Humor, Mark Sardella, Opinion, Politics, polling place, presidential primary, reform, Same Day registration, vote, voters, voting age, Wakefield Daily Item, WakefieldMA
A rank choice
What do you call an electoral system where if your candidate loses, you get to vote again?
Some people call it “ranked-choice voting.”
I call it “legalized voter fraud.”
If a measure on the November ballot in Massachusetts passes, you can say goodbye to such quaint concepts as “one person, one vote” and “the candidate with the most votes wins.”
Say hello to “we keep voting until our candidate wins.”
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Tags: ballot, California, candidates, column, democracy, election, elections, electoral reform, Gavin Newsom, Groucho Marx, Jerry Brown, majority, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Opinion, plurality, Politics, ranked-choice voting, vote, voter fraud, voters, Wakefield Daily Item
The cost of learning
If there is one group of individuals about whom a discouraging word must never be uttered, it’s public school teachers.
Wakefield teachers have been without a contract since last summer, which you’ve probably heard as their supporters have been using social media and other means to spread the word.
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Tags: budget, class size, contract, DPW, education, Galvin Middle School, Greenwood School, Humor, Mark Sardella, negotiations, Norma Rae, Opinion, police, Politics, Public Safety Building, salary, School Committee, School Department, schools, students, taxpayers, teachers, Town Meeting, union, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Education Association, Wakefield High School, Wakefield MA, Walton School, WEA
The spark of youth
Massachusetts state lawmakers are currently weighing a proposal that would allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote.
In other news this week, the latest viral trend among teenagers involves partially inserting an iPhone charger into a wall outlet and sliding a penny down the wall onto the exposed prongs, causing an explosion of sparks, electrical damage, and potentially fires.
Fun!
In a sane state, the second story would shock some sense into legislators considering lowering the voting age. But this is Massachusetts.
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Tags: Ayyanna Pressley, ballot, children, elections, electrical outlet, fires, Harvard, iPhones, Jim Morrison, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, penny, plug, Politics, schools, science, Sen. Jason Lewis, smoking, teachers, teenagers, viral, votong, Wakefield Daily Item
Old school
Coming on the heels of the great news that the Greenwood School would at long last be getting a new roof came the even better news that the 123-year-old structure would not support solar panels on the new roof.
There goes the planet.
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Tags: bicycle, building, carbon footprint, Climate Change, coal, construction, cycling, Envision Wakefield, Global Warming, green, Greenwood, Greenwood School, Humor, Mark Sardella, Opinion, Politics, roof, solar panels, Town Report, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Memorial High School, walking
Condo Condescension
Since it’s the New Year and a new decade, it seems like a good time for your periodic reminder that Wakefield is not in fact turning into “Condoville” or “Malden” or any of the other haughty labels that the snobs on social media like to toss around.
What’s wrong with condos? Or for that matter, Malden?
Lots of people live in condos. Young people just starting out, older people looking to downsize, and people who either can’t or don’t want to deal with owning and maintaining a house. How do you suppose they feel when those who can afford to live in homes worth three quarters of a million dollars look down their noses at condo dwellers?
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Tags: apartments, buildings, business, condominiums, condos, development, downtown, factories, factories of Appeals, Greewood, housing, industrial, Malden, Mark Sardella, Master Plan, mixed-use, New Year, Opinion, Politics, revitalization, Tonno, Town Meeting, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Station, West Side, Zoning Board, Zoning Bylaw
Fixing elections
When any person or group tells you that they want to “reform” the way we conduct elections to make voting more “fair” and increase voter “participation,” your BS detector should go off.
Because when it comes to elections, one thing and only one thing matters: winning. When proposals are advanced to change how elections are run, the first question you should ask is, “Which group, party or candidates will benefit from these changes?”
People who say they care about voter turnout and making it easier to vote are lying. This may come as a shock to you, but people are willing to lie to win elections.
Another red flag is the label “nonpartisan.” When any group seeking to tinker with our elections goes out of its way to tell you that it’s “nonpartisan,” find a shovel, fast.
These basic principles came in handy as I read a study released last month called, MassForward: Advancing Democratic Innovation and Electoral Reform in Massachusetts.
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Tags: Bob Dylan, Climate Change, Democrats, diversity, election reform, elections, ethnicity, gender, high school, Humor, ideas, journalism, legislature, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, MassForward, MassINC, newspapers, nonpartisan, NPR, Opinion, partisan, PBS, policy, Politics, press, problematic, race, ranked-choice voting, Republicans, study, taxes, Tisch College, Tufts University, voter fraud, voter registration, voters, voting
Charging forward
If you thought the local plastic bag ban passed by the town a couple of years ago was bad, take heart. It’s about to get a lot worse.
The Massachusetts Legislature is considering a measure that would ban plastic bags statewide. The State Senate is now debating the legislation before it moves on to the House.
Senate President Karen Spilka announced the bill this week. Apparently, they weren’t able to find a 14-year-old girl to cry on cue about the sea turtles, so Spilka was pressed into action.
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Tags: ban, business, carbon tax, charging station, CVS, electric vehicles, electricity, environmentalists, EV, Farmland, flaring, food, fossil fuels, Humor, Karen Spilka, legislature, litter, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, MGLD, natural gas, Opinion, plastic, plastic bags, Politics, power, sea turtles, Senate, straws, Wakefield Daily Item, WakefieldMA, Walgreens
Neutral zone violation
If one thing is certain in this crazy, mixed up, gender neutralized world in which we find ourselves, it’s that you can’t win.
Literally.
The Wakefield High School Field Hockey Team learned that the hard way last week. The local girls got bounced from the playoffs by a Wayland team — that included boys. Would you care to guess the gender of the players who scored the Wayland goals to defeat Wakefield’s girls? Here’s a hint: Their names were Zeke and Aiden.
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Tags: Board of Selectmen, boys, chairman, chairperson, co-ed, coed, Ed Dombroski, female, field hockey, gender neutral, girls, Humor, Julie Scott, male, Mark Sardella, men, Opinion, Politics, sports Warriors, Town Council, Tri-Board, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield MA, Wayland High School, Wayland MA, women
