Posts Tagged ‘Wakefield Human Rights Commission’
Hijacked holiday
When did Wakefield‘s official Martin Luther King Day observance turn into a partisan political rally? That’s what happened on Monday when two of the main speakers, State Senator Jason Lewis and State Rep. Kate Lipper-Garabedian, stepped to the microphone and hijacked this solemn event to bash the sitting American president with highly partisan speeches. There […]
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Tags: activists, audience, auditorium, crowd, First Amendment, free speech, holiday, inclusion, Jason Lewis, Kate Lipper-Garabedian, Mark Sardella, Martin Luther King Day, Memorial Day, Opinion, partisan, politicians, Politics, progressives, rhetoric, United States Constitution, unity, Veterans Daty, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Human Rights Commission, Wakefield MA
Future tense
If you thought 2025 brought a lot of troubling changes, you ain’t seen nothing yet! But as the old saying goes, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” So, for my first column of the New Year, here are some bold predictions for 2026. The town can reconfigure all the intersections it […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: 2025, 2026, Christmas, crystal ball, development, Donald Wong, driving, Edgewater Park, election, English, Fence Viewers, forecast, Forest Glade Cemetery, Hamas, housing, Humor, intersection, Israel, Jason Lewis, Jonathan Chines, Juneteenth, Kate Lipper-Garabedian, land acknowledgement, Mark Sardella, Moby Dick, New Year, No Kings, Opinion, Pleasure Island, Pledge of Allegiance, Politics, predictions, Pride, protest, radical chic, Sachem, Saugus MA, stop sign, Town Meeting, voting age, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Human Rights Commission, Wakefield MA change, Wakefield Public Schools, Wakefield School Committee, William Carroll, wreaths, Youth Council
It would be tedious and boring if it weren’t so dangerous. Another anti-Israel article will appear on Monday’s Annual Town Meeting warrant as a result of a citizens’ petition. It’s the third consecutive Wakefield Town Meeting that such an article has appeared on the warrant. The first one appeared on last year’s Annual Town Meeting […]
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Tags: antisemitism, BDS, boycott, citizens petition, divestment, Gaza, Hamas, hate, Israel, Israelis, Mark Sardella, Middle East, October 7, Opinion, Palestine, Politics, propaganda, sanctions, terrorists, Town Meeting, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Human Rights Commission, Wakefield MA, warrant
Much of the attention at Saturday morning’s Town Meeting will be focused on Article 4, the town’s latest plan to comply with the state’s so-called MBTA Communities Act, mandating by-right multifamily zoning in all Massachusetts communities served by the MBTA. Also sure to spark some discussion is a plan to put solar panels on the […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: anti-Semitism, antisemitism, Article 8, BDS, Fight Hate, Gaza. Middle East, Israel, Mark Sardella, MBTA Cmmunities Act, Oct. 7, October 7, Opinion, Palestine, Politics, solar panels, Town Meeting, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Human Rights Commission, Wakefield Massachusetts, WHRC
Hate globally, act locally
I’ve never been so glad that I got to experience Wakefield as a normal, working-class town, before the Home of the Warriors turned into the home of the social justice warriors. Wakefield’s official slogan used to be “the most enterprising community north of Boston.” (Try to imagine a time when capitalism was considered a good […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 12 Comments
Tags: Amherst, anti-Semitism, Cambridge, Climate Leader Communities, colonizers, Concord, Gaza. Middle East, Hamas, housing, immigrants, Israel, Mark Sardella, October 7, Opinion, Palestine, petition, Pledge of Allegiance, Politics, social justice, Specialized Energy Code, terrorism, Town Council, Town Meeting, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Human Rights Commission, Wakefield MA, Wally Moccia, war, Warriors
Human rights or resources?
The Wakefield Human Rights Commission (WHRC) has decided how it will respond to future human rights atrocities such as the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that killed more than 1,200 Israeli civilians, including infants and children. It will provide “resources.” This decision stemmed from questions raised in The Wakefield Daily Item regarding the absence of a […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 4 Comments
Tags: atrocities, Chabad of the North Shore, Gaza, Hamas, Hamas attacks, Holocaust, human rights, Israel, Jessica Sutich, Jewish, Jews, Mark Sardella, Menorah Lighting, New Zealand, Oct. 7, Open Meeting Law, Opinion, Palestine, Palestinians, Politics, resources, Sherri Oken, terrorist attack, Vigil for Peace & Solidarity, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Human Rights Commission, Wakefield Town Council, WHRC
Flagging allegiance
What happens when a community deserts its wounded warriors in favor of social justice warriors? The town of Wakefield, Massachusetts is in the process of finding out. On May 16, the Veterans Advisory Board (VAB) voted 7-0 to request that the town honor Flag Day “by flying only the American flag” from public flagpoles on […]
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Tags: activists, Ed Dombroski, election, flag American Flag, Flag Day, flagpole, Jonathan Chines, Juneteenth, Old Glory, Pride flag, progressive, Stars & Stripes, Town Council, VAB, veterans, Veterans Advisory Board, voter turnout, voters, Wakefiekd MA, Wakefield Human Rights Commission, WHRC, woke
Here comes Santa Claus
I’ve taken to heart recent advice from readers that I should “do a little investigative journalism.” And since it’s my firm conviction that the public has a constitutional right to know what their local officials and others will be receiving in their stockings and under their trees on Christmas morning, my digging has uncovered Santa’s […]
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Tags: Amy McLeod, Beatles, Christmas, copyright, Donald Trump, Dr. Douglas Lyons, Fence Viewers, Humor, Jason Lewis, Jeff Kehoe, Jonathan Chines, MAGA, Mark Sardella, Mehreen Butt, News, Northeast Metro Tech, Ohio State University, Politics, Sam Stella, Santa Claus, Shaun F. Beasley, Smart Brevity, Taxman, Unitarian Universalist, Voke, voters, Wakefield Bowladrome, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield Human Rights Commission, Wakefield Police Department, Wakefield Public Schools, Wakefield Town Council, Warrior logo, Winter Solstice, WMHS
Sentimental journey
So, it’s settled. A majority of the Wakefield Town Council gets to define what “Official Town Sentiment” is. The Council voted earlier this month to give itself the power to determine what constitutes Official Town Sentiment, at least in terms of which flags can be flown from town flagpoles as an expression of such sentiment. […]
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Tags: American Flag, Boston, Christian Flag, election, First Amendment, flag, flagpoles, flags, Humor, Juneteenth, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Mehreen Butt, News, Official Town Sentiment, Old Glory, Opinion, Politics, POW-MIA, Pride flag, Stars and Stripes, Supreme Court, symbol, Tom Mullen, US Supreme Court, veterans, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Human Rights Commission, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Town Council, Wakefield Veterans Advisory Board, Wakefield Warrior, Warrior logo, WHRC
Flagging allegiance
There aren’t a lot of human rights violations in Wakefield, Massachusetts. So, to justify its existence, the Wakefield Human Rights Commission has to find things to do. I just wish they’d stick to discussing their favorite Girl Scout Cookies and leave our country’s flag, holidays and traditions alone. The Wakefield Human Rights Commission (WHRC) recently […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 4 Comments
Tags: America, Americal Civic Center, Edward Dombroski Jr., flagpoles, flags US flag, genocide, Girl Scout Cookies, History, Humor, immigrants, inclusive, Indians, Indigenous People, Juneteenth, land acknowledgement, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Native Americans, Old Glory, Opinion, oppression, patriotism, Politics, POW-MIA flag, Pride flag, School Committee, Stars & Stripes, Thomas A. Mullen, Town Council, United States, veterans, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Human Rights Commission, Wakefield Town Council, Wakefield Warrior Logo, welcoming, WHRC, woke, wokeism, wokism, Youth Council
Mark Sardella 