Tag Archives: Massachusetts

How Is This Helpful To Americans?

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On Friday, The Gateway Pundit posted an article that illustrates the problem with treating people who are here illegally as if they are above the law. We need to remember that one of our founding principles as a nation was ‘equal justice under the law.’

The article reports:

ICE Boston said the Middlesex County Superior Court did NOT honor their detainer request and released into the community – without notice – a highly dangerous 53-year-old Brazilian illegal alien indicted on 10 counts of aggravated child rape in Massachusetts.

“This Brazilian national has been charged with some horrific and disturbing crimes,” said ICE Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons. “This is certainly not the type of person that we want interacting freely with the children of our neighborhoods. ERO Boston will continue to work tirelessly to arrest and remove noncitizen child sex predators from our New England communities.”

The article provides some background on the illegal alien:

“The Brazilian national was admitted to the United States in Miami, Florida, on Sept. 6, 2001, as a nonimmigrant with authorization to remain in the United States until March 5, 2002. He failed to leave the United States by that date.”- ICE said in a statement.

He was deported in 2008 and illegally reentered the US at an unknown date.

“On Feb. 12, 2008, a Department of Justice (DOJ) immigration judge in Boston granted the Brazilian national voluntary departure from the United States to Brazil. The DOJ immigration judge gave him until June 11, 2008, to depart the country,” ICE said.

“He voluntarily departed the United States June 6, 2008. However, he unlawfully reentered the United States on an unknown date and at an unknown location without being inspected, admitted or paroled by a U.S. immigration official,” ICE said.

The illegal was arrested again in Everett, Massachusetts on December 20, 2021 for the charges of indecent assault and battery on a child and rape of a child.

However, the Middlesex County Superior court released him into the community.

“The Middlesex County Superior Court failed to honor ERO’s request and released the Brazilian noncitizen from custody Nov. 23, 2022.” ICE said.

An elite ICE unit tracked down the child rapist and took him into custody on March 28.

Not only does the illegal alien belong in jail until he is deported, but the person who released him should be arrested.

Misplaced Priorities

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On Monday, The U.K. Daily Mail posted an article about plans to turn the  the former Chelsea Soldiers’ Home facility into a migrant shelter. The building has been vacant and scheduled for demolition, but the state now plans to re-open it beginning May 1.

The article reports:

Democrat Governor Maura Healey revealed the government will turn the former Chelsea Soldiers’ Home facility, which is vacant and scheduled for demolition, into a safety-net site in April.

It will be able to accommodate 100 families who are eligible for the state’s Emergency Assistance family shelter system, which has been operating at capacity for months. 

Residents of the Bay State, however, are furious that the former veteran housing facility is being turned into migrant shelter when on a single night in 2023 there were 545 veterans experiencing homelessness in Massachusetts, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Local Dick McGrath said on Facebook: ‘Is it me, or is there something wrong with putting migrants in the Chelsea Soldiers Home instead of homeless veterans?’

The article also notes:

Mike Junior said: ‘They were supposed to tear that building down but let’s put migrants in there, not our own soldiers, not our own people, not the ones who FOUGHT for OUR FREEDOM.’

Blake Habyan said on Twitter: ‘Illegals are being prioritized over American citizens. Who will they take away from next?’

Secretary of Veterans Services Dr. Jon Santiago insisted transforming the site will not affect services for veterans. 

Massachusetts has proven that we can take care of veterans and families experiencing homelessness in our state,’ said Santiago.

‘While EOVS formerly operated the building slated for demolition, this project operates independently and will not impact the daily routines or services at the Massachusetts Veterans Home at Chelsea.’

Wait a minute. How can transforming the site not impact services for veterans? If there are more than 500 homeless veterans in Massachusetts on one night, why isn’t the building being put to use for them? It will impact the daily routines or services at the Massachusetts Veterans Home at Chelsea because the migrants are not vetted in any way and there will be safety concerns.

Where Do I Go To Become An Illegal Alien

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Are Americans becoming second-class citizens in their own country? On Monday, Howie Carr, a Boston talk show host, posted a list of all of the freebies currently being given to illegal aliens in Massachusetts. The list is extensive, but I will post some of the highlights.

Some highlights:

GENERAL WELFARE COSTS FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS:

Free hotel rooms at $150+ a day.

Three meals a day at $64 per person per diem.

Free on-site medical & dental services (including condoms).

Special diet for Ramadan.

Free same-day dry cleaning w/free pick up & delivery.

Free housekeeping twice a week.

Free cell phones, chargers/charging ports.

Free tablets, IPads.

Free clothing, new & used.

Everyone got new free winter coat, gloves and shoes.

Free toiletries (tooth paste, deodorant, special “ethnic” shampoos, skin cream, aspirin, tooth brushes, feminine products).

“FOR THE CHILDREN”:

Free diapers, wipes, diaper pails, cribs, bassinets, playpens, baby bottles, baby formulas, free car seats, free new mother bags, playrooms for young illegals w/free toys & books which must be replaced often because of destruction.

SUNDRY FREE STUFF & SERVICES:

Free tax preparation at $350 per family. Even though next to none work, all will get big returns via “child tax credit.”

Free work-permit attorney.

Free asylum attorney.

Free MassHealth (Medicaid) coverage.

Free vaccination clinics.

Free WIC (Women, infants, children) cards, $400-800 a month on top of 3 free meals a day.

Free DTA (Dept. of Transitional Assistance) welfare checks… “family” of 4 pockets $2880 a month.

Free Uber/Lyft to schools, grocery stores, doctors’ appts., hospital, job interviews, entertainment.

Free public transportation, but nobody takes a bus when they can get a free Uber.

Free transportation to church, via either Uber or church provided.

Holiday parties.

Movie nights in hotel.

IF THE ILLEGALS EVER DECIDE TO LEAVE ON MOVING DAY THEY GET:

$30,000 in “rental assistance” over 2 years from state’s HomeBase program.

Free UHaul & boxes.

Free luggage on moving day.

Free new beds for all “family” that moved into new flophouse. Delivered free of charge.

Free furniture up to 10 items (couch, tables, end tables, rugs, etc.).

A free move-in package (plates, towels, cutlery, etc.) Up to $900. Delivered free.

Illegals get free tax preparation so that they can get child tax credit refunds from the government when they are here illegally in addition to an instant home starter kit. This is insane. What do our veterans and their families get?

Paying The Price For The Bad Policies Of Washington, D.C.

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On Saturday, Howie Carr posted an opinion piece at the Boston Herald about the impact of the open borders policy of the Biden administration. He shares the information provided to him from a friend and also from someone who is dealing directly with the results of the open southern border.

The article reports:

The other day, a former radio coworker of mine sent me this photo from the Holiday Inn in Marlboro with its vaguely ominous sign:

“Hotel Closed to Public.”

I tweeted out the photo with a brief explanation of what had happened. I was surprised when the photo got far more clicks than anything I’ve ever posted.

The next day, the “hotel” removed the sign and replaced it with something smaller and slightly less obvious.

“Hotel Is Currently Closed.”

The article then goes on to share the firsthand experiences of someone working in a hotel impacted by illegal immigration:

What follows is an account from someone who works in a different one of these “converted” hotels which are decimating the entire communities around them.

This report has been lightly edited to protect the source from retribution by the woke comrades:

There are 200-plus families, he begins, and more than 500 people currently living at the (facility).

It’s not only a roof over their heads and three squares a day, but “free” diapers, wipes, toiletries, free tablets and phones, free English lessons, state case workers making sure all entitlements are taken, free Uber and Lyft rides, free bus passes from (redacted).

All with no end in sight.

All are going to the (redacted) immigration office in Ubers… round trip is more than $130 per trip.

All get DTA (Department of Transitional Assistance, i.e., welfare) benefits, EBT cards. They have more expendable cash than I do.

If DCF (Department of Children & Families) says they need a crib, stroller, toys, etc., management is required order them. Everything is new and arrives the next day from Amazon.

They all have MassHealth, free legal services, free tax-filing services.

Most now have Social Security cards and many are getting work permits, as many have been in the “shelter” for months.

They are learning they can make more on DTA than from working.

The biggest cost that you can’t put a price tag on is the burden on the schools and public-safety budgets.

We daily have local police or fire at the hotel. Police have had to help with fights, guns, drugs, overdoses….

Please follow the link to the article to see what a disaster this has been for the people living in Massachusetts and other places where illegal immigrants are being welcomed.

The article concludes:

Import the Third World, become the Third World.

Elections have consequences. Catastrophic elections have catastrophic consequences.

The Important Story

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The list of Epstein Island visitors is important. I suspect there is also video evidence to back up the claims made by the trafficking victims, but as long as Ghislaine Maxwell is safely ensconced in her Florida Country Club prison, those videos will never see the light of day. However, there is a more important story that is being overshadowed by the focus of Epstein’s list of frequent guests and visitors.

On Wednesday, The U.K. Daily Mail reported the following:

  • Investigators believe a network of high-end brothels operating in the Boston and D.C. areas was a honey trap to ensnare politicians and government officials 
  • But whether the plot was intended to aid Russia, China, South Korea – or even Israel – remains to be determined 
  • Clients, believed to include members of Congress, military officers, and national security contractors, have not yet been unmasked and charged 

How many of our high-level ‘public servants’ were being controlled by people who intend to do us harm?

The article reports:

The brothels were raided in November and prosecutors said they were looking to charge 28 people in Massachusetts alone.

…Han Lee, the alleged mastermind, Junmyung Lee, 30, and James Lee, 68 – all South Korean-born U.S. nationals – were charged in November with running the sex ring. The three Lees are not related.

Han and Junmyung both live in the Boston area so the locations of four of the brothels there made sense. James lives in Torrance, a suburb of Los Angeles.

Members of Congress, military officers, and national security contractors who ‘possessed security clearances’ were among the steady customers at the ‘high-end brothels’ run by the ring, prosecutors say. 

The ring’s clients, who paid rates of up to $600 an hour, included corporate executives, professors, lawyers, and scientists.

…The probe into ‘their involvement in prostitution is active and ongoing,’ Department of Homeland Security Special Agent Zachary Mitlitsky said in a court affidavit.

A spokeswoman for the US Attorney’s Office in Boston, which is prosecuting the case, cited the same reason in declining to comment on questions about the prostitution ring, including whether the suspects had ties to foreign intelligence.

Experts interviewed by DailyMail.com suspect the brothel scheme was a honeypot. 

The twin locations where ring operators selected to set up shop is the first clue, a number of them said.

As the country’s political headquarters, Washington presents a target-rich environment for spies.

In the affidavit, investigators identified six ‘target locations’ where the brothels were based, four in the Boston area (‘Target Locations 4-7’) and two in Virginia (‘Target locations 8 and 9). 

The names on this list of clients are the ones we want to see because of the national security implications.

 

Policies Have Consequences

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Recently, The Epoch Times posted an article about the village of Ilion, New York. For two centuries, Ilion has been the home of a Remington Arms Co. manufacturing plant.

The article reports:

In the village of Ilion, New York, 80 miles west of the state capital in Albany, residents are mourning the departure of gunmaker Remington Arms Co. after two centuries of continuous operation.

Without fanfare, the company announced last month that the manufacturing plant would be closing its doors on March 4, 2024.

“I feel like a family member has died,” Ilion Mayor John Stephens told The Epoch Times. “My dad raised four kids on a paycheck from there for 37 years. He walked to work and carried his lunch every day.”

Mr. Stephens said no one expected the announcement a week after Thanksgiving that the plant was set to close.

On Nov. 30, at 3:26 p.m., the company notified village officials of the decision by email. The message noted that “all separations” with the village would be completed by March 18, 2024.

Likewise, the company notified its 270 employees that they would soon be out of a job.

The article notes:

Publicly, the company attributed the plant closure in part to a hostile political climate in Albany regarding firearms production.

“I am writing to inform you that RemArms LLC has decided to close its entire operation at 14 Hoefler Avenue, NY 13357,” Remington Arms said in a letter to employees. “The company expects that operations at the Ilion facility will conclude on or about March 4, 2024.”

The Georgia-based company said it would continue to make firearms at its facility in Huntsville, Alabama, which opened in 2014, a year after New York’s passage of the Safe Act, which created stricter gun laws.

The anti-gun political climate in Democrat-controlled Massachusetts prompted competitor Smith & Wesson to move from its longtime base in Springfield to Maryville, Tennessee. The company announced the opening of its new headquarters there in October.

The article notes that the town has been losing population in recent years:

Until recently, Remington Arms employed about 1,500 workers, whose wages helped support the local retail economy, said village public historian Mike Disotelle.

“At noontime, when the employees would go to lunch, there would be a flood of factory employees going to local businesses,” he said.

Mr. Disotelle said Remington Arms was one of the village’s largest employers and a centerpiece of the downtown economy. This remained true even as the village continued to lose residents over the course of several decades, he said.

In 1960, the village had 10,000 residents. Today, that number is down to about 7,700 and could drop below 6,500 by 2030 due to the slow economy, high taxes, and limited housing availability, Mr. Disotelle said.

The northeast is losing its luster because of high taxes, limited housing, and the high cost of living. There is an exodus from blue states to red states. We just need to remind people not to bring their blue politics into red states.

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

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On Tuesday, The Daily Caller noted that Harvard President Claudine Gay will remain at her job after accusations of plagiarism. This action does not seem to be consistent with the University’s Code of Honor.

The article reports:

The Harvard Corporation, which is one of Harvard’s governing bodies, announced Tuesday that they would remain supportive of Gay after a contentious Congressional hearing and accusations  of plagiarism, although the Corporation admitted that a review of her work found “a few instances of inadequate citation.” Harvard University has disciplined students for similar violations of its honor code, which prohibits turning in work that is “not their own,” The Harvard Crimson reported. 

I like the term “inadequate citation.” That term is further proof that he who controls the vocabulary controls the issue.

The article notes:

The Honor Council heard 138 cases of “academic integrity cases” during the 2020-2021 school year and 99 of those resulted in an “academic dishonesty violation,” in which 27 students were forced to withdraw from the school, according to the Crimson. There were 47 reported violations regarding plagiarism during the academic year.

“Students who, for whatever reason, submit work either not their own or without clear attribution to its sources will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including requirement to withdraw from the College,” Harvard’s plagiarism policy reads.

An approximate average of 18 students per year were forced to withdraw from Harvard between the 2015-2016 academic year and the 2020-21 academic year, according to the Crimson.

The article concludes:

Along with Gay, University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill and Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Sally Kornbluth faced calls for removal after refusing to say whether calls for genocide against Jews violated the schools’ codes of conduct. Gay and Magill both backtracked their comments, and the latter resigned on Dec. 9.

Harvard and Gay did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

When Teachers Fight Back

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On Sunday, The Gateway Pundit posted an article about a former teacher at a  middle school in Ludlow, Massachusetts, who was fired for informing a female student’s father that the school was secretly referring to his daughter as a boy.

The article reports:

A teacher fired over her concern for a student’s welfare is not going down without a fight.

Bonnie Manchester, whom MassResistance reported is a Christian, was sacked from a middle school in Ludlow, Massachusetts, back in 2021 after informing a female student’s father that the school was secretly referring to his daughter as a boy.

Two years on, Manchester is filing a $10 million lawsuit against Ludlow, its school board, current and former school district superintendents, and several former school employees.

One of the defendants, the school’s former librarian, is a woman who identifies as a man. She allegedly pushed books on children containing sexually explicit content, “either in the form of illustrations, explicit descriptions of sexual activity, or both.”

“Some promoted a gay lifestyle, others trans,” the lawsuit states. “All advanced a view wherein gender confusion, sexual experimentation, promiscuity, or all three were considered normal.”

It used to be that teachers were concerned about the moral character of students. Now it seems that many teachers are undermining the moral values that most children are being taught at home.

The article concludes:

When Manchester decided to inform the girl’s father of his daughter’s secret “gender transition,” the school launched an investigation into her behavior on the grounds that she had shared “confidential information.”

She was placed on administrative leave for several months as the investigation was carried out before eventually being fired after a decades-long career at the school. Her conduct, she was told, was “unbecoming a teacher.”

The school claimed Manchester had violated “a purely fictitious School policy of confidentiality that simply did not exist,” the lawsuit states, accusing the defendants of engaging in “invidious and egregious viewpoint discrimination violative of the First Amendment.”

The suit was filed on Nov. 11 in a Massachusetts federal court.

MassResistance reported that the parents of the female student also filed a federal lawsuit against the school district in April 2022. That lawsuit was dismissed but is on appeal, according to the outlet.

This case is taking place in Massachusetts, so it is in no way a sure thing that the teacher will win the lawsuit, but hopefully she will start a pattern of teachers being willing to tell parents what is going on with their children.

This Really Isn’t A Surprise

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Yesterday MSN posted the following headline:

New York abandons electric snow plows

The article explains the reasons why:

This winter, New York won’t be using electric snow plows. Failure of vehicle tests has caused the local snow removal company to revert to diesel-powered vehicles.

The New York Department of Sanitation had three years ago, requested several Mack electric trucks. Primarily intended to clean streets and remove garbage, one of these trucks had been fitted with a snow plow as part of an experiment. This decision was unsurprising since in the “Big Apple”, it’s standard practice to fit garbage trucks with plows.

The experiment was not successful. The plow, dragging across the road and the snow buildup in front of it, created substantial resistance. Moreover, the plow required almost constant movement, eliminating the option for loading pauses. Consequently, the electric vehicle’s power supply was insufficient for the demands of a New York winter, known for its heavy snowfall, as reported by the website.

…The report further detailed that after nearly two hours, the electric plow had to discontinue the route for recharging. While the truck was efficient for garbage collection, its performance significantly dipped when facing snow removal tasks.

I have a problem with one of the statements above. A New York winter does not have really heavy snowfall. The average yearly New York City snowfall is 40 inches (source here). The average yearly snowfall for Boston is 52.7 inches (source here). The average yearly snowfall for Concord, New Hampshire is 67.7 inches and for Mount Washington, New Hampshire 281.8 inches (source here). If electric snow plows are too wimpy for New York City, imagine how useless they would be in New England.

Don’t Mess With New England Sports Fans

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I lived in New England for 45 years, 35 of them in Massachusetts. I was there for the glory days of the Bruins and the Red Sox and the Tom Brady years. I can honestly say that New England sports fans are a breed of their own. Massachusetts is also a Democrat stronghold. George W. Bush didn’t even establish a campaign headquarters in my area when he ran for President! Well, sports fans and politics are about to have a major clash.

On Thursday, Todd Starnes reported the following:

Hundreds of Army and Navy football fans were booted from their hotels to make room for illegal aliens. And a good many veterans and service academy graduates were among those displaced.

It’s the big story Massachusetts where the government ordered hotels to cancel reservations for the upcoming football game at Gillette stadium.

Massachusetts has a “right to shelter law.” That means homeless people and illegals must have a place to stay.

Some 70,000 fans are expected and hotel rooms are a hot commodity.

One state lawmaker noted the irony that the home of the New England Patriots can’t find rooms for people that fought for the country because the state had to make room to take care of people who invaded our nation.

“We have veterans and military families being moved out of their reservations because illegal immigrants are living in the motel,” State Rep. Steven Xiarhos told me.

“They’re estimating about $45 million a month have is being spent,” he said. “Now, I’m on the Ways and Means Committee and I’m proud to be on that committee as well as Veterans Affairs Committee and Public Safety. Those are some of the committees I’m on. And, you know, this was never really planned on or budgeted.”

The article ends with a quote from State Rep. Steven Xiarhos:

“So they’re getting incredible benefits based on the Right to Shelter law,” he said. “Meanwhile, I have veterans in my district that are homeless.”

This is a classic example of the difference between America First and America Last. To borrow a phrase from Tom Bodett — When it comes to veterans and service academy graduates – America First will leave the light on for you.

This isn’t the first time the Democrats have taken hotel reservations away from the people who made them. In 2004, all of the law students who had made hotel reservations (up to a year in advance) to take the bar exam in Boston were kicked out of their hotel rooms to make room for the Democrat Party Convention. The students were then housed in the various colleges around the city which was okay, but they had made the hotel reservations first!

How To End Gun Ownership Without Actually Saying You Are Ending Gun Ownership

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The Massachusetts legislature is currently considering HD 4420.

According to The Boston Globe on Friday:

Representatives will gather in closed-door meetings next week to hold “candid discussions” about a 140-page gun reform bill that Speaker Ron Mariano wants to win House approval by the end of the month.

With the omnibus bill idling amid a House-Senate procedural dispute and national gun safety groups applying new pressure on legislative leaders, Mariano’s office scheduled a pair of private events for representatives and staff to talk about the proposal.

The bill stretches across a wide range of firearm-related issues, including where guns can be carried, the licensing process, the state’s existing ban on assault weapons, rising numbers of untraceable “ghost guns,” and training for gun owners.

Mariano told reporters on Thursday that his goal is to win House approval for the omnibus bill (HD 4420) before lawmakers take a traditional break in August. Asked about how the House plans to navigate a procedural disagreement with the Senate that has stalled the bill’s early progress, Mariano said, “I’ll look at the different options that are at my disposal” and try to pick one.

According to the National Rifle Association (NRA), here are some of the provisions in the bill:

As written, HD 4420:

    1. Institutes a new, broad “Assault Weapons Ban,” including firearms already owned by law-abiding citizens.
    2. Bans all federally legally tax-stamped automatic firearms.
    3. Gun bans on possessing any gun, loaded, or unloaded at:
      1. All state, county, and municipal buildings.
      2. All polling places.
      3. Any private property unless the owner has provided express consent or has posted signage allowing firearms on their property.
    4. Mandates Safe Storage laws.
    5. Mandates new training requirements including costly written exams and live fire training.
    6. Mandates registration of all guns and feeding devices.
    7. Mandates reporting of any modifications or new parts to a gun.
    8. Mandates serializing all firearm parts.
    9. Bans anyone under 21 from acquiring or carrying any semi-automatic rifle or shotgun.
    10. Bans anyone under 15 taking part in shooting sports and training.
    11. Places new mandates, protocols, and training requirements on retailers.

I am not a constitutional expert in any way, but this bill seems to be a way to limit law-abiding citizens’ access to guns. The process that a person would have to go through to get permission to buy a gun would be very costly and time-consuming. Most people would not want to spend the time or the money. The bill also totally overlooks the fact that only law-abiding citizens follow laws–criminals don’t. All this law will do is make more people unable to defend themselves if they need to.

Didn’t You Always Want To Run A Bed And Breakfast?

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On Monday, Breitbart reported that Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey is now asking residents with spare bedrooms or apartments to take border crossers and illegal aliens into their homes.

The article reports:

Gov. Maura Healey (D) is calling on residents with empty bedrooms in their homes and apartments to consider taking in border crossers and illegal aliens, WBUR reports:

Massachusetts officials are seeking residents willing to host newly arrived families in need of shelter. Hosts are asked to provide a room or apartment for a few days, until longer-term accommodations can be arranged. [Emphasis added]

A significant portion of the families in need of housing in the state are new immigrants. Many of those arriving in Boston have fled violence in Haiti and traveled through other states before coming to Massachusetts. [Emphasis added]

The article continues:

As Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr noted, Healey has not sent border crossers and illegal aliens to nearly any of the “millionaire destinations” in Massachusetts — like Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, Cambridge, or Newburyport.

“The Healey administration has released a list of the 28 cities and towns where it is spending millions on hotels and motels for thousands of handout-demanding illegals arriving from the Third World,” Carr writes. “Oddly, however, almost all the ultra-affluent suburban communities most loudly committed to celebrating diversity have thus far been unable to provide suitable free housing for the new non-working classes.”

Today, about 316,000 illegal aliens reside in Massachusetts.

There are many reasons I left Massachusetts…

The Cost Of Not Securing The Border

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One of the problems with the number of people who are in America illegally is that many of them drive illegally. Unfortunately, many of them have accidents while driving, some of them drive while drunk, and some have no insurance to cover the damage they cause. That happened in my community a few years ago when someone ran their car into one of the pillars leading into the community. Because the person had no license or insurance, the community had to pay for the repairs. The person who did the damage did not pay. As a result of some of the problems with illegal aliens driving without a license, some states have decided to issue licenses to illegal aliens.

On Monday, Breitbart reported:

Providing thousands of eligible illegal aliens with driver’s licenses is set to cost Massachusetts taxpayers some $28 million, Gov. Maura Healey (D) reveals.

Last year, Massachusetts joined a swath of other states after voters approved a new law that will make driver’s licenses available to potentially 85,000 illegal aliens living across the state.

Just for the record, according to those numbers, illegal aliens make up approximately 1.2 percent of the population of Massachusetts.

The article also notes:

After previously estimating the new law would cost taxpayers less than $10 million to implement, Healey’s office now reveals that it is likely to cost close to $30 million.

“In support of this new law, H.1 adds $28 million in funding to expand service hours at select RMV locations … new applicants will pay the standard transaction fees at the Registry, bringing in additional revenue that will largely offset these implementation costs,” Healey’s office noted in a budget memo.

The article explains why people who support open borders support driver’s licenses for illegal aliens:

Driver’s licenses for illegal aliens are vital for the open borders lobby because often when illegal aliens are pulled over by local police, driving without a driver’s license is the first criminal charge that can put them in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody for arrest and deportation.

In Fiscal Year 2022, states scored more than 17,500 drunk driving convictions for illegal aliens who were later arrested by ICE agents. Another nearly 11,500 traffic offense convictions were settled against illegal aliens turned over to ICE.

If people break the law to come to America, why do we expect them to respect the law after they get here?

The Classic Definition Of Chutzpah

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On Tuesday, The Hill reported the following:

The group of Venezuelan migrants flown from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., last week by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) filed a class-action suit against the governor and the state’s transportation secretary on Tuesday.

The suit provides a detailed account of how the migrants came to board the two planes allegedly under false pretenses, arguing the relocations violated their Fourth and 14th Amendment rights and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

People who broke the law to get here and are here illegally have rights? Wow. Does America have the right to arrest them for breaking into our country?

The article continues:

The suit, filed in a federal trial court in Massachusetts, asks a judge to declare DeSantis’s relocations illegal under the Constitution as well as federal and state laws. It also asks the judge to prevent Florida from inducing immigrants to travel across state laws by fraud and misrepresentation.

Did Martha’s Vineyard have the right to move them to another part of Massachusetts?

The article reports:

Alianza Americas, a network of groups supporting immigrants, filed the class action suit with three unnamed migrants DeSantis relocated, claiming the scheme also constituted intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment and fraud.

Boston-based group Lawyers for Civil Rights said its attorneys, who have been on the island since last week, are representing the plaintiffs.

Are any of those lawyers offering to house any of the illegal immigrants?

The article concludes:

The plaintiffs said the migrants boarded the flights with the belief they would land in Washington, D.C. or Boston, but they were told while in the air they would instead be arriving in Martha’s Vineyard.

They were also allegedly given a brochure that outlined support services in Massachusetts, but the programs referenced had “highly specific eligibility requirements” that the migrants did not meet, the suit said.

“Once the individual Plaintiffs and class members landed, it became clear that the promises made to induce them on the planes were in fact bold-faced lies,” it stated.

The migrants have since been relocated to a military base elsewhere in Massachusetts. 

DeSantis has said the flights were “just the beginning” of relocation efforts.          

I believe it is noteworthy that the migrants were removed from Martha’s Vineyard less than two days after they arrived. It is off season on the Vineyard, and it would have been very easy to put 50 people up in hotel rooms. However, that was not allowed to happen. I wonder if the year-round residents of the Vineyard will now take down their yard signs that say everyone is welcome here and hate has no place here. It’s very easy to welcome everyone when you are an island only accessible by plane or boat.

Civility?

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On Friday, PJ Media reported that a Volkswagen Jetta with a bumper sticker depicting Trump as Hitler crashed through the store window of a Lets Go Brandon shop in Easton, Massachusetts. There have been a number of Lets Go Brandon shops opened up in Massachusetts in Bellingham, Easton, Hanson, Somerset, and North Attleboro. I recently visited the one in North Attleboro, which is located in a building that was formerly a florist shop.

The article reports:

The store window was full of Trump flags. The car damaged or destroyed racks and tables of t-shirts, hats, and various forms of Trump plunder, but missed the one person who was nearby.

The police are still investigating the “accident” and no charges have been announced against the driver, a 46-year-old man from the nearby town of Raynham. He was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. No one else was hurt.

In a twist of suh-weet irony, the car also had a sticker with a quote by French author Voltaire: “Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.”

I hope this was an accident. I fear it was not.

This is the video of the incident:

Promises Made, Promises Broken

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Remember when President Biden and other politicians promised that there would never be vaccine mandates or vaccine  passports? At this point that’s just a memory. WGBH, Boston’s public broadcasting station, reported yesterday that Massachusetts Governor Baker, who claims to be a Republican, expects a state-sanctioned COVID-19 vaccination passport program to be implemented in Massachusetts and several other states soon. Is anyone surprised?

The article reports:

During an appearance on GBH News’ Boston Public Radio, Baker said a scannable quick response code, commonly known as a QR code, would show a person’s vaccination status and be made available for others to scan and verify.

“It’s a universal standard and we’ve been working with a bunch of other states, there’s probably 15 or 20 of them, to try to create a single QR code that can be used for all sorts of things where people may choose to require a vaccine,” Baker said of the passport program.

Baker showed hosts Margery Eagan and Jim Braude his code while in the GBH’s studios in Brighton.

“It’s my proof that I’ve been vaccinated,” he said.

Last week, new Boston Mayor Michelle Wu hinted that the city may implement a vaccine mandate for indoor recreation areas.

Baker defended the availability of COVID booster shots in the state, saying Massachusetts is providing around 55,000 total vaccination shots per day, including boosters, and has administered around 1 million booster shots. Baker compared that figure to the 80,000 doses the state was outputting last spring at the height of the vaccination push with the help of mass vaccination centers.

Baker said booster vaccines are available, but may not be in the most convenient locations for everyone.

“Now, they may not be in the place somebody wants to go to get one. And it may be a week or 10 days out or two weeks out before they can get one. But given the fact that we have far more demand now that we had a couple of weeks ago, we’re going to see if we can increase our capacity to do more,” Baker said.

This is not the freedom our Founding Fathers fought for.

Does The Vaccine Work Or Not?

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Yesterday Breitbart posted an article about breakthrough cases of the coronavirus in Massachusetts. The article notes that according to the Mayo Clinic vaccine tracker, Massachusetts is the second-most vaccinated state in the country. Vermont is first and Maine is third.

The article reports:

Data from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) released on Monday shows the average age of vaccinated individuals who have died from coronavirus is 82.5 years old and that 73 percent of those who died had underlying conditions.

The new data revealed 395 hospitalizations and 100 deaths have occurred from breakthrough coronavirus cases, according to a Boston Herald report. Breakthrough cases refer to individuals who have been infected with the virus after being fully vaccinated.

The article notes:

Massachusetts’ pandemic low occurred in June 2021 when the seven-day average of new overall cases was down to 64.

The department said in a statement that the latest breakthrough case numbers were “incredibly low” and “even lower” for those who were hospitalized or died.

“All available data continue to support that all 3 vaccines used in the US are highly protective against severe disease and death from all known variants of COVID-19,” DPH stated. “The best way to protect yourself and your loved ones is to get vaccinated.”

More than 4.3 million Massachusetts residents out of the state’s population of about 6.9 million have been vaccinated. One hundred breakthrough deaths, therefore, represent 0.002 percent of all fully vaccinated individuals.

The 82.5-year-old median age of the deaths is about five years older than the U.S. average life expectancy, which is 77.3 years old as of last year.

Every life is important, but the last sentence illustrates how ridiculous the fear-mongering about this virus is. If you choose to be vaccinated, that’s fine. If you have had the coronavirus, research indicates that you have immunity. There is no reason to be vaccinated. Take basic precautions–wash your hands, avoid sick people, and practice basic hygiene. However, don’t give up your freedom because of a pandemic that has a very low death rate.

 

 

This Is Troubling News

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Yesterday The Epoch Times posted an article about the recent outbreak of Covid-19 in Israel.

The article reports:

About 90 percent of new COVID-19 infections in Israel were caused by the CCP virus’s Delta variant, officials said, while adding that about half of the adults infected in the recent outbreak were fully vaccinated.

Ran Balicer, who leads an expert advisory panel for the Israeli government, in announcing the finding on Friday, said that the country might end up implementing another lockdown after opening up earlier this year, according to the Wall Street Journal. The fully vaccinated individuals were inoculated with the Pfizer COVID-19 shot commonly used in Israel.

The article notes:

Earlier this month, for example, nearly 4,000 fully vaccinated people in Massachusetts tested positive for the CCP virus, according to health officials in the state.

“We’re learning that many of the breakthrough infections are asymptomatic or they’re very mild and brief in duration,” said Boston University infectious diseases specialist Davidson Hamer, the Boston Herald reported. “The viral load is not very high.”

“Breakthroughs are expected, and we need to better understand who’s at risk and whether people who have a breakthrough can transmit the virus to others,” Hamer said. “In some cases, they’ll be shedding such low levels of the virus and won’t be transmitting to others.”

And on April 30, the CDC reported that some 10,626 breakthrough cases were reported in 46 states and territories.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says on its website that COVID-19 vaccines should work against the Delta strain as well as other COVID-19 variants.

However, the U.N. agency warned that  “changes or mutations in the virus should not make vaccines completely ineffective,” adding that if the “vaccines prove to be less effective against one or more variants, it will be possible to change the composition of the vaccines to protect against these variants.”

The Epoch Times has contacted Pfizer for comment.

Any medical decision involves a risk/benefit scenario. It seems to me that the vaccines currently on the market do not reach the level of benefit needed to protect the population fully from a virus that is only fatal to a particular segment of the population. I think it’s time to reconsider the push to vaccinate everyone.

If You Ever Wondered About The Insanity Of The Media…

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Recently MSN reported that the personal finance website WalletHub has named New Jersey as the best state in the nation in which to live. Just for the record, New Jersey was one of sixteen states that lost population in the 2020 census. (article here).

The article at MSN reports:

The report evaluated states based on five equally weighted categories — affordability, economy, education and health, quality of life and safety.

Of all 50 states, New Jersey placed number one in safety, fifth in the “Education and Health” category, and seventh for quality of life. The state did not rank as high in the other two categories: it took 32nd place for its economy and came in second-to-last for affordability. 

So a financial site chose as the best state in the nation to live in a state the came in 32nd for its economy and second-to-last for affordability. Wow.  Somehow I don’t think that choice reflects fiscal responsibility. I am sure they could have found states with reasonable numbers in safety, education and health that are more affordable.

The article at MSN continues:

Following New Jersey, the study rated Massachusetts and New York the second and third-best states to live in, respectively. Idaho and Minnesota rounded out the top five. The worst? New Mexico, aka The Land of Enchantment.

Massachusetts and New York both lost population in the 2020 census.

If nothing else, this article shows the contrast between the point of view from the ‘experts’ and the people who actually work for a living and live in America.

The Demands Just Get Loonier

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Yesterday Breitbart posted an article about the demands Black Lives Matter is making in Boston. George Floyd’s death was a horrible tragedy, but it seems that it has become nothing more than an excuse for special interest groups to shake down American cities.

The article reports:

The Boston, Massachusetts, chapter of Black Lives Matter (BLM) is asking that $15 million in American taxpayer money be spent on providing summer jobs to illegal aliens.

In a list of demands posted by the BLM Boston, the organization demands the city spend millions on creating thousands of summer jobs — some of which would be given to 14 to 22-year-old illegal aliens:

These are the demands:

We demand that Mayor Marty Walsh cut the police budget by 10% from $414 million to $372 million or less, including cutting at least $40 million from the Police Department’s $60 million overtime budget. Those funds should be reinvested in the needs of Black and Brown communities, including providing housing and jobs to people released from prison. [Emphasis added]

In addition, we demand that funds are reinvested in youth jobs during a global pandemic and economic crisis. The City should fund $15 million for 5000 summer jobs and 1000 year-round jobs lasting from September to June, including hiring 14-22 year olds, hiring undocumented young people, and providing grants to organizations. Mayor Walsh, CFO Emme Handy, and Director Justin Sterritt: meet with young people immediately to discuss protecting young people this summer! [Emphasis added]

The article concludes:

Every year, hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens are added to the U.S. population in addition to about 1.2 million legal immigrants who permanently resettle in the country and another more than one million foreign visa workers who arrive to take American jobs.

The results have stifled upward mobility in wages and employment for, specifically, black Americans. Research in the past has revealed that every ten percent increase in the immigrant share of an occupation reduces the wages of black American men by about five percent.

Likewise, every one percent increase in the immigrant share of an occupation reduces overall American weekly wages by about 0.5 percent, researcher Steven Camarotta has found. This means the average native-born American worker today has their weekly wages reduced by perhaps 8.5 percent because of current legal immigration levels.

I think we need to increase police budgets and give the police anything they need to keep a protest from becoming a riot. BLM obviously does not understand that the requests they are making would harm the black community rather than help them.

The Insanity Continues

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Boston Channel 5 reported on Friday that the MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority) will no longer provide transportation for non-MBTA law enforcement personnel to or from public demonstrations on MBTA buses, a spokesperson for the transit agency said. (How do they know where the law enforcement personnel are going? What if they live a block away from the public demonstration?)

The article reports:

The State Police Association of Massachusetts, which represents sergeants and troopers of the state police, said the vote from the control board was unanimous, “so as not to inhibit people from expressing themselves.”

“The MBTA has provided safe and reliable transportation, allowing for a single, inconspicuous vehicle to move our members,” the association wrote. “Further, the skilled drivers of the MBTA know city streets and can expertly navigate the movement of our personnel to where they are most needed.”

The union called the MBTA’s actions “shameful” that “overtly pander to the false rhetoric and anti-police agenda of the few.”

“These actions place needless hurdles to the protection of life and property, and they put the public at large at risk,” the statement said.

Robert Marino, the president of the MBTA Police Association, is asking for the transit agency to “respectfully request” the decision be reconsidered.

“Transit police officers have stood shoulder to shoulder with fellow officers from both State Police, the City of Boston and other communities, to protect both individual constitutional rights guaranteed by the First Amendment of protesters and the public well-being,” Marino wrote. “Our members as well as our fellow officers put themselves in harms way in order to protect the peaceful protesters exercising their rights and to prevent a small criminal element from hijacking the event.”

“We owe it to the peaceful protesters to be prepared and to protect them as well as property owners,” he wrote.

The State Police Association of Massachusetts also criticized a decision by UMass Boston, that barred the use of its campus as a parking area for police.

Just for the record, throwing a brick through a window is not ‘expressing yourself.’

The demonization of the police was fueled during the Obama administration. It was propagandized into a racial issue (look up the statistics–it is not a racial issue). There are policemen who use excessive force or misuse their authority. (I can cite a few examples I know personally.) However, the majority of police are people who want to serve the community, protect the innocent, and keep the peace. The current attack on police is another effort by the extreme left to destabilize our society. Unfortunately, in many areas of the country that effort is successful.

This Definitely Adds A New Twist To The Discussion

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On Thursday, The New York Post posted an article about an interesting discovery related to the coronavirus.

The article reports:

Coronavirus was detected in Massachusetts sewage at higher levels than expected, suggesting there are many more undiagnosed patients than previously known, according to a new study.

Researchers from biotech startup Biobot Analytics collected samples from a wastewater facility for an unnamed metropolitan area in late March, according to a report Tuesday on medRxiv.

The virus has a very specific genetic make-up that allows scientists to identify it.

The article details the results of the study:

“Even if those viral particles are no longer active or capable of infecting humans, they may still carry genetic material that can be detected using an approach called PCR (polymerase chain reaction), which amplifies the genetic signal many orders of magnitude, creating billions of copies of the genome for each starting virus,” Alm told the outlet.

The researchers, along with a team from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, analyzed the samples and found the number of coronavirus particles equated with 2,300 people being infected with the virus.

 But at the time of tests, there were only 446 confirmed cases in the region, according to the study.

“It was interesting that our estimation was definitely higher than the number of confirmed cases in the area,” said Mariana Matus, CEO and co-founder of Biobot, according to Stat News.

The good news in this study is that we may be developing ‘herd immunity’ to this virus that will make it much less dangerous in the future. When you combine that fact with the fact that we may have a cure, this is very good news for everyone who has been impacted by either the virus or the shutdown.

Waiting For The Next Step

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For thirty-five years, I lived about ten miles from Kraft Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. New England sports fans are dedicated–even when their team is losing. I learned to appreciate the New England Patriots (actually I am a Jets fan, but I learned to appreciate the talent of the Patriots). I wasn’t really surprised to hear today that Tom Brady will be leaving the New England team. It has been an amazing 20 years for Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air posted an article today about Tom Brady’s announcement that he is leaving the New England Patriots.

The article includes an Instagram post by Tom Brady:

The article concludes:

That era has finally closed out, and what an era it was. It was the kind of dominance that free-agency and the draft were designed to prevent by providing parity to the NFL. It seems unlikely that we’ll ever see it again, but that’s part of the fun of playing the games. At the very least, Brady earned that Greatest of All Time title, and we had fun watching him do it — even if many of us were wailing and gnashing our teeth while he did. No matter where he lands, it’s a long shot that Brady can generate that kind of dominance in the time he has left, but he might have enough to take a more complete team to the Super Bowl. Never count him out.

I will miss watching Tom Brady play. He made the game look easy.

 

 

I Had To Check To See If This Was A Satire Site

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The Washington Examiner reported yesterday that Massachusetts Representative Ayanna Pressley, a member of the ‘squad’ that includes Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, and Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, has stated that now is the time to commute the sentences of some federal prisoners who are vulnerable to the coronavirus outbreak. Well, wait a minute. Prison might be one of the safest places right now if access to the prison is controlled. The virus does not come from nowhere–someone has to come in contact with someone who has it or is in the process of coming down with it. It cannot simply walk into a prison without being carried by a person. If prisons are kept secure, there is no reason for anyone to be in danger of contracting the virus.

The article quotes her statement:

“This pandemic, COVID-19, has certainly highlighted and exasperated every socio, ratio, and political fault line in our country. And I’m just advocating to make sure that when we are talking about those that are most vulnerable, our low-income residents and citizens, those experiencing homelessness, our seniors, that we are also including the incarcerated men and women, who are certainly amongst one of the most vulnerable populations. And given the crowding and overpopulating in our prisons for a confluence of other reasons … are an ecosystem in a petri dish for the spreading of this pandemic, which is why I partnered with my colleagues, Reps. [Nydia] Velasquez, [Alexandria] Ocasio-Cortez, and [Rashida] Tlaib, to lobby the Bureau of Prisons to use their full power and to communicate guidance for how we will contain and mitigate this epidemic behind the wall,” she said.

…“Specifically, do they have access to testing? Secondly, has anyone already tested positive, and what are the quarantine measures? Again, given the overpopulating, and the fact that many of these facilities are already subpar, and that incarcerated men and women do not have access to soap, to alcohol-based hand sanitizers, and to regular showers: You know, what is the guidance both for those that are incarcerated and for staff?” said Pressley, who also mentioned exacting “clemency” to take care of the “most vulnerable” inmates.

Why are Democrats so anxious to put criminals back on the streets? There probably are situations where clemency might be a good idea, but the idea of letting a large number of criminals out could potentially put more Americans in danger due to criminal activity. Oddly enough, it might also put the former prisoners at higher risk for the coronavirus.

A Democrat Member Of The House Ethics Committee Has Been Arrested

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The Gateway Pundit posted an article today with the following headline, “Feds Arrest Crooked State Democrat David Nangle in Massachusetts — He Was Sitting on House Ethics Committee.”

The article reports:

Nangle is a compulsive gambler.
MassLive reported:

Massachusetts State Rep. David Nangle, who is accused of using campaign funds to pay for personal expenses, had “regular cash flow problems as a result of extensive gambling,” federal prosecutors said in court records.

The Democratic state representative was arrested Tuesday on several charges of wire fraud, bank fraud, filing false tax returns and making false statements to a bank…

…“Despite his salary and perks, Nangle was heavily in debt, had poor credit (with a credit score reported as low as 593), and had regular cash flow problems as a result of extensive gambling at various casinos…,” federal prosecutors said.

Elected by the voters of Massachusetts.