Finding solutions
It is good to see creative solutions such as Senator Collins’ now Senate-approved proposal to explore the use of converted ships to provide important and needed support services to Boston and the region. For the first time, the Commonwealth is seriously considering an alternative to address this immediate, urgent need, rather than the far-off solution proposed in the Shattuck Hospital site redevelopment, which is 5 or more years away from fruition.
Many of the challenges in cities today are land-based: space is needed for parkland, for housing and so much more. We have to remember that the solutions we build will last centuries, not just decades; and so restoring open space to historic neighborhoods of color such as Dorchester, Mattapan and Roxbury must be prioritized. In fact, just this week, the national nonprofit Trust for Public Land issued its annual nationwide park evaluation for the country’s most populous cities, and Boston’s score suffered due to an unbalanced distribution of park space in lower-income communities and neighborhoods of color. By restoring 13 acres to Franklin Park, we can address inequity in one of Boston’s largest areas of need.
Karen Mauney-Brodek
President, Emerald Necklace Conservancy
Trump indictment
“Fair is foul and Foul is Fair” – the words of the witches in the opening scene of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” are in many ways reminiscent of scenes from daily life in some parts of our beloved nation nowadays. Our Constitutional Republic is on the verge of collapse with lawlessness and disorder. For a law-abiding spectator of politics it is indeed a sad sight to watch and bear.
Trying to take ex-President Trump out of politics by any means by the Democrats and those afflicted with Trump derangement syndrome has been going on for the last 7 years. There even appears to be a competition among prosecutors (Manhattan, Atlanta, Miami) to indulge in creativity to do so.
Our current administration in Washington has been politicizing the Department of Justice to foster a two-tier justice system, one for itself and one for its opponents.
The announcement by the DOJ of the indictment of ex-President Trump on criminal charges as opposed to civilian charges related to classified documents is certainly driven by political considerations. This announcement came shortly after the Congressional investigation of Hunter Biden scandal findings of corruption and misdeeds by the sitting president. Is this move by DOJ is intended to shift the public attention away from the Hunter Biden scandal? One expects such things under Russia’s Stalin and Putin rule and in banana republics but not in our corner of the world. Note that ex-President Trump is a leading opposition candidate in the upcoming 2024 presidential contest.
This indictment can not be viewed anything but an “election interference” and a mini insurrection of our Constitutional government and justice system.
Pichai Gopal
Braintree
