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Saturday, March 27, 2010

Boston Globe: That's Not Right

Good morning from Boston.

While reading the hard copy version of this morning's Boston Globe, I read a number of articles that made me think, "That's Not Right."

Since I wasn't reading the electronic version at the breakfast table, I took hand written notes.

I imagine in the near future, I'll have an iPad with an ergonomic stand that will allow me to both read and comment on the articles. Audio and video comments might be problematic though, but that's not important right now.

What's important are the four things that I read about this morning.

1. The MBTA's No Cellphone Policy

The Rey Brothers on a cellphone

MBTA suspends 3 for cellphone violation:
Three MBTA bus drivers who were caught using their cellphones have been suspended without pay, the MBTA said yesterday. One of the drivers, a 22-year veteran of the agency, was talking on the cellphone while driving the bus; the other two were between trips.
In Boston, the MBTA (buses and trains) has a no tollerance policy for cellphones. If a driver if caught with a cellphone s/he is suspended.

I don't get it. They don't trust their drivers to adhere to a more lenient policy of no tollerance for using a cellphone while driving.

2. Tea Party Partiots

OpenCoffee Boston 8/17/07

The makings of a Boston Tea Party:
It’s easy to define what the Tea Party isn’t — it’s not Barack Obama, it’s not health care reform, and it’s certainly not anything related to Barney Frank — but it’s going to be harder for the people involved to decide what it actually is.
I read an article about a Tea Party Partiots gathering. Based on what I read in the article, this group's only commonality is choosing fear over hope.

Here are some of their sites:
Tea Party Patriots
Tea Party Patriots - Ning Site

I was thinking that an fun alterative to the Tea Party would be a Coffee Party.

The Coffee Party has already started:

Coffee Party USA seeks calm political talk in Bethlehem
Coffee Party USA
Coffee Party Movement on Facebook 184,139 fans.
What is Coffee Party USA?
Why I started Coffee Party USA

3. Verizon is Halting the Build Out of FIOS while Boston Has Dark Fiber for Google

MBTA Back Bay Station - Entrance Across the Street

Verizon winding down expansion of FiOS:
Verizon is nearing the end of its program to replace copper phone lines with optical fibers that provide higher Internet speeds and TV service... Verizon could still bring FiOS to Boston and other communities not yet served. But he added, “Now it’s time for us to take a pause and focus on all the communities where we’ve begun to build the service.’’
Verizon is halting the build out of FIOS in the area, which means it won't be coming to Boston any time soon.

Boston joins race to lure Google:
Boston has taken a more conservative approach. The city’s application stressed Boston’s role as a global academic and research center and a major financial hub. It notes that large amounts of unused, or “dark,’’ optical fiber have already been installed under the city’s streets. Google could use this fiber as the backbone of its system, enabling the company to complete construction quickly and at low cost.
Tthe City of Boston has applied for the super fast built out of internet from Google saying that there's plenty of dark fiber ready to be put to use to bring high speed internet to Boston.

Curious and Ironic.

4. Anderson Windows is not Values Based

Cheap Windows - Renewal by Anderson

The Anderson windows advertisement encourages people to use cheap windows if they are moving out of thier house soon.

They imply that it's ok to install cheap windows prior to selling your house. Of course that's not right.

In fact, if you've got an old house, it's better to repair your original windows and consider installing storm windows. That's what we did.

See: Values Based - Steven Covey.