If you live in or near Boston, you’ve probably heard of the whole dispute between Mayor Menino and the Boston firefighters’ union over how large of a raise the firefighters should get in exchange for submitting to random drug and alcohol testing. An independent arbitrator decided to give the firefighters a 19% raise (to make up for several years without a raise), which Menino opposes, and the firefighters’ union has volunteered to delay the raise for a year.
I have a better idea: What if the firefighters didn’t have to submit to drug and alcohol testing and didn’t get a raise?
My rationale behind this is that first of all, getting rid of drug and alcohol testing is a pro-liberty thing to do, at least according to my rather unorthodox brand of libertarianism. The only thing that an employer should care about is how well employees do their job. People’s use of drugs and/or alcohol outside of work, although it might be statistically correlated with how well they do their jobs, is not itself a part of the job, and as such, employers have no right to know about or judge it. Furthermore, urine testing, the most common although not only method of drug testing, is degrading and offensive. I actually think it should be banned as a condition of employment – a radical idea, I know. Boston would be a better place if firefighters did not have to go through this.
Second of all, it would save the taxpayers money!
The firefighters ought to be happy about this idea because they wouldn’t have to undergo drug testing. If they didn’t have to do that, then they wouldn’t mind not getting a raise, right? And Menino ought to be happy about this because the city would save money.
Photo by Brett Gustafson C.C. Attribution 2.5
Today I went to the 2010 Boston Tea Party on the Boston Common. As I expected, it was absolutely awesome, with three hours of speeches, music, and liberty! The most high-profile speaker, of course, was Sarah Palin, but the other speakers included WTKK radio host Michael Graham, WRKO radio host Todd Feinburg, Greater Boston Tea Party president Christen Varley, and Debbie Lee, whose son was killed in Iraq. There had to have been thousands of people there, and as usual, great signs and lots of flags.
This Tea Party was organized by the Tea Party Express, a national organization. It was a little different from last year’s Tax Day Tea Party. This one felt a little more Republican and was more organized, while last year’s was more libertarian and “anarchist,” with lots of different organizations handing out literature, talking to the media, and fighting for attention. Each was awesome in its own way.
I took some videos of Palin’s speech and the songs, which you can check out at my YouTube account, since this post would be way too long if I posted them here.
I also took lots of photos:
For more coverage of the Tea Party, check out:
I saw this article in the Boston Globe magazine today about Boston’s modern architecture – such as City Hall, the JFK Federal Building, and the sprawling State Service Center. I love these buildings and have never understood why so many people, including Mayor Thomas Menino, think they are ugly. It seems many people agree with me. I like brutalist buildings because they stand out and give visual interest to the city – it would be boring for Boston to be filled with just old-fashioned brick buildings. City Hall Plaza is one of my favorite places in the world. It is dramatic and breathtaking in a way that no park or traditional brick building can match.
Here are some of my favorite pictures that I have taken of Boston’s modern buildings:
JFK Fedreal Building
Boston City Hall
Christian Science Plaza tower
State Service Center
Today (Sunday, January 17) I attended a demonstration by Scott Brown supporters at President Obama’s speech endorsing Martha Coakley at Northeastern University in Boston. It was totally awesome. There were about 100 (or maybe more) Scott Brown supporters holding sings and chanting “Make Obama frown, vote Scott Brown” and “Don’t do coke” (as in Coakley 
). We definitely outnumbered the Coakley supporters. We spread out all along Huntington Ave and then marched across the street to the massive line of (mostly pro-Coakley) people waiting to get in to see Obama’s speech. At least 3 cars covered in Scott Brown signs passed by, and we got lots of honks and thumbs up from passing cars, including a fire truck. We even got free hot chocolate from people who I think worked in the Northeastern cafeteria. Many of the Boston cops who were keeping order at the protest indicated that they supported Scott, too!
When we crossed to the side where the Coakley supporters were, one guy kept going on and on about how Scott Brown supporters are defending sex offenders and want them walking around on the streets. Apparently he was referring to the case of Gerald Amirault, who was falsely convicted of child molestation but was kept in prison due to Coakley’s lobbying, even though there was no evidence supporting the charges. A couple of Scott supporters and I pointed out that actually, opposing the jailing of innocent people is not the same as wanting sex offenders out on the streets, and that putting innocent people behind bars is not so great. He replied, “She was a prosecutor; that’s her job.” Oh, yeah. Putting innocent people in jail, that’s a prosecutor’s job, all right!
Here are some photos I took at the rally. Enjoy!
I also made some videos of the Scott Brown rally, which I have uploaded to Youtube and which you can see here.
For some mainstream media coverage of Obama’s appearance and the protests, check out:
This post is a little late, but I haven’t had any free time in the past few days, so apologies for that. On July 4th, I went to another awesome Boston Tea Party! The first half, from 12-2, was at the Boston Common, and then everyone marched to Christopher Colmbus Park for the second half, from 3-6. There weren’t as many people as at the
April 15 Tea Party, but there was still a pretty good crowd. Speakers included
Todd Feinburg,
Carla Howell,
Paul Jehle,
Doug Bennett,
Sean Ryan, and
Mike Kelleher. At Christopher Columbus Park there was some musical entertainment, including Carla Howell herself, who sang two songs called “How Could I Live Without Filing Taxes?” and “Politicians Say.”
There were several different websites and organizations that sponsored, had tables at, or were somehow associated with the Tea Party, and they’re all really cool so I’m plugging their sites here. Check them out:
I took lots of pictures, a sampling of which you can see below. I’ll post the rest at my photo site shortly.
Crowd gathered around the podium
"False idols make poor presidents"
This guy had two cool signs.
Look at these cool outfits.
Lady with cool signs
Carla Howell
Everyone posing at the bandstand
Marching from Boston Common through City Hall Plaza to Christopher Columbus Park
Woman and man sitting in the park before the speeches begin
Some guys hanging out in Christopher Columbus Park
People sitting on a bench with "Don't tread on me" flag
Restore the Republic sign
Carla Howell singing!
"Trickle-up poverty"
Ayn Rand signs
"Real men love Sarah"
