Want to really control a pest?

[shava23.livejournal.com]

First, IANAL. I did used to be executive director of tor.eff.org, but I haven't been for years, and I wasn't a lawyer then either. But I do have a reasonable expertise in online privacy issues (including cyberbullying).

I did used to live in Davis Square, and I did used to know jonmon when he was a grad student (hi!). Since I moved back to Boston some years back though, I've seen him at a couple parties and bought some curtains from him on Craigslist I think it was. We have oodles of mutuals. Not a friend, not an enemy, just this guy. I'm also pretty good friends with Ron Newman, which is how I know about all this. I posted this in an old thread and Ron suggested I post it in its own thread.

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I'm leading a bike tour of Industrial Somerville this Sunday! Join us at 2 pm at City Hall

[ron_newman]

I'd love to have as many of you as possible join us. We're meeting outside Somerville City Hall at 2 pm this Sunday for a casual ramble around the city, visiting various places of industrial importance to Somerville, past and present.

The ride will be about 10 miles long, and will finish up around 4:30 pm at the Somerville Museum (where some of the Somerville Open Studios Artists' Choice exhibit will still be on display).

Some earlier publicity said that we would be visiting the interior of soon-to-open Brooklyn Boulders rock-climbing gym on Tyler Street, but right now it looks like that probably won't be possible due to the current condition of their construction. Instead, folks can optionally tour Artisan's Asylum next door.

Somerville police will help escort the ride, which will be dedicated to the late officer Sean Collier.

Our ride is sponsored by the Somerville Historic Preservation Commission and the Somerville Bicycle Committee. We ask for a $3 donation to support the Historic Preservation Commission.

Here's a Google map of our route, showing some of the places we will ride by.

(Usually I'd publicize this kind of event weeks in advance. I've been a bit occupied with other matters lately....)

On saying things in public

[cos]

First of all, this post is not about JonMon specifically. I'm posting in response to this thread, and as in the comments I made on that thread, I intend to address something more general in our culture that this lawsuit relates to. I'm writing here about some of the effects of lawsuits like this, and the kinds of reactions people have to them, generally.

Set JL = People who have are being currently sued by JonMon or have received letters from him informing them that they'll be added to the suit.

Set A = People (most of them not connected to JonMon or this lawsuit in any way) who have been sexually assaulted by someone who had previous assaulted or showed warning signs to multiple other people in their social circles or communities, where such people had shared information privately with each other about this someone, but that information had never reached the assaulted individual before the assault.

Members of set A who I am personally aware of, exceed members of set JL who I am personally aware of.

This is despite the fact that I'm confident that I'm personally aware of only a teeny tiny minority of the global membership of set A, while I am probably personally aware of a significant percentage of the total set JL.


So, when someone promotes the message "people need to be more careful about what they say on publically-accessible community forums about serial assaulters in their communities", I believe I need to respond loudly that the actual problem is that, on the whole, people are too careful about what they say on publically-accessible community forums about serial assaulters in their communities.

Again, this is independent of any assertions people make about JonMon. It's also a much bigger problem, that affects orders of magnitude more people, than the current lawsuit. But to whatever extent some well-meaning people's responses to the lawsuit may contribute to this larger problem, I want to try to balance that out.

Community Path Extension groundbreaking! This Monday 5/13 at 6 pm

[ron_newman]

The city will hold an official groundbreaking ceremony this Monday at 6 pm for the extension of the Community Path from Cedar Street to Lowell Street. The ceremony will take place at the intersection of the Community Path and Cedar Street.

Here's a poster, in case you want to print the announcement out for some reason.

(This is also a great opportunity to meet your new Ward 5 Alderman, Courtney O'Keefe.)

Powder House Community School developer proposals

[littlecitynames.livejournal.com]

There was just an interesting article posted detailing proposals from 6 developers for what to do with the former Powder House Community School space.

The one that looks really cool is this one: "The proposal from Peter Lee and Michael McKee calls for the school building to remain intact and be renovated. Part of the building would be converted into classrooms, multipurpose space, and an art gallery, while the rest would be turned into 110 loft-style apartments. The plans also include a small amphitheater, a cafe, and park space. The proposal offers $4.2 million for the parcel." The offers are between $1.02 million and $7 million, and most of the other offers call for residential space and public park space. The full proposals are here. (Note: I am not affiliated with any of these groups, except maybe Tufts, but only as a grad student.)

Voting members of the advisory group are "Aldermen Bob Trane, Jack Connolly, and Dennis Sullivan; School Committee chairwoman Mary Jo Rossetti; PJ Ryan’s Pub owner Connor Brenan; city residents Sean Becker, Frances Fisher, Brian Harris, Jim Monagle, Mike Panis, Alex Pitkin, and Richard Shortt; members of the city's office of community development George Proakis, Stephen Houdlette, and Luisa Oliveira".

Jonmon mugshot deleted (by me)

[ds-crier.livejournal.com]

I deleted the jonmon mugshot post. I am only posting this so you know that this was not the result of any threats by jonmon, nor was it removed by LiveJournal or the very tolerant davis-square moderators. If you care, you can keep reading below the cut.

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