Also anywhere Joe McGuirk is behind the bar, bring a book... But he might want to talk about it. He's a great bartender and reader. We've been drinking wherever he has been pouring for more than 20 years and he's never steered us wrong on a drink or book recommendation.

Also vote for him for city council next time he runs, he's a good dude.

Most of them if you go off peak. Semolina over by Tufts is nice on a weekday afternoon. Harvest in Harvard square is nice for grownups. The Plough and Stars when they're not having music - the literary magazine Ploughshares was founded there.

Edit; oh and redemption in union square brews both coffee and beer. Good all day.

You don't get to pick where other people live. You don't get to limit the population. You can't prohibit people from doing work and getting paid for it in the name of keeping your hometown from changing.

China's hukou system, which requires permits for rural people to move to cities, is a dystopian nightmare and it doesn't even stop people from moving to cities illegally.

Here's a collection of citations for you:

https://www.zotero.org/groups/4878123/yimby_references/library

Housing is a human right.

There are more people than there were fifty years ago.

There are more people living in Boston than there were 50 years ago.

We've been adding jobs faster than we've been adding homes for several decades now.

If we don't increase the number of homes, people with more money will outbid people with less money for the homes.

Your choices are "keep the buildings the same and have skyrocketing prices, homelessness and displacement" vs "build more homes and have density, so there's homes for everyone."

Keeping your neighborhood the way it used to be is not an option. Nostalgia is lovely but is absolutely poisonous as a housing policy.

Yvonne's. Trust me.

I know you're making a joke but you can find the actual answers to your questions here: https://www.mass.gov/lists/drivers-manuals

Not for the general classes but there are a lot of groups that do public-facing events, both online and in person. The Joint Center for Housing Studies has had a number of good ones on climate and housing recently.

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Is there a specific topic you'd be interested in learning more about?

They actually had an episode about that, the city council tried to force them to stop being roommates.

Good.

Looks like someone's forgotten the lesson of Galatians 3:28.

Agree. Those two shops have a lot of nice Japanese gifts and housewares and groceries between them.

A dish set would go well with a super fancy aged soy sauce or something as well.

More than I make after 20 years in my industry.

Hotels tend to discourage guests having sex in the lobby or by the pool.

Also how much heavier and larger they are than they used to be. Road damage goes up by the about 4th power of the weight of the vehicle, so all these SUVs damage the roads a LOT more than the sedans people used to drive.

Decent https explainer on what's happening to drugstore chains nationwide:

://slate.com/business/2022/11/cvs-walgreens-shoplifting-plexiglass-barriers-pharmacies.html

Tldr it's not actually that much shoplifting, more Amazon and deliveries taking their higher margin business.

No, they want to get temporary permission to ship fuel by boat from New Orleans to Boston.

This may be repeating someone above but - the Jones Act requires that shipping stuff by sea between US ports must be done on US-made, US-flagged boats. There aren't many of those boats for any kind of cargo, but there are none at all that can carry LNG. So, it's legal to ship... just not legal to ship in any sensible or cost-effective way.

This has been a huge problem for Puerto Rico for ages because it makes EVERYTHING there a lot more expensive. But it's a giveaway to a couple of important donors and lobbyists, so, you know, fuck them kids. They don't have a congressman to bribe, so who gives a fuck?

Crystal Ballroom in Somerville has a broad range of events that look fun, young and queer, including drag shows featuring both kings and queens and an every other month "queer art party" called Goblin Cave.

I love how the article points out that the office she's running for has absolutely nothing to do with libraries.

I live in Prospect Hill, Somerville, and we get a LOT of trick-or-treaters and our neighbors all go hard on decorations. Good scene. Several streets have gotten block party permits to close their streets to cars as well.

There's also a street party on Sunday evening: https://somervilleartscouncil.org/somerstreets/monster

Oh yeah they're taking down the crane aren't they!

It very well may be, but just like you can't build yourself up by insulting other people, you're not going to be an effective booster for your city by insulting other cities.

I'm sure Holden has a lot of great qualities - focus on those instead of whatever you're doing.

Yep! It's pretty great!

I hear nothing but good things. I keep meaning to visit (I'm on the opposite side of the city so it's a bit of a hike and I'm too goddamn lazy).