VOL. 114 - NO. 32 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, AUGUST 6, 2010 $.30 A COPY St. Agrippina Feast Italian Ship San Giusto Performs Annual Training Campaign for the Naval Academy Midshipmen The Italian amphibious ship San Giusto will arrive in Boston on the 10th of Au- gust for a four day port visit. The ship left Italy on the 12th of July and is acting as the Navy training ship for the second-year Naval Academy midshipmen. The annual summer training cruise is a critical part of a midship- men’s education program. Along her trip, the ship had port calls in Funchal (Madeira) and in St. George (Bermuda). After leaving Boston she will visit the ports of Norfolk, Halifax and tions and apply the concepts these countries. Ponta Delgada (Azores). that they have learned while The ship, under the com- The overall goal of the at the Naval Academy in mand of Captain Edoardo campaign is to enhance the Livorno, Italy. Giacomini, will return to education of young naval The Naval Academy com- Livorno on the 17th of Sep- officers and constitutes plement is composed of 92 tember after navigating for their first experience on- midshipmen, including 20 more than two months board a ship of the fleet. The women and 3 foreign cadets through the Atlantic Ocean St. Agrippina’s Feast was held on July 30 through midshipmen will be intro- (from Albania, Jordan and and Mediterranean Sea. August 1, 2010 on Hanover Street, North End, Boston. duced to naval skills, tech- Peru). Additionally, San The ship will be open to The feast drew crowds as the Saint was paraded through niques and operational Giusto will temporarily host the public on August 11, the streets and at the closure of the weekend the annual procedures, learning as cadets from the French, Mor- 2010 from 3:00PM-7:00PM “Tug of War” was held. Another great weekend was well how to manage human occan, Ukrainian and United and August 13, 2010 from held in the North End. See additional photos on page 6. resources. Midshipmen will States Naval Academies as 9:00AM-12:00PM and from (Photo by Rosario Scabin, Ross Photography) be challenged to demon- part of exchange programs 3:00PM-7:00PM at Black strate their capabilities in based on traditional coopera- Falcon Cruise Terminal, difficult real-world condi- tion and friendship among Boston, MA. News Briefs by Sal Giarratani Mayor’s Column by Thomas M. Menino, Mayor, City of Boston Digger a Deeper Hole The Boston Harbor Islands is one of the mer program that offers city youth a Extending jobless benefits, the Democrats most magnificent treasures of our wa- true summer experience, complete are claiming the high moral ground and blam- terfront, yet its beauty remains undis- with fun interactive activities and edu- ing Republicans for being heartless. The Demo- covered by many. From Faneuil Hall to cational and innovative programs. This crats want to allow jobless Americans almost Franklin Park, there are many historic year, 700 children living in Boston’s at- two years of unemployment checks costing the and beautiful places in Boston that are risk neighborhoods had the opportunity rest of us an additional $34 billion bringing this visited everyday by thousands, but none to leave the city during the day and fiscal year’s deficit to $1.4 trillion. offer the natural beauty of the Harbor participate in a four-week summer The answer to the job shortages is not more Islands. It is a place where visitors can camp program, all for only $5 per child. free checks but more jobs. However, under our visit Fort Warren and historic light- Spectacle Island, which is jointly “Fearless Leader,” government is helping to houses, hike lush trails, enjoy summer owned by the City of Boston and the hamper job creation by its very own policies programs, camp under the stars, or relax Commonwealth of Massachusetts, used that aren’t working for the American people. while fishing, picnicking or swimming. to be an open landfill and has recently Extending government hand-outs is only There is something for everyone to enjoy been transformed to become part of the making things worse. and it’s all within a close reach of down- Boston Harbor Islands National Recre- Injustice Done to Sherrod town Boston. As summer days shorten ation Area. Within the past ten years, and thoughts turn to fall and back to the island has gone from a garbage Recently, Shirley Sherrod was fired by the school, I encourage you to take advan- landfill to a spectacle of a completely U.S. Departmetn of Agriculture after a blogger tage of this great resource and experi- different kind. Visitors can spend the posted an edited version of a speech she gave ence all the opportunities Boston Harbor day hiking miles of walking trails or at a recent NAACP convention in which it ap- Islands has to offer. cool down at the island’s beach with peared she was a bigot who didn’t like white The Boston Harbor Islands comprise outdoor showers. There is also a Sum- people. Turns out that wasn’t the case at all. 34 islands and was established as a unit mer Shack that serves lobster rolls and Everyone believed what the blogger sent out of the National Park Service by Congress hosts clam bakes throughout the sum- without verifying anything. Even the NAACP, in 1996. Each island offers something mer. And for a bit of history, visit Georges itself, condemned her remarks she made at its different and provides visitors with an Island and explore Fort Warren, a US convention. Wasn’t anyone at the NAACP con- unique experience. Long Island is the Army defense facility used during the vention listening to the speech she delivered? largest and longest Boston Harbor Island, Civil War. You can also visit the new The blogger’s motives aren’t known to this and it houses the Long Island Shelter, visitors center that recently opened on writer. However, the result is someone lost run by the Boston Public Health Com- the island featuring a concession area their job over nothing. The government now mission houses, as well as a number of and children’s playground. (Continued on Page 15) human service agencies. The island is also home to Camp Harbor View, a sum- (Continued on Page 14) THE POST-GAZETTE SATELLITE OFFICE IS NOW OPEN AT 35 BENNINGTON STREET, EAST BOSTON This office is open on Mondays and Tuesdays from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM and Thursdays from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PMPM, for the convenience of our East Boston and North Shore clients and contributors Call 617-227-8929 for more information Page 2 POST-GAZETTE, AUGUST 6, 2010 Res Publica by David Trumbull The Worst of Many Bad Ideas Senator Richard Tisei, the tor who had to be answered. THE ROMAN CATACOMBS Republican candidate for He, and his fellow Federal- Lieutenant Governor called ists did a fine job of answer- The hills of Rome are 25 great Catacombs were thus eliminated. Stairs, air it one of the worst of the ing those objections in the mainly composed of a soft constructed at various loca- shafts and some light shafts many bad ideas that come Federalist Papers. Interest- rock of volcanic origin which tions near these roads. were built as the advant- out of the Massachusetts ingly, he stated that the se- is called tufa. The early It is estimated that the ages of the terrain presented State House. He was speak- lection of the President by Romans had very adequately combined length of the tun- themselves. ing of a bill passed by the the Electoral College was “al- developed the technique of nels in all Catacombs was The countryside around excavating deep into this 350 miles and that they Pagan Rome was literally Massachusetts House and most the only part of the sys- tufa to form their Caeme- contained about six million undermined by these Cata- Senate to require all twelve tem, of any consequence, taria (underground cemeter- deceased. Corridors were combs. During the height of of Massachusetts’ Presiden- which has escaped without ies) which contained Colum- generally about 30 inches the Christian persecutions, tial Electors to vote for the severe censure, or which baria (pigeon-hole niches wide with the Loculi (shelves) the Catacombs, which were presidential candidate who has received the slightest for the cremated remains) in tiers on both sides. These not backfilled, housed as got the highest tally, across mark of approbation from its and Loculi (shelves for the underground cities of the many of the living as they all 50 states and the District opponents.” In Federalist embalmed bodies). The Early dead were built from one contained of the dead. The of Columbia. In other words, No. 68 Hamilton lays out as Christians who came later to five stories deep. The Catacombs of St. Callistus Massachusetts could easily a rationale for the Electoral were in quite a dilemma. depth never exceeded 70 (Calixtus) and those of end up casting its 12 votes College that They could not bury their feet because this would St. Sebastian on the Appian for someone other than the “It was desirable that the deceased within the city bring them below the volca- Way are probably the most candidate who carried this sense of the people should walls because the law did nic crust and into the humid frequented and the most state! operate in the choice of the not permit it, and any kind clay. The stratum chosen interesting. The bodies of For example, had this person to whom so important of funeral service either for these horizontal laby- St.