VOL. 117 - NO. 3 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, JANUARY 18, 2013 $.30 A COPY Remembering the Great Molasses Flood News Briefs by Cyn Donnelly by Sal Giarratani Senator Crapo in Hot Water at Home U.S. Senator Michael Crapo, R-Idaho, has pleaded guilty to an OUI and has apologized to his constituents. He admitted as a Mormon he shouldn’t have been drinking but asked all for some forgiveness. He said he started drinking about a year ago out of stress. Everybody can make mistakes. None of us are perfect, but with a name like Crapo, you should be extra careful because most folks may just think you are full of *%#. Still Don’t Get it About Spending Recently, Speaker John Boehner told the Wall been seen before. with such force that the gird- Street Journal that the president informed him To the uninitiated, men- It started at the Purity Dis- ers and railway lines at that the federal government did not have a spend- tioning a Great Molasses tilling Company’s facility Boston’s elevated railway on ing problem. Most of us who have been concerned Flood might conjure up which, through the distilla- Atlantic Avenue were dam- about the federal budget debt already know this cartoonish images of molas- tion of the molasses into al- aged. 26,000,000 pounds of is how the president thinks. Did you know that ses flowing through the cohol, produced ethyl alco- molasses barreled through every day, the federal government has to borrow streets. But to those in Bos- hol. A tank on Commercial the streets at about 35 miles almost $4 billion to finance the spending? The ton and more specifically the Street, holding about per hour. Witnesses recall problem is our government has a revenue prob- North End, the molasses 2,300,000 gallons of molas- hearing what sounded like lem and we can’t keep up with the spending with- flood was no joke. Ninety- ses, collapsed on that mod- machine-gun fire (which (Continued on Page 14) four years ago, on January erately-temperatured Janu- turned out to be the rivets 15, 1919, a disaster befell ary day, sending molasses the city the likes that hadn’t gushing through the streets (Continued on Page 2) GENERAL CONSULATE OF ITALY - BOSTON 2013 GENERAL ELECTIONS ELEZIONI POLITICHE 2013 Pursuant to Presidential decree n. 226 of December 22, 2012, elections Con Decreto del Presidente della Repubblica n. 226 del 22 dicembre will be held on February 24 and February 25, 2013 to elect 2012 sono state indette per il 24 e 25 febbraio2013 le votazioni per representatives to the Chamber of Deputies and to the Senate of the l’elezione della Camera dei Deputati e del Senato della Repubblica. In Republic. In Italy, voting at the polling stations will take place on Sunday, Italia le votazioni si svolgono presso i seggi nei giorni di domenica 24 February 24th (from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.) and on Monday, February febbraio (dalle ore 8,00 alle ore 22,00) e di lunedì 25 febbraio (dalle 25th (from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.). ore 7,00 alle ore 15,00). All’estero, i cittadini italiani ivi stabilmente residenti, iscritti nelle liste Outside of Italy, Italian citizens residing abroad who are registered elettorali della Circoscrizione Estero, possono partecipare alle elezioni voters in the Overseas District may vote by correspondence. They votando per corrispondenza. Essi votano per le liste di candidati can do so by casting their vote for the candidates listed on the ballot presentate nella rispettiva ripartizione della Circoscrizione Estero. for the “Circoscrizione Estero” (Overseas District). A ciascun elettore residente all’estero, il Consolato Generale All voters residing abroad will receive a packet by mail before d’Italia a Boston invia per posta, entro il 6 febbraio, un plico February 6th from the Consulate General of Italy in Boston containing: contenente: un foglio informativo che spiega come votare, il certificato an instruction sheet on the voting procedures, the electoral certificate, elettorale, la scheda elettorale (due per chi, avendo compiuto 25 anni, a ballot (two for voters over the age of 25, therefore eligible to vote può votare anche per il Senato), una busta completamente bianca in also for the Senate), one blank white envelope for the ballots, a stamped cui inserire le schede votate, una busta già affrancata recante l’indirizzo envelope bearing the address of the Consulate General of Italy in del Consolato Generale d’Italia a Boston, le liste dei candidati della Boston, and the list of candidates for the Electoral zone of residence. propria ripartizione. The stamped envelope containing the ballots, completed as indicated L’elettore, utilizzando la busta già affrancata e seguendo attentamente by the instruction sheet, must be sent by mail as soon as possible in le istruzioni contenute nel foglio informativo, dovrà spedire SENZA order to reach the Consulate General of Italy in Boston by - and no RITARDO le schede elettorali votate, in modo che arrivino al later than - 4:00 pm on February 21st. Consolato Generale d’Italia a Boston entro - e non oltre - le ore16.00 del 21 febbraio. The vote is personal and secret. Voting more than once or Il voto è personale e segreto. E’ fatto divieto di votare più voting on another’s behalf is prohibited. Violators of the law volte e inoltrare schede per conto di altre persone. Chiunque will be punished to the fullest extent of the law. violi le disposizioni in materia elettorale, sarà punito a norma di legge. Voters who have not received a complete packet by February 10th should contact the Consulate General of Italy in Boston to verify L’elettore che alla data del 10 febbraio non avesse ancora ricevuto their electoral status and, if necessary, request a duplicate. il plico elettorale, potrà rivolgersi al Consolato Generale d’Italia a Boston per verificare la propria posizione elettorale e chiedere eventualmente un duplicato. For further information, please visit Consulate’s website www.consboston.esteri.it, or contact Per ulteriori informazioni si prega di visitare il sito web [email protected], del Consolato www.consboston.esteri.it o scrivere ad or call 617.722.9220. [email protected], o chiamare il 617-722-9220. INFORMATION IS ALSO AVAILABLE ONLINE AT INFORMAZIONI DETTAGLIATE SONO INOLTRE DISPONIBILI www.esteri.it SUL SITO www.esteri.it Page 2 POST-GAZETTE, JANUARY 18, 2013 Res Publica by David Trumbull Lincoln and King: Freedom and Equality With 12 Oscar nominations, Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln has been nominated for more Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards than any other motion picture of THE HANGING GARDENS 2012. The picture is a dramatization of the rounding up of The Seven Wonders of the city walls. The ascent tion including vines which votes, in the United States House of Representatives, to th World is the name given to between terraces was by ten hung over the edges. Water pass the 13 Amendment to the Constitution. The amend- two separate groups of build- foot wide stairs. for irrigation was raised ment passed by the necessary two-thirds vote of both the ings or works of art. Texts The terraces or garden from the Euphrates River House and the Senate and was on its way to ratification by list the Wonders of the An- areas were constructed on a below by an innovative type the necessary three-quarters of the States when Lincoln cient World and also the base of huge flat stones four of screw pump. Several mag- was assassinated on Good Friday, 1865. Getting the amendment through the House (it had passed Wonders of the Modern feet wide and sixteen feet nificent apartments were easily in the Senate) was a major effort, told in an engag- World. The Hanging Gardens long. Over this base was set located in the spaces be- ing manner in the movie. Permanently ending slavery in of Babylon are listed in the a layer of reeds mixed with tween the arches at the vari- the U.S. by means of Constitutional Amendment was, for first group. They occupied great quantities of bitumen. ous terrace levels. Lincoln, an imperative. His Emancipation Proclamation, about one hundred sixty Next came two layers of The wife of Nebuchadnez- issued 150 years ago this month, did not free all slaves, thousand square feet of bricks closely cemented to- zar was a beautiful woman being restricted to those in rebellious areas not under the space in the huge complex gether. All of this was then who came from the Country effective control of the United States. Furthermore, as a that was the palace of covered with thick sheets of of Media and her name was proclamation based on Lincoln’s wartime powers as Com- King Nebuchadnezzar. The lead (lead is mentioned in Amyitis. The king built all mander in Chief, it was uncertain how, or even if, it would gardens were actually a the Old Testament and is of this as a gift, and to help have force once peace was concluded. series of terraces which one of the first metals known alleviate the longing she had Limited as it was, the Emancipation Proclamation was were constructed one above to man). The lead was then for her native land. He cer- the first step in what became an irreversible path toward, the other. Each terrace was covered with a layer of earth tainly was a generous and first freedom, and later equality, for Americans of African supported on huge brick which was thick enough for thoughtful husband. What ancestry.