Gun control legislation is once again on the table after two mass shootings in a week, one in Uvalde, Texas and another in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In a primetime address on June 2, President Biden called on Congress to take immediate action on gun control. He offered several potential policies, including bringing back the Federal Assault Weapons Ban that expired in 2004. If such a bill could not be passed, Biden said, the age to buy certain weapons could at least […]
Sunday, June 19, 2022, will be the second annual Juneteenth Independence Day recognized as a Massachusetts state holiday. On Thursday June 17, 2021, the Juneteenth Day became a federal holiday in the United States when President Joe Biden signed into law a bill passed by Congress. Almost at the same time, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker also officially recognized June 19 as the newest state-recognized holiday. Juneteenth National Independence Day is important to African American in our nation because of the […]
Dear Dick I file my taxes on time by April 15. Then, in no time, I get a tax notice from the IRS. Some years, I get several tax notices from the IRS These IRS tax notices are really stressful to deal with. First, it’s hard to understand what the IRS wants. The writing is technical. The paragraphs list tons of numbers and calculations of tax deficiencies, big penalties, and interest charges they say I owe. The IRS tax letters […]
Going back to 1949, according to history.state.gov, the U.S.Ambassador had met with Communist Ambassadors to discuss U.S. recognition of the newly declared (as of October 1, 1949) PRC (People’s Republic of China.) Had Mao not declared his intention to side with the Soviet Union, recognition could have come much earlier than 1972. The United States stayed out of the Chinese Civil War, even though “the Truman Administration was prepared to abandon the Nationalists and allow the Communists to take over […]
What is ‘indie rock’? Is it truly free from the restraints of corporate record label mandates, or is it simply the audio equivalent of a finely assembled glossy fashion spread in a magazine? Commerce usually likes to think it can manage the tastes and inclinations of the record-buying public, but in recent years some artists have challenged and expanded the pre-conceived notions of genre conventions that have been long populated (and dictated) by white people. Japanese Breakfast and Mitski are […]
Not everyone in Massachusetts has the right to drive. For some residents without federal immigration status, the inability to obtain a legal Driver’s license can totally prevent them from working and providing for their families. There are many jobs throughout Massachusetts where public transportation essentially does not exist and therefore they cannot get to them. And still there are other jobs where the employer actually requires a driver’s license and even a car. Also, consider the plight of newly arrived […]
Abortion rights in the United States are under threat. At the beginning of this month a draft of a majority opinion written by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito leaked to Politico. The draft suggests that the Supreme Court will overturn the decisions it made in Roe vs. Wade nearly fifty years ago and in Planned Parenthood vs. Casey thirty years ago. In 1973, the Supreme Court decided that criminal abortion statutes, which excepted from criminality only those procedures that would […]
Dear Dick Massachusetts is one of the 46 states in the US that has legalized marijuana. So, I decided to petition my City of Cambridge to open a medical marijuana dispensary. Medical marijuana can effectively treat pain, headache, muscle spasms, eye disease, and many other medical problems. I received a good deal of support locally and from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in forming my cannabis business. That is, until I heard that the federal government still has not legalized marijuana. […]
Low-Income Taxpayer Clinics (LITC) assist low-income individuals who have a tax dispute with the IRS and the Mass Dept of Revenue and provide education and outreach to individuals who speak English as a second language (ESL). According to the 2021 LITC Program Report from Taxpayer Advocacy Services, LITC represented 19,413 Taxpayers, brought 2,398 taxpayers into filing compliance, provided consultation or advice to 17,792 Taxpayers, and brought 2,990 taxpayers into collection compliance. The Asian American Civic Association (AACA) has launched the […]
For first-wave Chinese immigrants in the mid-1800’s, laundries were a primary source of income and a significant part of Chinese-American labor history. Along with construction of the railroads, the laundry business was a mainstay of the Chinese immigrant economy. The Chinese needed to survive in an English-speaking world in which they did not have access to most employment opportunities. The laundries remain a point of shared connection between many Chinese American families today. Thomas Chin’s family worked in their hand […]
