SouthEastern News

01/05/2022

PEMBROKE DEI Update with Carly Levy

PEMBROKE DEI UPDATE with Carly Levy
... DEI Committee just had it's first meeting
... We spoke brielfy with the NEW Chair about their plans

11/29/2021

חנוכה סמח!

11/22/2021

Municipal Meetings & Public Comments:
We're NEARING completion of production for a new video exploring the use of Public Comments at local government meetings.

Many local govt meetings now have "Public Comments" which allow members of the community to address the board (and, as a result, often the entire Town/City).

... Is this agenda item Good or Bad ?
- and what makes it so?

Got any feedback ?
Leave a comment below or via Messenger!

11/12/2021

#Massachusetts is now the highest state for #vaccinations;
Good WORK !

Source
https://graphics.reuters.com/HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/USA-TRENDS/dgkvlgkrkpb/index.html

10/30/2021

eohhs.ehs.state.ma.us

Do you use SNAP benefits to purchase food -- and lost perishable items due to loss of power?
--> Upload this completed form via your app AND you can receive reimbursement for lost food purchased with #SNAP Benefits (not to exceed your monthly benefit $):

10/29/2021

mema.mapsonline.net

Here is the most up to date Power Outage Map available; click on your town to see current outage #'s & %'s

10/21/2021

20Oct21 PEMBROKE UPDATE: "DEI Committee Report"
... Select Board seats SOME of applicants
... TWO citizens removed from consideration
... Deliberations about Don Bryant's Petition & Vote
... and more!

10/21/2021

PEMBROKE UPDATE: DEI Committee
... Video from 20Oct Meeting Releases SHORTLY !
....Select Board moves ahead on DEI

10/18/2021

Yes, we do, too!!!

10/17/2021

Dispelling Myths About DEI (Part 3 of 3)

Dispelling Myths About DEI (Part 3 of 3)
... SPECIAL TOWN MEETING TUESDAY
... 19OCT @ 7pm / Pembroke High School
... we talk about if DEI matters with Nicole Zanetti

10/17/2021

IS ANTI-RACISM A GOOD THING?
Pembroke will be discussing the value of #Diversity, #Equity and #Inclusion at Tuesday's Town Meeting (7pm @Pembroke High School - 19OCT) . . . And keep an eye out for our next interview, this time with Nicole Zanetti ! It releases later today.

10/16/2021

Dispelling Myths About DEI (Part 2 of 3)

Dispelling Myths About DEI (Part 2 of 3)
... we talk about SocialMedia's role
... and discuss DEI's role in a community
... interview with Elin Flashman

10/15/2021

Dispelling Myths About DEI (Part 1 of 3)

Dispelling Myths About DEI (Part 1 of 3)
... what can (and cannot) the DEI Committee do in Pembroke?
... we talk to Jennelle Kariotis-Rice

10/13/2021

There are some people spreading (false) rumors about Pembroke's DEI Committee (such as "banning flowers"). Here are the cold, hard FACTS...

10/10/2021

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Report

What are the arguments Pro/Con for promoting #Divesity, #Equity & #Inclusion in local Towns ?
... this local meeting in Pembroke starts off peaceful, but it all changes very, very quickly

10/08/2021

So, Pembroke is debating the value of #Diversity, #Equity and #Inclusion of minorities in their community.
... are #Minority opinions important ?
... should a town try and include those that might not have a voice ?
... what is the value of trying to include different perspectives ?

Conservatives in Pembroke have been trying to mobilize people to fight against including more voices in the democratic process; They want to limit discourse and silence those that might have a different, minority perspective. This includes people with physical & developmental challenges. This includes Black, Brown, and Asian citizens. THIS MIGHT INCLUDE YOU.

10/04/2021

PEMBROKE Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee

Do you support Diversity, Equity and Inclusion ?

09/29/2021

Vaccine Stories: Chyrise Taylor, Nurse Practitioner

Real truth explained succinctly HERE...

09/15/2021

Yom Kippur 2021

From one of our new businesses:
"Disclosure News Network"

09/11/2021

In the future, when America commemorates 9/11 a reading of Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" will traditionally be read to those gathered...
--
"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
--
Abraham Lincoln
November 19, 1863

09/06/2021

שנה טובה . . .

09/05/2021

26th September - Weymouth Irish Heritage Day Parade !!!

Help celebrate Irish Pride AND the LGBTQ+ community Together...
The Weymouth Pride Project has organized this great events, and we'll be there covering it. Want to say a few words ? Just ask around, if you don't see us, and hit us up. Your views on LGBTQ+ rights is important. MARK YOUR CALENDAR TODAY !

https://fb.me/e/2trceAV2S

09/03/2021

The Downsides of Masking Young Students Are Real

::: THIS is an issue where Left & Right, Dem & Rep, can learn to work together. This issue, if dealt with correctly, can help solve the chasm between all Americans :::

How much does Masking harm children?
... So, this is a good article, typical of The Atlantic.
... The issue of Children & Masks certainly deserves more thought
... No matter the side of the issue you may fall

(( And thank you to H. Kennedy, a fellow Facebook user, for bringing attention this well reasoned piece. ))

The educational cost of face coverings is far better established than the benefits of mandates.

09/02/2021

Pembroke: 400% Spike in COVID -- in just 1 month

PEMBROKE: !! 400%+ Spike in COVD -- In Just 1 Month !!
... many in the public are spreading False "Facts"
... see how their info is proven wrong
... learn from the REAL Medical Science being published by reputable, peer-reviewed journals and publications
! -AND GET VACCINATED- !

08/30/2021

Weymouth's Farmers Market

We take a look at Weymouth Farmers Market !

08/27/2021

Town-by-town COVID-19 data in Massachusetts - The Boston Globe

The latest (town-by-town) Infection & Vaccination counts...

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/04/15/nation/massachusetts-confirmed-coronavirus-cases-by-city/

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health releases new town-by-town data for coronavirus cases every week. Here is the latest set of such data showing how the coronavirus has ravaged individual communities throughout the state.

08/25/2021

Mass. public school students and staff are now required to wear masks indoors until at least Oct. 1 - The Boston Globe

#MaskUp in Massachusetts...

Education Commissioner Jeff Riley issued a mandate Wednesday that most Massachusetts public school students and staff members will be required to wear a mask until at least Oct. 1.

08/06/2021

A preliminary election for the Taunton City Council is expected to occur Tuesday, September 21st, due to there being nineteen candidates. Read on to learn about who will be on the ballot for the preliminary election.

08/01/2021

Spread the word about this much needed monthly meet-up! Although there's a large LGBTQ+ population on the South Shore, there are not many groups open to children or older adults, so this is an exciting development 🏳️‍🌈
- Eli Plumb

07/27/2021

Most of southeastern Massachusetts remains under an “unhealthy” air quality index reading due to wildfire smoke. This means people may begin to experience health effects because of adverse air quality. Members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects.

In order to stay safe, reduce time spent outdoors. Stay indoors with windows and doors closed as much as possible until the AQI reading in your area drops down to a healthy level.

07/23/2021

There’s still time for children and families to get free meals courtesy of the Taunton Public Schools summer meals program!

07/15/2021

“Fake News:" Black Lives Matter

Donald Trump popularized the term “fake news,” leading much of the public, especially conservatives, to distrust the media. I almost never agree with Trump, but his criticism of the media may actually be well-founded. Let’s further explore his criticism by examining “fake news” in the context of a movement the media has been focusing on a lot lately, Black Lives Matter.

It is clear that mass media is capable of having a very significant impact on the way in which people learn about culture and interpret the world around them. As a person obtains information from the media, he uses it to construct his understanding of society and his place within it (Spitulnik 294). Hall describes the mass media as having taken control of the cultural and ideological sphere, stating: “As social groups and classes live…increasingly fragmented and sectionally differentiated lives, the mass media are more and more responsible for providing the basis on which groups construct an ‘image’ of the lives, meanings, practices, and values of other groups and classes…” Because the media is so influential in shaping one group’s understanding of another group, it is critical to examine the ideas it is presenting. In the case of Black Lives Matter, false or misrepresented ideas disseminated by the media have the potential to be very detrimental to the movement. The media often manipulates the image of certain groups by framing them in a certain way, focusing on episodic rather than thematic coverage, and provoking moral panic (Rosie and Gorringe 38).

The way in which the media frame a group or event determines “what will be discussed, how it will be discussed, and above all, how it will not be discussed” (Altheide 651). By using frames, the media is essentially able to dictate the public discourse about certain groups and events. Framing is often used to portray the Black Lives Matter movement negatively because, in cases of protest, ‘marginalizing frames’ usually prevail. According to McFarlane and Hay, “[marginalizing frames] emphasize violent crime, property crime and riots, carnivalesque and freakish aspects of protest, childish antics, and moral and social decay” (218). Because public protest is a platform often used by Black Lives Matter, the media tend to focus on this aspect of the movement. At some of the movement’s protests, particular activists have resorted to violence or acted illegally, which is not consistent with the movement’s guiding principles. Although these protestors’ actions are not condoned by the leadership of Black Lives Matter, the media emphasize them and they are widely disseminated. These violent and illegal actions are seen by some of the public as being representative of the movement as a whole because they are portrayed by the media to such a large extent.

The media’s heavy focus on Black Lives Matter protests is also representative of its engagement in episodic rather than thematic coverage. By utilizing episodic coverage, the media focuses on events rather than providing the public with information that would help them better understand the issue at hand (Iyengar). The attention concentrated on events emphasizes a group’s “forms of actions to the neglect of underlying causes” (Rosie and Gorringe 39). The media’s concentration on the Black Lives Matter protests draws attention to the physical actions of the protestors and away from the ideas the protestors wish to represent. Essentially, the controversy of the protests overshadows the issues and proposed solutions. As a result, much of the public knows only about Black Lives Matter protests and is ill-informed about the movement’s specific goals and policy initiatives.

The media’s use of systematic framing allows it to promote moral panic. Cohen contends that moral panic ensues when “a condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests; its nature is presented in a stylised and stereotypical fashion by the mass media…” (1). Once a stereotype of an entity has been widely reported to the public and accepted as threatening, all representatives of that entity are perceived as propagators of its supposed negative features (Goode and Ben-Yehuda 29). The occurrence of moral panic is extremely problematic for the Black Lives Matter movement because of its decentralized nature. The decentralization of the movement makes it possible for protestors to propagate ideas and values that are not consistent with the movement’s stated purpose and guiding principles. As these ideas and values tend to be somewhat radical, the media focuses on them because they are able to be sensationalized. Their spread can lead to the formation of a negative stereotype of the movement, and therefore, a negative image of members of the movement. As ideas and values that are inconsistent with the movement are ascribed to it, those ideas and values it wishes to promote are repressed and the public develops an inaccurate perception of the movement. In Black Lives Matter’s case, the public’s poor understanding of the movement is extremely detrimental because it causes the intentions of everybody associated with it to be questioned, including those who wish only to promote the true purpose and values of the movement.

According to its website, Black Lives Matter is a “Movement to fight for Freedom, Liberation and Justice,” but the media has failed to portray it as such. A movement fighting for the principles upon which our country was supposedly founded has become a source of moral panic. I hesitate to use the term “fake news,” but the way in which the media has portrayed the Black Lives Matter movement is absolutely misleading and irresponsible. If Trump and many conservatives are going to make claims of “fake news,” it is important to look critically at the media representation of all issues.

-Brooke Musial