After nearly 48 hours of continuous deliberation of the top 7,000,000 submissions by our elite panel of 50,000 judges from 12 continents, we have chosen the 3 lucky winners of our "Write the Next STUPID F$&KING RIGHT-WING MEME About #OccupyBoston!" contest.*

As the right-wing gets pushed back further and further into a political obscurity of their own making by the rise of a massive grassroots movement for social justice, the rhetoric from their small and inoffensive army of sweaty-palmed sociopaths in basements around Winchester grows increasingly shrill. For example just yesterday evening, legions of movement supporters following the #OccupyBoston hashtag on Twitter were treated to a real screamer: #OccupyBoston "stopped" a planned food truck festival from happening in Dewey Square, and the festival was going to donate $1,000 to the Greater Boston Food Bank, so therefore #OccupyBoston STOLE $1,000 FROM "THE POOR."

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 17
My first stop is at the Cape Cod Canal that connects mainland Massachusetts to Cape Cod. I have many times passed over the Sagamore Bridge, one of three bridges that were part of the same canal construction project, on my way to Provincetown on the tip of the Cape, but I have neglected to understand the history of the canal underneath.


The day is exquisite, although its beauty is painfully more like the start of autumn than the end of summer. My big writing plans for this summer have remained largely unfulfilled, so this final four-day escape is important. Nothing better than to begin it strolling on the scenic bike path along this broad canal, with the electric blue sky reflected in the deep turquoise water.

On the tenth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1958, Eleanor Roosevelt famously laid out her vision for that document's future and significance:

“Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.”

Entering Newport, I’m surprised by how old and beautiful it is. Founded in 1639, the town is full of tourists, twee shops and handsome 18th century houses. Down many side roads are views of the yacht-laden harbor and always-nearby shore. There are renowned attractions we won’t get to – from the popular Cliff Walk to the peculiar collection of 800+ living sculptures in the Victorian Green Animals Topiary Garden.

No, we’re keeping our eye on the prize. We stop at the Preservation Society – the owners and care-takers of 11 ornate mansions that the descendants of the Gilded Age residents can no longer afford to maintain. And no wonder. These extravaganzas, now deemed National Historical Landmarks, were constructed in an age without income tax, so the Robber Barons had nothing to do with their looted millions but compete with each other by building their imitation European follies on Bellevue Avenue. Mark Twain coined the phrases “conspicuous consumption” and the “Gilded Age” (the interiors are all drenched in gold) with a sneer.

The Boston Pride Parade took place on Saturday around the Boston Common. The Boston Pride Festival was held at City Hall Plaza the same day. Photos of both events follow below.

This Memorial Day weekend - May 28-30 - the Association for India’s Development will be hosting its annual conference at the MIT campus in Cambridge, MA. This conference is an annual effort by AID’s volunteers to share ideas, learn from past experiences and plan strategies for future sustainable development efforts with the most marginalized communities in India. This year, the conference holds a special relevance, as 2011 is the 20th year of AID.

The hills are alive with colorful wildflowers in Fredericksburg, the heart of Texas Hill Country, where every spring Lady Bird Johnson's legacy blooms anew to the delight of travelers and locals.

Claudia Alta Taylor Johnson, popularly known as Lady Bird, was the wife of Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36th president of The United States. During his term in office, 1963-1969, she chose as her project to beautify America with native plants. From early spring through late fall Texas highways and byways bloom with wildflowers, more than 5000 varieties in all. Many of their names evoke memories of the Old West.– bluebonnet, Indian paintbrush, Indian blankets, and lemonmint. Bluebonnets were Lady Bird’s favorite.

APRIL FOOLS! ... BOSTON/South Boston - According to some guy on the street, a bunch of white local and state politicians were arrested in a lightning dawn raid near the corner of L St. and E. Broadway by elements of the Federal Secret Interrogation while on their way home from an all-night bender at the taxpayers' expense.

"They was just walkin' down the street from McBozo's Pub in Southie like wicked trashed and then all these big ladies with FSI on their jackets and mirror shades like totally beat 'em down, yellin' at 'em about how they was under arrest for takin' bribes from corporations and givin' civil service jobs to all their dipstick cousins," the guy told Open Media Boston.

BOSTON/Jamaica Plain - One of Boston's dozen or so distinct neighborhoods, Jamaica Plain (or JP for short) has one of the most outspoken and activist populations in the city. Hundreds of those residents interested in the past, present, and future of their community took part in a special meeting on Tuesday, February 15th at English High School and sponsored by the Jamaica Plain Forum and the JP Neighborhood Development Corporation.