Obviously…my point was that they should be punished for laziness because they’re paid with our tax dollars, not that we should pay them more lmao

Yeah, but they risk getting fired…and they’re not paid by our taxes

Tbh, the answer here is that some people need to have help forced on them. Same goes for people dealing with severe drug addiction. Frequently, people dealing with these issues are unable or unwilling to seek out the help they need. We cannot just assume that everyone has family or a support network. Forcing treatment on people isn’t a pretty solution, but it may help some people who wouldn’t otherwise receive any treatment.

Doesn’t mean the incident isn’t worth reporting. If this guy is doing this to a lot of people (and based on the comments here, he is), the police may actually do something if they keep getting reports. They will certainly do nothing if no report is filed.

You should file a police report. This is assault.

Unfortunately there’s no market basket within easy walking distance of central (that I’m aware of). If you live near central your only walkable options for grocery stores are hmart and Whole Foods.

Thought this as well, but Whole Foods is actually cheaper for most things.

They did everything they possibly could. They tried talking to him, they tried non-lethal methods. He charged them with a machete. What other possible outcome was there? There is no “way to respond” that we could possibly develop that would have had a better result.

you cannot be serious

Definitely doable with a roommate.

You should know that you will need to have a decent amount of money saved when it comes time to move— typically people are asked to provide 3-4 months’ rent when signing a lease (first month, security deposit, broker fee, and possibly last month).

One bedroom apartments go for around $3k/month, so a two bedroom will probably be around $3.5k/month.

no, there are other insulin manufacturers. The big European manufacturers like Sanofi charge a lot. It’s just simply incorrect to act like Eli Lilly is some evil entity when they aren’t actually overcharging anyone.

Eli Lilly literally has vouchers for anyone to get insulin for $35.

Because it’s a stupid logistical nightmare of an idea that won’t actually help most people and disincentivizes actual innovation

No drug unit? that’s insane jfc. people in this city need to grow up

what about strategies to keep people who aren’t doing drugs and endangering the public with their antisocial behavior safe? make safe injection sites if you want— don’t put them on the street though. these social work strategies are always half baked

first of all, I’d love to know a single instance where social workers have successfully made even the slightest improvement in such a “public health crisis”. Many social workers push bullshit “harm reduction” tactics that involve providing addicts with needles in the hopes that somehow that will make them choose to go to rehab. That doesn’t really inspire confidence in their methods.

second of all, if other people are being threatened by the behavior of those hanging around central square, it is no longer just a “public health crisis”. I have been followed and threatened at central. So have many other people I know. Last time I checked, these are issues that should be handled by police.

This isn’t a defense of the Cambridge police, BTW— I’m not anti police, but I think they are either lazy or corrupt or some combination of the two. I called them when I was being followed and threatened at central and they did nothing. They seem to respond to noise complaints and speeding but nothing else.