Techies take on City Hall. Unfortunately not ours.

Isn’t it ironic? With the alleged brainpower ensconced in the hallowed halls of the less-than-venerable local colleges and universities, not one has ever established a project that would nationally or even regionally profile our grubby College Town - showcasing a model of joint municipal and educational engagement, of ideas, of talents, and partnership that would put Wusta on the map.

And maybe attract business investment. It’s happening everywhere, but not here. Why?

The fact is the C’s & U’s prefer the status quo. Their students prefer less intellectually rigorous activities... drinking. The business community prefers whining about tax discrimination. The citizen bloggers prefer lip-serving each other or engaging in petty intrigues.

Where are the ideas, the engagement, the partnership? Can Wusta be something other than a 3rd rate municipality? Can it rise above its station?

Interesting article on FastCompany: How an Army of Techies Is Taking on City Hall: Still waiting for a full reboot in Washington, D.C., an army of citizen techies is redefining civic engagement on a hyperlocal level.

Ben Berkowitz had a problem. His block of State Street, an expanse of charming storefronts and wood-frame houses that stretches from the border of Yale's campus into New Haven's grittier East Rock neighborhood, kept getting hit with graffiti. The 31-year-old did everything a good citizen was supposed to do: He called the city. He left multiple voice mails. He urged his neighbor to speak up. Eventually, he founded the Upper State Street Association to foster neighborhood pride. But still, the spray paint lingered. "I was feeling that helplessness when you've left three messages, you don't know what the resolution is going to be, and you don't have a way to hold anyone accountable," he says.

Fear and Loathing: Worcester's Blog-Nazis

So it was in fact only a matter of time before Wusta’s blogging fools started playing games with The Barnard Blogroll.

I’m no fan of Nicole Apostola or Mike Beneditti, or for that matter of Jeff Barnard. And there was plenty to criticize; 95% of our comments never saw daylight. Was ole Jeff thin skinned?

Without a doubt Jeff Barnard was determined to ingratiate himself with the locals. He and his dimwitted followers had one thing in common - street pics. Folks ate it up. Says a lot about the locals eh?

Wormtown Taxi was a boring cliche; Jeff was just looking for pageloads and his content was irrelevant. For the record. I met him once, in a taxi of course. I found him to be an affable guy, but on the dry side. And no, I didn't tip him in the monetary sense, rather gave him invaluable advice: Get a life.

Word of advice, if you wanna blog, then get used to criticism. Jeff did, just not on his blog. But he didn’t take InCity, Tales from the Shitty, or Worcester Wonderland off the roll. I suppose that indicates some open mindedness about other's point-of-view. But who knows. Well it looks like things have changed. The crazies have taken over the asylum.

Hardly a month has gone by since his passing and Nicole Apostola & Mike Beneditti have hijacked Jeff’s blogroll to launch their campaign to rid Wusta of undesirables. These self proclaimed enlightened bloggers are actually fascistiods with an agenda. Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.

Yesterday after Tirella’s post 1 dead blogger and 2 ass-wipes, Nicole Apostola pulled InCity Times off the Blogroll because Tirella said so? There’s something more to this.

Read Nicole Apostola's comment to Blogger Chris after she took over Jeff's Blogroll - "take it up with Jeff... it was never a democracy... get your own [blog]". Sums Nicole up quite nice - bitchy.

I called out Nicole for her fascist proclivities in a post, Blogging Fool Award – Nicole Apostola, when she appointed herself the local Blog-Nazi during the Council’s initial discussion on Crowdsourcing. Little did you know eh? BTW. Anyone got a status report? Don't bother. If Nicole's involved its DOA.

That Mike Beneditti is in on this coup shouldn't surprise anyone. He’s always had a unnatural fixation for Tirella. I guess the professional envy is too much for him. But that’s ironic. Mike calls himself a journalist, yet can’t write a coherent sentence and never made a dime selling text. Gee, Tirella makes a living doing it. Beneditti - never had a job in his life.

In my time carousing the locals blogs – the overwhelming majority don’t deserve a second look - I soon discovered the locals had thin skins. Bloggers won't let a comment thru unless it’s reeks of obsequiousness. In the vernacular, you gotta kiss their ass to get posted. I’m not inclined to kissing anyone's ass. And apparently a lot of other folks too.

I’ve criticized Tirella on InCity Times many times. She’s never let them thru. She won’t let anyone thru. I’ve criticized Nicole for her ongoing ramblings. She lets the posts stand, but won’t respond. Go figure. And then there’s Mike Beneditti's Pie & Coffee. I don't trust people who tout their religion and then act contrary to their purported principles. Um… I wonder what Jesus would say eh Mike?

So why are Wusta bloggers so afraid of being criticized? Why do they readily label critics Trolls?

Just for the sake of full disclosure, Worcester Wonderland posts all comments – the critical as well as the incoherent. But not the vile ones. Yes Wonderland has its share of potty-mouthed critics, most notably Brenden Melican and Harry Tembenis, two very dimwitted locals with a proclivity for flipping out when they loose an argument. Oh BTW guys you’re still not invisible.

Nicole Apostola, get your own blogroll.

Bloggers Flowchart

Pew Internet - Generations Online 2010: Summary. What, no Porn?