Look around you and you will see the positive impacts of immigration

By Joe Leary, Special to the BIR
June 28, 2018
Joe Leary, Special to the BIR

The United States of America is the most powerful country on earth. Our economy is doing very well, there are plenty of jobs for all who want to work, and our military is by far the strongest of all nations. We are the most desirable country in the world in which to live, so it is no surprise that many in the rest of the world want to come here to raise their families.

You’re baking a cake, and the customer has to pass your morality test? No, sir!

By James W. Dolan, Special to the Reporter
June 28, 2018
James W. Dolan, Special to the Reporter

When is a cake not a cake? When it becomes a matter of conscience or freedom of religion. The refusal of a Colorado baker to make (or create) a cake for a same sex marriage does not rise to that level. But even if it did, that does not outweigh the compassion and respect due others who, in the exercise of their civil rights, ask for a service or product that in no rational way could be viewed as an endorsement or approval of the marriage.

Rooting for Katie: As she fights MS, friends rush to help

By Dan Sheehan, BIR Staff
June 28, 2018
Dan Sheehan, BIR Staff

“Every day it feels like I’ve run three marathons.”
That’s how Katie Kelly O’Donnell describes the extreme exhaustion, physical and mental, that she has to cope with every day. “It’s hard to explain,” she says. “I’ve actually run a marathon before, and I’ve never felt nearly as tired as this.”

34 Dot soccer youths are prepping for games in N. Ireland next month

By Isabel Lord, Reporter Correspondent
June 28, 2018
Isabel Lord, Reporter Correspondent

Two youth soccer teams from Dorchester will travel to Northern Ireland next month to compete in an international tournament in Derry where they compete with teams from England, Ireland, Finland, Germany, and Africa, to name a few.
In total, 34 youngsters from the Under 13 and Under 16 Dorchester Youth Soccer (DYS) teams will fly over for the games, which begin on July 16.

‘I’d rather fight here’ In July 1863, the Boston Irish rose up against the nation’s first draft action

By Peter F. Stevens, BIR Staff
June 28, 2018
Peter F. Stevens, BIR Staff

This month marks the 155th anniversary of a controversial and violent chapter in Boston’s annals. In July 1863, in the middle of the Civil War, the city’s Irish ignited draft riots when they rose up in rage against the class and ethnic unfairness of the nation’s first Conscription Act, which allowed “sons of wealth” to buy their way out of military service for $300, a sum far beyond the reach of impoverished Irish immigrant families.

Descending into the abyss of autocacy

By by Peter Stevens
June 27, 2018
by Peter Stevens

BY PETER F. STEVENS
BIR STAFF
Courtesy of President Donald Trump and willing and blindly unwitting supporters, the Arsenal of Democracy crumbles daily into the Abyss of Autocracy. Those red-and-white “MAGA” caps stand less for “Make America Great Again” than for “Make America Go Away.” Sadly, the GOP, the erstwhile party of Lincoln, is a party in name only. They’re the Whigs of the 21st century, morphing into the Trumpians, Trumpites, or whatever moniker reflecting their obeisance to the president will proclaim to history.

John Cullinane’s message: Democracy is in peril, and we have to save it

Ed Forry
By Ed Forry
June 27, 2018

By Ed Forry
The Boston business leader John Cullinane has long been a force in Democratic politics hereabouts. A longtime ally of Sen. Ted Kennedy, John and his wife Diddy hosted a reception here for the senator and Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams. And in 2008, he organized Boston Irish community support for Barack Obama. I was pleased to join with him in meeting with then-VP candidate Joe Biden to send a message to the Obama/Biden ticket that they should reach out to Irish-Americans. Then, just before the election, Cullinane led an Obama rally at the Irish Cultural Centre in Canton.

An outpouring of love for dance artist Kieran Jordan

By Ed Forry
June 26, 2018
Ed Forry

The GoFundMe campaign to assist Irish dancer Kieran Joran continues to grow, with 389 donations totaling more than $32,000 in little over five weeks. Donations may be made online at this address: https://www.gofundme.com/kieran-jordan039s-healing-fund

In an update posted in mid-June, Kieran expressed her great thanks:

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