In the wake of recent shootings, Mayor Menino called a meeting of top public safety folks to figure out what could be done (short of spending more money, of course). Despite numerous suggestions and resulting proposals, the Herald homed in on Menino's absurd plan to confiscate "Stop Snitchin'" t-shirts from stores. While Bostonist would like to take the Globe's more measured approach and talk about everything that came out of the meeting, we know our......

On Bostonist's daily commute history is often hard to dodge, from inadvertently following along the red brick line of the Freedom Trail to a simple feat like riding on “Americas First Subway.” Other bits of history show up in the most unusual places. The “hub” marker lies underneath crates of oranges at the fruit stand outside of Filenes in Downtown Crossing. Oliver Wendell Holmes first referred to the old State House (so really the......

In the 1919 case of Abrams v. U.S., the Supreme Court upheld the convictions of five people for printing leaflets that contained "disloyal, scurrilous and abusive language about the form of government of the United States." History remembers the case, however, for the dissenting opinion, written by (Boston native) Oliver Wendell Holmes and joined by (Louisville native but Boston transplant) Louis Brandeis. That dissent famously presented the theory of a "marketplace of ideas," which argued......