The View From Prospect Hill for the week of July 19

In George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, he creates the fictional language Newspeak – a language closely based on English but with a greatly reduced and simplified vocabulary.
  Unfortunately, with each ruling in the Assembly Square land dispute, City Hall creates their own version of Newspeak ‚Äì releases lauding ‚Äúsmart growth‚Äù and relegating judgements against the city as ‚Äúfine print.‚Äù

  The phrase "smart growth" is a loaded term and its implication that alternative strategies are inherently foolish or "un-smart" only simplifies an important, involved  debate ‚Äì a prime objective of Newspeak, which aims to make alternative thinking impossible by framing the discussion in the dullest terms possible.
  And repeatedly reffering to a judgement that deemed the Assembly Square strip mall invalid as a ‚Äúfine print issue‚Äù is laughable. If it is merely fine print (and isn‚Äôt fine print supposed to be important to lawyers and city officials?) then why has it jeopardized the mall‚Äôs future?
  For the past twenty years every party involved with the Assembly Square issue has distorted the facts to use to their own advantage. And, because of that, Assembly Square is now little more than an empty parking lot. For Somerville to truly benefit from Assembly Square‚Äôs existing infrastructure, the Orwellian word games must cease and real development must begin.