While reading an important Massachusetts Appeal (COMMONWEALTH vs. DONTE HENLEY) which is available here. I was distracted by, what I thought, was an amusing issue. The case itself is tragic; kids wanting to shoot each other because they are in different “gangs”.
I will return to the case proper as it has important privacy issues but one important point is about ownership of data on a “CharlieCard” and whether a warrant is required to search it. The “CharlieCard” is similar to the Oyster Card issue in London. You can put money on the card and use it to pay for fares on London Transport and there are probably similar privacy issues there.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority runs, among other things, the ‘T’ in Boston (known as the MBTA).
In Boston’s Irish Bars, particularly those that have live music, there is a repertoire of Irish songs that bands have to play (or they are sure to be requested to play them) and one of them is “Charlie on the MTA”. It is not an Irish song at all but that doesn’t really seem to matter. The song was made popular by the Kingston Trio and has been a Boston favorite ever since. Fortunately the original version has been put on YouTube and is linked here.
I did wonder if there was a connection between the song and the CharlieCard and it turns out there is!
See Wikipedia on the matter.