Author Archive

Why we crave sugar

In a New York Times Op-Ed yesterday, Daniel Lieberman, a professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard, offers an evolutionary explanation for our obesity epidemic and provides some context for the ongoing debate over limiting or taxing portion sizes of sugary soft drinks and other sweets. The essay is not…

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June 6, 1944 – D-Day

I didn’t want the anniversary of D-Day to pass without comment. Below is a repeat of the post I did today for the LowellDeeds blog. Above and far below are photos from a family visit to Normandy back in 2004. The Allied invasion of Normandy – D-Day – occurred 68…

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Memorials vs Museums

Sunday’s New York Times has a very interesting article about the difficulties faced in establishing a Sept 11 Museum in New York City. While it sounds like the museum commission has been totally inclusive in soliciting opinions from all involved, emotions are still too raw and still too diverse to…

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Notes from the Democratic Convention

I’ve already written about Elizabeth Warren winning the votes of 95.77% of the delegates at Saturday’s Democratic State Convention in Springfield, so here are a some other notes from the day: State Treasurer Steve Grossman who was the first speaker of the day had supporters distributing to each delegate a…

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Elizabeth Warren and the 95.77%

The monsoon-like weather that washed across the Commonwealth didn’t keep 3,554 delegates from attending the 2012 Democratic State Convention in Springfield today. The biggest story will have to be the mammoth vote for Elizabeth Warren – she got 95.77% of the delegates – and the concurrent failure of Marisa DeFranco…

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Tweeting the Democratic Convention

I’ve long been an advocate of Twitter, especially for breaking news. Twitter certainly got a workout within the Mass Mutual Center today at the Democratic State Convention as delegates, journalists and campaigns tweeted rapid fire updates. For all of you not on Twitter, below is a slightly edited (i.e., where…

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The National Anthem and the Media

When the National Anthem was being sung wonderfully by a young woman from Springfield to open this morning’s Democratic State Convention, I and all the delegates I could see where standing and facing the colors. The same was not the case in the press box according to this Tweet from…

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National Donut Day

The first Friday in June is National Donut Day. While not a regular element of my diet, donuts are a welcome treat on occasion. They’re also nostalgic making me think of places in Lowell like Mary-Lou’s on Chelmsford Street or Eat-a-Donut at Liberty and School. Today, we have places like…

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