Author Archive

Take a 12th grade history quiz

The “Week in Review” section of this Sunday’s New York Times reported that only “only 12% of a representative sample of the nation’s high school seniors demonstrated proficiency in the subject last year” according to recent National Assessment of Educational Progress test results. While it’s critically important that we improve…

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Flag retirement ceremony

The Global War Veterans of Greater Lowell held a “flag retirement” ceremony today at the Veteran’s Square section of the Westlawn Cemetery. Flags that had become unserviceable due to ordinary wear and tear were collected and then “retired.” The proper method to do that is to burn the flags in…

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Battle of Bunker Hill: June 17, 1775

Yesterday was the anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill. The battle is noteworthy because it was the first major engagement between the colonial militia and the British troops. Eight weeks earlier, an intense fight had occurred at Lexington, Concord and on the route back to Boston, but while those…

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Flag Retirement Ceremony Tomorrow

What do you do with an American flag that is faded, torn and no longer serviceable? The proper disposal method is to burn it in a dignified, respectful manner. But the idea of “burning the flag” has negative connotations in popular culture. so some might be hesitant to do so…

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Fixing Tickets

About a month ago a New York Times article laid out a complex new procedure the city’s police department had instituted for traffic ticket accountability. I don’t remember all of the details of the process (follow the link and read the story if the process is of interest) but I…

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Rioting in . . . Vancouver?

[youtube]ulmEl8Kx6N8[/youtube] Before yesterday, if you had asked me in which city of North America was rioting least likely to take place, I might have answered “Vancouver.” As the above video makes clear, that’s not the case. As this article from the home-town Vancouver Sun and this one from the New…

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