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A Ray of Hope on Jobs
October 28, 2010
by
PaulM
Posted in Current Events, Election 2010, History, Lowell, Politics
4
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www.dailyfinancereport.com via aol.com is reporting an encouraging trend in employment/unemployment nationwide. America’s bedraggled labor market got a boost today with the latest weekly initial jobless claims unexpectedly plunging 21,000 to 434,000 — their lowest level since July. A Bloomberg survey had expected the report to show a total of 455,000…
Read More »Worst Case Scenario from the Activist-Government Side
October 28, 2010
by
PaulM
Posted in Culture, Current Events, Election 2010, History, Lowell, Politics
1
Comment
Read the following from Henry A. Giroux, and get a sense of the outrage on the other side of the political spectrum, the side that hasn’t been given the kind of free publicity by media outlets everywhere that the Tea Party has received in the past six months. A moderate-minded reader might consider…
Read More »Maya Angelou Papers Acquired; Remembering Her in Lowell
Today’s NYTimes includes this article about the Harlem-based Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture of the NY Public Library acquiring a massive archive of papers from author and performer Maya Angelou. The story prompted me to recall Maya Angelou’s visit to Lowell in 1989 as a guest of Middlesex Community College. Following is…
Read More »President Obama at Work
October 27, 2010
by
PaulM
Posted in Current Events, Election 2010, History, Lowell, Politics
3
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“All the President’s Men” is one of my favorite movies, and I believe the dynamic duo of “Woodstein” should be remembered with a statue on the mall in Washington, DC, some day, but I’m not a fan of the Washington insider books that Bob Woodward has been churning out for…
Read More »David Macaulay’s Lessons @ UMass Lowell
Renowned author and illustrator David Macaulay may be a distinguished winner of a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” Fellowship and the Caldecott Medal for children’s literature, but today he came across more like an inspiring junior high-school teacher (he did that for one year) rather than some artist-god who came down…
Read More »Globe Congressional Endorsements Summarize Case for Dems
October 24, 2010
by
PaulM
Posted in Politics, Current Events, Election 2010, Greater Lowell, History, Lowell
1
Comment
The Boston Globe not surprisingly endorsed all the Democrats running for re-election for the state’s Congressionals seats along with the one Democrat seeking an open seat. The editors’ reasoning is a good summary case for keeping the Democrats in the majority in Washington, DC. Read the endorsements here, and get…
Read More »Maureen Calls a Foul on Thomas and His Court
October 24, 2010
by
PaulM
Posted in Current Events, Election 2010, History, Politics
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Columnist Maureen Dowd in today’s NYTimes reviews the origins of Justice Thomas and reminds us that bad decisions do have consequences. She also points out the conservative activism seen recently at the Supreme Court may be a lot more damaging to regular folks than the liberal activism of the past that…
Read More »‘Ask Not…’: The New Yorker on UK’s ‘Big Society’ Venture
October 23, 2010
by
PaulM
Posted in Culture, Current Events, Election 2010, History, Lowell, Politics
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I can’t link to the full text of this week’s article by Lauren Collins (“All Together Now!”) in the New Yorker about efforts to reshape the civic culture in the United Kingdom because it is restricted to subscribers. Following is a link to the summary version that is available online. Those interested in more can…
Read More »Newsweek Poll Shows Pres. Obama and Dems Gaining; Jonathan Alter Warns of Impact If GOP Wins Big
October 23, 2010
by
PaulM
Posted in Current Events, Election 2010, History, Lowell, Politics
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The latest Newsweek poll shows the President’s approval rating has jumped up and that the Democrats while late to the starting line are showing some momentum. Read the results here. And Newsweek columnist Jonathan Alter rings the alarm about a possible GOP takeover of Congress and the state houses. Read…
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