Methuen resident Vincent Spada has published his first book of poems, “One Under the Sun” (Brambleby Books). Interestingly, the Hartfordshire, England-based publisher specializes in books on natural history and poetry. The author works in a Salvation Army Thrift Store. To order the book, visit www.brambleby.co.uk. Following is a sample of…
Economist Peter Diamond of MIT is one of three co-recipients of this year’s Nobel Prize for Economics. Read the boston.com news account here. (Hey, if these guys are so smart, why can’t they get people to work within a system that is stable and productive and avoids boom-and-bust cycles, a…
Prof. Bob Forrant of UMass Lowell is a member of the editorial board of ‘MassBenchmarks,’ the highly respected UMass journal that tracks the state economy in the context of regional, national, and global conditions. The board today issued a statement about the “health” of the Massachusetts economy. Here’s the link And here’s…
E. J. Dionne, Jr., writing in the Washington Post spells out the impact of new campaign finance regulations, thanks to the recent Supreme Court decision that unleashed “third-party” political spending. He says the moneyed interests have declared war on government officials who support policies that attempt to balance the interests of…
The whole inside back page of the NYTimes Book Review today has an essay by Lee Siegel comparing the Tea Party with the Beats (Kerouac, Ginsberg, and the other Beat Generation writers of the 1950s and ’60s). The essay is a cultural stretch in many ways, but makes for surprising…
John Merline writing for AOL News has a contrarian take on the possible GOP takeover of Congress and suggests there could be positives for President Obama if the November election puts R’s in charge of the House and/or Senate. Read his column here. Most interesting to me is his comment…
Listen to Lowell favorite son Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Wizards and Capitals of professional sports, talk about leadership in a continuing series on the website of the Washington Post. Here’s the link. In the video, Ted says he blogs every day.
Here’s the link for the Paul McCartney fan-site that today is playing John Lennon songs on its “Macca Radio” feature all day. On the right side of the page select the music listening tool that you prefer. There’s a John Lennon YouTube channel loaded with content. Look for the clip…
Tomorrow would have been John Lennon’s 70th birthday if his life had not been taken away in December 1980. Recently, there’s been some talk in our community about Lowell and Liverpool, Kerouac and The Beatles, with similarities being pointed out. Lennon’s life and artistic legacy continue to generate interest and…
Uncle Dave does Facebook, “the movie,” in today’s column in the NYTimes. Read what columnnist David Brooks writes about the web phenomemon in his op-ed piece, and buy the NYT if you appreciate the writing. PS: Economist Paul Krugman today is so dejected that I don’t want to link to his NYT column about…