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Today, I’ll jump from local to world events for a brief comment about the Chinese balloon that was shot down by the US off the coast of South Carolina on February 4, 2023, after transiting much of the United States. I assume it was an intelligence collection platform that vacuumed…
Read More »Two years ago, I faced some major home maintenance challenges. My roof, boiler and hot water tank all needed replacing. It was not an emergency, but that’s what I wanted to avoid. The contractors I consulted urged me to first contact Mass Save for a home energy audit which was…
Read More »Thanks for visiting richardhowe.com. Since it’s inception in 2007, we’ve tried to have something new for readers on Sunday morning. But earlier this year I started a weekly newsletter on the Substack platform. In the newsletter I provide commentary on politics in Lowell. It’s something I could post here but…
Read More »The Democratic and Republican Primary elections are this Tuesday. The day after Labor Day weekend is not the optimal time to hold an election but it must be held early in the month to meet the time requirements needed to print absentee ballots for the general election. Many states hold…
Read More »Stop Worrying So Much By George Chigas The Problem It still boggles my mind to see how unwilling and reluctant and defiant and obstinate people can be when it comes to thinking for themselves and questioning their assumptions and their behavior, specifically the assumption that the more you consume and…
Read More »The Betrayal of an Unwritten Covenant By Malcolm Sharps The introduction of a new tax in the UK in 1990 provoked a political crisis and suddenly called into question the limits of government to make demands on citizens and the obligation on citizens to comply with them. The way I would describe what happened…
Read More »Madame la Première Ministre By Louise Peloquin On May 16th, Emmanuel Macron named Élisabeth Borne Prime Minister. In 1991, under François Mitterrand, Édith Cresson was the first woman to hold the job. The Élysée Palace put out a late afternoon communiqué: “this is the choice of competence at the service…
Read More »Broken Through The world has a compound fracture. We are a body in pain. Bone broken through skin in a vital part. My Boy Scout Handbook described first aid for this wound. End of a snapped white bone, ragged as a snapped pine branch. Bloody punctured flesh, the victim…
Read More »Irish poet Alexander Fhionnuisce’s writing deals with the intersection of technology, alienation, and meaning in modern life. He was awarded University College Cork’s Patricia Coughlan award for his writing in 2017. His work is included in the anthology Atlantic Currents: Connecting Cork and Lowell (Loom Press, 2020). On Invasions (February…
Read More »One of our classic blog posts was the multi-author account of the “Blizzard of ‘15” which dumped 30 inches of snow on Greater Lowell from January 26 and 27, 2015. We’ve decided to cover today’s storm the same way so this post will be updated from time-to-time until the storm’s…
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