Current Events

The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. Yesterday, the city of Rome included itself among the potential hosts for the 2024 summer Olympics.  Now, where would you rather be that August – Boston or Rome?   Italian Premier Matteo Renzi said, “it’s unacceptable not to try.”  Boston’s self-appointed elite apparently feel…

John Edward teaches economics at Bentley and UMass Lowell. He’s a frequent contributor of columns on economic issues The only thing worse than a bad idea is a good idea ruined by an inflated sense of how good an idea it is. Winston Churchill said democracy is the worst form…

The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. It’s hard for millennials  to imagine that not so long ago, blacks, who Constitutionally had the right to vote since 1870, were routinely blocked from exercising that right.  But antagonistic county commissioners and viciously contrived regulatory barriers in the South…

The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. Mark Wahlberg, star of box office hits Boogie Nights, The Perfect Storm, The Departed, Lone Surivor and more, and executive producer of Entourage and Boardwalk Empire, was one vicious dude in his teens.    His rap sheet from the 1980’s…

On Monday and Tuesday of this week I attended the 20th annual Massachusetts Digital Government Summit which was held at the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston.  There was much discussion of the latest trends in the use of technology by city and state governments.  Below are my notes from some…

Jay Mason of 350MA of Greater Lowell shares the following: To all friends of 350MA of Greater Lowell: DIVEST LOWELL: Request for a motion regarding a resolution for divestment from fossil fuel investments. Come to Lowell City Council meeting on Tuesday, 12/9, 6:30pm. Help us support this important policy breakthrough!!…

The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. Where has all the outcry gone?  Last April, when the radical jihadist group Boko Haram kidnapped 200 Nigerian schoolgirls, politicians and celebrities here and abroad protested their treacherous act.  “Where are our girls?” became the social media cause de jour, but…

The 2nd annual Lowell Social Media Conference will take place on Saturday, December 6, 2014 from 10 am until 1 pm at Lowell Telecommunications Corp, 246 Market Street.  Everyone is invited and admission is free of charge.  The event is co-sponsored by richardhowe.com and LTC. This year’s conference will feature…