“Capital Gains” by John Edward

John Edward, a resident of Chelmsford who earned his master’s degree at UMass Lowell and who teaches economics at Bentley University and UMass Lowell, contributes the following column. The day after President Obama’s State of the Union address, the front page of the Boston Globe had an interesting pair of…

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“Coke constantly on hand”

This 1870’s ad for the Lowell Gas Light Company is a pretty good example of how the meaning of words may change over time. In this case, the product advertized was a by-product of the coal gasification process that yielded the illuminating gas that was used to light the city’s…

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Cold Common

Cold morning. Glove-cold. Bright clear sky. The blue-disc sun is warming if you step into its 98-million-mile-away rays, exactly, but otherwise the air is frigid. This is weather for staying in. I didn’t see any random walkers in the South Common Historic District. One man in a jacket over hooded sweatshirt…

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