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MassMoments tells us that on this day – February 11, 1812 – the political weapon known the “gerrymander” was born with the stroke of Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry’s pen. The practice of gerrymandering in America predates the invention of the term, but it was this Massachusetts law that gave rise to the…
Read More »NYTimes columnist David Brooks today has a stark warning for all readers: We are on track to be financially consumed by our own federal government debt. I’m copying a large chunk of his column below because he spells out the situation clearly. Reading this, I’m reminded of the late Paul…
Read More »Outside the house, I routinely carry my cell phone just about everywhere and enjoy using it to stay in touch with people and the net. Some may see it as a tether, but I find the omnipresent cell phone liberating. You can go anywhere at anytime and be confident that…
Read More »See Forbes Magazine’s recent list of the 20 most miserable cities in the US. Lowell didn’t make this list. California looks bad here. Number one on the list is Stockton, Calif., where I lived for about six months in 1967 when my father was working as a wool grader for Cal…
Read More »UMass Lowell Provost Ahmed Abdelal checking news from Egypt. (Web photo courtesy of CBSBoston.com and WBZ Radio) UMass Lowell Provost Ahmed Abdelal has been following the news from Egypt closely. He was born in Egypt and has relatives and colleagues in Cairo. UMass Lowell will be hosting an exhibition of contemporary…
Read More »A depiction of the failed 1861 Peace Conference in the Willard Hall of the Willard Hotel. (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post) From the Washington Post: “As part of the Civil War Sesquicentennial, historians are gathering at the Willard InterContinental hotel to remember the failed, and largely forgotten, peace conference…
Read More »Harvard economics scholar Edward Glaeser today looks at the environmental pros and cons of city life in a column in the Boston Globe. Read his column here, and get the Globe if you want more. Glaeser’s new book is called “Triumph of the City.” He’s on the list for an invitation…
Read More »Reporter Jill Harmacinski tells us in an Eagle-Tribune article today that the famous Lawton’s Famous Franfurters late of a shakey location along a canal in South Lawrence – will reopen soon in a new location. Many attempts were made to lure the iconic Lawton’s to locations outside of the City…
Read More »The meeting last week with the Tewksbury Board of Selectmen, the Town Manager and the state delegation is covered by Bill Gilman in the current edition of the Tewksbury Patch. State Senator Barry Finegold D-Andover and state Reps. Jim Miceli D-Wilmington and Paul Adams R-Andover each spoke before the board and answered questions. The exchange bewteen the…
Read More »From Director Judith Boccia, Office of School Partnerships, UMass Lowell Graduate School of Education, in the first issue of the OSP electronic newsletter: “November marked the completion of the first year of the U.S. Department of Education-funded Teaching American History (TAH) Project, titled “Imagination, Invention & Innovation: The Making of…
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