I met Robert Reich in Lowell in 1981. Anyone who attended the annual Lowell Conference on Industrial History (LCIH) that year, when he was invited to comment on one of the scholarly papers, remembers how he stole the show with his brilliant, insightful, brief remarks about the relationship of government and…
A relatively slow day . . . A Guy Glodis for State Auditor flier arrived in today’s mail. Glodis, the sheriff of Worcester County, pledges to “reign in wasteful political spending” and to “fight for Massachusetts Jobs.” Another Chris Doherty piece arrived in the mail, as well; this one on…
Yesterday’s Globe had an article that provides a glimpse into the shadowy world of big money political fund raising. The US Attorney has charged Martin Raffol, a high ranking executive in a big Massachusetts constructions company with illegally funneling $12,000 to the campaigns of Congressmen Barney Frank, Stephen Lynch, Mike…
I’m not much of a fan of the TV show The Amazing Race, although my grand-daughter tells me I should be. Well, I guess she is right. The show held “open casting calls” last Saturday at the 99 Restaurant in Tewksbury and the place was packed. I can see why.…
The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. I am not an economist, nor do I play one on TV. I am struggling along with others to understand all the moving – and not moving – parts. And I am yearning for President Obama to outline…
NYTimes columnist Timothy Egan today writes about the “summer home” owned by all Americans, by which he means the vast tracts of public land and majestic national parks around the country. Lowell’s national park is about a place held in common by Americans, too, as well as an idea: the…
Jim Peters, who’s married to the sister of the late Paul Tsongas, shares some thoughts on campaigning for his sister-in-law, Niki Tsongas, and on the upcoming election: Being related to the Democratic candidate for Congress has its ups and downs. I get my pick of overly large T-shirts with the…
Each evening until the September 14th Primary Election I hope to write a short summary of the political activity that intersected my day, not as someone who seeks out this stuff, but as an average voter who listens to the local radio station, occasionally reads the local newspaper, and looks…
The big story today was the disclosure that Republican Congressional candidate Jon Golnik had been arrested in 2001 for Driving Under the Influence. I’m pretty sure that the Eagle Tribune broke the story. That paper’s latest is here and the Sun has a small piece here. The Globe also has…
A note in today’s Globe about a vintage postcard exhibit at the Boston Public Library, reminded me of the value of post cards as historical and cultural documents. While this exhibit focuses on early 2oth century Boston, the millions of cards in the hands of private collectors and in local…
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