By: Paul Murano – November, 2010 Okay, so Republicans have picked up major gains in this midterm election. Is this something conservatives should celebrate? Does it mean the country is turning right? Not at all. It is a pattern that has been happening for decades. There are basically two reasons people win major elections […]
By: Sandra Stotsky – November, 2010 SPECIAL TO THE VALLEY PATRIOT “Dr. Ormsby is taking the month off to assess the existential meaning of the election results. He will return in December.” A mesmerizing phrase regularly rolls off the tongues of education experts these days. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan used it in a […]
By: Christine Morabito – November, 2010 I write this column with a heavy heart as conservatives across the state begin a painful recovery process. I won’t pretend that I’m not incredibly disappointed in the Massachusetts election results and just as surprised. But, the way I see it, we have two choices: to stick our head […]
By: Ralph Zazula – October, 2010 A bipartisan citizen’s initiative called “Show ID to Vote” has been created in Massachusetts to address fraudulent voting across the USA. Through increased awareness it seeks to improve the integrity of the vote in the upcoming elections this November and beyond. By simply suggesting that voters voluntarily Show […]
HEROES IN OUR MIDST – GOLD STAR MOTHERS Valley Patriot Staff – October, 2010 Our Valley Patriot of the Month is usually dedicated to a man or woman who fought in war to defend the United States. This column usually names a brave soldier and provides his or her story of his experience in […]
Sen. Baddour a Frequent Attendee At Tea Party Meetings By: Tom Duggan – October 08, 2010 Democrat State Senator Steve Baddour of Methuen has been seen networking and even speaking at Merrimack Valley Tea Party meetings in Andover, and North Andover. Given the hostility that leaders in his own political have for the Tea […]
THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX EXTRA By: Dr. Charles Ormsby – October, 2010 ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE NY TIMES In my experience teaching college freshmen, my sense is that the average level of academic rigor in our public schools has fallen significantly over the past five decades. Even in wealthy communities, only a fraction of parents […]
By: Christine Morabito – October, 2010 I’m absolutely humbled by the Tea Party and what they have been able to accomplish over the past 18 months. Not bad for a haphazard group of disaffected citizens who have been called irrelevant and were never expected to sustain momentum until the November elections. It is my […]
By: Paul Murano – October, 2010 I went to a debate the other night between Humanists and Christians sponsored by the Chesterton Society of Worcester on the question of which offers the greater hope for humanity. I was impressed by the good will displayed between both groups, but it wasn’t too long before I […]
VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH By: Gary Mannion – September, 2010 LOWELL – Greg Page sat on his couch waiting to leave for Newark International Airport to catch his plane to San Francisco; he was about to embark on his senior year at Stanford University. Whatever it was that seemed important to him as […]
THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX Reduce the Sales Tax to 3% — Vote YES on Question 3 By: Dr. Charles Ormsby – September, 2010 Why does unemployment in Massachusetts average 16% higher than unemployment in New Hampshire? Why have so many large retail stores fled the Merrimack Valley just to be resurrected in Salem, Plaistow […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL September, 2010 Next year marks the 10th Anniversary of 9-11 and the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil. And while the ‘war on terror” is still going on and we are still fighting Al-Qaeda and Muslim Jihadist in Afghanistan, around the world and here at home, many have forgotten the terror […]
By: Christine Morabito – September, 2010 In 1975 Sen. William Proxmire, D-WI, became the taxpayer’s superhero when he began passing out Golden Fleece Awards, spotlighting pork-barrel projects that wasted taxpayer dollars. This infuriated some of his colleagues, who could no longer squander other people’s money with impunity. Examples included: $84,000 to study “why people […]
By: Paul Murano – September, 2010 Why people think the way they do is fascinating. Who would have thought the issue of an Islamic cultural center being built near ground zero would have so neatly divided people by ideologically lines? And who would have guessed that the left would be for it and the […]
“It’s a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it’s a depression when you lose yours.” – Harry S. Truman THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX By: Dr. Charles Ormsby – August, 2010 Based on Truman’s analysis, the most important unemployment statistic is our own; it is either 0% or 100%. Of course, that is not […]