Archive for the ‘History’ Category

War of words

12Sep25

The move to rename the Department of Defense as the Department of War has been met with predictable shrieks of horror from those who have never liked the military for defending a country they deem unworthy of protection. The idea of the name change, as I understand it, is to project a more reality-based, warrior […]


On July 4th, throngs of people will line the sidewalks of downtown Wakefield, but they won’t be holding “No Kings” signs. No, this crowd will be proudly celebrating their country’s founding and the brave men who fought for independence from a real monarch. What a difference a quarter of a millennium makes.


Royal pains

20Jun25

Last Saturday was something called “No King’s Day,” a nationwide protest brought to you by those who have convinced themselves that the White House is currently occupied by a man who would be king. He must be a very benevolent monarch, since he allowed the hundreds of protests against him last weekend to go on […]


There are heroes walking among us, but the true heroes don’t go around seeking recognition for their deeds. We lost another one of those authentic heroes last week. I count myself fortunate for having known World War II veteran Alfred Willett. Al was 85 years old in 2010 when I had the honor and privilege […]


Senior movement

21Mar25

If you ventured to downtown Wakefield last Saturday morning, you may have thought you’d stumbled upon an open-air AARP meeting. In reality, it was a couple of dozen Woodstock alumni holding handmade (or is it handmaid?) signs proclaiming their disapproval of the current administration in Washington.


Monday, January 20 is Inauguration Day, and while many of you will be celebrating, please try to have some consideration for those who are mourning the Death of Democracy.


Much of the attention at Saturday morning’s Town Meeting will be focused on Article 4, the town’s latest plan to comply with the state’s so-called MBTA Communities Act, mandating by-right multifamily zoning in all Massachusetts communities served by the MBTA. Also sure to spark some discussion is a plan to put solar panels on the […]


This may shock some of you, but within living memory the discovery of America was regarded as a good thing. Now, instead of learning about an adventurous explorer who discovered a whole New World, school children are taught that they live on stolen land and are descended from genocidal colonizers. And we wonder why kids […]


As we sweat our way through yet another “hottest summer on record,” it is important to remember one thing: it’s all our fault. If we hadn’t defiled Mother Earth with our damnable human penchant for invention, technology and civilization, the planet would have remained a Garden of Eden with a temperature that’s 1.5 degrees cooler […]


I’ve never been so glad that I got to experience Wakefield as a normal, working-class town, before the Home of the Warriors turned into the home of the social justice warriors. Wakefield’s official slogan used to be “the most enterprising community north of Boston.” (Try to imagine a time when capitalism was considered a good […]