By Jonathan Bernstein Bloomberg View There’s been way more than enough written about Donald Trump’s battle with kneeling football players — especially with a major crisis underway in Puerto Rico — but one thing really does bother me that’s been revealed during this brouhaha: the extent to which many Americans have accepted the anti-democratic and […]
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Go slow with diverless technology
WASHINGTON — Driverless vehicles may not be all that they’re cracked up to be. Indeed, they may be harmful to our collective security and well-being. Unless you’ve been vacationing on Saturn, you know that driverless vehicles are the next Big Thing. Almost every major car company (General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Mercedes) has a program, often […]
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Trump critics misrepresent speech
To listen to the commentary, Donald Trump used an inappropriate term at the U.N. — not just “Rocket Man,” but “sovereignty.” It wasn’t surprising that liberal analysts freaked out over his nickname for Kim Jong Un and his warning that we’d “totally destroy” Kim’s country should it become necessary. These lines were calculated to get […]
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Trump uses U.N. speech to showcase objectives
While campaigning for the presidency, Donald Trump more than once referred to the United Nations as a “useless” organization and “not a friend of democracy.” In his speech Tuesday to the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, he apparently has discovered the often dysfunctional body can be useful, if it adopts the reforms […]
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Where science goes wrong
“Evidence is the only reason to believe that anything is true.” Those words, spoken by the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, pretty well sum up how scientists see the world. Those words by Dawkins, an outspoken atheist, may also sum up how the rest of us see science and scientists. So, how has science fallen into […]
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President’s speech embraces nationalism, reduced U.S. role
NEW YORK — President Trump’s speech to the United Nations was well delivered. But it was a strange mishmash of topics and tones, in parts celebrating realpolitik but then also asserting the importance of freedom and democracy. There was, however, one overriding theme — the embrace of nationalism. And in striking that chord, Donald Trump […]
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Adults could take school lessons to heart
What is our primary responsibility as teachers and parents? Well, hopefully we teach our children well. There is nothing more important in the three towns of Poland, Minot and Mechanic Falls, in this state, country and world today than that we teach our children well — and part of that education is to show our […]
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L/A Arts will continue to provide programs
The Board of Directors of L/A Arts, the arts agency for the cities of Lewiston and Auburn, has just announced that the agency will no longer employ a full-time staff, but will rely, instead, on individual project leaders under the direction of the board. L/A Arts will also occupy a smaller office space. These changes, […]
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Credit reports need better protection
By Herbert Lin Special To The Washington Post In the wake of the hack of credit reporting agency Equifax, many people have suggested that affected consumers implement credit freezes to prevent the misuse of their sensitive personal data. Equifax, which originally tried to charge consumers for this protection, backed down and agreed to provide the […]
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Leave statues; they acting as a warning
Charlottesville, Virginia, was the topic on Americans’ minds, lips and social media sites before Hurricanes Harvey and Irma briefly swept all other pressing national concerns from the headlines. In the aftermath of these destructive storms, it still remains a flashpoint issue of immense significance. Simply put, the question posed by Charlottesville is this: Should we […]