It’s funny how coincidences work. In 2010, as much as $7 million was dropped on the deck of the Maran Centaurus, an oil tanker captured by Somali pirates, and the brigands happened to free the crew. In 1997, Walter Kwok, the son of extravagantly wealthy Chinese businessman, was found alive in a wooden box after […]
Op-Eds
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‘Political correctness’ isn’t such a bad thing
Let me tell you how I got in trouble with ladies. No, not “the” ladies. Not, in fact, female human beings, period. Rather, I’m talking about the word itself, “ladies.” Years ago, my editor was a female human being named Emily to whom I filed a piece that used the L-word as a synonym for […]
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Movie combines action, reconciliation
Since Mel Gibson’s 2004 blockbuster “The Passion of the Christ” grossed more than $600 million worldwide, Hollywood has slowly begun to look at faith-based movies as a way to fatten their bottom lines and reach a demographic they have mostly ignored for decades. Last week in Los Angeles, the show business publication Variety co-sponsored another […]
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Trump can’t pass test for acceptability
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump, the man who defied every political rule and prevailed to win his party’s nomination, last week took on perhaps the most sacred political rule of all: Never attack a Gold Star family. Not just because it alienates a vital constituency but because it reveals a shocking absence of elementary decency and […]
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At last, a nearly definitive biography of George Mitchell
A review of the new Douglas Rooks book In 2015, former Sen. George Mitchell, released his first book in 16 years, “The Negotiator.” It was his first and so far his only multi-subject memoir. In it, he wrote, “This is not a complete biography.” Instead , it was merely a “telling of some favorite stories […]
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Referendum Question 3 goes beyond a background check
Supporters of Question 3 (to expand firearm background checks to private sales) continually repeat this key campaign talking point: “Question 3 on November’s ballot is simple, straight-forward and common sense. It requires a background check for all gun sales and transfers, with exceptions for family members, hunting and self-defense.” Under scrutiny, that claim doesn’t stand […]
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Bipartisanship still common in Maine
There is a lot of talk about partisanship and dysfunctional government these days. But behind the attention grabbing headlines, the Legislature has compromised and improved state government for the people of Maine. As a first-term lawmaker, I had the opportunity to see this up close with legislation to assist Maine veterans. We passed new laws […]
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GDP is up, but what does that mean to you?
Data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis released Wednesday reported Maine’s Gross Domestic Product for the first quarter of 2016 was $58.1 billion. Given that a majority of this figure comes from wages, that roughly equals $43,684 for every Maine resident. While those figures are impressive, lost within the analysis is how this actually plays […]
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GOP leaders must deal with the fallout
WASHINGTON — “What does this say about your party that this is your standard bearer?” The headlines from President Obama’s excoriation of Donald Trump on Tuesday rightly highlighted his flat declaration that the Republican nominee is “unfit to serve as president.” But the challenge to Republican leaders who fell in line behind Trump was even […]
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Could November’s election results be hacked?
WASHINGTON — Someone — the Russian military, say many cyber experts — broke into the computers of the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, releasing emails and sensitive documents. Sounds bad, and is. But a worse danger looms: the possibility that hackers (whether Russians or others) will manipulate our voting machines, casting […]