These swing voters have swung to Trump Swing voters tend to be low-information voters. But when veteran pollster Peter Hart convened a group of 11 “blue-collar and economically struggling” voters from suburban Pittsburgh on Tuesday, in research for the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, it seemed that Donald Trump’s campaign messages […]

I recently remarked to a friend, a retired history professor, that Donald Trump reminded me of the infamous Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini (1922-1943). “If he makes the airlines run on time, we’ll know,” she responded, jokingly referring to Mussolini’s supposed boast that he “made the trains run on time.” (Before his rule, the poorly […]

I write to express my appreciation to a citizen of Maine, the United States and, in fact, the world, who died this past fall after almost 95 years on this planet. Her name is Ruth Wiles. Our lives first intersected when she hosted me as an exchange student at Oxford Hills High School in Paris […]

 In 2012, voters in California approved a measure to raise taxes on millionaires, bringing their top state income tax rate to 13.3 percent, the highest in the nation. Conservative economists predicted calamity, or at least a big slowdown in growth. Also that year, the governor of Kansas signed a series of changes to the state’s […]

Like so many of us, there is nothing I enjoy more than meeting up with some dear friends for a bite to eat, or perhaps taking my two wonderful daughters out for a family dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. But as co-founder and co-director of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, such experiences are always […]

As the weather continues warming and we do our best to enjoy the outdoors more, it is important to remember to respect signage and warning signals around hydroelectric facilities. Whether fishing, boating or hiking, you need to be cautious when recreating near these facilities as water conditions can change quickly and without notice. Here in […]