“A Portrait of Wellbeing — The Status of Seniors in Maine,” is a compelling new report created with the support of the John T. Gorman Foundation of Yarmouth. It is not all about “wellbeing,” however, because for many elders in Maine, particularly in rural counties like ours, there are some indicators of concern in the […]
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Trans-Pacific Partnership is bad policy on many levels
The Trans-Pacific Partnership was negotiated in secrecy during a six-year period. Corporations were well represented, but elected representatives in Washington, D.C., were not privy to the contents until it was a done deal. It was pushed forward with Fast Track, a process that only allows an up or down vote with minimal debate. The TPP […]
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You can spare me the lectures
Have I mentioned lately how much I’m enjoying the lectures from self-avowed liberals who insist my respect for Hillary Clinton is proof that I am not a “real progressive”? It’s not just men — my sisters, you disappoint me — but it’s particularly entertaining when the reprimands come from young white men who were still […]
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Campaigns that cannot find the truth
Monday was Parson Weems Day. This is my designation to mark the voting in Iowa as the end of the first lying season. The Rev. Mason Locke Weems (1759-1825) is the source of the story about George Washington and the cherry tree. When asked by his father if he had cut down the tree, the […]
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U.S. economy: Is it failing or doing just fine?
WASHINGTON — In 1992, James Carville popularized the adage “It’s the economy, stupid.” If the economy is ailing, people tend to vote against the party in the White House. That happened in the 1992 election. A recession that started in 1990 was officially over, but it didn’t seem over to millions of Americans. They sent […]
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There’s a reason why viewers shun Oscars
We are here not to discuss the complex #OscarsSoWhite controversy but to address another sore point with perhaps similar origins: the #OscarsSoGorgeous phenomenon. At the risk of running afoul of some ardent fan clubs, let us note that the Academy Awards for best actress tend to favor the young and beautiful, often for playing the […]
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Japan losing patience with N. Korea
North Korea’s nuclear extortion drama, the repeated threat of nuclear attack followed by demands for food and financial aid, has exhausted South Korean and Japanese diplomatic patience. Last year, Japan indicated that North Korea should expect more than expressions of anger the next time it put a ballistic missile on a launch pad in preparation […]
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Taking a step toward justice for all
Last week, a group of church friends held a town hall meeting in Brunswick, Ga. Their purpose is embodied in their name: Justice For Caroline Small. Chances are, you’ve never heard of her. She was a waitress, a mother of two girls, and a woman with mental health issues who was in and out of […]
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Welcome to the United States of Trump
“You wonder how these things begin.” — (The Fantasticks) In the beginning there was a combative media. Dating back to Colonial America, as Eric Burns has chronicled in his book, “Infamous Scribblers,” politicians and journalists have mostly had a love (for Democrats)-hate (for Republicans) relationship. It is television and the advent of the celebrity culture […]
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Government subsidies keep rural West going
The 187,000 acres on which sits the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge never belonged to the state of Oregon, much less the band of cowboy exhibitionists who had taken it over. This and other federal lands were acquired through conquest over, purchases from or treaties with Mexico, Russia, Spain, England, France and Native Americans. The federal […]