As much as I am in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement when it comes to addressing the social and economic inequities brought on by greedy corporate speculators and their congressional enablers, I have a hard time figuring out just what is being accomplished by camping out in public parks. I know the Occupiers […]

People have been telling me I’m a pessimist for years. They may be right. Just my luck. What made me suspicious was where my head went when my son came home from his first semester at college. He did very well academically, made friends, managed his money pretty well, and became a valued member of […]

To paraphrase Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “How do we “thank you? Let me count the ways”: For the many, many food donations from so many businesses and organizations. For all of you that supported these efforts, we are extremely grateful. For the many monetary donations, the donations of toys and gifts we were able to share with families […]

During this protracted period of national political paralysis, you may have heard the term “job creator” used on many occasions to describe our economy’s chosen people, i.e., the entrepreneurs and business owners whose skills, creativity and capital fuel the economy and make it possible for the rest of us to draw a salary and eke […]

As 2011 comes to a close I wanted to take a moment to thank the people of Falmouth for giving me their trust as the newest member of the Town Council. It has been an amazing experience from the start of our campaign last winter and spring, through the election, and now these early months […]

As I write this letter on Christmas Day, I give thanks to all that conspires to teach me about life, including the sacred and the profane. In terms of the sacred, I thank Edgar Allen Beem for fearlessly giving voice to the progressive view and especially for his column on the blessings of giving and […]

In his recent column, Edgar Allen Beem proclaims that “conservatives blame the poor for requiring expensive services.” One need only read Christine Rousselle’s Forecaster Forum about welfare fraud to understand where conservatives stand on this issue. We blame the system that allows some individuals to suck off needed funds by abusing the rules. If we […]

I read with dismay Christine Rousselle’s meditation on wisdom gained as a Walmart cashier (Dec. 19 Forecaster Forum). I was particularly alarmed by the violence implicit in the reference to “steel drums and cement” as a solution for difficult customers paying with WIC. We often stereotype college students as idealistic, owing to their lack of […]

Christine Rousselle isn’t just a Walmart employee writing unbiased in last week’s Forecaster Forum. She’s heavily involved in right-wing causes. Her stated dream is to become another Ann Coulter, the ultra right-wing extremist who makes millions ranting about “welfare queens,” “luckless, lazy and incompetent welfare recipients,” those “utterly irresponsible animals” and the “39 million greedy […]