On a recent Saturday night, three of my friends and I went to a small Mediterranean restaurant where the menu encourages lots of back-and-forth with the waiters. For many of us, items like bronzini and tsoureki require translation, which, in turn, builds a bit of rapport. Our waiter, who resembled New Age musician Yanni, was […]

Gov. Paul LePage’s recent $35.5 million curtailment order targets his two favorite areas in which to cut spending: Education and social services. Of the $35.5 million that he says needs to be cut, his proposal would chop $13.1 million from the Department of Health and Human Services budget and $12.5 million in general purpose aid […]

Many people, including me, complain about political partisanship these days. If only the politicians in Washington would put the national interest ahead of partisan wrangling, our government would produce positive results, we say. In other words, it’s all the fault of the politicians. Many years ago, Pogo Possum, a famous cartoon character, said, “I have […]