A nasty and insidious pest is ramping up here in Maine that will be swarming all around us over the next 10 weeks before disappearing into dark hibernation. Locusts? No, the pesky creatures I reference are a species known as “LTEs,” or Letter to the Editor writers. While they randomly show up year-round, it’s during […]

Back in junior high I read a book that helped shape my thinking about America: William J. Lederer’s “A Nation of Sheep” (1961). Lederer, who with co-author Eugene Burdick had had a national bestseller in 1958 with “The Ugly American,” warned that government and the media manipulate public opinion by controlling what an ignorant, gullible […]

There is both irony and hypocrisy in the claims of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump that the nominating process was rigged, that it favored other, more establishment, candidates. Sanders hated the superdelegates (seasoned elected officials and state party leaders) who overwhelmingly favored Hillary Clinton. He disliked closed Democratic primaries because they, too, favored Clinton; he […]

Friday, Aug. 26, was not a proud day for Maine. And, sadly, it deepened the fracture between political parties as the state’s legislative campaign season is set to begin in earnest. Gov. Paul LePage – a second-term Republican – and Rep. Drew Gattine – a second-term Democrat – hold deeply opposing views on whether the drug crisis is better resolved through enforcement […]

As a constituent of state Rep. Mike Timmons, R-Cumberland, I was extremely disappointed when he was one of six representatives who changed their votes under pressure from Gov. Paul LePage to block the Land For Maine’s Future bonds. He supported the political whims of the the governor over the will of the people of Maine […]

Southern Maine Community College faces no shortage of big topics clamoring to be addressed: enrollment, budget, demographics, accreditation, curriculum, facilities, campus culture, technology. Take your pick. But really we have only one goal: student success. When we increase student success all other topics and issues fall into place. Student success strengthens the workforce, grows the […]