It is a joy to return from vacation to find Edgar Allen Beem in such fine spleen as his “Blame it on the Poor …” column. Beem will, however, need to enlarge his Paddy Wagon (perhaps to the size of President Obama’s black and heavily armored Canadian-made campaign bus) to include a veritable platoon of […]

Right after the paddy wagons finish hauling away the duplicitous malefactors at Standard & Poor’s (see last week’s column), they might want to begin rounding up the con artists who run the University of Phoenix, Kaplan University, and Education Management Corp. If former Gov. John McKernan gets swept up in the raid it will be […]

We moved east largely to be near our son Bobby when we finally, begrudgingly admitted boarding school was the best thing for him. I was determined to be a positive, supportive presence for him in ways I hadn’t experienced as a child. I was what my parents called “too sensitive.” One disapproving, i.e., “not adoring” […]

If Texas Gov. Rick Perry is “the only bright light,” we may be worse off than some of us thought. Perry’s labor growth has been fueled by oil production and federal government spending for defense contractors and government workers to deal with a growing population. Big oil and defense contractors are two huge power brokers […]

Back in 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Newton N. Minnow, a respected Chicago attorney, to serve as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Shortly after his appointment, Minnow addressed the annual convention of the National Association of Broadcasters and challenged attendees to spend a day – without distraction or interruption – simply watching commercial […]

Many of you may have seen the bus called the Brunswick Explorer. I will relate my $1 ride. There were three other passengers when I boarded and on the entire circuit no one else got on. Talking with the driver I found out there are three buses to cover the routes, one in East Brunswick, […]

I just picked up The Forecaster in order to read Edgar Allen Beem’s opinion column, as I always do prior to getting on the ferry to Diamond Cove. I read “Blame it on the poor, Standard & Poor’s, that is.” I have to say that I couldn’t agree more and further have to add that […]

The Aug. 17 edition of The Forecaster had four letters to the editor, three being anti-Edgar Allen Beem. Most letters about him disagree with him, some vehemently; the more conservative the writers the more vehement they are. I assume liberal readers probably agree with most of what he writes, but they seem to rarely write […]

If there is a weekly newspaper category for Pulitzer Prize opinion writing, please submit Edgar Allen Beem’s column, “Smarten Up, America.” Beem should not despair. Hopefully, our education system will ultimately teach Americans – liberals, conservatives, et. al. – the basics of Western culture, covering history, science, literature, etc. Once we are familiar with Comte, […]

In support of his proposition that “American politicians are too stupid to govern,” Edgar Allen Beem cites Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., whom he describes as a “right-wing idealogue.” Presumably, Mr. Beem reached this conclusion because Ryan had the temerity to propose a plan which would reduce government spending and reform our entitlement programs so that […]