A segment of a recent PBS program revealed a troubling side effect of the current pandemic. When American beef processing plants were closed, importers turned to Central America to take up the slack. Nicaraguan cattle ranchers, among others, were emboldened to expand their operations, edging further into forested areas which provide a sanctuary for indigenous […]

Listen to your mother! What good, old-fashioned advice. I have said, several times in my life, that the most important people in my life are women. First, my dear mother, who is now in Heaven, and then the Lithuanian nuns in parochial schools, in the small coal-mining town of Girardville, Pennsylvania, (from 1941-49) and the […]

Employees at the Portland Museum of Art seeking to become unionized is a means of encouraging sound professional management to make their organization more sustainable. Collective bargaining agreements can stabilize the workforce and reduce the need for employees to search for a better job. Collective bargaining can enable a business or a museum to better […]

We have had a low COVID infection rate in Maine, not because we are lucky or blessed, but because we really, really did a good job of preventing spread by the two simplest things: wearing a mask, using sanitizer and soap, and then, the hard thing, staying away from others. I’m so proud of our […]

We are hearing about too many Mainers, businesses and community organizations that are struggling. Too many have fallen through the cracks and are barely hanging on. At the same time it is being reported that Sara Gideon and Susan Collins have millions of dollars on hand, much that will probably not be spent. Wouldn’t it […]

The corporation that pushed addictive drugs on Americans for many years and made its owners billionaires, profiting from the ruined lives and deaths of its “clients,” will have to pay a fine. Oh, gosh. A fine. I have a loved one who served two years in federal prison for selling marijuana. No one died from […]

I am literally sick and tired of the misuse and overuse of the word “literally.” It has literally taken over the lexicon of literally everyone’s ability to communicate. One cannot literally hear folks talk without them inserting the word “literally” as an attempt at highlighting or emphasizing their point. Are we literally that depleted in […]

Come on, Mainers. If you care about your children and your neighbors’ children (or grandchildren) being able to participate in what’s left of fall sports and extracurricular activities in their school, as well as the upcoming winter sports season and activities, wear a mask and avoid large gatherings. Keep your county from being declared yellow […]