Help wanted.  These words are usually a sign of prosperity and opportunity. Now, they are a symbol of frustration as employers search in vain for workers.   The conventional wisdom had been that when COVID-19 cases went down, so would unemployment. Some maintained that federal unemployment benefits were discouraging people from job seeking, but that would change once the benefits ended.  The reduced number of coronavirus cases produced the expected […]

Maine has the highest rate of food insecurity in New England. Almost 167,000 Mainers each year are forced to make a choice between food and other crucial needs, like medicine, electricity or childcare. This Hunger Action Month, food banks and other organizations around the country are spreading the word in hopes of ending the impossible […]

Here are more thoughts on the Blue Angels Airshow evoked by scores of politically oriented t-shirts and a crowd swathed in American flag garb. One man’s t-shirt had the inscription: “I stand for the flag. I kneel for the cross.” This man obviously had no sympathy for professional athletes who take a knee to protest […]

… and Trump should be restored by violence, survey finds

Government needs to use fear as weapon against COVID spread Fear is a powerful motivator in American politics. In 2016, 81% of Americans feared the election of one of the two candidates for president, according to a poll by the Associated Press, and voted accordingly. Fear is a primal instinct; nothing gives us more discomfort […]