Tampons have become the latest household product to fall foul of supply chain issues. Reports of a scarcity of the menstrual product, used by millions of women in the U.S., have combined with general inflationary pressure on the price of goods to create cost and access barriers. The Conversation asked Marni Sommer, an expert on […]

My days at Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program are dashed with spontaneity. Who will I meet today? I never know. Through MCHPP, I have met kids attending summer camp, a former firefighter, a healthcare worker, a retired military official, and Mister “Yah Baby” – an enthusiastic delivery driver who makes sure to yell out an […]

The Supreme Court has set itself on course to become the dominant force in the federal government – often in direct opposition to the views of the citizenry. On voting rights, on equal rights, on firearms and on global warming, its five-member phalanx – with Chief Justice Roberts occasionally bringing up the rear – is […]

I sure could use a vacation about now — but I have no plans to take one this summer. That’s the breaks for self-employed people like me who do not enjoy paid-­vacation benefits. When I do not work, I do not get paid. However, nearly one in four American workers are not taking a summer […]

I knew I was in trouble when the dollars needed to water my grass each month exceeded the square footage of my lawn. For me, in Central California, that number is 1,400. Here, as in many parts of the drought-stricken West, water is the new gold. And lawns, which occupy roughly 4 million acres in […]

While the conservatives on the Supreme Court claim to be “strict constructionists” who hark back to the original wording of the Constitution, they are in fact radical extremists bent on overturning the Constitution in ways that threaten our freedoms and physical survival with wanton disregard for the consequences. In asserting a constitutional right to bear […]

Another way to combat browntail moths Do you have a problem with browntail moth caterpillars at your house? Here is my environmentally passive method of controlling the problem. The browntail moth caterpillars had been at my house for five years and then increased rapidly over the next couple years. The kids and I had minor […]

It’s been a fabulous week for conservatives, Republicans and millions of ordinary Americans. I cheered all of the Supreme Court’s recent blockbusters – for moral, political and personal reasons. I’m 100 percent pro-life. I believe adults should be free to own and carry guns. I believe there should be more prayer in schools, not less. […]

THE GIFT It came packaged and delivered, as much does these days. But our friends’ recent visit returned with it, calling back the simple pleasure of talking into the night. Many of us have missed such evenings during isolated COVID times. “Embrace Fearlessly the Burning World,” I read on the book’s jacket. The photo showed […]